#105: Renegade

Season: 4

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

A vial of anthrax is stolen from the Phoenix Foundation by Steve Morrison, an ex-Navy Seal who once saved MacGyver's life on a mission.  Morrison was discharged from the Seals after behavioral changes resulting from a head injury, and now he plans to sell the anthrax to some wealthy criminal buyers.  MacGyver intercepts the buy at a state park, and Morrison saves MacGyver's life once again. 

Memorable Quote:

"He was part of your team.  Your own man needed help.  And you treated him like a number.  Good job!"  ~MacGyver

Highlight:

Fun little moment at the 8:20 mark when MacGyver is holding and inspecting a microscope and Koz (who happens to be Flounder from Animal House) says "Put that down, MacGyver, please," to which MacGyver responds with a great facial expression.  

Lowlight:

The beginning scene is a little slow and drawn out.  Not significantly, though.  I have to pick something. 

Best MacGyverism:

Uses floor lamp to blind motion detector, allowing movement to reach and defuse dynamite.  

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

• We're back in the Phoenix Research lab!  Last time we were here, in Kill Zone, dogs were aging before our eyes.  Now, anthrax is being tested.  Fun times!
• Lets jump to the action at the end.  At the 33:20 mark, we see what can only be described as an "interesting" look by MacGyver with a leather jacket, sunglasses, long hair, and collared shirt buttoned with the collar turned up.  Meanwhile, Pete is rocking a Herringbone suit (hat tip to my wife for teaching me a new word – Herringbone).
• 36:20 - MacGyver wipes out on his motorcycle due to a fallen tree trunk.  Instead of just picking up the bike (which doesn't look that heavy) and guiding it over the trunk, he finds a strip of wood like a plank and creates a little ramp, and then he backs up and revs the bike up to full speed and zooms over the tree.  A few minutes earlier, he snuck off and grabbed the bike and sped away, leaving the owner to come to Pete saying,  "That guy said you’d pay for my bike, 500 bucks."  Don't mess with leather-clad, motorcycle-riding MacGyver. 
• Not sure what is going on with Morrison.  We're led to believe he's a good guy because he saved MacGyver's life, even though he's forceful with his wife, wants to sell anthrax to terrorists for money, and tried to blow up his commander with dynamite. He did get a head injury which is supposed to explain his erratic behavior, but maybe he could have seemed a little more redeeming.  And for a Navy Seal, not a great plan to just turn your back on the bad guys and walk away with the money.
• 42:00 – Nice lasso/lariat skills from MacGyver
• 43:40 - Great use of an oar as a weapon.  I think an oar would be handy in a fight.  
• Strong performance by Marshall Teague as Steve Morrison.  Both great names, by the way.  We also saw him in MacGyver's Women as Kid Curry, who as of this post is still on the Top 5 Villains list.  Speaking of the list, Hans and Max check in all the way at #2, right behind Ralph.  
• When Marie Morrison was writing all those letters to the commander asking for help, couldn't she have just sent one to MacGyver?  He would have helped for sure.
  
  
  

Final Analysis:

For some reason I hardly remembered this one at all.  Something tells me that maybe USA Network didn't show this one for some reason, though that may not be correct.  In any case, I like this episode - good acting and an exciting ending.  Happy Labor Day everyone! 

#106: For Love or Money

Season: 2

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

MacGyver teams up with Diana, an agent guided by money, to rescue a human rights advocate in Czechoslovakia.  They break into a hospital and free the man, and they also rescue his wife.  The GRU follows them to the US, where they have a showdown at the LA zoo.  

Memorable Quote:
"Well, which you save rather save, MacGyver?  Your pride, or a man’s life?"  ~Pete

Highlight:

I enjoy the part (29:00 mark) where they get the jump on the two GRU agents in the countryside. First, MacGyver sneaks up behind one goon and wraps duct tape around his eyes.  Then, after having captured the second one, MacGyver covers his mouth with duct tape while he is in mid-sentence.  

Lowlight:

Weird scene at the 39:40 mark.  While MacGyver and Diana are waiting for the @#$@ to hit the fan at the zoo, Diana brings up a guy who she met after their embassy mission 3 years ago.  She fell for him, but "he wasn't my lover, he was KGB, trying to get those papers back.  I found out and he tried to kill me.  I was faster, and I killed him."  Then she starts to cry and MacGyver hugs her, but then she pushes him away.  It's a strange, out of place minute that has no real point or relevance to the rest of the episode.   

Best MacGyverism:

Puts carbon black and helium inside a rubber glove.  Then duct tapes the glove inside a tray of potatoes.

