Season: 1
Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:
Frank is an architect who is providing testimony to bring down his brother Joey's crime syndicate and drug business. He asks MacGyver for help in protecting and relocating him after his testimony, but he also wants to see his dying mother one last time, thus presenting a security dilemma. MacGyver breaks him out of federal custody in order to take him to his brother's mansion to see his mother, and then the two of them get trapped in the attic and need a miracle to escape.
Memorable Quote:
With all do respect...sir...I do...what I do...the way I do it. ~MacGyver
Highlight:
Nothing too exciting, only the greatest MacGyverism of all time. Add to it my second favorite musical score from the series and we have my second favorite scene of all time. More on this later.
Lowlight:
None.
None.
Best MacGyverism:
See highlight.
Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:
Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:
- Interesting how the first 3-4 seconds of the Season 1 theme song are out of tune and then it corrects itself. I've noticed this before but have never mentioned it.
- Wow, what an opening scene!! MacGyver is chilling on his apartment balcony looking down on the busy street and beach below while sipping on orange juice and wearing a mustard colored University of Minnesota sweatshirt. Then he heads down to the mailbox and pages through his legion of junk mail while complaining about the factory that must be putting it out. Then he cooly throws the mail away. All the while, we hear one of my favorite cues from the series: a special, jazzed up version of the opening theme. As Frank Bennett pulls up in his snazzy yellow sports car, we hear a few notes of what I'll call "The Bennett" theme (which is also great), but then things return to the fun MacGyver rendition. Love, love, love it! Randy Edelman crushes it once again.
- Nice moves as MacGyver gently and spryly hops over the railing multiple times. He's in super cool mode right now. There are times in the early season where his swagger gets on my nerves (like when he's overly smug around the ladies, e.g. Deathlock), but I love it here. Maybe it's more palatable since in this episode there's just a bunch of dudes.
- Given that Frank is about to testify and then wanting to disappear, why is he sitting at the cafe by a busy road in broad daylight?
- More great music as MacGyver unscrews the tires from the bad guys' cars. A great move, by the way.
- I'm a huge fan of the Romanus brothers - they are fantastic in this episode. They are brothers in real life and play brothers in the episode. I've always thought that Richard (who also appeared in Twice Stung) bore a strong resemblance to my family doctor growing up crossed with Greg Louganis.
- The scene in the lumber warehouse where they're arguing back and forth is out-of-this-world incredible. Outstanding writing, dialogue, and acting - even better than I remembered. And MacGyver's use of the wood and power saw to create a distraction is great too.
- We get a brief glimpse of shirtless MacGyver as he changes clothes in his apartment, and he's pretty thin and lean. If this show were on today, they'd pump him up with anabolic steroids to make him look like the Hulk.
- Given that Joey's henchmen picked Frank up outside MacGyver's apartment earlier, shouldn't Frank and MacGyver go somewhere else after escaping?
- Interesting clock in MacGyver's apartment.
- Carl Franklin, the actor who plays Marshall Wiley, is now a director with episodes of Homeland, The Newsroom, and House of Cards to his credit. He was in the news earlier this month when he was named the director of an upcoming Tupac biopic.
- Good scene where MacGyver meets the dying mother, and we see where things are headed as she wants to see Frank one last time. And then an even better scene as MacGyver sees Joey carrying flowers in the hospital hallway. They stare each other down before engaging in conversation. More great dialogue and acting - Richard Romanus steals every scene he's in.
- "Frank sent you here, huh?" ~Joey
- "He's worried about his mother." ~MacGyver
- "I'll worry about his mother. Tell Frank to worry about his brother. And give him my love." ~Joey
- Then Joey intentionally pushes MacGyver with his shoulder while walking by on his way to his mother's room. Tremendous scene.
- This is followed by another fantastic scene as MacGyver and Lieutenant Wiley are debating the merits of whether or not Frank should be allowed to risk visit his dying mother. The dialogue in this episode just keeps getting better and better. I understand where MacGyver is coming from, but it does seem like he's going out of his way to make Wiley the bad guy and not give him any credit for his seemingly reasonable position (i.e. that the greater good of Frank's testimony is not worth the risk of seeing his mother one last time). Though as MacGyver points out, a visit could probably be arranged with some security. In any case, this plot element adds a multidimensional complexity and depth to the story in that it's no longer a simple A vs. B conflict. And MacGyver's wearing a pretty cool shirt.
