Fire and Ice - MacGyver Episode Summary 3.5

Synopsis: MacGyver teams up with Nikki Carpenter to catch the diamond thief who murdered his friend Danny, who turns out to be Nikki’s brother. The thief having diplomatic rights makes their pursuit more difficult. The only way they could nail the guy is to catch him red-handed. To do so, MacGyver and Nikki with the help of Pete Thornton, lure him into a trap.

Episode Summary: Danny Barrett (Terry David Mulligan) an insurance investigator invites MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) to lunch with a plan to urge him to help catch a diamond thief. They meet at the scene of a robbery where Danny begins to explain that the suspect is a diplomat, which makes him harder to arrest. He believes that the stolen items are being stored at the consulate. MacGyver warns him that he is getting himself into trouble, but Danny insists on handling this himself just so he could get a huge bonus from his client. Moreover, he already hacked into the diplomat’s computer and found proof to his involvement in the heist. All he wants Mac to do is to help him access the computer, since he got shut out after his first attempt. While they were arguing a black pickup truck runs over Danny.  Continue reading...

Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar) and MacGyver visit the funeral parlor to pay their respects to the late Danny Barrett. Knowing that his death was no accident despite the police classifying it as a hit and run, Mac turns to Pete for help. They begin with identifying the Ganubian cultural attaché as Amir Sumal. He is known to be a brutal and dangerous man in both politics and his personal life.

At a party Amir is throwing at the consulate for wealthy art patrons, the same woman Pete and MacGyver came across at the funeral parlor arrives in a red Ferrari. She pretends to know a guest and steals his invitation. MacGyver on the other hand sneaks into the consulate by jumping up the fence. Pete learned that Sumal’s office is located on the second floor of the residence. Using a hose and a rake claw screwed into its nozzle, MacGyver climbs up the balcony and makes his way into the office. Inside the party, the woman disguises herself as one of the waitresses and makes her way to Sumal’s office. However, MacGyver has beaten her to the computer. He hides as the lady tries to hack into the system. Moments later Mac grabs her, but she attacks him and points a gun at him. Upon hearing somebody at the door, they pretend to be lovers looking for some privacy. However, the guard did not fall for the act and calls for backup. With the guard distracted, the lady assaults the man and knocks him cold. MacGyver manages to retrieve the information and the two escape the same way he got inside. Quickly the woman grabs a station wagon from a valet while MacGyver leaves with her Ferrari. He finds the woman in Danny’s office mistaking her as another insurance investigator. Mac had successfully sent the file to Danny’s computer only it is encrypted. The woman informs MacGyver that she has a decoder disk in her car and orders him to retrieve it since he has her keys. Soon he will find out that the lady had reported the vehicle as stolen. She gloats and leaves with the station wagon.

Having cleared the issue, Mac is back in his houseboat. Learning Mac’s identity from the police, the lady sneaks into his house to apologize. He learns that she is in fact Danny’s sister, Nikki Carpenter (Elyssa Davalos) who grew up with his father in Georgetown. Though not a cop, she has some training similar to it when she worked in a senate’s sub-committee. With that she intends to find the person who killed his brother. Danny also informed her of the case he was working on. Mac and her agree to work together and solve the case.

Pete informs them that the information they got is not enough proof to have Amir Sumal arrested for the heist. The only way to do so is to catch him red-handed. They devise a plan to steal the diamonds Amir had stolen and lure him to steal it back. Nikki informs them that Amir is passionate about women, playing squash and diamonds and could use these to their advantage. Mac’s plan is to steal Sumal’s key from the racquet club locker and make a duplicate. However, in order to accomplish all of these they would need a diamond for bait.

