MacGyver » Season 4
Episodes 65 - 68 69 - 72 73 - 76 77 - 80 81 - 83
Runners
Original Air Date: March 13, 1989
Episode #077
At a convention, a teen prostitute named Crystal hides from security in the Phoenix Foundation booth, and MacGyver winds up taking her to lunch. Eluding Snakeskin - Crystal's pimp - Mac carries her to the Challengers Club and introduces her to Cynthia Wilson, the lady in charge. Crystal explains that her mother died in a car accident, and she's been on the streets about a month. After Mac leaves, he recalls the night he lost his father and grandmother. Stopping for gasoline, Mac realizes that Crystal picked his pocket. Back at the Club, Cynthia and Mac find that Crystal is gone. Mac arrives at Snakeskin's place shortly after Crystal does; he rigs up a diversion and drives off with Crystal. At Mac's houseboat, Crystal admits that her real name is Jennifer. Mac confesses his guilt over his parents' deaths, and Crystal agrees that she feels responsible for her mother's accident. The next morning, Jennifer's dad, a policeman, arrives at the Challengers Club looking for her, and Cynthia lets Mac know. Mac encourages Jennifer to try to work out the problems that she's had with her dad, and they go to meet him in the Club. However, Jennifer is furious when her father only seems concerned about what she told everyone. He smacks her, and she shouts that nothing has changed. She runs out of the building, and the sergeant is furious to learn that she has been hooking. Mac goes after Jennifer while her dad gets Snakeskin's address from the local police. Snakeskin consoles the crying Jennifer as Mac sneaks into his apartment. Meanwhile, Sgt Reiner arrives and handcuffs the guard outside who manages to let Snakeskin know that Jennifer's dad is on the way up. Snakeskin grabs a gun; using Jennifer as a hostage he heads for the fire escape, but Mac stops him. At this point, Sgt Reiner breaks in, about to shoot Snakeskin. Jennifer shouts that he is the one to blame for her current state. Later, Cynthia tells Mac that Jennifer and her father are in counseling, and Jennifer has accepted that her mother's death is not her fault.
Quotes
"You know how much I love conventions." Mac, after Pete is glad to see him
Pete: I wouldn't have called, but they haven't hooked up our display yet. It takes five unions to change a light bulb around here. And the convention starts in three hours.
MacGyver: You called me down here to change a light bulb?
Pete: Uh . . . not exactly.
"I believe in you. That's what love is all about. Prove you love me as much as I love you: five bills by tomorrow morning." Snakeskin, to Crystal
Crystal: You want a date?
Pete: A date?
Crystal: Sure! Let's go for it.
Pete: Are you kidding?
Crystal (to Mac): How about you?
MacGyver: Shouldn't you be in school?
Crystal: I'm on a field trip. Do you wanna help me with my homework?
Pete: She can't be more than sixteen.
MacGyver: Yeah. Going on forty.
"Trouble just never lets up, does it." Mac, after covering for Crystal
Crystal: What do you do? What's your job?
MacGyver: Well . . . I guess you could call me a, uh, troubleshooter. I, uh . . . help people.
Crystal: Like, people in trouble?
MacGyver: Something like that.
"I would be the perfect date for you." Crystal, seeing Mac's wad of cash as he pays for lunch
MacGyver: Why don't you stop the hustle? It really doesn't look good on you.
Crystal: I'm just doing this for my boyfriend.
MacGyver: Yeah. Right.
Crystal: He needs the money to get new mags for his car.
MacGyver: It sounds like he loves his car.
Crystal: He loves me. Sometimes when you love somebody . . . you get into things you wouldn't normally do.
MacGyver: That's not a boyfriend. That's a pimp.
Crystal: Why are you doing this? I mean, what's in it for you?
MacGyver: Does there have to be something in it for me?
Crystal: Hey. You must want something.
MacGyver: Alright, yeah. I want something. I want to go home and sleep, which I cannot do if I know there's a little girl roaming the streets with her face all painted up like a clown, turning tricks for a lowlife reptile with a switchblade.
Crystal: Why do you care what happens to me?
MacGyver: I don't know. I just do.
"Never could say 'no' to a stray, could you." Cynthia, to Mac
"That girl's got more guts than brains." Kandy, when Crystal returns to Snakeskin's place
Crystal: What are you doing?
MacGyver: Trying to save what's left of your life!
Crystal: Can't I go home with you?
MacGyver: What?!