- "Lots of people think a car runs on gas. Only one-third correct." ~MacGyver
- More fun as MacGyver buys soda, dry ice, and fizzy candies from the perplexed convenience store owner who talks with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. Dry ice is awesome, by the way. I feel like it should be talked about more.
- Awesome MacGyverism that would be number one in most other episodes as he mixes the aforementioned ingredients to create what looks like smoke in the federal building. It seems to me like there would be some serious consequences for MacGyver after doing this (and also after he later wrecks the Feds' car and takes Frank from them), but I guess all is forgiven in the end.
- Now we get to the scene where MacGyver impersonates the tow truck driver for the federal marshalls. There's gold, there's pure gold, and then there's this scene. MacGyver is in his full on hick/goofball persona, and it results in absolute hilarity. The MacGyver character in Season 1 mode was really something special to behold. And I'm a poet and I don't even know it.
- 32:34 - some great music as MacGyver and Frank scale the wall, and then a clever plot turn as Joey impersonates Frank on the phone and convinces the cops to leave. As soon as they do, the security cameras come back on and the guard dogs come out, forcing MacGyver to move quickly (though initially he putzes while picking the lock and only shows urgency once the dogs are practically right on top of them.
- It's worth mentioning that the title of this episode is perfect and harkens back to the biblical story of the Prodigal Son.
- Mrs. Bennett's death scene is touching and emotional, with incredible acting by Robert Romanus. We also hear the somber music that is featured in Slow Death when the British doctor is putting the moves on Diana in the train. Angela Clarke, the actress who plays Mrs. Bennett, had appeared in shows going back to 1946, and she passed away in 2010 at the age of 101.
- What a scene as MacGyver trips Joey and the big henchman so that they fall down the stairs. That leads to this conversation:
- "Back stairs." ~Frank
- "Right." ~MacGyver
- Then they spot another guy with an automatic weapon coming towards them.
- "Attic." ~Frank
- "Right." ~MacGyver
- All this while set to more great Edeleman music. And to think we're just getting warmed up.
- MacGyver and Frank barricade themselves inside the attic, and it leads to a seemingly insurmountable problem.
- "What if try to get out the window?" ~Big guy
- "If the fall doesn't kill them, the dogs will." ~Joey
- And then MacGyver says to himself, "This problem's kinda tricky. No place to go and no way to get there."
- Of course the greater the obstacle, the more glorious the escape. And this one is the most glorious of them all. Time to crank up the volume to the max as we we hear my second favorite theme from the series. It's a shame that it doesn't last longer. It's the same theme that we hear in the Pilot as he's defusing the missile, but I associate it more with this episode.
- Now we get to the MacGyverism itself: cleaning fluid ("that's a start") camphor balls ("now we're cooking"), a pulley ("right"), horseshoes, a telescope, a long sock, and some cable ("Frank, I think we're in business) to make a rocket powered harpoon which fires the zip line across the courtyard and catches it on a tree. Just once in my life, I'd like to work "Camphor balls, now we're cooking" into a conversation. There's still time.
- We take a quick break from the scene to see Wiley leaving MacGyver's apartment and heading back to the Bennett house, and then we return back to the scene. The awesome music continues, and then soon we see Frank and MacGyver zip lining. I love how MacGyver's legs are dangling wildly just out of the reach of the dogs. And if you've read my book The Nightingale Moon, you'll know I'm a big fan of zip lines in general.
- I do wonder how it would be possible for:
- MacGyver to aim the rocket so precisely that the line would end up going right through the tree branches.
- Pulling the line back and having the metal piece get caught in between the branches.
- That little metal piece being strong enough to hold their body weight.
- But at the end of the day, I'm not here to nit pick on the 2nd greatest scene in tv history. Instead I choose to enjoy every second of it! The elements of the scene (the MacGyverism, the suspense, the music, the acting, and the challenge of the escape) all raise each other up and make this moment what it is.
- I always liked the part where Joey says "The bench, there's a bench, get the bench!" And then a great line at the end as he looks at them out the window: "Pretty slick Frankie. Even Papa would be proud." Though I think "pretty slick" is a bit of an understatement for what they just pulled off. It's great that the police now don't need a warrant to go arrest Joey (MacGyver says this), though I'm not sure what has changed in the last 10 minutes that makes that possible.