Nikki Carpenter arrives at the restaurant where Amir is dining and bribes the Maitre d’ to pretend that the table he is at is Nikki’s regular table forcing Amir to move. As part of the plan, she invites him to share the table with her and introduces herself as Nicole de Mellier. Immediately, Amir recognizes the name. It being associated with the legendary de Mellier diamonds, the famous twelve sisters. She informs him that their family is selling the diamonds to keep up with her brother’s spending. In their conversation, he learns that Nikki and her brother are like fire and ice. They share different interests and one of them is squash. Amir being a squash enthusiast himself tries to change her feelings toward the sport by inviting her to a game. Nikki notifies him of a prior appointment and graciously refuses, but Amir insists and offers to escort her to the appointment so they could have lunch together at his racquet club.

At the diamond exchange, Pete had set up a Blane Diamond’s office. Nikki introduces Amir to Mr. Blane and his brother Claude, who are actually Pete and MacGyver. As planned, she hands over the ninth of the twelve sisters. Amir obviously is already lured. Mr. Blane stores the diamond in the vault as they watch. He even shows them the other diamonds in his protection. Later, Claude invites himself to the racquet club.

Having failed to get a mold of Amir’s key from his locker, MacGyver orders Nikki to retrieve it while he plays squash with the diplomat. Left with no choice, she sneaks into the men’s locker room and successfully creates a mold of a key using the bar soap he borrowed from a man in the shower.

Back in Mac’s houseboat, he creates a duplicate from the mold. The next step is for MacGyver to sneak into the consulate while Nikki attends the ambassador’s reception. Hiding inside the trunk of the Rolls Royce, he manages to enter the premises without being seen. While Amir shows Nikki his art collection, she notes of the man at the front gate. The one she thought Amir had instructed to follow her to ensure her safety. Knowing that he did not order such a thing, Sumal immediately calls security while Nikki steals one of the smaller Degas paintings. At another section of the consulate, MacGyver through a dumbwaiter manages to go up the floor where the diamonds are. He enters the room using the duplicate key and guesses the right combination to the vault by bringing out fingerprints through graphite pencil shavings. He successfully steals the diamonds, but was late coming back to the trunk. Sumal had already escorted Nikki to the car. She distracts him with her femininity and Mac successfully makes his way to the trunk of her Rolls Royce. Back in the consulate, they learn from the snooping man Charles Keech, a private investigator, that Nicole is truly a high-class thief. The private investigator’s allegations are confirmed when they find out that one of the Degas’ has gone missing.  Amir finds the two in Mac’s houseboat and uncovers the missing Degas. Aside from this he discovers that the two are planning to rob the Blane diamonds. They manage to convince Sumal that he could not accomplish the heist by himself and that he needs their help. Learning that the diamonds will be gone early in the morning, they all rush to the diamond exchange.

Nikki pretends to be in need of medical attention so the guard rushes to her aid. She shoots the guard and opens the door for the others. The three break into the Blane Diamonds office. Using an electronic decoder, Mac opens the door to the room where the vault is housed. He then welds a passageway to the vault and starts stealing the diamonds. However, Sumal steals the jewels for himself, leaks the gas tank and traps them inside. Mac easily turns off the tank by replacing the broken knob with another one. Amir makes his way to the consulate not knowing that all has been an act. MacGyver, Nikki and Charles make their way to the consulate. Having returned, Amir is surprised to learn that Mr. Blane is actually Peter Thornton. He accuses him in front of the ambassador of theft. Pete asks the ambassador to give the order to search the attaché case. Unfortunately, Amir has diplomatic immunity and could not be searched. Just in time, the three arrive and using the remote control Mac opens the rigged brief case. Caught red-handed, the ambassador orders the arrest of Sumal.

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Ghost Ship - MacGyver Episode Summary 3.4

Synopsis: MacGyver goes on a wilderness mapping expedition for the Department of Interior. His mission is help determine whether the area is a national preserve by installing electronic boundary markers that will map out the wilderness. However, his task was put on hold when he comes across a ghost ship and encounters what appears to be Big Foot.

Episode Summary: The Phoenix Foundation sends MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) to the Tonga weather station on a save the wilderness mapping expedition. He is one of five people sent on the mission to place highly sensitive electronic boundary markers at ten-mile intervals. This is a Department of Interior’s initiative to acquire topographical reference points that will map the wilderness and identify it as a national preserve. Seeing the other men’s progress Joanna (Michele Goodger), the woman in charge of the project, questions MacGyver’s ability to fulfill the assignment.  Continue reading...

