MacGyver Mondays: Off Week! Season 1 Catch Up!

So, I'm going to do the season finale next week instead of this week. It's a purely procrastinational change, but I thought I could do something semi-fun/quick this week.

So, here are the five MacGyver Monday episodes that, if Google Stats are any indication,  you may not have seen. I'm going to give them a quick little synopsis and then link you to them so that you can check them out if you haven't already, or check them out again if you have!

To up the already miniscule odds slightly, I will be doing the synopses from memory!


Hellfire - Things begin to heat up when MacGyver visits some old friends and helps them battle the forces of nature and thermodynamics so that they might be able to live out their dream of being rich off of black gold, Texas tea.

Every Time She Smiles - MacGyver is on his way home with some very important microfilm when he meets the lovely Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher) and things take a series of unexpected twists and hilarious (and dangerous!) turns.

Slow Death - It's a case of whodunit on a train that has been stopped by bandits on the wild plains of India! Can MacGyver keep the peace AND discover the culprits so that the bandits allow him to get his information across the border?!

The Enemy Within - A former Soviet agent has defected and Pete is using her to identify the traitor in their midst. MacGyver, with the help of a fellow agent and friend, must protect her while they attempt to unmask this deadly mole!

Nightmares - MacGyver must race against the clock and use all the help he can get from a new friend before the poison in his bloodstream kills him! Will he tell his captors where he stashed the microfilm or die trying to get the antidote??

MacGyver Mondays: "A Prisoner of Conscience" (Season 1, Episode 21)

Pay no attention to the man in the reflection (my first "screen shot" which is an actual shot of the screen :) )

Title: A Prisoner of Conscience
Airdate: 4/30/1986
My Age at Airdate: 2 years, 9 months, 14 days
Episode Type: Prison Break

The menu for the last disc of the First Season has a picture of MacGyver in a priest's collar. I can only assume that that is either from THIS episode or the Season Finale. It just seems to me that "A Prisoner of Conscience" stands much more of a chance for this kind of thing than "The Assassin" does, you know?

OPENING CREDITS

We open on the Kremlin in Moscow. Looks to be a pretty nice city. A motorboat is pulling up to a beach. And MacGyver is sitting on a bench eating an apple. Pete runs up to him and asks why he's there, Mac asks why Pete is there.  Pete left without notice and took a map of Russia, so of course MacGyver tracked him down. Pete is investigating the death of this Russian scientist guy who was killed because of being in contact with an American agent....Pete. 

Pete was helping this Russian guy deliver letters of political prisoners but the Russian guy got caught. And now Pete has heard that the Russians are after this guy (Let's call him The Postman)'s daughter.

So Mac asks how they're going to do it and Pete tells Mac that he doesn't want to endanger another friend.

MacGyver, of course, stubbornly refuses to be brushed off. Pete acquiesces but says that the Postman's daughter is going to be nervous about meeting new people so he should go by himself to make contact.

Mac lets him go for a couple seconds and then follows.

Pete goes to PD's house and she greets him warmly. Pete says that he's sorry, but she says that she has to be strong because the Russians are evicting her.

MacGyver walks up the path to the house and sees some potatoes. And then he moves on.

Then a car pulls up. MacGyver's voiceover tells us that this can only be the secret police and it looks like Pete has come to the same conclusion. Mac has hidden and Pete is preparing to help PD. 

She opens the door, they tell her to come with them, she refuses and Pete slams the door. Then, somehow, the police men (including the one that looks like the black-haired guy in Hall and Oates that was standing nowhere near the door, but I guess he was standing behind the guy that looks like EVERY RUSSIAN YOU'VE SEEN IN ANY MOVIE WHERE RUSSIANS ARE THE BAD GUYS) fall into the lake on which the house that PD lives in is located.

Pete and PD run for it. Mac breaks cover, grabs one of the potatoes and shoves it in the tailpipe of the police car. 




AFTER. So, that means that MacGyver is basically cribbing a trick from Axel Foley. Amazing

Pete, PD, and MacGyver run off. The soaking wet policemen try to chase in their car, but, of course, they break their car.

Our heroes run to the beach that we saw at the beginning, hop in a motorboat and take off. The policemen apparently have a boat on that same beach, so they get in that and take chase, occasionally firing a shotgun at their prey (stormtrooper aim, natch).

They need to get these guys off their tail. Mac and Pete start to tear up a blanket, ripping it to shreds. Hopefully that wasn't an heirloom.

Is Moscow really as much like Louisiana as it looks in this chase scene?

MacGyver ties the blanket to a gas can to jam the intake of their jet...thing on their boat. Oh and some lifeboats. He tosses all of that in the water and they run over it and then their boat goes ashore, the policemen get out and the boat blows up. Blows up? Really? Hmm

Well, it looks like everyone's safe and sound.....

WAIT. PD tells them that her father is not dead! He's incarcerated in like a mental hospital. Near Leningrad. She plans to get her father out. And Pete says he's going to help. And MacGyver says he will too.

So now we're in Leningrad. They have secured lots of official paperwork.

So now they're going to execute this plan. We don't know what it is. It's kind of like Ocean's Eleven.

Pete is posing as a doctor. MacGyver is playing crazy.

We also have Man Doctor (Bad) and Woman Doctor (I'm not sure if she's bad or not. Maybe not.)

Man Doctor takes MacGyver to the room with all the other crazy people (but there are political prisoners and actual crazy people)

We've got Big Guy, Room Leader, and Chess Guy.

Man Doctor takes Chess Guy's chessboard and Chess Guy kind of freaks out, but Mac puts on a crazy show where he snatches the board and starts making a scene. A guard runs in and Big Guy clotheslines him. Then more guards run in and MacGyver surrenders, but they beat him anyway. But Chess Guy gets his board back. 

Oh, I don't remember if it's important, but Room Leader had a little altercation with Man Doctor right before this, where he claimed that he was political and insulted Man Doctor, but then MD (hehe. MD) threatened to quiet him down and so he immediately withdrew his statement and acted crazy as a demonstration that he wasn't political.

Anyways. So Dr. Pete and Woman Doctor are touring the grounds. She's kind of old-school good, so that's good.

A guy comes and tells Dr. Pete that "his patient became violent".

So now Pete is with MacGyver who has been like, straight-blanketed. It's like he's swaddled. In fact, that's EXACTLY what he is, and I bet it's for the same reason. He had an outburst and swaddling is designed to calm you down. 