Conversation:
David Abramowitz, episode writer
The story came from Paul Savage a friend of mine...I was hired to rewrite him...such are the vagaries of our business...It was awkward for me, but Paul was a gentleman about it. The escape scene was great fun to write. We had outside scientists as consultants. Some at JPL or at the gemological institute...I think it was called...I called him up and said here's the problem...You're stuck in an attic...the bad guys are coming and there is no way out...Only a small window...but you're up too high to jump and dogs are below...He gave me a list of ingredients that one could find in an attic...you take ammonia, camphor balls, and an old telescope...some wire...and you have rocket fuel...after that make a harpoon, attach some wire and there you have it.
Outstanding dialogue, incredible plot, amazing acting, end to end action, first season magic, some of the series' very best music, and the 2nd greatest ever scene and best MacGyverism of all time. What more can I say?
Well, that's now 135 down and 1 to go. And I've decided to make number 1 a two-post deluxe special edition!
Well, that's now 135 down and 1 to go. And I've decided to make number 1 a two-post deluxe special edition!
The moment you've feared has arrived....but I don't think you'll find it as scary as you anticipated. This is the episode I've ranked #97. I certainly don't dislike it and was especially fond of the first and final third of the episode. Nice commentary from Abramowitz. I liked that he cited Paul Savage who wrote the story. It's odd to me that the Savage original was rewritten and I wonder what brought that about. Savage wrote with Steve Downing on "T.J. Hooker" before "MacGyver" so he wasn't an amateur as often is the case when a "story" is converted into a teleplay by a staff writer. Whatever the case, I liked seeing where MacGyver lived for the first time nine episodes into the series (aside from that ridiculous observatory he supposedly lived in on the Pilot) and did you notice that we saw stock footage of that same scene of MacGyver on his patio drinking orange juice a few episodes later in "Countdown"? Interesting though that MacGyver was a coffee drinker for this single episode given that later in the series he was lecturing Penny Parker about how bad it is for your stomach!
ReplyDeleteThe high point in the episode for me was at the lumber warehouse as I agree completely that Frank and Joey's conversation was first-rate, far and away the best exchange we'd seen between characters at that point in the series, and the Romanus brothers nailed the acting and the brotherly chemistry. MacGyver's buzzsaw bit was fun and clever, albeit a little overly convenient that the only one who could see enough to get out of the wood shavings debris was Frank, and I liked the sabotaged wheels on Joey and his goons' cars too. It was hard to miss that they went straight back to the one place where the mobsters found Frank in the first place (MacGyver's place) and that foreshadowed my one of my biggest grievances with the episodes....the unrelentingly incompetent work of the U.S. Marshals allegedly protecting Frank.
I liked the angle with the mother in that it presented more family drama that the actors did such fine work with, and the great scene with MacGyver and Joey in the hospital. My mind was also blown that the actress who played the mother lived almost 30 years after her character died! And while it was great to see the extent of MacGyver's humanity in the extent he was willing to go to keep his promise to Katherine Bennett, I wasn't nearly as keen as you on the middle third of the episode where he commits a couple dozen felonies without repercussion. I liked the dry ice bit though and back in 1985 that was my introduction to "dry ice", which fascinated me at the time as well (and still kind of does). I was decidedly less keen on his "tow truck rental" (is this a thing anywhere in the universe?!). His specific stunt with the tow truck escape was "pretty slick", but in deference to your love of the scene, I'll just say MacGyver's performance as a smartass tow truck driver conning the most hapless federal agents in world history was my least favorite moment in the episode and leave it at that.
I hadn't noticed that Countdown uses the same footage, and I just rewatched the opening scene. That's hilarious - stock footage from another episode just a few episodes previous! And good observation on the coffee - similar to how he was eating meat on the train in Slow Death. And thanks for taking it easy with your gripes on the middle part. One thing I don't think I've mentioned yet on the blog is how I used to have an audio cassette tape that I made to include my favorite quotes from the first 16 episodes. I remember some of them included:
Delete- Spencer gosh darn it
- Wanna come pick the boys up, I just did
- MACGYVER! (Koskov)
- Is your name MacGyver, what a coincidence so is mine
That's just a sample, and I remember I had the whole tow truck scene on the tape - I loved it, and this episode in general I watched a ton as a kid.
Two months had passed between the airing of "The Prodigal" and "Countdown" and I'm sure nobody was giving much consideration to future syndication at that point in the show's run, so it's easy to see why they'd think they could get away with rerunning that scene a few episodes apart. At the time I'm sure not a single viewer picked up on the replication.