In the wilderness, MacGyver stumbles upon a Totem pole and an ancient skeleton believed to have been placed there to look over the land. He places his first marker and goes on to the next when he comes across a ghost ship. Curious with his discovery, he finds an old dinghy with a huge scratch mark and makes his way on to the ship. Inside he discovers blood stained items and a handprint twice the size of his own. Walking up a stairwell leading to the control room, he finds hair stuck on a rivet. As he examines the room, a bigfoot-like entity attacks him. He escapes down to the ghost ship’s storage area only to find a girl. MacGyver holds her back just before the creature enters the room. They make their way out the back door and jump overboard. The girl tries to flee for the second time, but MacGyver manages to get her trust.

Back at the station, Pete (Dana Elcar) starts to worry from Mac’s lack of progress. MacGyver tries to communicate with the girl. Night came and still the girl has not said a word. After trying several languages, he finally finds out that she is Russian. Mac struggles with his speaking skills only to learn that she speaks English. Her name is Karin Graff (Katey Wright) from Baltic. In the hopes of finding her father in Alaska, she and her cousin Alexander made their way to the US as stowaways. The vessel only became a ghost ship when the entity boarded it and started attacking the passengers. Alexander was one of the casualties.

Later that night, three Native American men join Karin and MacGyver’s campsite. They realize that the three know about the creature. The elderly man informs them that the unknown entity is Bigfoot. He recounts a childhood memory of the creature attacks. Suddenly, they hear howling and see glowing light. Morning came and the three are gone. MacGyver assures Karin that they were not Bigfoot’s latest victims.

Pete convinces Joanna that MacGyver is committed to the assignment. He starts to become extremely troubled with Mac’s progress or the lack thereof. Deeper in the forest, hopes are high upon hearing voices of other people. This was cut short when Karin realizes that the people are the crew she thought were killed. Mac figures that the men are stealing the oil from the pipeline and that the glow they saw the other night came from their welding equipment. He leaves the girl to look for help. Not long after he left, he hears Karin screaming. One of the men captures the girl and decides to have her killed to eliminate witnesses. MacGyver quickly follows them and strikes the man with a fish rod tied around a tree. The other men run after the two not knowing that they are on their way back to the pipeline. Mac places all the markers inside the pipe. Pete immediately senses trouble and flies to the pipeline. On their way to the top, the entity assaults MacGyver. In their struggle, Mac discovers that the creature is just a man dressed as Bigfoot and overpowers him. Pete arrives just before the other crewman aims his shotgun at MacGyver.

Karin asks Mac to come with her to Juneau where her father lives, but he refuses as he has yet to fulfill the mission he was set to accomplish. Joanna and Pete tease him for falling for the act, but were left wondering after hearing the howling.

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Lost Love Part 2 - MacGyver Episode Summary 3.2

Synopsis: Determined not to lose his love again, MacGyver with the help of his friend Jack, steal the Ming Dragon to pay as ransom for the kidnapped Lisa Kohler. Later, MacGyver learns of the real motive behind the theft of the Chinese artifact. Moreover, Lisa divulges the reason behind her supposed death.

Episode Summary: MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) returns to his hotel room and finds Jack. He confides to him his predicament. In exchange for Lisa (Elyssa Davalos), he has to steal the Ming dragon for General Racoubian. The two sneak into the exhibition at dawn, after Pete (Dana Elcar) and Chu finish installing the new security system. They enter through a vent that is wired. MacGyver holds in place the alarm with his Swiss knife and holds it still with a duct tape.  Continue reading...