Crystal: Not to party. I need someone to talk to. You're the only one who seems to care what happens to me.
"I know about people who live on houseboats. They like to . . . drift around." Crystal, to Mac
MacGyver: There's a robe and some clean towels in the laundry hamper. I never seem to get around to folding.
Crystal: You need a woman in your life.
Crystal: Hey, you really can cook!
MacGyver: Well, I wouldn't be too quick to judge until you've tasted 'em . . .
Crystal: How come you're so willing to get into trouble for me?
MacGyver: I don't know. I guess it's just the way I am.
Crystal: Well, I'm just the opposite. I'm always running away from trouble. Problem is, I just can't get away from it.
MacGyver: Caught in a loop, huh.
Crystal: Same with you, right? Except you're always running to trouble.
Crystal: Yeah, we're both runners.
MacGyver: What are you running from?
Crystal: I don't know. Maybe myself.
Crystal: What about your parents?
MacGyver: Well, my mom died of a stroke. I was in Afghanistan at the time, on assignment. I didn't even hear about it until the day of the funeral. I never had a chance to say goodbye.
Crystal: What about your dad?
MacGyver: He died in a car accident with my grandmother. I was seven.
Crystal: Did you ever feel like . . . like your dad abandoned you?
MacGyver: No. Kind of the opposite. It's like I abandoned him.
Crystal: So, you feel guilty. Like you're being punished for not doing something?
MacGyver: I guess. Sometimes.
Crystal: Yeah, me too . . . I always felt like I did something wrong. I just can't figure out what it was.
Crystal: You know, for two people who seem so different, we sure are a lot alike.
"Yogurt? Sprouts? Your taste in food is pretty grim." Jennifer (a.k.a. Crystal), examining the contents of Mac's refrigerator
MacGyver: Excuse me.
Bag Lady: Back off, or I mace the face!
[Mac holds his hands up and looks at the can.]
MacGyver: It's not mace. It's hairspray.
Bag Lady: Whatever.
Jennifer: You know, I finally got you figured out. Why you're always on the brink of disaster.
MacGyver: Yeah? What's the conclusion, doc?
Jennifer: Well, part of you is still trying to stop your dad and grandma from dying in that car accident. And another part of you is still trying to get home in time to say goodbye to your mom . . . Those things weren't your fault, MacGyver. The first step is realizing that.
MacGyver: Maybe so.
Gold Rush
Original Air Date: March 27, 1989
Episode #078
MacGyver arrives in the Arctic Circle to join a US-Soviet expedition to recover a shipment of Russian gold from a downed WWII plane. The only survivor of the flight, Lieutenant Turk West is also part of the team after spending years looking for the wreckage. The Soviet team arrives; MacGyver greets General Baronov, but he is not thrilled to find that Dr. Natalie Vaskaya is joining them. Natalie explains that this is her project, and she asked for MacGyver to be part of it. The team locates the plane, but the gold is gone and the cargo door is missing. As Mac looks for clues, Turk spies coordinates etched into the one remaining gold bar. A suspicious General Baronov follows Turk, who hikes up the mountain and plants explosives in the snow. General Baronov confronts Turk, accusing him of sabotaging the flight for his greed. Turk declares that the gold will be his, and he kills the general. Inside the plane, a recording made by the missing crew reveals Turk's guilt, but Mac and Natalie are trapped when Turk drives off after triggering an avalanche. Mac frees them, and they follow Turk's tracks to a cave. Inside, they find a bloody trail that leads to Turk, wounded by a booby trap. Pointing a gun at them, Turk forces Natalie and Mac to go ahead of him. Avoiding one trap, Natalie arms another as the trio enters the chamber with the gold. Mac disarms the trigger only to be left hanging off a cliff by the traitorous Turk, who greedily goes for the gold. While Natalie pulls Mac to safety, Turk picks up a gold bar and sets off another trap that starts a cave-in. A falling chunk of ice kills Turk. Natalie and Mac slide out to safety with the gold on the cargo door. Back at the base tent, Pete interrupts Natalie and Mac as they attempt to get cozy.
Quotes
"I was ready for a lazy week of serious scuba diving off the Grand Keys. A Spanish galleon loaded with treasure has gone down over four centuries ago, and I was gonna spend my vacation lookin' for it. But Pete Thornton had another idea. It also involved treasure hunting, but he told me I could leave my Hawaiian shirt at home." Mac, in a voice-over as he rides through snow-covered terrain
Turk: If I had my way, I'd give it all to the Afghan freedom fighters. They could use that hundred million that bullion's worth now.