DeleteYou had never mentioned the audio cassette tape with some of your favorite quotes but it sounds right up my wheelhouse. Even now I find myself throwing friends and acquaintances off balance with a seemingly out-of-nowhere quote lifted from MacGyver. I bet there are over 100 that I've deployed over the last 20+ years, in some cases the context of which would probably get me expelled from school with today's "zero tolerance" (classic example....on occasions where good-natured conflicts arose in 7th grade, I'd recite "one of us must die...you choose!!" from "Humanity". Needless to say, if I said that in school in 2015, I'd probably end up in Guantanamo.
Some other quotes (or parts of them) I remember from my tape:
Delete- this must be an E ride at Disneyland
- a couple of guys named Euclid and Archimedes, you may have heard of them
- applesuss and the flug platz
- and of course my favorite, "a trac-tor?"
I actually think I know where that tape may be. I should see if I can find it and play it. I like your strategy of keeping people off balance. And speaking of being kept off balance, there will be some characters keeping each other "off balance" in a review very soon!
Nicely played. Indeed there will be.
DeleteSurprised your tape has quotes from "Hellfire" as badly as you reviewed that one. Why only the first 16 episodes for your tape?
Those quotes were the highlight of the episode! I'm not sure why I stopped after "a tractor," maybe I just lost interest or motivation. But I do remember listening to the tape quite a bit.
DeleteI did enjoy the final third of the episode at the mansion but again must cringe at the stupidity of Wiley and his boys getting hustled once again and failing to hold back even one car at Joey's place when Joey placed the crank call to throw them off the trail. Beyond that though, the scene with Frank and mother was very touching and I may have even got a little misty-eyed watching it back in 1985. The Randy Edelman music was great as always (we'd have to wait 19 more episodes to hear from him again!) and kudos on picking up that the music during Katherine's death was recycled in that dreadful scene between Diana and the doctor on "Slow Death". The scene in the attic is definitely the scene that captured me most as a boy, although I still definitely associate the music you referred to as from the iconic scene in the opening gambit of the pilot. And like you, the term "camphor balls" is what stands out to me most when he's arranging the escape. In what way did "camphor balls" contribute to what was needed for that ploy to work? If you can squeeze in one more e-mail to Abramowitz I'd love to know how they worked into the plan! And just like in "The Survivors", MacGyver wins the lottery again with one of his "grappling hooks" finding the exact perfect place to land and help with his escape, even when fired from a telescope that was way too big to act as a cannon capable of launching that crowbar! It was all very dramatic and fun though and my mind was really blown by the "zipline" escape, definitely the most consequential of three times MacGyver has escaped via zipline ("Back from the Dead" and "Children of LIght" being the others).
ReplyDeleteI'll confess to being very taken aback that this episode was all the way at #2 for you but it certainly isn't without appeal and my mediocre ranking is more a sign of how many great episodes this show had rather than a serious slight against it as I still very much enjoy it.
If you are taken aback at my high ranking then I can be taken aback at your low one! But you're right, your #97 review wasn't too bad and nothing to be afraid of. I'll ask about the camphor balls.
DeleteOn the significance of the camphor balls, David Abramowitz answered, "It's the combination of camphor and ammonia that makes for a crude rocket fuel."
DeleteOne interesting anecdote about this episode is that the momentum the series had been gaining in the ratings in its terrible Sunday night slot for season 1 came to a screeching halt with this one. The series' numbers rose every week through its first seven episodes, but then the series took two Sunday nights off and aired "Hellfire" on Wednesday night....basically shopping around for a new timeslot since that's what networks inexplicably do when a show finally starts to gain momentum in a terrible timeslot. When "MacGyver" finally returned to Sunday nights on December 8, ratings were down a whopping 27% from "Last Stand" on November 17, 1985. Now "Last Stand" aired during the week ABC's very highly rated miniseries "North and South" was on, giving it tremendous (and unusually strong for ABC) advertising support leading up to its broadcast. Without the huge "North and South" assist, combined with the loss of momentum from being pre-empted two Sundays in a row, "MacGyver" came crashing back to Earth with this one and served as a reminder that "MacGyver" needed the Wednesday night timeslot shift that came a month later.
DeleteWow, Abramowitz got back to you already? He must have even more boring Friday nights than I do! I figured it must have been the chemical mix of MOTH balls (I'm sorry but that's all I've ever called them and can't bring myself to make the switch to "camphor") and lighter fluid. Thanks for asking as it was definitely a long-standing head-scratcher.
DeleteThanks for the ratings info. It's kind of amazing that MacGyver finds the camphor/moth balls as quickly as he does. Also I forgot to give a shoutout to the china cabinet - it takes about 300 bullets and still won't be dislodged!
