Riley Davis

**Riley Davis** is a member of The Phoenix Foundation and has an impressive computer hacking background. She is a part of MacGyver's team.

## Early Life

She is the daughter of Diane and Elwood Davis. She is the unofficial stepdaughter of Jack Dalton, who she sees as a father figure. Her father was abusive towards her mother, something which Riley was aware of, and her parents split up at some point in her childhood and that's when her father left.

When she was twelve, her mother Diane began dating Jack Dalton. Both Riley and Diane believed he sold bathroom tile, although at the time he was actually working for the CIA. The two became close, with Jack saying "I love that little girl (Riley), I always have".

One day Diane's ex-returned and began beating her up, so Jack responded by severely beating the ex to scare him away. After that Jack claims he "left for [Riley's] sake" as he "didn't want to screw her up". Riley resented him from then on because she had viewed him as "basically" her father and he had left.

Over the years Riley developed her hacking skills, using the name Artemis37. At one point she hacked into the Pentagon just to see if she could. She was later blackmailed into hacking into the NSA when her mother's life was threatened. She deliberately hacked it badly in order to get caught and was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison.

She served two years in prison, which was an extremely traumatic experience for her, before being released at the request of MacGyver after Jack Dalton recommended her hacking skills to DXS. She is apart of Matty's team with MacGyver, Jack, Letty, Lore, Bozer and Leanne.

## Season 1

When DXS was looking for a capable hacker, Riley was recommended by Jack Dalton, who had known her as a child. She was released from prison in order to help them *(although she remained on probation)*.

She and Jack soon learned to work together and she also made friends with Letty Morelli, Angus MacGyver and his roommate Wilt Bozer.

In the Season 1 finale, Riley was forced to kill Daniel Holt from the Organization in order to save her own life. Despite her friends comforting her, Riley was visibly shaken by the trauma, giving her friends cause for concern.

## Personality

Throughout her teenage years, Riley knows how to take care of herself and puts the people closest to her above her own needs. While she is snarky, sarcastic and has a smart remark for any situation, she does have a good heart, and this, combined with her sense of loyalty, is why she allowed herself to be arrested and sent to prison to, not only foil the enemy's plot to make her steal a cyber-weapon, but to secure her mother's safety.

One of Riley's biggest traits is her tendency to hold a grudge. This was especially prominent with her initial interactions with her former father-figure, Jack Dalton, where she often made snide remarks about him. However, after both managed to clear their air after an intense mission, she sets aside her animosity towards him, but she still makes smart remarks at his expense, only more light-hearted.

She has a tendency to play hard to get, as she noticed Bozer's attraction to her right away and in exchange for helping her out, she would give him a digit to her phone number.

## Skills

* **Genius Level Intellect**: Riley is highly gifted with her intelligence rivaling that of MacGyver but instead of specializing in science and engineering, she specializes in computers.
	+ **Computer Specialist**: Despite being self-taught, Riley is a highly skilled computer specialist, able to crack even the most complicated codes. Her skills in technology is only matched by MacGyver's scientific aptitude, enabling her to think of solutions quickly if the problem is technologically-related.
	+ **Expert Computer Hacker**: Because of her resume, Riley is an expert hacker, able to hack the NSA with ease to steal a cyber-weapon and exploit weakness in enemy computer systems.
* **Trained hand-to-hand Combatant**: Being trained by Thornton, Riley is able to handle herself in a fight and is capable enough to fight off Daniel Holt on her own.

## Relationships

### Friends

#### **Jack Dalton**

Riley regarded Jack as a father figure after he began dating her mother but later grew to resent him after he left them when she was twelve after beating up Riley's father. Later the two began to work well together and Riley eventually forgave Jack for leaving her after MacGyver told her that Jack had never doubted her when it appeared she had betrayed them. Jack is really protective of Riley, and Riley and Jack again start to have a father/ daughter relationship after overcoming some trust issues.

#### **Angus MacGyver**

MacGyver and Riley quickly became friends after he impressed her by picking her handcuffs after first meeting her. Despite this, MacGyver admits that he "had [his] doubts" about whether or not Riley had betrayed him and The Phoenix Foundation when she was blackmailed into hacking for a group of terrorists who were threatening her mother's life. Riley shows deep concern for Mac when he has to go undercover as a prison inmate and offers advice on how to deal with prison. Later Mac admits that he found his time in prison very difficult and "doesn't know how [she] did it". After Bozer tells him that Riley has never had a white Christmas, MacGyver builds a snow machine for her when they are celebrating at his house. As Season 2 and 3 progresses Riley and Mac have a bond and connection that gets stronger, she can tell when he is lying and also they can talk to each other about anything.

#### **Wilt Bozer**

Bozer helps Riley by posing as her boyfriend in order to present a good image to her parole officer. In return, she gives him one digit of her phone number every week. Bozer has a very clear crush on Riley and while she admits that she finds him "cute" it is not clear whether or not it is reciprocated. She later gives him the last three digits of her phone number as a Christmas present. As Season 2 and 3 progresses they seem to be like more brother and sister than anything else.

## Notes

* Was originally sentenced to 5-years in jail, but instead is part of The Phoenix Foundation, and still on probation.
* Jack Dalton is revealed to have previously dated her mom, Diane Davis.
* Killed *Daniel Holt*
* Jack punched Riley's abusive dad for hitting her mom.
* Her old hacker handle was *Artemis37*
* As revealed by Sparky the Robot, Riley is prone to loud snoring; a fact her friends find hilarious.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Rising
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Scissors
3. ↑ Cigar Cutter
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Muscle Car + Paper Clips