MacGyver: So could the Russians. For earthquake relief.
Turk: If you buy that line, you believe in the tooth fairy.
Natalie: Hello, MacGyver. You look the same.
MacGyver (after a pause): Somebody obviously forgot to tell me you were assigned to the expedition.
Natalie: It's been five years. You don't seem pleased to see me again.
MacGyver: You're right. I'm not.
Turk: Once I serve under a man it's . . . hard to forget.
General: Even after forty-five years?
Turk: That's one flight I'll always remember.
Natalie: Is there anything I can do to help you?
MacGyver: Yeah. Stay out of my way.
Natalie: I'm trying to make a difference. I have seen the faces of the children in Armenia. No food. No homes. Recovering this gold is important to them. And to me.
MacGyver: You know, you gushed just like that back in Helsinki. What was it, something about your uncle trying to defect and needing my help?
MacGyver: Why should I believe you now?
Natalie: Because times have changed. And because it is the truth.
"That is what I've always admired about you. The way you . . . never let go of something worthwhile." Natalie, pointedly, to Mac
General: How strange things were then . . .
MacGyver: Things are kinda strange right now.
"Gimme your bear." Mac, asking Natalie for her pin
"I remember you don't drink. But somehow, this seems like a good time to start." Natalie, to Mac after they are trapped in the plane by the avalanche
"Glad you're sentimental." Mac, after Natalie produces a matchbook from the hotel where they met
"Nice try, Captain." Turk, saluting the corpse at the entrance of the cave
MacGyver: Don't move. Just freeze.
Natalie: I am already frozen.
Natalie: MacGyver, he's going to kill us anyway. If I can't bring this gold to my people, then I believe the next best thing is to just step off and take him with us. What do you think?
MacGyver: I think you shouldn't go Russian on me just yet.
Natalie: What do you mean "Russian"?
MacGyver: You know. Heroic. Fatalistic. Russian.
Natalie: Oh. That Russian.
Natalie: Why, MacGyver, you're beginning to sound Russian.
MacGyver: What do you mean "Russian"?
Natalie: You know. Poetic. Philosophical. Russian.
[They lean in to kiss as Pete walks in.]
MacGyver: That's okay, Pete. I was just working on my Russian. But I think the lesson is over.
Natalie: Only for now.
The Invisible Killer
Original Air Date: April 10, 1989
Episode #079
An unidentified assailant murders a traveler and steals the man's car while a radio news report details the escape of twelve convicts in a prison bus crash. With police road blocks preventing further escape, the killer assumes the dead man's identity and continues on to the Phoenix Foundation stress-relief weekend. The killer blends in as MacGyver greets the four participants: Henry Colter, Dr. Fred Beam, Tony Parisio, and Chuck Laraby. Mac provides a brief introduction to the program, and the group sets off into the wilderness. After hearing about the escaped convicts on Tony's radio, the party becomes suspicious of each other. Along the trail, a forest ranger named Liz confronts them with shotgun. They present identification and she relaxes a bit, explaining that prisoners from the crash may be escaping into the mountains. The group visits the fire lookout for some coffee before continuing on the trail. Making camp for the night, suspicions return. The next morning, Dr. Beam is dead and Colter is gone. Mac realizes that Colter went to get Liz to lead him out of the mountains. Meanwhile, the murdered man's body is found, and Pete Thornton arrives to meet with the local sheriff after the victim is identified as a Phoenix Foundation employee. Attempting to reach Mac and the others, the sheriff radios Liz at the fire lookout, but the call is cut short when Colter arrives and smashes the radio. Mac is able to find them and knock Colter out. Returning to the fire lookout, Mac soon learns that Laraby is an escaped con as well. Laraby frees Colter, but with Liz's help, Mac is able to stop them both.
Quotes
MacGyver: My job was to take them over Mount Cascade on a five-day hike. They'd have a chance to blow off some steam and just forget about their jobs. And me? Well, it was just something I like to do.
MacGyver: Any questions?
Laraby: Yeah. What's for dinner?
MacGyver: A gourmet selection of the finest freeze-dried food known to man.
[Tony picks up the map.]
MacGyver: I know where we're going. Trust me.
Tony: Yeah, well, uh, I'm gonna bring this along. Just in case something happens to you.
"Well, stress isn't what killed him, Mr. Thornton. A bullet did." Sheriff Hubbard, after Pete says that the victim was on his way to a stress-relief weekend
Colter: Ranunculus. Ranunculus is Latin for buttercup.