Mac and Pete have a brief exchange where Pete tells Mac that he only brought one set of lockpicks, even though they both need lockpicks. Pete needs them to get into the medicine cabinet to get the psychotropic drugs (for the after party) and Mac needs them to...well, break out of the whole place. Macgyver tells Pete that he'll take care of his own lockpicking needs.

MacGyver is talking to Room Leader. Trying to find The Postman. Room Leader doesn't have any information, but Chess Guy does. He tells MacGyver where The Postman is and then Room Leader decides to trust MacGyver because an impostor wouldn't take a beating just to save Chess Guy's chess set.

MacGyver breaks the light bulb of the lamp in the room and uses the filament as a lockpick. It is literally THE easiest lock picking I've ever seen in my life. Easy damn peasy.

Room Leader will create a diversion while MacGyver gets The Postman out. Only, when MacGyver gets up to the ward where The Postman should be, there are a bunch of rooms and a guard. 

So he goes into the janitor's closet (and inspirational "You Can Do It" music starts playing) he gets a bucket, stops up the sink and smears caulking compound on the side and rim of the bucket. He's making "Russian Crazy Glue". He pours another liquid all over it and then puts a mop handle through the bucket. He lures the guard into the janitor's closet. The guard grabs the bucket and his hands are immediately stuck to the bucket.

MacGyver sneaks by, but the guard sees him and hits the alarm. But Big Guy grabs him and holds him tight. The guards and doctors are on high alert, but I think they're all heading for the wing where Room Leader, Chess Guy and the others are making a huge hubbub. 

MacGyver meets The Postman. He tells TP that PD sent him. He picks the lock to TP's door. Just as easily. But the guards are on their way to the Ward where TP is being kept. TP tells MacGyver that he is the only prisoner in the ward and that his room will certainly be searched.

So MacGyver decides to take him out of there. He relocks the cell door.

The guards get to the Ward (It's called Ward Zero) and find the first guard hanging from a door by his toes. They open the door and he falls and Big Guy attacks them. 

Down in Ward K (the other ward), guards are arriving.

Meanwhile, Pete has snuck into Woman Doctor's office. He picks the lock to the drug cabinet and take some stuff, but then he hears a rustling at the door. It's a cleaning woman. Pete hides in a closet.

The guards have subdued Big Guy and Man Doctor is going to inject BG with something, but Chess Guy starts rattling off side effects that the drug will have. So MD threatens to burn the chess set. He tells CG not to touch the chess set until he gave him permission. CG is upset.

Mac sneaks TP down the hall.

The cleaning lady leaves and Pete sneaks out of the room. He drops something on the ground, but doesn't notice. He walks into the hall the MD is coming down. MD calls out to him, but he just walks across the hall into another room. MD looks in the first room and see the bag of drugs that Pete dropped.

The guard is asking MacGyver where he's been. MacGyver takes him over to the window while Room Leader sneaks TP into the room. Then RL asks the guard for some medicine and the guard leaves to get it.

TP and MacGyver talk about why Mac, Pete and PD are there.

Mac lets TP (and us) in on the second and third phases of the plan.  PD will pose as a local girl and work in the hospital's cafeteria. She'll somehow take out the guards (I'm thinking with the drugs, perhaps?) and then Pete will kick of Phase III somehow.

Pete and Woman Doctor are talking when Man Doctor casually bursts in. He accuses her and Pete of trying to steal drugs and sell them on the black market. He places the both of them under house arrest.

PD meets with the cafeteria manager. He tells her how to set the table and tells her she only has 20 minutes before the staff arrives to eat breakfast.

Big Guy is doing some Tai Chi. Man Doctor walks in and indicates the MacGyver is involved with the drug thing.

MacGyver starts to act like he's been investigating the same crime, but MD stops him and tells him he plans to subject the three of them (I guess Chess Guy, MacGyver, and Room Leader? to chemical interrogation.

Chess Guy snaps. He breaks his chessboard over MD's head. MacGyver kicks the gun out of the guard's hand and punches him. Then Room Leader breaks a chair over that guard's head. Mac runs for the door and double fist-punches the guard outside it.

Big Guy gags MD and wraps him tight in a blanket and holds him. Chess Guy gets his broken board and chess pieces and walks contentedly over to the table. Room Leader takes one of the guard's guns and tells Mac that he knows where WD and Pete will be. TP leads two prisoners we haven't met out to follow RL and MacGyver.

MacGyver gets Pete and WD. RL locks the guard he has at gunpoint in WD's office closet.

PD meets with Pete and MacGyver to get the drugs to drug the guards and the Cafeteria Manager comes out and asks what's going on. There's a tense moment, but then MacGyver just says

MacGyver: We're breaking out.
Manager: Oh
Pete: We wouldn't LIKE it if you interfered.
Manager: No no no. You can lock me in the closet, or the supply room, or the basement...
MacGyver: Closet will do fine.
--badass. It's important to know your adversary.

PD spikes the tea of the guards.

Chess Guy is playing both sides of a game with MD who is gagged and bound and trying to yell through his gag. It's a pretty delightful scene to see this mousy guy (CG) get the upper hand.

So now all the guards are slumping over and TP and PD are reunited. Right in front of the guards and orderlies.

WD agrees to help them. They all run off. They bag the guards in front of the building and all the patients escape.

TP says that he is now too big to kill. He will stay in Russia and continue his good work.

Now it's later. Pete has spread the word the TP is still alive. PD is going to go to America at her father's insistence so that she can't be used against him. 

There's lots of handshaking and stuff.

I'm not sure if WD is staying in Russia or not. I think not. But I don't know.

TP walks off and an excited crowd forms around him, thrilled that he's alive.

THE END.

So, I have a question. Who was the title "Prisoner of Conscience"? Is a prisoner of conscience the same thing as a political prisoner?

Anyways, I'll see you next week for the SEASON FINALE!!!! I guess that's when we'll see MacGyver in the priest's collar. Interesting :)

NEXT WEEK: THE ASSASSIN

MacGyver Mondays: "The Escape" (Season 1, Episode 20)

Title: The Escape

Airdate: 4/16/1986

My Age at Airdate: 2 years, 9 months

Episode Type: Prison Break, Arms Dealing

It's the last episode of Disc 5 and then we only have 2 more before the end of the first season!! So let's see what or whom MacGyver has to escape from.

OPENING CREDITS

We open on North Africa. A bustling cityscape. Mac is playing soccer with some North African kids at some sort of convent or something. There are nuns. 