Inside the duct, MacGyver and Jack (Bruce McGill) wait until the guard finishes his rounds. Mac lowers himself and the equipment as Jack follows. Using baby powder, MacGyver reveals the laser beams to remind them of the guarded perimeter. He tries to guess the password that Pete had set. After a couple of attempts he figures out the combination as Arnold Palmer’s birthday. They use a clamp to hold in place the pressure plate. MacGyver enters the soundproof case to retrieve the Ming dragon, but is trapped. With only two minutes left before the guard comes back, he struggles to relay to Jack the combination. He moistens the glass and writes the code 9, 10 and 29. They trip the laser beam in purpose, hide inside one of the displays and trap one of the guards with the harness. With the others distracted with the hanging guard, Mac and Jack managed to escape without being seen.Tanya and company follow the two in Chinatown and attempt to steal the dragon. MacGyver instructs Jack to meet him at a certain place. He joins he parade to elude Tanya, but he is spotted. He then hides in a Chinese store, but is followed. He rejoins the parade pretending to be one of the Chinese dragon dancers. Tanya loses him and he makes his way to the agreed meeting place. 

At the exhibition, Chu shows Pete the tape of the robbery. Apparently, Chu installed security cameras. Learning MacGyver’s actions, Pete convinces Chu that the theft of the Ming dragon was not political and pleads Chu to give him enough time to try and get to the bottom of this before stirring controversy.MacGyver contacts General Racoubian and informs him of Tanya’s hijacking attempt. He demands to see Lisa and Nikolaj before the exchange. The general notifies him that Nikolaj tried to escape and was therefore killed. They agree to meet at night at the bayside generator plant. General Racoubian scolds Tanya for her foolish endeavor and instructs her to retrieve the dragon and kill MacGyver.

Outside the plant, Jack hides and waits for the Russians. He alerts MacGyver of their arrival. Inside, MacGyver stations himself at the crate controller. The dragon dangles from a line attached to the crane. He demands Tanya to deactivate and remove the explosive around Lisa’s neck. He then orders them to let Lisa free and tells Joseph to reclaim the dragon. As Joseph struggles to reach the artifact, MacGyver loosens the line and the dragon falls. Tanya runs and catches it. Jack attacks the man who guards the van and disassembles the engine. The three escape.On their way to the foundation, they learn from Lisa that Nikolaj could not be dead. They drive to the Russians’ abode in an attempt to rescue Kosov. Regrettably, Lisa had led them to a trap. Tanya directs Jack to the basement, while Lisa explains to MacGyver everything that has happened. As it turns out, Nikolaj and her are not really married and that her death was part of the plan to make the Americans believe that the information she gave them was true. She also divulges of the mission to make the world believe that an American agent stole China’s national treasure and it was the Soviet agents who recovered it. Lisa then confesses that although it was part of her job to seduce MacGyver not everything was a lie.

In the basement, Mac removes his handcuffs using the hairpin Lisa gave him. He then uses the handcuffs to pick the door lock. Jack and MacGyver make their way out as the General inspects the dragon and to his astonishment learns that it is an imitation. He orders his men to fetch MacGyver, but they are already on their way to the chopper. Tanya catches them and confiscates the necklace Mac stole. In a tussle, Jack manages to run for the helicopter as MacGyver locks her in a tool shed. Hearing the helicopter, General Racoubian and Major Kosov goes after them and aims to take a shot but Lisa attacks both Russians. Jack lowers the chopper for Lisa, but Nikolaj fires at her. Thinking that MacGyver still has the necklace, Racoubian detonates the bomb not knowing that Tanya took the necklace. They get away, but Lisa’s badly wounded. This time she dies in MacGyver’s arms.Back in Chinatown, Pete and Chu arrive at the Chinese shop. Meanwhile, MacGyver locates the real Ming dragon from a number of imitation figurines. Jack is shocked to discover that MacGyver hid the national treasure among plaster ornaments on display. Fortunately, no one bought the genuine Ming dragon and safely returns it to Chu.

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Back from the Dead - MacGyver Episode Summary 3.3

Synopsis: The mobster learns that Jimmy Kendall is back from the dead after seeing his picture on the paper. Jimmy, a key witness to the government trial against the mob must change his identity a second time and go back into hiding. It is MacGyver’s job to convince him of the new plan. Tired of hiding and running away, Jimmy puts matters into his own hands especially after finding out that the mob kidnapped his daughter and grandson.