Tony: Basta. Basta is Italian for "enough already with the biology lesson."
"Why don't we just forget about the radio? Maybe . . . tune in to what we have up here, huh?" Mac, after Beam is irritated by Tony's radio
MacGyver: Acrophobia wasn't on your application for this program. You hiding anything else?
Laraby: Just my pride.
"You know, one of these days you're gonna wake up dead if you don't learn to relax." Tony, to Beam
Colter: You don't actually think we look like convicts?
Liz: You tell me. What's a convict look like?
Laraby: Maybe you were in prison for havin' a lousy sense of humor.
Tony: So what is that? A capital offense?
Liz: Six months ago I was a secretary in the city. Now, I'm recovering from a divorce, and somehow this seemed like the best place to do it.
[Liz gives Mac the bird call she just made.]
MacGyver: What's this for?
Liz: If you get lonely you can whistle up a bird or two for company.
Liz: Listen, if you guys run short of time there's another trail through the pass. It's a little tougher, but it's shorter.
MacGyver: I don't think these guys need "tougher."
Beam: I'm not your killer, MacGyver.
Colter: Who said anything about killing?
[Everyone looks questioningly at Beam]
Beam: I assume that's what happened during the escape.
"What if one of us is a con? . . . How would we know?" Laraby, posing a very sobering thought
"I guess we're all just gonna have to, uh . . . go to sleep and uh . . . trust each other." Tony, not really helping
Tony: Why would he want to kill all of us? I mean, especially you, MacGyver. You're the only one who can lead him out of these mountains.
MacGyver (realizing): No, I'm not.
"MacGyver, when is your program starting up again?" Sheriff Hubbard, after a stressful call from home
Brainwashed
Original Air Date: April 24, 1989
Episode #080
Pete Thornton arrives late at a gathering to greet President Dakru of Kimbala, who has just arrived in town. The next evening, President Dakru will present medals to MacGyver and Jack Dalton for their part in an irrigation project. Elsewhere, Jack dreams about walking down a long hall through double doors into a room where he finds a gun waiting for him at a fancy table. He wakes to find himself facing a policeman, standing outside a deserted fun park in the middle of the night. A man watches them from the shadows. Mac arrives to retrieve Jack, who is thought to have been sleepwalking. Back at Mac's houseboat, Jack's bad dreams leave him shaken, so Mac suggests a visit to Dr. Beatty, the Phoenix Foundation psychiatrist. The mysterious watcher phones Edith, wife of Edward Mantu, Vice-President of Kimbala to report on Jack's status; Edward is concerned that MacGyver will figure out their plan. Not worried, Edith insists that she has a backup. In a trancelike state, Jack recounts his dream to Dr. Beatty while Mac listens. Leaving Jack to rest, Dr. Beatty tells Mac that Jack has been brainwashed; finding the phrase that controls him - and what he's supposed to do - will take some time. Looking for Pete, Jack and Mac visit the hall where the awards banquet will be, but Mantu manages to send Jack to Edith, who gives Jack a new assignment: kill MacGyver. Meanwhile, Mac starts to piece together clues from Jack's dream. When he finds a holster under the table at Jack's assigned seat, he realizes that Jack is to kill President Dakru. With the banquet one hour away, Pete suggests that Mac look for Jack back at the fun park. Another clue from the dream leads Mac into the fun house, where he finds a replica of the banquet hall, used for practicing the assassination. Jack enters the room with a gun and shoots at Mac, who flees into the hall of mirrors. After shooting mirrors multiple times in an attempt to kill Mac, Jack finally breaks down. Mac and Jack return to the training room, where Mac observes that two people were brainwashed. Recalling another "lost weekend," Mac realizes that the second assassin is Pete. Mac and Jack race to the banquet, where Mantu has asked Pete to accept the medals in their place. When Dakru says the trigger phrase, Pete pulls out a gun. Mac hurries onto the stage, pushes Dakru to safety, and tosses the medal to Edith. As Pete turns the gun on Edith, she quickly recites the phrase and orders him not to shoot. Pete snaps back to normal and Mac points out that Edith has proved her guilt. Later, Dr. Beatty is able to deprogram Jack and Pete.
Quotes
Pete: Thanks for covering.
MacGyver: Yeah. What's going on with you? Helen said she'd been trying to reach you all weekend.
Pete: With all the security preparations I had to go through for this state visit, I thought I deserved a couple of days off.