A truck pulls up with a bunch of metal. And then this Blonde walks up with some clothing. The romantic theme music plays. MacGyver is smitten.

Whoa. She needs him to break her brother out of prison. Things just got real. Her brother is a medical missionary. He brought in some supplies. The government tried to take them because they're valuable, so he hid them and they locked him away.

HAHA. So she finishes telling him this and Mac's like, Ok let's get him out. And Blondie's like, But it's a maximum security prison! If she thought it was impossible, why is she asking Mac to do it?

So MacGyver is going to go in, see where things are. I guess he's going to get himself arrested. Two soldiers are picking on a storekeeper. Mac goes over there, and sprays them in the face with soda and boom he's arrested. Easy peasy.

Now he's in a truck with a bunch of other people.

And now he's talking to the Warden. The guy is a sleaze ball. Mac needs to get money or he won't be fed or have shelter. Such a corrupt place.

The helpful janitor takes him out of the room and they have some bonding time.

So now the prisoners are playing soccer. It's like a theme.

Mac asks Janitor who lives in this nice swanky section of the prison. Janitor tells him that Baldy, and his henchman, Mustache live there. Baldy owns the prison. Mustache is his enforcer.

While Mac is noticing Baldy and Mustache, and Baldy and Mustache are noticing him! Baldy tells Mustache to found out all he can about MacGyver.

Janitor takes MacGyver to his cell. He gives Mac the top bunk. Is that good or bad?

Janitor tells Mac that escape is impossible. Mac takes Janitor's soccer ball and his olive oil. It looks like he's making a papier mache something with the soccer ball as the mold. He's made a hot air balloon! He lights some cotton balls that he has attached to the wire at the bottom of the balloon and off it sails. One of the coolest things I've seen on this show.

Blondie sees the signal. She smiles and drives off.

MacGyver asks Janitor if he wants to come with him when he escapes, but Janitor says that he only has six months until he's released. And then Janitor realizes that not trying to escape basically means the prison has taken away his humanity and so he will help.

Blondie's Brother is being held in a special wing of the prison designated for political prisoners. Heavy security, extra guards, etc.

Mustache tells MacGyver that Baldy wants to see him. When MacGyver asks why, Mustache attacks him. Then MacGyver briefly gets the upper hand and Baldy sends two prisoners in to hold MacGyver while Mustache beats on him a little bit. Before Mustache can land the final blow, Baldy stops him and the three of them go back to Baldy's pad.

Mustache deposits Mac on the floor and Baldy gives Mac a towel to wipe himself up (so that he doesn't dirty Baldy's carpet).

Right off the bat, both men's attentions are drawn to a radio that sounds awful. MacGyver sets to fixing it. Haha right after he fixes it, he tells Baldy that he could also fix the refrigerator in his PCP (angel dust) lab. Which he says hilariously nonchalantly. Apparently the easiest drug to make in prison is PCP. Mac tells Baldy that he can double the PCP output if Baldy will get him in to see Blondie's Brother. Baldy agrees.

Hilariously, and bafflingly, they're going to do the visitation first. If I was Baldy, I'd have Mac do the drug stuff first and then, once I saw that he wasn't trying to blow up my operation or something, I'd hold up my end. 

I should write an instruction manual for MacGyver villains. It would be called Lock The Doors To Your Cars and Trucks: A Tutorial for Enemies of MacGyver and it'd go to the TOP OF THE CHARTS (the villainy advice hardcover charts)

So, Mac gets to see Blondie's Brother. It's the guy who plays Q on Star Trek: TNG. Everything's bugged and the Warden is listening, but Mac knows that he's not alone with the guy so they start improvising a little scene about gunships and huey choppers and stuff to throw the Warden off. 

The Warden hears the lie that BBQ (Blondie's Brother: Q) and Mac cook up about a whole bunch of money that BBQ hid and tells Baldy to find out everything about that and then kill MacGyver.

Janitor and MacGyver are talking. About friendship and freedom. Like Frenchmen and Americans of old. Mac asks Janitor if he knows how to run the PA system, but then a guard comes in before Janitor can answer. The guard tells Mac that his wife is here and they take him to meet her.

Of course it's Blondie. They kiss (kiss slut) and kiss and kiss. The Warden is listening to more false information, but he's slyly smiling. I wonder what that's about.

The next morning, MacGyver is peppy like he had a very enjoyable evening and he makes his way over to Baldy's place to work on the drug lab. He swipes a tape recorder under his jacket right away. And then Baldy leads him to the PCP lab.

Baldy begins to "casually" ask Mac about his meeting with BBQ. And then he leaves him alone. (Chapter 4 of the book: DON'T LEAVE YOUR ENEMY ALONE)

MacGyver starts to do something with a fan while Warden and Baldy have a weird, vaguely romantic moment.

Mac has hooked up a...like...those things that have rubber blades that you would use if you were making a cake but didn't have an electric mixer? You know? He hooks that up to the fan and gets the tape recorder going. 

Then he grabs some PCP (they're in nice little blocks!) and puts it in his jacket pocket. He pours some "volatile liquid" on the pocket and has made "a bomb you can wear anywhere".

Warden is preparing for the helicopter/gunship attacks. He's basically putting the prison on full alert.

Now he's fashioning a PCP bomb with a good old-fashioned ice timer. He's hooking wires up so that they'll touch the metal of this washbasin when the ice melts. And then the PCP will blow up.

Janitor brings BBQ's guard some food he likes and slyly tells BBQ to be ready to escape today at noon.

Mac almost forgets to take the tape recorder and take down the cake thing. Then he knocks on the door to be let out. Mustache leads him into the room where Baldy confronts him. About all the phony information. Mac gives him some more hogwash. And leads them out of the cell.

Blondie pulls up in a funky old-looking taxi, gets out and makes like she's having car trouble right in front of the prison gates. The guards at the door look interested.

Mac passes the coat with the PCP bomb and the tape recorder to Janitor.

He leads Baldy and Mustache to the fire pit and tells them that the information about the Swiss bank account where all the money was going to be deposited was buried under that fire.

Janitor sets a timer and sets up the tape recorder in the Warden's office. Then he takes the jacket down to BBQ's cell and tells him to light the pocket of the jacket in 3 minutes.

The timer in the Warden's office hits zero and the tape recorder (which has been switched to a faster speed) starts and plays over the PA. It sounds like approaching helicopters. The guards start to go nuts. They sound the alarm.

Mac throws ash in Mustache's face and punches Baldy. He runs off.