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

• I love the Season 2 Phoenix Foundation where you see lots of people working outside Pete's office in the shadow of a big, orange map of the world.  What a cool place to work!  
• I'm not sure that "private investors" would really pay half a million dollars to bring a human rights leader to the US, but it's a nice thought. 
• I like Diana, despite her greedy nature.  She’s cute, capable, a little spunky, and has a good heart.   I'm not going to add her to the love interest list because there's no indication of any past or present romance between her and MacGyver, but I will add her to the wingman list, or in this case, wingwoman.  It's too bad she's not in more episodes - she and MacGyver have some fun back and forth moments. 
• A few times it is mentioned that MacGyver broke someone out of this particular hospital last year.  I had remembered that and had thought that it was the same place from A Prisoner of Conscience, but it's clear to me now that that's not the case since that was Russia and this is Czechoslovakia.  
• Runner-up for memorable quote:
• "I wanted something [car] that wouldn't attract attention.  ~Diana
• "Even when they see us pushing it down a highway?  ~MacGyver
• When I was 9 or 10, I was playing 2nd base in an evening baseball game when a ground ball took a bad hop and bopped me in the nose.  I left the game to go home and remember that this episode was on as a re-run.  Not sure why I remember that, but I do.  
• Once they get Dubcek in the van, he says they need to go back or else his wife will be in trouble, yet for some reason he doesn't say a word up to that point.  
• 33:20 mark - Nice move from MacGyver taking the explosive out of the grenade.  As Dubcek says, you trick them instead of killing them. 
• Is it really worth the GRU's time and effort to come to America to kidnap/kill a human rights leader?  I guess it is.  And couldn't Viera have just done it at any time without the two guys having to get involved?  And why do they choose to meet at a zoo, the most public place imaginable? 
• 33:20 - good use of the bullet proof vest.  I was very intrigued by bullet proof vests as a kid and wondered why more people like MacGyver didn't wear them.  In fact, I still wonder why MacGyver doesn't always wear one.
• 44:06 - quite simply, an incredible move by MacGyver as he swims through the air while free falling and then landing on the bad guys.  If you only watch one 10 second segment of this episode, make it this one.  
• Actually, the next 10 seconds are pretty good too as Diana lays out Viera in an open field tackle. I think the Eagles' defense could use her. 
• OK, now the next 10 seconds are good too!  A GRU agent on the overpass yells down at MacGyver.
• "Freeze!" ~GRU agent
• "Take 'em Pete."  ~MacGyver
• "And I'm supposed to look, eh?" ~GRU agent
• MacGyver shrugs as Pete comes from behind and whacks him. 
• Finally, this fun scene ends as MacGyver picks up a yellow plastic toy and battles the other agent who has a knife.  Meanwhile Pete just calmly watches the whole thing from above.  
• During the denouement, MacGyver mentions how the Phoenix Foundation takes care of all his expenses.  How awesome would that be?  I love the Phoenix Foundation.

Final Analysis:

Fun episode here.  I didn't remember it too well, and in retrospect, I should have had it ranked higher.  I like Diana, and there's some good dialogue and witty banter.  Also it moves at a good pace and there's not a dull moment (except for the minute described in the lowlight).  This was the finale of season 2, and as I mentioned in my Hind-Sight review, it is funny how much more pedestrian season finales were in the 80's.  If this were today, there'd be some explosive, dramatic cliffhanger to try and keep people interested for 3 months.  

Also I've started posting a "guess the quote" to the next episode in my countdown a day or two before my post over at this forum on Kate Ritter's RDA site.  It's a fun forum with some very knowledgable MacGyver fans!  

#107: The Treasure of Manco

Season: 5

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

MacGyver is in Peru to attend the funeral of an old friend's archaeologist father who was murdered.  They resume the late father's quest to find the Incan Treasure of Manco and get caught in the middle of some civil unrest between the army and the rebels, who are led by another former friend of theirs.  Eventually they all meet in the ancient temple and discover the secret behind the Treasure of Manco. 

Memorable Quote:

"Ah, I love this kind of stuff."  ~MacGyver

Highlight:

The part where they find the well, and MacGyver drops a rock down to see how far it is.  

"I can’t see the bottom.  It’s a long way down."  ~Ramon

MacGyver drops a rock and makes some great facial expressions until the rock hits bottom 5 seconds later. 

"A looonnng way." ~MacGyver

When I was a kid, I loved this part.  For some reason the idea of a super-deep well captured my imagination, and I also liked MacGyver's perplexed reaction.  Some physics websites that I went to say that 5 seconds of free fall = 125 meters of height, which surprised me because I would have guessed much more than 125.  But it's still a fun scene.  

Lowlight:

I think the opening scene in 1540 could have been done a little less campy.

Best MacGyverism:

Nothing really to choose from here, at least in the traditional sense.  I guess I'll go with figuring out that the temple is a grain elevator. 

