#136: The Mountain of Youth

Season: 7

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

MacGyver is in Asia to rescue Jack Dalton, who is looking to bottle up and sell magic water from a fountain of youth.  They stumble upon an H-Bomb manufacturing plant run by an army general and a rogue Chinese scientist.  They steal a videotape as evidence of the plot, and Jack abandons his plan to sell the water because it would attract media and con men to the region. 

Memorable Quote:

"You and Dalton, in his own way, have helped me to journey to the truth of things beyond the valley [pause] and inside of myself." ~Mukti

Highlight: 

The end credits, because it meant the show was over.

Lowlight: 

Baba, the old man, steps out in front of the soldiers for no reason and is promptly shot.  All the soldiers then stand around with one uttering calmly, “they’re getting away,” as Baba limps into a nearby cave.

Best MacGyverism: 

MacGyver uses a piece of broken glass from Jack’s test tube to cut into the wire that controls the lock on the cell door.

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• The episode opens with a shot of a Mongolian-looking temple superimposed in front of a fake mountain backdrop.  A voice belonging to no one in particular talks of a stranger who will “come from the sky out of the west”.  The next shot is of MacGyver dropping into an empty field with a rainbow-colored parachute and wearing a buttoned up collared shirt.  One minute later, Jack appears out of nowhere to greet him. 
• MacGyver finds the remnants of a plane that’s ripped apart in a million pieces, yet Dalton is completely fine.
• We learn Dalton was able to convince the Phoenix board to pay for a trip to find the fountain of youth.
• Now we get to Mukti, a docile woman who has befriended Jack.  Jack tells MacGyver that Mukti is 42 to shock MacGyver and demonstrate the power of the water.  To my eye, she does look younger than 42 but it’s not a total stretch.  According to IMDB the actress was 30 at the time.
• Baba, the spiritual leader of the village, seems like Mukti’s father, but then we learn that he’s actually 167 years old and that "he was 36 when your Abraham Lincoln was elected president."  He sits in a throne in front of a temple and has long, white hair with a hat that looks like a giant piece of carpet in the shape of a Mohawk.  He’s flanked by a large bald man that doesn’t say much but seems friendly. 
• Baba and Mukti speak in philosophical tones, saying things like, "He [MacGyver] will solve our problem.  It is written," and "This man is strong of will and mind.  He is the one," though it’s unclear what they need or what MacGyver ever does for them, except for taking home a videotape of a bomb-making plant that Mukti hadn’t even known existed.
• Soon we meet Samad, the leader of the army and twin brother of Mukti, which is supposed to surprise us and does considering Samad is Hispanic.
• After the Chinese scientist threatens MacGyver and is about to leave the jail cell, MacGyver says something to him that sounds like “Pooka chi.”  This is probably meant as a dig, but unfortunately I have no idea what it means.
• Our first shake! 
• After MacGyver et al escape from the plant with the videotape, they are next shown waltzing around the temple grounds.  I guess the army soldiers were willing to build an H bomb but unwilling to follow MacGyver into the holy temple or intercept the rescue helicopter. 

Final Analysis:

This is sometimes called "The Lost Episode" because it was not going to air, but the powers that be decided to show it one month after the series finale.  We would all have been better off if it had remained locked away.  I don’t have the skills as a writer to properly explain how bad this episode is.  If you had a friend in town visiting and they had never seen MacGyver before, this is the very last episode I would choose to show them – that’s why it’s at the bottom of my list. 

Well there you have it, the worst MacGyver episode of all time.  It can only get better from here!