BBQ's guard gets a call and leaves.

BBQ lights the pocket and ducks out of the way. An explosion busts the lock and BBQ runs with Janitor down the darkened hallway.

The ice melts and the wire touches metal and the PCP lab explodes. The guards think that the choppers are doing all this.

Blondie gets her car and smashes the gate in. Mac quickly hugs Janitor goodbye and MacGyver and BBQ escape.

Warden tells Baldy that he will be in an isolation cell for the rest of his sentence. I guess Baldy's lucky Warden didn't kill him.

Blondie pulls the car in crooked and they all get out. BBQ goes and stands by another car, Blondie shoots the engine of the first car. And Mac is confused. BBQ says that they don't need MacGyver anymore and now they can kill him.

Blondie points the gun at him.

The story unravels. Mac has been played. Blondie is a Soviet agent. She's delivering weapons to the third-world. BBQ is an arms dealer.

BBQ: Must we have all this maudlin revelations? Just kill him and get it over with before the Gendarmes show up.
--Now THIS is a proper villain. Perhaps he can write my book.

Blondie is having a change of heart. She points the gun at BBQ and tells him that she won't be killing anyone. BBQ gets in the car and Blondie slowly backs towards the car. BBQ grabs her gun hand and fires at MacGyver (stormtrooper aim, but really you can't fault him for his poor aim with someone else holding the gun and him firing backwards and all) and drives off, leaving Blondie with Mac.

She says that if she doesn't get the weapons, BBQ will sell them to terrorists.

BBQ is driving up to a dock. Presumably it's where the weapons are. Mac and Blondie are following on foot.

Mac agrees to help Blondie if she'll agree to destroy the weapons if they find them.

BBQ is meeting with some terrorists.

Mac and Blondie find BBQ's car. They sneak in to where BBQ is showing the terrorists the weapons. Mac sends Blondie to go get the car, the terrorists are haggling.

MacGyver grabs a box of grenades that still use gunpowder (they're very old) and he's going to leave a trail of gunpowder that leads to the pile of the other grenades and the rest of the weapons.

He tosses one grenade near to BBQ and the terrorists, they duck for cover. And he lights the trail.

Blondie pulls up....in BBQ's car?! He left the keys in the car?! Sigh. I was so hopeful for him.

She pulls up right next to the lit gunpowder trail, but the wind raised by her arrival didn't disturb any of the loose powder and cause the flame to run out of fuel. So that was lucky....

Mac snatches the briefcase of money and hops in the backseat and they speed off.

BBQ's whole stash blows up.

Now we're back at the mission. Mac has turned the pile of scrap metal into a jungle gym. Blondie and Mac give the briefcase of money to the nun. (If she's a Mother Superior, it's still ok to call her a nun, right?)

And that's it!

THE END

Hope you enjoyed the episode as much as I did!

NEXT WEEK: A PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE

MacGyver Mondays: "Slow Death" (Season 1, Episode 19)

Sorry it's late, folks. But I suppose it's not THAT late. Enjoy!

Title: Slow Death

Airdate: 4/2/1986

My Age at Airdate: 2 years, 8 months, 17 days

Episode Type: Hostage, Hijacking, Didactic (I may stop putting this one if MacGyver keeps teaching lessons every episode ;-) )

Y'know, a lot of people say reading these MacGyver Monday posts is like a slow death. STOP LAUGHING! :)

OPENING CREDITS

A train is rolling by. At the wheel is a Hispanic man with VERY large glasses. Ok, maybe not Hispanic. I immediately regret saying he was Hispanic.

So between looking at some of the passengers on the train, we are seeing a bunch of guys pulling sticks of what appears to be dynamite out of boxes and loading them near the tracks. I suddenly remember this episode, I think.

Now MacGyver is racing along the side of the train in the back of a taxi. All the passengers are looking and laughing at him. The engineer refuses to stop the train for a bit and then he gives in. With basically no further argument than "C'mon! Please?"

Mac is friendly with everyone and particularly to a young girl who is staring at him. He does a little magic trick. Wait, no. Not a magic trick. He's making her a doll. Awww :) What a sweet little moment.

Ok, they're still loading explosives onto a bridge.

And Mac finishes the doll. The girl smiles widely.

The two factions are about to meet. The bandits are communicating by flashing sunlight with mirrors.

This one-armed Englishman (I KNOW he's English. He has an English accent.) is asking Mac if he wouldn't like something to drink with his sandwich that he's ordering in the dining cart. Bourbon and rye, perhaps. And MacGyver, being MacGyver, orders a glass of milk. He's so wholesome!

An awkward left-to-right-handed-handshake is given. Then the train lurches and the guy I guess goes to catch himself with his right hand and stumbles. Mac catches him and says that a recent loss of limb can be hard. A lady also tries to console him  but he says that he's a cripple and she's black and neither is a case for sympathy and storms off. Mac apologizes to her and she says that she noticed her color a long time ago. Very intense race stuff already in this episode.

They introduce themselves and sit down to eat.

Meanwhile, the guys with the explosives are now unspooling fuse line. This attack is taking FOREVER. But I guess you have to get all the characters on the train introduced.

Mac tells the Lady that he has hijacked proof of an illegal arms deal and so he's rushing it out of the country in the hopes of preventing a war. But I think she doesn't believe him. 

Now we're on this American couple and the guy is trying to get the girl to say that she loves him. But she's reluctant to. 

This episode might be the most complicated yet.

Wait no. They met in Spain, hit it off, and now are about to return to America and he wants to marry her. Whoa. He convinces her in half a speech. Geez. This is the train of effective arguments.

And still the terrorists lay their explosives. You know, the way things are going, they could probably just ask for whatever they want. The people on this train are easily convinced.

Lefty comes back to Lady and apologizes and then they're ok (this train!)

So I guess the last characters we need to talk about are this mom and her daughter. Or, put another way, this woman and her mom. Her mom is snooty and says things like "kids of your generation have no respect" and even MacGyver refers to her as a dragon to be slain. 

This episode is very heavy on the characters, isn't it? Also, I have remembered what the title refers to and it's pretty cerebral. I'll let you know when we get to it.

Now a guy blows a goat horn and two guys on the train draw knives and guns and hijack the train. They shoot the conductor. Lefty says that he's a doctor and he should tend to the guy. The hijacker says that shooting him was an accident.

You couldn't show this episode on TV, I don't think.