Episode Summary: Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar) drops by MacGyver’s place to inform him that Jimmy Kendall (Joe Santos), a witness they have been protecting and helped fake ones death, has his picture appear in a paper. Jimmy disclosed information about Papa Chuck and his associates. Troubled that the mob would uncover the truth, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) rushes to the Shoreline stadium where Jimmy, now known as Lou Rizzo, has his baseball team practicing.Right after Papa Chuck’s funeral, the mobsters meet at the docks to discuss business. The head mobster, Paul Weber, assigns Ralph to head operations of the freight service. This is his reward for exterminating Jimmy to avenge Papa Chuck’s demise. Later, Ralph’s assistant having seen the picture in the paper reveals that Jimmy ‘The Eraser’ Kendall is not dead. Ralph vows to ensure the death of Jimmy before the family finds out.  Continue reading...

Much to the bewilderment of the team, the pitcher Dave strikes out baseball star Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron who dropped in to help with batting practice. Moments later, MacGyver surprises Jimmy with his visit. He shows him the paper and discusses Pete’s plan of creating a new identity for him. Jimmy finally concedes to the plan, but mobsters Ralph and Sal confront the two. They escape via improvised zip line.

Back in MacGyver’s houseboat, Jimmy calls Dave and learns that Ralph has kidnapped his daughter and grandson. He contacts Ralph without Mac’s knowledge and agrees to meet at Papa Chuck’s old cannery place. He asks permission to see a priest for confession; only the cleric Father Kowalski is not really a priest. Inside the confessional, Kowalski hands over a gun. MacGyver quickly discovers the truth and talks Jimmy out of it. Finally, he informs him of his family’s abduction. He flees regardless of Mac’s incessant plea not to deal with Ralph alone. MacGyver rushes back to his houseboat in search for clues to where he might have gone.

Susan, the daughter, convinces Ralph that his father is dead and that all has been a mistake. She assures him that Jimmy was an insurance salesman who died years ago. Ralph informs her that her father is in fact a hit man. She pleads for their freedom to no avail.

Outside the cannery, MacGyver sneaks up on the roof while Jimmy confronts Sal. With a gun behind his back, Jimmy manages to order Sal to lure Ralph outside. However, Ralph quickly realizes the situation and holds the family hostage. Meanwhile, MacGyver is up on the roof devising a rescue. He walks to a crane hovering over, traps Sal with a net and attacks Ralph. The family escapes as Mac struggles with Ralph. He falls into the river and gets shot. The mobsters watch his body sink and goes after the family who is trapped inside the cannery. Now that Susan is certain that his father is back from the dead, Jimmy apologizes for the whole lie and the trouble he has caused.

Jimmy instructs his family to escape through the window. He makes some noise as his daughter and grandson break a window and escape. He confronts the mobsters and gets shot at the shoulder. As Ralph prepares for his final assault, the soaked, wounded and bleeding MacGyver sneaks up on them throws a spear at the boiler causing it to blow off scalding steam directly at the mob. Finally, Jimmy got his wish. He has reclaimed his true identity and is officially back from the dead.

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Lost Love Part 1 - MacGyver Episode Summary 3.1

Synopsis: The Phoenix Foundation is tasked to provide security for the Ming Dragon. A simple mission becomes complicated when MacGyver’s lost love reappears. After years of having thought of her dead, Lisa Kohler re-emerges in MacGyver’s life and asks for his help. Now married to an ex-KGB agent, she pleads Mac to help her and her husband defect. Their planned escape somehow becomes awry when the Russian delegation catches them, takes Lisa hostage and blackmails MacGyver into stealing the Ming dragon in exchange for his lost love.

Episode Summary: MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) and Pete Thornton (Dana Elcar) meet with Chu at the harbor to receive the Ming Dragon, China’s national treasure to be exhibited at an international cultural exposition. As they remove the artifact from the crate, a lady observes from the top of a building. A security guard confronts her, but ends up being thrown down into an elevator shaft. The lady removes from her bag a pigeon with a message tied around its foot and sends it away. The bird returns to a house where two Russian men read the message that the Ming Dragon has arrived.  Continue reading...