DeleteI too love the cool opening of this one. MacGyver leaning over his balcony, totally laid back, sussing out his 10.00 appointment by his car. I love the railing hopping – sometimes it’s a light vault over, sometimes a climb and finally he takes it like a hurdle after the bad guys – 5 times in all! He then hotwires Frank’s car to follow them. Ace. This isn’t the only episode where he drinks coffee –I’ve noticed a few in season 1 but I’m not sure there’s any instances in later seasons.
ReplyDeleteWe get MacGyver climbing a chainlink fence too –just how many times has he done that over the series? Love the SAK lock pick of the car boot and the wheel nut loosening. I agree the acting between the brothers is excellent; we know its serious stuff - Joey is going to kill his own brother. Its almost ritualised here – something that just has to be done because he’s gone against his family but they can still have a long discussion before the formal killing is actually carried out.
As usual MacGyver is willing to go against the ‘regulations’ to help Frank see his mother (‘ I gotta warn you, I’m on Frank Bennett’ side) and, although I don’t think the writers had developed MacGyver’s own history at this point, with our knowledge from future episodes, we can imagine how the fictional character would have felt and how poignant the concept; he didn’t make it back in time to see his own dying mother. I like all his encounters with the other characters; MacGyver relating well to Frank, the sinister hospital meeting with Joey and his confrontations with the Marshall. Enjoyed him spotting the Feds’ car, walking past and then dropping down underneath it – he then appears to be covered in brake fluid when he gets up? I too, love the store scene with the pop and dry ice. He drinks some of the Coke before adding it to the mix, a bit like him drinking the wine in The Heist’ –its not something the future MacGyver would be comfortable with! Yet another episode that makes me think what a great criminal MacGyver would have been as he smokes out the frankly incompetent Feds and then hijacks their witness at which point their dumbness is unbelievable. I still quite enjoy his hick truck driver act although I can see it’s not to everyone’s taste.
We’re treated to another SAK lock pick under pressure and, as usual, Season 1 MacGyver stays totally cool in the attic; ‘I’m getting there’ while all hell is breaking loose at the door. Not quite as keen as you on the final zipwire escape.
I found the dying woman scenes pretty moving and maybe its all a bit too close to home to want to watch this one too many times over, so it fills the 65 slot for me. It’s still an excellent episode and I can see why you might have it pretty high.
On the fence climbing, I remember once as a kid climbing a fence and thinking I was cool like MacGyver, but the little twisty things on top of the fence still hurt my hands (even though there was no barbed wire). Maybe not all fences are as sharp, or maybe you just have to know how to position your hands.
DeleteI noticed the soda swipe too and it reminded me of the pilot where he eats a bite of the chocolate bar. Good point about his future character relating to seeing his mother - as you said, it probably wasn't thought out that far at this point in the series, but still fun to think about.
The only other coffee-drinking scene I can think of is "DOA: MacGyver" when MacGyver climbs aboard the Damian and Carol Varnay offers him a cup of her "coffee that tastes like diesel fuel".....and he had amnesia there so he forgot that coffee is "bad for your stomach". :) I'm probably forgetting other scenes though, especially from season 1.
DeleteThere's the "help on the coffee cup" scene in Last Stand.
DeleteOh sure. How could I have forgotten that?
DeleteAnd in Target MacGyver he drinks coffee with Harry in his cabin..
DeleteI don't love this one nearly as much as you do. I rank it at #116. I like the stunt with the sawdust, but the rest of the episode, it's enjoyable, but not one of those I have a really good time watching.
ReplyDeleteThe lemming cops who all high-tail over to Mac's place w/o leaving someone to watch the house? That's just stupid. Also - WITSEC is a pretty smart organization (no one in the history of WITSEC has ever been harmed by something from their past as long as they followed the rules) - so why didn't they just arrange for Frank to see his mother before they put him in? They have strategies and set-ups and all sorts of things they can put in place to make something like that work. It's complicated and still risky, but they have the ability to do it. The Feds turn this episode almost into a comedy of errors.
And we won't even get into the number of federal crimes Mac committed. /o\
Another good write up, Nick. Looking forward to the 2 part deluxe review of your number one pick. BTW, what's next for your blog after you reach #1?
ReplyDeleteThanks Lara! I have a few ideas for the blog's new direction - will reveal in my final post!