Dragon Daughter offers to help Lefty and Dragon Lady (her mom, if my code is too intricate) says that she'll only be a hindrance, but DD shakes her off and goes to help.

The guy that shot the conductor says that they are not bandits. Mac asks what they want. And Quick Draw replies that they are looking for two men on that train. And that it's a matter of justice. They want to execute these men.

MacGyver: A man puts a gun to my head and tells me he's not a terrorist, I take it with a grain of salt

So, Lefty is talking to Quick Draw about the status of the conductor and Mac is doing something with salt. And a seltzer bottle. And some olives. 

Quick Draw walks by to go the sleeping cart, Mac drops the jar of olives on the floor. When Quick Draw pauses to berate him, he hits the seltzer with his elbow, it goes into the bowl of salt and the salt/seltzer combo goes into Quick Draw's eyes.

Mac grabs a jug and runs out and two other terrorists follow him onto the roof of the train car. He pours a line of the liquid that's in the jug (local moon shine: tastes and burns like kerosene) along the length of the car and, as the terrorist reach the top of the ladder, lights it. He manages to light a match on the top of a moving train, so I KNOW the train is magical. 

The flame races towards the terrorists and they both leap off the train.

Mac goes to the engineer's compartment and tells him what's up. The engineer tells Mac that they are being followed on foot but that they'll never be caught. They just have to make it past the bridge up ahead and they'll be out of bandit country. The bridge is the one that they've been loading with explosives for the whole episode, btw.

The engineer picks up speed, confident in his train.

A guy on a horse has a gun ready, another guy has a detonator ready. The gun guy fires, the detonator guy detonates. And detonates. And detonates.

The engineer brings the train to a halt. A whole band of guys on horse and foot with guns and stuff approach.

Meanwhile, a guy we've seen a couple times, but who hasn't had a character establishing mini-scene with MacGyver, stows a briefcase in one of those drop down bunks that trains have. Like in North by Northwest.

Mac rigs the (WARNING: complex train jargon ahead) train-starter-thing to shock anyone but him or the engineer if they try to start the train. Also not being shocked: anyone who sees the bright copper wire wound around the starter thing.

So the fat guy with the gun tells his guys to bring all the westerners out of the train.

Lefty and DD are still tending to the conductor and when Quick Draw tells them to get out, Lefty shames Quick Draw into letting DD stay. There's kind of a romantic theme playing.

Fat Tony talks to the Westerners. He talks about how his villagers all pitched in to buy medicine from two Westerners for the children of the village. The medicine didn't work and 26 people died, including Fat Tony's son. But he doesn't know who the two Westerners are. He tells all the Westerners that they will not have food or water until they find out, among themselves who the two guys are.

So, two guys, one of whom is the shady who hid the briefcase and the other whom we haven't met before come up to MacGyver saying that they need to find these guys. Now, I'm no TV genius, but that seems suspicious, no?

Romeo (the guy who got the girl to agree to marry him before) wants to steal a horse. Juliet is freaking out, but Mac comes over and consoles them both, but he also tells them that no one is going to miss them for a week, so they're on their own.

Lady (I didn't want to call her Black Lady, but I think that distinguishes her more) comes and finds MacGyver. They have some sweet chat.

Lefty and DD are still treating the conductor. Lefty has brought soda to keep the conductor hydrated. And also he brings some charm. It's soul-baring time, folks. He also talks about ghost pain, which is a fascinating aspect of amputation, to me.

DD asks Lefty how he lost his arm. He got it shot off by a shotgun wielding maniac. Yikes. That's awful. He's so brave.

She bares a little soul. And then they kiss.

Black Lady and Mac are talking about this whistle Mac has made from a spigot of some sort. It bugs the horses. Look for it later.

Mac and Black Lady give Fat Tony grief about the wounded conductor. He tells them about all the people that died. But they make the point that death won't bring his son back.

The sun is up. And they're still sitting there. Mac is saying inspirational stuff about mornings. They go inside the train.

Juliet is sleeping, but Romeo gets up. He thinks no one sees him, but Shady Guy is watching him. He sneaks off the train and goes under it, army crawling along the length. He's getting pretty far. He gets out and starts to run. Shady Guy yells at him, Fat Tony comes towards him with a gun. There's turmoil. But then Mac comes and like jump kicks into a guard and runs in between Romeo and Fat Tony and blows his whistle. This pretty much calms things down.

Everyone's outside of the train now and The Other Shady Guy points the finger at Shady Guy for calling attention to the escape attempt. He says that maybe he was trying to draw attention away from himself.

Shady Guy's accent is ALL OVER THE PLACE, PEOPLE.

Mac suggests that they should look in his compartment. He pulls down the bunk and finds the briefcase. And it's lots of money. Shady Guy says that the money is his and that he hid it because he didn't want them to steal it. But Fat Tony confirms that they didn't pay in paper money, but rather in gold. So Shady Guy was just a Red Herring! Gotta love red herrings.

This whole situation has given Mac an idea. He's constructing a lie detector from a blood pressure cuff and an alarm clock (naturally. what do YOU make your lie detectors from?)

He's hooking Romeo up to it. Everyone's watching.

So when the alarm goes off, it's a lie. He demonstrates with Romeo. He declares his love for Juliet and the alarm goes off. Mac tells Fat Tony that that was love, not lying.

Fat Tony says that he intends to have the two men administer the medicine/poison to themselves, killing themselves.

Mac says he won't condone murder. He makes Fat Tony agree to accompany them to Rajmir (I'm not sure how to spell it) where the culprits will stand trial.

Other Shady Guy doesn't trust Fat Tony. MacGyver responds that he does trust him and that Other Shady Guy should go next. He asks Other Shady Guy if he sold the poison. OSG doesn't even say anything, but the alarm goes off. He leaps from his seat and the other conductor (the young British one that I didnt even think to mention!) pulls a gun and gives it to OSG. OSG runs off and Mac follows. OSG shoots at MacGyver but (stormtrooper aim) misses. He runs into the steering compartment. Mac takes off his shoe and throws it onto the roof.

But OSG isn't fooled. He punches MacGyver, but then he tries to start the train and gets shocked and killed.

Fat Tony asks Lefty to be the Village Doctor. DD offers to join him. Dragon Lady questions her sanity, but she stands up to her. And Dragon Lady is pleased and proud. Aww. She offers her help if they need anything.

And then the non-Westerners come back and the little girl gives Mac the doll back.

THE END.