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

• Whoa, the opening caption says "Peruvian Andes, 1540!"  As Frank Sinatra said, "Come fly with me, let's go down to Peru!"
• What do you know, Peru looks a lot like Western Canada.  I know, I know, I've run that joke into the ground. 
• So it's 1540, and here we are in the temple.  Manco, the Incan chief, is giving another Incan the headpiece, which is the key to the treasure.  Not a lot of people around to experience this momentous event - only two guards on the inside and two on the outside.  The recipient of the headpiece looks like he could pass for an Incan, and then we see Manco, who looks like someone the producers pulled off the backlot. Let's check IMDB....yep, his name's Alexander Kirkwood.   
• "Maria, your father was a brilliant archaelogist.  How do you expect to find something he couldn’t?" ~MacGyver.   We need some Debbie Downer music - wah wah wah. What happened to the MacGyver who motivates and inspires, Ugly Duckling style? And a little bit of overacting from my man in this scene.
• 6:34 mark.  It's a llama crossing.  The llama shepherd doesn’t even look at the oncoming car which stops about a foot away and instead just crosses the street. Can't have an episode in Peru without at least one llama. 
• 9:08 - It's Gregory Sierra, who we'll see a few times in the series.  No one plays the Latin American dictator any better. 
• If Maria really believes Enrique killed her father, probably not the best move to reveal that they have the headpiece.  And why was the headpiece not stolen when the father was killed?
• 15:56 - Uh oh, MacGyver’s getting into preach mode.  Preach, brother!  "All right, listen up Ramon.  I don’t buy into guns or vigilante justice.  Now I can’t tell you not to defend yourself the best you know how.  But I can tell you that that ache in your gut to kill Enrique is dulling your senses.  And you better get a hold if it before you do something you regret.  Now let’s go."
• "Those two peaks are called Los Dos Pumas.  My father and his father before him used them as landmarks." ~Ramon.  So it took Maria's father, the brilliant archaeologist, 15 years to realize that the cats on the headpiece were connected to a mountain called Los Dos Pumas, and it took MacGyver 10 seconds.  That's why he's MacGyver. 
• 44:31 - a very soft shake.  
• I like Enrique, seems like a good guy.  He's not physically imposing enough to be an ideal wingman for MacGyver, but he does run a rebel army which should count for something.  Let's add him to the list.  

Final Analysis:

I like this one.  Not a whole lot of memorable moments aside from the rock falling down the well, but nothing bad either.  And I like Maria, Ramon, and Enrique - too bad we didn't see them in any other episodes.  Have a good weekend, everyone!  

#108: Gunz 'N Boys

Season: 7

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

Tensions are heating up between two rival street gangs.  In the background, a former disgraced police officer known as The Gunman has been selling guns to the gangs and playing them off each other.  The Gunman orchestrates a showdown between the gangs, but MacGyver and the gang members' parents show up just in time.  

Memorable Quote:

"Put the damn guns down and think!  Think!"  ~Stumpy

Highlight:

I like where the moms and grandmas show up at the gang showdown and everyone puts their guns down.  Not sure it would happen like this in real life but who says everything on MacGyver has to be realistic?

Lowlight:

I guess I'll go with the mom getting shot in the drive-by shooting, though fortunately she survives. 

Best MacGyverism:

Ignites alcohol-soaked wood to burst a bung on a steel keg, which causes the keg to shoot like a cannon and break down the locked door. 

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

• In the suspenseful scene where MacGyver is alone in The Gunman's liquor shipping office, for some reason I was remembering that MacGyver just nosed around and left. So I was a bit surprised when he got whacked upside the head by The Gunman. 
• I like "Stumpy" as a nickname.
• 28:57 mark.  MacGyver has a list of 3 people in a particular white neighborhood who are subscribers to a magazine called Black City Beat, and he knows one of them is The Gunman.  The first name is crossed off, as if to suggest MacGyver checked that house first, and now he's on to the second one.  But we can clearly see the 2nd name says Koby Minton, and MacGyver knows that the guy's name is Minton from earlier.  I should be a tv show quality and control editor. 
• And why does MacGyver just go to his house by himself?  He's just going to knock on his door and sell girl scout cookies?  Sometimes MacGyver doesn't always think things through like he should.  
• The Gunman has a Nick Nolte/Gary Busey look to him.  
• At the end after The Gunman is hanging out the window and MacGyver pulls him back in, The Gunman just surrenders and allows MacGyver to take him downstairs and display him in front of the gang members.  Not tied up with handcuffs or rope.  Maybe he didn't want to get shot by the gang members, but I would think he'd put up a little more of a fight. 

Final Analysis:

Didn't have too much to say about this one.  It's hard sometimes during the more serious ones for the thoughts to flow.  Not a bad episode, but not much fun to be had, either.  The gang-related episodes often feel a little dated and contrived, and this one is no exception.  Next up it's time to go treasure hunting!