DeleteAny chance you'll get an RDA interview here at the end? I'm sure you've at least tried :)
ReplyDeleteYou're right, I did try! I sent a request to one of his associates a few weeks ago but haven't heard back. I'd say chances at this point are slim.
DeleteA fun piece of trivia as an afterthought here; have just watched this episode again and was pleased to spot the scary native mask from the river in 'Trumbo's World' as a decorative item in MacGyver's apartment! He must have brought it back with him! You can spot it in the shirt-changing scene.
ReplyDeleteNever noticed that before -- great spot!
DeleteThis one is definitely up in the top ten! Great opening indeed with the music, rail jumps, cool yellow sports car and jumper which MacGyver later changes to a boring stripey grey shirt then to another kewl multicolour on black one.
ReplyDeleteI used to think that coffee was unhealthy but it’s actually good for you. I see MacGyver changed his mind about it the opposite way around.
Nice moves from him while getting in and sneaking around in the yard – an episode when he doesn’t land terribly from the smallest heights! In the later seasons he has a spectacular and very dangerous-looking way of climbing chainlink fences that do not have barbed wire on top. Next, when he unscrews the tires, a music similar to that nice one from The Gauntlet opening gambit’s key retrieval.
The brothers’ conversation in the warehouse was acted well but the dialogue itself is another one of those painfully awkward repetitive drawn-out ones to give MacGyver time though not as terrible as I remembered, and the conversation in the hospital between Joey and MacGyver makes up for it.
As for your comment about the pretty, thin and lean shirtless MacGyver at the apartment (I had to trade the quotation marks for the extra comma...), I prefer him this way over his heavier though still not overweight look of the later seasons. You can see the difference, for example, in The Black Corsage when he props up the awning in the amusement park.
I remembered the epic attic escape (my most liked zipline of the three in the series) but not the tow truck one which is now my favourite part of the episode as a unique chain of MacGyverisms! Usually they are to achieve one goal, but here his next step is based on how people react to his previous one. It’s brilliant, more like something you see in The Mentalist! The music while he makes the phone call to rent the truck then disables the marshals’ car is perhaps my favourite in the series – I wish the opening theme was more similar to it – in a draw with the first few seconds of Trunbo’s World. A perfectly timed subtle little head gesture to signal Frank when to get in, and this “hick/goofball persona” is the best! Move over, Dexter!
I watched the scene with a friend of mine who’s very good with cars and he first pointed out that the truck’s cable was reeling out when it was supposed to be reeling in, then he said that it cannot release a car on a press of a button, but they would have to get out of the truck to unhook the car, which made me realise that the piece of wood wasn’t there just for distraction!
I liked that the brothers were brothers in real life though I don’t think they were as similar as Joey says.
The “No place to go and no way to get there” is another memorable quote indeed!
The Final Analysis is my words exactly, and, Nick, how about a podcast of your digital version of that favourite quotes tape, extended to cover the whole series!
Thanks Rita, I think you're the first I've heard from who likes this one as much as I do! I can picture that subtle head gesture you mention that he makes to Frank -- great stuff. Maybe I'll have to a favorite MacGyver quotes podcast that you suggest!
DeleteThat would be great! Memorable episode indeed! There was an occasion when I was staring at the screen in utter disbelief as you had one of my top 10s in the hundreds and another one vice versa, one of them is coming up soon!
ReplyDeleteDecent episode. Interesting to see the two Romanus brothers go head to head. Unfotunately fornthem their careers were bth in downward spirals by this time.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone identified the location of MacGyver's beachside apartment yet? I can't figure it out.
Did anybody notice the man watching the whole filming process during the tow truck scene? You can see him there when the federals stop the car and when MacGyver gets there in the truck. You can tell he is enjoying being there.
ReplyDeleteNice episode, btw!
I hadn't noticed him before but I went back and looked, and I see him in the window!
DeleteI was just watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure and noticed Francis
ReplyDeleteBuxton's house is the same big house used in this episode. I recognized the staircase.
You're absolutely right. I've never seen any Pee Wee movies, but I just skimmed through it to try and find the house and I found it at the 22 minute mark.
DeleteDon't think I'd rate this one so highly, though there are some great scenes. The opening is great - very laid back. And there are some excellent MacGyverisms. A solid episode with some good dialogue. Perhaps I'm just missing his globetrotting escapades.
ReplyDeleteIt one of my favorites of the first season but your reasoning has definitely opened the episode up to me. I certainly appreciate it more.
ReplyDeleteNot* one of my favs...
Delete