Hmm, the phrase "Slow Death" didn't appear at all in the episode, that I noticed. I thought it was part of something MacGyver said about revenge or harboring anger or something being a slow death, but I guess I was wrong. So I'll say it.

Harboring vengeance or anger in your heart is like a slow death, kids. Don't do it.

See you next week!!!

NEXT WEEK: THE ESCAPE

MacGyver Mondays: "Ugly Duckling" (Season 1, Episode 18)

Mac faces his most powerful enemy: A sarcastic teenager

Title: Ugly Duckling

Airdate: 3/12/1986

My Age at Airdate: 2 years, 7 months, 24 days

Episode Type: Computer Hacking, Self-Esteem, Didactic

Alright, I seem to recall that this episode is NOT about MacGyver caring for a young waterfowl. I think that it might be a metaphor. But we'll see.

OPENING CREDITS

We open on a storage facility. A man is guiding a truck that is backing up. Uh oh. The truck is full of USAF missiles. So the two guys are unloading the missiles while a bunch of black-clothed figures are belaying down from the roof.

One of the trips and suddenly the guys are alerted to the ninjas (because what else could they be?) presence. The ninjas drive off with the truck.

Cut to the end of a drum solo at a happenin' club. MacGyver is there watching the band and looking about 25 years older than everyone there. Oh. Except the band and the two obviously bad guys that are watching the band. The camera keeps looking at the saxophonist. This might be because he's soloing, but I bet it's also because he's a character in this episode. The band finishes and the saxophonist walks over to MacGyver. They're friends!

Saxy is apparently a professor who has detected a glitch. He is a mentor of a student (just like he was for MacGyver) who broke into the Defense Department's mainframe or something. Mac just wants to talk to her.

Saxy wants assurances Girl Student won't get in trouble and then he'll meet with them.

So then Saxy is walking outside the club and a car speeds up and the two bad guys get out and try to get Saxy. But Mac comes out and they have to shoot at him instead (Stormtrooper Aim, natch). Mac sets off a car alarm while Saxy struggles with the two gun-wielding thugs. And of course he gets shot. He has a very emotional and touching death scene. But he does, in fact, die. And the camera flickers in and out of focus while the couples watching all around them hold each other.

Mac debriefs with Pete. Apparently the thing that Saxy designed/tested makes Surface-to-Air missiles into programmable weapons with pinpoint accuracy.

So Mac has to go find Girl Student before the bad guys AND the government find her.

Now the two bad guys are debriefing. Mustache and Balding. Wait. Mustache is Balding's boss. He sends Balding after MacGyver assuming that Mac will find Girl Student for them.

Girl Student comes in. She looks kind of like Corey Feldman. She has an attitude. It's mostly the hair that makes her look like CF. I always confuse Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. 

They're back at Girl Student's house. Her Mom is there. Mac tells what she did and Mom is appalled. She's very proper.

There's a knock on the door. GSMom goes and answers it. Two men identify themselves as Defense Intelligence and Mac comes over to inspect their ID's. He shows them basically the same disdain and attitude that GS has been showing him. And I think it's pretty ballsy to come over and deal with them when he's a guest in their home, but I suppose he is sort of an expert or something.

The DI guys want to take GS downtown to ask some questions. Mac and Mom advise her to go. And they take her.

So now they're asking her questions. They're trying to play hardball and it's working. They want to know how she broke in. She asks to use the computer in the room. She reaches a password prompt screen and asks them what the password is, explaining, with attitude that it will save time. HAHA and then it just goes to a READY screen. She types in ACCESS MISSILE DATA INVENTORY.

So basically, she has gained access again. If the only thing keeping her out was the password, then she's not showing them anything about how she broke in, is she?

Ok, so there ARE further restrictions. It's not as simple as all that.

Meanwhile, Mac is arguing with Pete (who is wearing THE BIGGEST GLASSES EVER) and he offers Pete a deal. He'll find out how she broke in AND what the glitch in the system is, if Pete can get the DI guys off her.

So now GS has (off-camera, of course) gotten through the security restrictions. While the DI guys freak out about the hassle of the security breach, she hacks into the computers in the building and starts messing around with the printers and the elevators and the door security and everything. And then the Fire Alarm. And then she hits the power. And she's gone :)

She's a pink and I like her.

Now we're in the Farmhouse with Mustache and wait I assume is a Texan. Texan wants a demonstration of the guidance system. He doesn't know what the target is yet but he will figure it out.

GS comes back to the lab and Mac is working on the computer. I can tell that he likes her and that she reminds him of himself.

MacGyver is trying to break into her computer. Trying different passwords. Trying to get to know her to try to get her password out of her. She's super sensitive about her self-image.

He types in UGLY DUCKLING and that's the correct password. She says "That's mean." But the really interesting thing that Mac brings up is that it's HER password. It's not him saying that she is. It's her.

He tells her that she's special and that she should feel good about it.

He puts the file on a disk and they go to leave, but uh oh Balding and his partner are there. Mac pins Balding's gun hand and kicks him and locks the door. He runs with GS to the lab and finds a sound oscillator. The bad guys get in right as Mac turns on the oscillator, gives GS some noise-cancelling headphones and puts some on himself. He cranks the amplitude all the way up and the bad guys writhe in pain. He slowly pushes the device towards them and the door.

GS notices that the machine is about to become unplugged. She tries to warn Mac, but, of course, he can't hear her. The plug comes out and instantly the bad guys are back up and surrounding them.

Balding knocks Mac over the head and they take the girl.

He wakes up with a splitting headache. He thinks that maybe GS has left him a clue on the computer. He tells the computer to LOAD DUCKLING and it does and it has the answer to the glitch. It's a frequency. He calls the FAA and has them scan the western United States for that frequency.

XC4479
--Mac's DXS ID

GS is in the farm house. She has this radio that she put in her pocket back at the lab and she sends a signal on it, but stashes it before the bad guys come in. We have Balding, Mustache, and Cleft Chin.

Mustache tells her that he is going to get the information. He has a syringe of Sodium Pentathol so he can get it from her with or without the injection, it's her choice.

Oh I get it. The frequency she gave Mac was the frequency that she sent her beacon out on. It's like a homing device. So now Mac is watching them from a hill. They're going to do a test firing. GS is understandably upset that they'll be firing in the United States.

They lock her away. And she immediately starts to try to escape. Saxy must be the common link here. She hooks up the prison bars to a battery, electrifying them.

Mac has taken the guard out with Chloroform? What, does he have some WITH HIM at all times? Sketchy.