Inside the exhibition, the head of security assures Chu that the Ming Dragon is safe from theft. He explains that although the security guards will be at the control room, the laser beams and the locked case safely guards the item. MacGyver asks to test the security system. He goes over a janitor’s cart and sprinkles powdered cleanser to reveal the laser beams. He avoids the laser beams and opens the lock with a Swiss knife. His demonstration prompts security to change their system by having guards checking at the artifact at 10 minute intervals, changing the lock into a password activated keypad and placing alarms on the pressure plate. Chu reminds MacGyver and Pete Thornton that the Ming Dragon is China’s national treasure and it is US’ national responsibility to ensure its safety while it’s in the country. If anything happens to it, the result is quite serious. At the escalator, MacGyver notices a familiar woman. When Pete asks what the matter is, he dismisses the thought and leads him to a hall where The Great Sheldrake magic show will be held. The Great Sheldrake turns out to be Jack Dalton (Bruce McGill). At the show, the same woman who killed the security guard joins a man at the table. They both watch as MacGyver goes to the backstage to speak with Jack. Walking back to the main room, MacGyver catches a glimpse of the woman he saw at the escalator. He runs for her, but she rides the elevator without noticing him. MacGyver explains to Jack that the woman looks like Lisa Kohler (Elyssa Davalos), his lost love; only she’s already dead. In fact, Mac killed her.

MacGyver finds out that she’s not registered at the hotel. MacGyver explains to Jack why he’s responsible for her death. Two years ago, they both worked on a mission to blow a secret mission facility in Baltic coast. Lisa Kohler was his contact to the underground resistance group. She joins him to the facility despite Mac’s efforts to dissuade her from coming along. They were to install explosives at different locations, but Lisa got caught running away from the facility and gets shot as MacGyver watches.Mac returns to his hotel room and stares at himself at the mirror dresser where he recalls his time with his lost love, Lisa. Both confess their love for each other and Mac gives Lisa his ring. After a quick stroll down memory lane, MacGyver notices a note on the dresser. It’s from Lisa. She asks him to meet with her in the morning at the ferry. They meet and Lisa explains that she was shot and sent to a prison camp where she met Nikolaj. He was the only reason why she survived. She married him. Lisa asks Mac for a very selfish favor and that is to help her and Nikolaj defect. The only problem is Major Nikolaj Kosov is an ex-KGB agent. In fact, MacGyver escaped from him in a mission in Hungary.

MagGyver asks Pete for assitance. They meet with the Russian delegation, which comprises of General Racoubian, Major Kosov, Mrs. Lisa Kosov and the woman who murdered the guard, Tanya Lyaschenka. Jack joins them and invites them to his magic show. Pete then shows them to the rest of the exhibit as Nikolaj and Mac talk outside. Nikolaj begs for MacGyver’s help. He explains that the reason Lisa was not executed was because he destroyed her records. He is afraid that both their lives are in danger when they return to Russia, because of the new government system, which could dig up Lisa’s true identity and his involvement on having changed it. MacGyver devises a plan for them to escape, which involves seeing The Great Sheldrake magic show.

At the show, Jack enlists the participation of Lisa and Tanya. His feat is to make Lisa disappear. Tanya’s role is to check the box from which Lisa is to hide. Lisa enters the box and goes out a back door to meet MacGyver. The two run outside to meet Nikolaj as Tanya tries to look for her. However, the general had already informed the Russian guards of the incident. Nikolaj stops the guards as Mac and Lisa escapes with a stolen motorcycle. The Russians follow them around town, but managed to lose them at the docks. Mac and Lisa catch the ferry, but Tanya informs the general of their destination. The Russian follows them by van and helicopter. The two head toward the waterfront to try and escape by boat, but they are cornered. The general holds Lisa hostage and places an explosive around her neck. He then blackmails MacGyver into stealing the Ming dragon.

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