[Mac stares at him in disbelief.]
MacGyver: You took a vacation? Without filing your itinerary in triplicate?
[Pete chuckles.]
MacGyver: Next you'll tell me you had a good time.
Pete: I found a beautiful mountain stream. It was just me and the salmon, like a dream come true.
MacGyver: Couldn't he just send the medals?
Hendrix: It's the highest honor Kimbala can award a non-citizen, MacGyver.
MacGyver: I'm grateful; don't get me wrong. But formal ceremonies, speeches, tuxedos ...
Hendrix: It's called protocol, also known as manners? I suggest you don't forget yours tomorrow, and remind your fly-boy buddy Dalton to do the same.
"From the bottom of my heart, I salute you." The trigger phrase, repeating in Jack's dream
Policeman: Is this some kind of a joke?
[Jack looks down to find himself standing barefooted in a puddle.]
Jack: I'm not laughin'.
"Can you believe it, Mac? All these years of sleepin' like a baby, and all of a sudden I'm the midnight rambler." Jack, revealing that he's never had a problem with sleepwalking before
"Drinking? Moi? MacGyver, you wound me." Jack, after Mac suggests that he wandered while coming off a weekend bender
MacGyver: Where have you been the last couple of days?
Jack: With her.
MacGyver: "Her"? Who's "her"?
Jack: We met at Phil's Tux for Bucks. I was gettin' measured for a penguin suit for the shindig tomorrow?
[He sighs dreamily.]
Jack: What can I say? It was just me and her, like a dream come true.
MacGyver: Does "her" have a name?
Jack: I guess so. She never got around to telling me.
MacGyver: That sounds like true love to me.
[Jack sighs again, remembering.]
MacGyver: Check in next time, will ya?
Jack: You can't leave me down here on my own. What if I doze off and my feet decide to do the walkin' again?
MacGyver: Sleep in your shoes.
Jack: How about a life jacket? In case you haven't checked lately, this house is a boat. I could wake up in the ocean. Or worse! I could not wake up on the bottom of the ocean...
Mantu: I should never have let you talk me into this. It's all too risky.
Edith: Great leaders take great risks, my love. You must have faith. By this time tomorrow, I will make you President.
MacGyver: Take it easy. You were just dreaming.
Jack: Dream, nothing. This was pure, one hundred and fifty proof nightmare.
"How did that get there?" Jack, finding a gun in his hand (in a dream)
Jack: I don't like it. I've never been to a shrink before.
MacGyver: Jack, she's a psychiatrist.
Jack: Whatever. It's all mumbo-jumbo anyway.
"Okay. Just this once. But no couches or ink blots, okay?" Jack, agreeing to talk to the psychiatrist
Mantu: MacGyver could figure out our entire plan.
Edith: Then we will change the plan. Jack Dalton is not the only puppet on our string.
Dr. Beatty: Where is the room, Jack?
Jack: In the moon.
Jack: There's a voice.
Dr. Beatty: What does the voice say?
[Jack is unable to repeat the phrase, but his hand comes up in a salute.]
Dr. Beatty: What you just heard, my friend, was a preconditioned response.
MacGyver: "Preconditioned"? You mean he's been hypnotized before?
Dr. Beatty: Calling this hypnosis is like comparing an H-bomb to a firecracker.
"Try and keep your hands out of your pockets, and for pity's sake, act like you're interested in what the man is saying." Ms. Hendrix, briefing Mac on the order of the awards ceremony
"You see, Edward? Nothing is ever lost if one plans ahead." Edith, feeling mighty confident in her foresight
"This is where you spent last weekend. There was no beautiful girl from Tux for Bucks. They created her and that lost weekend to cover your absence while they programmed you." Mac, to Jack, in the training room
"All I can remember is spending the weekend with that beautiful lady they planted in my brain." Jack, after Mac asks who the second assassin is
"Two lost weekends." Mac, recalling what Pete said about fishing
Jack: I don't get it. Even if Pete hears the key phrase, how are they going to give him the order to shoot the President in front of a big crowd like that?
MacGyver: The Star of State.
Jack: The what?
MacGyver: The medal. He's been conditioned to shoot whoever is holding that medal.
"I think you just blew your right to remain silent." Mac, to Edith
MacGyver: How are you feeling?
Pete: Like I've been asleep for days.
Dr. Beatty: Well, in a way you have been.
Episodes 65 - 68 69 - 72 73 - 76 77 - 80 81 - 83
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