I guess GS took the jumper cables off the bars before she hooked them to the battery. So now she has one cable on the bars and is slowly touching the other one...and sparks fly. OH. She has a coin in the one she's touching to the bars. It's an arc welder thing like one that Mac has used before this season! It's cool to see it at work again.

Mac and GS reunite and he commends her on getting through a prison bar, but it's too hot to squeeze through. So he goes and finds a spray can (with hydrocarbons ) to cool it down. So then they're out. And chasing after the bad guys in Mac's Jeep.

GS tells Mac that they're communicating via walkie talkies. Then she expresses guilt about having told them how to fix the missiles.

He tells her that we all make mistakes and we have to learn to live with them. She is really grateful for this advice and tells him hesitatingly that he is her first friend. A touching piano version of the MacGyver theme plays in the background.

Mac's the best.

They have the exact same haircut, I just realized.

MacGyver and GS are going to triangulate the radio signals, but Uh Oh her radio is dead. That's ok. They'll use the acid from the cactus that's right by them. Easy Peasy. They're going back and forth coming up with the plan and it's really cool to see their minds working on the same.....frequency.

GS: All for one!
Mac: And one for all! I can't believe you just said that!
--I remember watching this episode for the first time and DYING because of the way he says that last part. It feels real. Like she ad-libbed the "All for one" part and he finished it but it tickled him that she said that. It's a lovely moment.

And then they get to work.

Meanwhile, Balding is getting the missile ready. All they need are the coordinates for the target.

Mac and GS get to work triangulating the signal. They find it and use their watches to calibrate for direction. So they can figure out where the missile is, but will they get there in time!?

Mustache is on the phone with Texan. Texan gives him the coordinates. They're going to take out a bridge. In 27 minutes. The Texan says that traffic should be lowest around when they're going to fire but Mac remembers that a marathon (that he has run in twice (brag)) is being run across that bridge today! Hundreds of people are in danger! They speed off in his jeep.




Now the Jeep pulls up to the site. They only have 12 minutes to figure out what to do.



They're going to use the shotgun that Balding has. They're going to use the mirrors from the Jeep and the lens from some binoculars to harness the sun's energy.

6 minutes to launch.

They have a very clear beam of sunlight focused on the shotgun, heating it up. The gun explodes, and the jeep that it's leaning against goes with it.

Haha. GS takes a moment to marvel at the fact that it worked.

Mustache wonders why the countdown hasn't started and Mac tries to fake it by counting down. But Mustache recognizes him as not being Balding (who has been knocked out by the explosion). Crap. So now Mustache is going to fire the other missile that they have stolen.

So the plan is that Mac and GS need to override the guidance (turning their missile into a heatseeker) and fire it within seconds of Mustache firing his.

Mustache fires his, Mac fires his. The marathon goes on. There are some tense beats and then


BOOOOOOOM Mac's missile hits Mustache's! They did it!

Texan watches and is disappointed.

Now they're in the club that they started at. GS is talking to a boy and looking more like Demi Moore now that she's wearing earrings.

Mac tells her that everything else worked out and that she will basically get her own lab come graduation time, but she keeps looking at the guy she's with. Aww...the ugly duckling has become a swan!

Lovely ending :)

See you next week

NEXT WEEK: SLOW DEATH

MacGyver Mondays: "To Be a Man" (Season 1, Episode 17)

Title: To Be a Man

Airdate: 3/5/1986

My Age at Airdate: 2 years, 7 months, 17 days

Episode Type: Didactic, Espionage

I'm watching this episode with my wife so the pressure is definitely on to not pause/rewind. We'll see how this goes......


OPENING CREDITS

A fighter jet is flying through the night sky. MacGyver is apparently flying it over Pakistani airspace. He's on his way to Afghanistan to get a capsule from the inside of a satellite that they don't want the Russians to get a hold of. This is basically the same plot as "The Golden Triangle" only with different countries.

There's an Afghani military base that is going pretty nuts. They've asked him to identify himself. He hasn't responded.

Now we're on the ground with a maybe 13 year old boy who is standing outside while his mother (or someone) is inside getting attacked/raped/something.

The Afghanis are shooting missiles at MacGyver.

The plane blows up and the boy (it MAY be Kal Penn, or someone who looks just like him) watches it explode.

But it's ok because MacGyver has ejected, and the plan is that the Afghanis are supposed to believe that he's been blown up.

The boy's mother and a turbanned jerk come out of the house. TJ tells Boy to get his horse and Boy says "You're not my father!" But his mom says to do it anyways and TJ tells her that the Soviets will pay for parts of the plane and they'll pay even more for a pilot and he rides off.

(Ok, Boy is not Kal Penn. BUT he is the Indian guy from Office Space. An actor named Ajay Naidu. He is apparently uncredited in this episode.)

Boy goes an hugs his mom and points out that she is bleeding from the lip.

Mac stashes his parachute. A bunch of guys on horses and in cars are racing towards him. 

Dawn is almost here but he's also getting closer to the satellite.

The Afghanis are at the wreckage and they have now seen MacGyver running along a mesa. Do they call that land structure a "mesa" in Afghanistan? They do on this show.

Mac has gotten to the satellite on top of the mesa. 

The capsule is in a booby-trapped portion of the satellite. There's a loud and shrill beeping that he needs to disarm as fast as possible. And he does.

Easy peasy.

He doesn't know there's a bunch of guys after him. Until now. He sees them slowly ascending the mesa. He rolls away and starts assembling something from the satellite.

And now the Afghanis are shooting mortar at him.

But it appears that he's constructing a glider from it.

The Afghanis have Stormtrooper Aim with the mortar and Mac makes a PERFECT HANG GLIDER.

The Afghanis are shooting at him (Stormtrooper Aim) oh WAIT. They hit his hang glider and Mac's arm! He's in trouble.

Oh but Boy is tracking the hang glider.

So there's the army, the turbanned fellows and Boy all trying to get to him. Mac crashes into like a shallow river or something. I feel like maybe he hurt his leg, but maybe it's just his arm.

A dude is shooting at him and getting closer. Mac constructs a sling (David v Goliath style) from a piece of cloth and throws a stone at the guy, hitting him squarely and knocking him off his horse. He stumbles off as Boy runs up and tells him to get up and run but Mac says he can't

Now the Turbanned Fellows are getting closer and Boy is running for the Sling-Victim's horse. He runs over to Mac and tells him to get on. Mac does, but weakly. Boy leads the horse off.

