MacGyver only very recently lost its arguably biggest cast member in George Eads. Eads’ character, Jack Dalton, said his farewells in the February 1 episode of the CBS drama, and just a few short days later the series has announced Levy Tran will be George Eads’ replacement.
The actress will be playing Desiree Nguyen, a character who will go by the nickname Desi. She’ll actually be introduced on the series rather quickly. Her first episode will be February 15, so there will only be a small gap between George Eads’ departure from the show and Levy Tran’s introduction.
Deadline reports that while Levy Tran is being brought in to fill the gap left by George Eads, she isn’t being hired on as full-time addition yet. Instead, Desi will join the Phoenix Foundation in a recurring role. If she’s a hit with fans, CBS has an option on the actress to make her a MacGyver regular character. Of course, that will also rely on the show being picked up for a fourth season, which CBS has not committed to at this point.
Jack Dalton was set up to leave MacGyver during a preview that was revealed at the end of January. Then, during the February 1 episode, Jack Dalton joined a new task force with the U.S. government, saying goodbye to his pals at the Phoenix Foundation. His presence will likely still be felt in some ways, as he previously worked with new character Desi. Plus, the door is potentially open for the character to come back for a guest stint.
MacGyver has tinkered with its cast in the past. Sandrine Holt originally played Patricia Thornton, the director of Field Operations at the Phoenix Foundation, but was replaced by Meredith Eaton as Matty Weber. George Eads allegedly wanted to leave MacGyver for a while after a series of incidents that also came at a time when the show had left Los Angeles and relocated to Atlanta. Eads reportedly wanted out of his contract and he got his wish.
Levy Tran is most known for previous gigs in The Haunting of Hill House and Shameless. She's been in the business for a while and there's every reason to think we'll see her again on MacGyver next TV season. The show does decently in the ratings -- especially for a Friday night series -- and will be a good chunk of the way to the 100-episode syndication mark at the end of the season. So, it's likely to be back. Now, all Levy Tran has to do is capably step into the void left by Eads, a veteran actor. Not as if that will be tough to do or anything...
MacGyver airs new episodes on CBS on Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET. To take a look at the shows still set to air during midseason, take a look at our full schedule.
