Season: 3
Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:
MacGyver and Jack Dalton transport a wealthy woman and her newly purchased jewels to France, but upon arrival they learn that the woman is an impostor, and they are detained by the French police. They escape and find the woman at a wine cellar where she and an associate are selling the jewels to the highest bidder. MacGyver is captured, but Pete and Jack come to the rescue with Pete posing as one of the bidders.
Memorable Quote:
Oh my god. I'm gonna have to trust you. ~Pete
Highlight:
The first five minutes are amusing as MacGyver gets home from a long mission and is looking forward to sleeping but is unpleasantly surprised by Dalton.
Lowlight:
The Liane character (the Elena Iturbe impostor) is hard to figure out since she makes it clear that she only cares about herself but also doesn't want MacGyver to be hurt. Might have been better to remove her moral ambiguity and just make her the auctioneer and primary villain.
Best MacGyverism:
Ties two nitrogen canisters to a large cask and knocks off the valves which propels the cask forward to break down the wall.
Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:
- Watching this one with the MacGyver Project Mom! Will include her thoughts as well.
- The bad guy is played by Vernon Wells, not the baseball player but the actor who I remember more for his role as Catlin the casino owner in Season 1's "The Heist."
- Cool scene where MacGyver figures out the bad guys' location by looking at a map and estimating the time, rate, and distance that the pick-up helicopter originated from.
- "MacGyver and Jack just got over that barbed wire pretty easily." ~Mom
- Pete and Jack knock out and tie up the real Herr Bauman in his hotel room, and then they decide to have Pete impersonate him. Shouldn't they have come to that conclusion before subduing him, or else why subdue him? Mom agrees.
- "That's quite a fake beard on Jack. Where did he get it from?" ~Mom
- "Why do they have nitrogen gas in the wine cellar?" ~Mom. And you wonder where I get my critical mind from.
- "Way to go Pete!" ~Mom on the moment where Pete kicks one of the bad guys.
- "This one wouldn't have been as high on my list. And why do they call it 'The Odd Triple?'" ~Mom
Final Analysis:
Mom may be right that I have it rated a smidge too high, but I do find it fun to watch. I like the teamwork between MacGyver and Jack and also like that Pete plays a big role and comes to MacGyver's rescue. Also the private auction and French winery locale are cool. Next up, it's time for a memorable episode which I imagine is a favorite for many fans.
I'm sort of with your mom on this one. It was an enjoyable episode with a good mix of humor and adventure--in many ways exactly the kind of formula that works in a Jack Dalton episode--but the execution just seemed a little average. I can't really put a finger on why as it's certainly fun. In addition to MacGyver's exasperation coming home to find out Jack Dalton has moved in with him, taped over his classic Western collection, and gotten them involved in another hustle involving more transcontinental air travel, I also loved Pete's response to the phone message where MacGyver had accompanied to Jack and Pete looks down to the newspaper to see what really happened. It was my favorite moment of Pete's fury with Jack.
ReplyDeleteAnd the con job by Elena Itirbe impostor was pretty clever as well. The ending with Pete impersonating a participant in the jewel auction was satisfactory. And yes, Vernon Wells must simply have a "jewel heist heavy" kind of face given that he played one twice on MacGyver. All in all it was a solid episode, but I agree that Lee Ann wasn't much fun as a sidekick or a villain. No real criticisms...I guess this episode just didn't instill any passion in me. I ranked it #117.
As for why it's called "The Odd Triple", I'm guessing it merely means MacGyver, Jack and Pete joining forces in a pinch despite their differences.
By the way, I have a pretty good idea what your next episode is gonna be. Eager to see if I'm right.
ReplyDeleteSo far I've watched #69 and #68 with Mom - hope to have #69 posted later tonight.
DeleteIn general, the Jack Dalton is a good edition the series. This is an enjoyable episode.
ReplyDeleteI watched this one just before Ma Dalton and have probably had enough Jack Dalton episodes to last me a while now. The opening shots are very similar if not identical! An enjoyable episode in many ways but could have been so much more exciting given the transatlantic setting and the threat level from an apparently ruthless villain with quite a number of gun-toting goons.I find MacGyver's reaction to Jack somewhat over-the-top; its somehow better worked and more amusing for me in Ma Dalton. I do enjoy it whenever MacGyver flies a plane; its seems such a cool thing to do! Wouldn't they have been suspicious of Leanne taking straight off from the French airfield - what about immigration control and customs and why does Jack speak Spanish ('Momentito') to the French police - its bound to annoy them! Their double act with the simultaneous punch escape is amusing but what a terrible advert for the French judicial system; torture, burning passports and threatening Pete with deliberately delaying the investigation! In the more slapstick episodes, MacGyver often seems like a rabbit in the headlights when a gun is pointed at him and no exception her at the vineyard.. Talking of rabbits, where did the real ,white, obviously domesticated (but presumably meant to be wild) rabbit come from? I enjoyed MacGyver escaping from the rope by pouring wine down his arm but found the main Macgyverism, however spectacular the outcome, just too slow and drawn-out. And why is he so nice to Leanne after the mess she got them into? I agree she would have been better remaining an out-and-out villain. Always enjoy MacGyver falling over with the momentum of his over-enthusiastic punch as in the denouement here. Ranked somewhere in the 90's for me, I think.
ReplyDeleteGreat episode but there's one question not leaving my mind. Why on earth did Pete rush the auction like that? He had a really good chance to delay the whole process and give Jack time but instead he started giving high bids and nearly won within just minutes. Even when the bad guy told them to take their time. Really stupid move I think, he could've done better.
ReplyDeleteThey showed this episode on METV. Macgyver and Jack were trying not to set off the alarm, but a bunny rabbit set the alarm off! ROFL! What I want to know is, who's bunny rabbit was it!? :)
ReplyDeleteSome incredibly wooden acting from Vernon wells, it almost had to be deliberate it was so bad. Still, solid character performances from Bruce McGill and Dana Elcar rescued the episode!
ReplyDeleteA bit of a middling episode for me. Jack is funny as usual, and there are some amusing moments, but there just aren't enough MacGyverisms or tense moments to make it exciting. Vernon Wells is back but isn't nearly as suave or menacing as he was in The Heist.
ReplyDeleteApart from that Liane character (she turns around a little too quickly) this is pretty fun. But as your Mom said a lot of god-machine moments - like why would anyone put up a 3 meters high barb wire fence and then stand a canister and a dumpster in front of it just to make it easier to climb over? A random domestic bunny appears in a winery just to trip an alarm system so bad it can be bypassed by just stepping a little higher. Why didn't the bad guy just shoot Liane and MacGyver on the spot? The negotiation room is comfortably sitting next to the wine cellar.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's fun when you don't ask too much or think too much. There are of course these god-machine moments in pretty much every episode but these sting episodes kinda just rely on it.
Oh by the way, it seems that "Wanna dance?" line just after Mac and Jack punch the French police was improvised because there is a laughter right after it. It's good to see the cast had fun.
ReplyDeleteOne more observation (I know, I should have written them all down and write them into one comment instead of spamming), more not so great accents. Worst offender is the bad guy, I don't know if he was supposed to be French or not but he doesn't even try. Liane is pretty good but she slips sometimes (heli instead of eli). Pete hast to outdo himself trying both French and German accents, fails with both but the way he says "Johann!" is both pretty good and amusing as well. Dalton's question about toilets sounded pretty good to me but I don't speak French, I only know French English accentaas I have a couple of French colleagues.
ReplyDelete"Why do they have nitrogen gas in the wine cellar?"
ReplyDeleteIt would be used to displace the air in the wine bottles in order to prevent oxidation.