Now the Turbanned Fellows are in the river, but Boy and MacGyver have left the river bed.

Boy has a vendetta against some guy who killed his father. I don't know if it's TJ or another guy. Sling-Victim is talking to some guy. Maybe TJ. Let's say it is TJ. Sling-Victim says that they got away and TJ shoots him.

FYI, my wife could write MacGyver Mondays. She's funny.

Ok, so I guess TJ is coming him to Boy's house because he has "unfinished business"

Boy and MacGyver have made it to Boy's House. Boy leads him inside and Boy's Mom freaks out. She says that it's too dangerous to have him there. Boy says that they have to help him and maybe he can help them.

MacGyver apologizes in his down-home vaguely Southern way and Boy pleads with her. She says he can stay for the night.

She begins to tend to Mac's wounds, sending Boy outside to keep a watch for TJ. He is to warn her when TJ is coming.

TJ rides up to the house and Boy walks up to him. TJ asks where Boy's Mom is. Boy begins to yell at him. Boy's Mom says that she'll go talk to TJ, but Mac asks if a cylinder is filled with butane and she says it is. He says to let TJ come to them. I bet he has a plan a-brewin'!

TJ walks up to the house and draws his gun. He bursts in an Mac hits the nozzle off the cylinder, turning it into a projectile that hits TJ in the chest knocking him down.

Boy tells Mac to shoot TJ, but Mac says that TJ shot himself and that he's dead. Mighty convenient. Welp, that's one bad guy dead. Who do we have next?

An army guy is talking to his superior. AG thinks that Mac is there to contact the resistance. I think we're going to have to defeat both AG and his superior.

Boy has buried TJ. He has taken TJ's whip and wants Mac to beat him with the whip because he lied to him about being alone with his mom. He used Mac to defeat TJ.

Boy is a little chauvinist. He talks about "man's work" and all that stuff. I think that Mac is going to have to teach him how....TO BE A MAN.

Boy's Mom sends him off to get rid of TJ's horse and Mac tells him not to forget the whip. She's being very tender with him. I'm predicting some kissin'. There's a bunch of sensual stuff.

Boy's Mom: It has been infected. It must be cauterized.
Mac: Ouch.

Boy sends the horse off, but not before expressing the desire to keep it.

Boy's Mom has a hot iron poker that is red from the fire. She has Mac bite on some wood and presses the poker to the wound. He passes out. And he's SUPER sweaty. She wipes him once with the towel and then once, tenderly with her hand.

OH boy has has kept TJ's horse's silver bridle (my wife assures me that this was the thing he was coveting on the horse.) And he stashes it under the bed. I wonder if that will cause trouble later......

Boy's Mom tells Boy that she doesn't think Mac will stay, but Boy is convinced that he will.

I don't know if it's a couple of days later or just like A day later, but Mac is up and hungry. Boy's Mom has dressed him in her husband's clothing.

TJ's men have found his horse and have noticed the bridle is missing.

Boy comes in with a bucket of water complaining that his back hurts. Mac is going to fix it, you guys. Boy is impatient and frustrated that things are always breaking. Mac says that he needs to have patience in his life. They wrap the pump piston in something to create a vacuum and VOILA. Water flows clean and voluminously. Boy is stoked and says that Mac can teach him how to fix everything and that he can stay. And Mac says yeah of course.

AG is debriefing the Turbanned Fellows that found TJ's horse and basically says find the American or else. So I guess they're going to be showing up at the house soon.

Mac tells Boy's Mom that he's leaving tomorrow. She says that Boy was happy that he was there. And then she's crying and he's wiping her tears and he's holding her hand....

AND THEN ITS THE NEXT DAY (more than kissing, you guys)

And Boy is out looking to see if people are coming for him. They have a post-coital-I-like-looking-at-you moment and then Boy comes running up and says the Soviets are coming. They race inside. Mac gets to work in the barn. He's working one-handed here with his other arm in a sling. He has looped a rope around one post in the barn and is now burying himself in hay.

Boy and his mom are pretending that there's nothing going on. A soldier comes to look at the house. This might be TJ's second-in-command because we've seen him before. He steals Boy's food. Because he's another jerk.

A Soviet guy is walking near the barn. He doesn't see Mac in the straw.

OH NO! The Turbanned Guy has found the silver bridle!!! The jig is up. They were playing it so cool.

The Army guy goes into the barn and Mac pulls it down on him and punches him out. Then Turbanned Guy (Food Thief) comes looking for the soldier and Mac hits him with a shovel.

The soldier regains consciousness and Boy wants Mac to kill him but he doesn't. It's a lesson for Boy. The soldier runs off. Mac says that the Red Army will be there soon so it's time to skedaddle. They're going to pack what they can and head for the Pakistani border.

Escaped Soldier runs up to a truck that AG is in and a bunch of other dudes and they are on the way back to the house.

Boy's Mom and Boy have packed and Mac is in the jeep (MacGyver's apparent sponsor, you'll remember) that the soldier and Turbanned Guy arrived in. And they race off.

The superior officer is yelling at Escaped Soldier and saying he needs to find the guy so as to ONLY lose six months pay and his rank. Otherwise it's a court-martial.

So the jeep is heading for the border. The soviets see it and load a bazooka. They miss, of course. They fire again. And miss again. And again and again. And then after all that, they hit the jeep! Boy's Mom immediately gives up hope, but...Mac has a plan. He grabs the water jugs and heads for the hills above where the jeep has rolled to a stop.

They pour the water into the cracks and begins to spray the cracks with a fire extinguisher, freezing the water and loosening a big chunk of the mountain. Mac waits for it.....and......breaks off a HUGE chunk which falls on the enemy vehicle. They are free to walk to the border....I guess because the Soviets ran away? Or because the rock is in the way.

Suddenly, Escaped Soldier is there with a tank. Boy thinks he's going to kill them, but instead he tells them where the border is, in exchange for Mac sparing his life. He drives off. It's kind of a sweet moment between him and Mac, actually.

Boy realizes that if Mac had killed that guy that they would have run into a soldier that didn't give a hoot about them and they would be dead. Mac has taught him another lesson.

They start walking towards the border. Mac regards Boy as a Man now, and the episode is over. I suppose we assume that they made it to the border with no problems...what a weird ending. But I guess it was never about crossing a physical border, was it? It was about crossing the border from Boy to Man. And they did that.

Welp, see you next week!

NEXT WEEK: UGLY DUCKLING (MacGyver takes on a fable about a duck that turns into a swan!?!)