MacGyver uses a heater and hot sauce to help a key presidential candidate in Ecuador receive a heart transplant he desperately needs after a rebel group tries to sabotage delivery of the organ.

When MacGyver and Jack "steal" a priceless painting, using a table cloth and a shoe lace, in order to draw an infamous stolen art dealer out of hiding, they wind up getting conned out of the painting by the dealer's team. Also, Riley's estranged father, Elwood, asks to be part of her life, and Matty sends Bozer to a spy training camp.

When 32 college students are stranded on a research ship in the Arctic Ocean with no heat and erupting fires, Mac develops an emotional connection to the group leader, via video chat, as he relays how to stay alive as they await a rescue ship. Also, Jack kidnaps Elwood to find out what scam he’s up to next, and Bozer’s feelings toward Leanna grow stronger.

The LAPD interrupts the team’s Christmas celebration to arrest Mac for terrorism when they find a body in a building destroyed by a bomb Mac built.

While Mac participates in a challenge for government operatives to create robotic combat machines, he must help his biggest competitor, Allie, when her vehicle is hacked and heads to the Pentagon. Also, Jack attends his high school reunion, hoping for a showdown with his old rival who beat him out for homecoming king.

When the team heads to New Orleans to track down the con artist who is posing as the wife of “Duke Jacoby,” one of Jack’s old CIA aliases, Jack finds himself in jeopardy when “Duke’s” old enemies resurface looking for revenge.

Mac, Jack and Riley set out to find a mobster-turned-informant after he’s kidnapped and taken to Chernobyl by an international crime boss who’s worried he will deliver incriminating information to the CIA. Also, Bozer struggles to keep a secret from Matty.