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ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 17th, 1985 —
Today, MacGyver faces a ‘fight or flight’ scenario with Kelly Nielson [SPECIAL GUEST: Kay Lenz!]
MISSION: In search of a favorite childhood lake, MacGyver stumbles upon a hostage situation at a small airstrip off the beaten path. Now he must sabotage his captor’s plan to break into an armored truck and escape with the loot by air.
This week’s highlights include:
SPECIAL GUEST: KAY LENZ!
Kay Lenz has worked with many huge-name directors in her prolific career and is perhaps best known for the lead role in Clint Eastwood’s Breezy opposite William Holden. She also appeared in the original “The Tick” animated series on Fox as American Maid.
The role Kay mentioned that landed MacGyver co-star Jackie Earle Haley an Oscar nomination was 2006’s Little Children.
You can find more information on the July 23rd, 1982 accident on the set of Twilight Zone that took the lives of Vic Morrow and two children on wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_Zone_accident.
Thermite (Chemistry)
Thermite is a chemical compund of metallic powders that can burn in excess of 4,500 degrees fahrenheit. Reactions can involve a variety of fuels, but most common is iron oxide and aluminum.
Check out the article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite
Fe2O3 + 2 Al → 2 Fe + Al2O3
Watch S1E7: “Last Stand” on CBS’s website or check the alternative streamability of this episode here.
RDA spent some time as a street performer and mime so that’s probably where he got the juggling skills from.
I like that you point out both future and past appearances of the recurring actors, it saves the nagging “where did I see this one before…?”.
I loved the memorably dark, tense atmosphere of this episode, set right at the start with the gun hidden around the corner, and it just builds from there, next with the writing in the mug which I thought was a clever idea. The black dot in palm would have come handy!
The death of the guard was an utterly shocking demonstration of the threat level – here’s a guy who doesn’t mind to shoot someone just to get back at MacGyver for pushing the hot truck door on him!
The nearly successful escape was an edge-of-the-seat minute, not any less than the one on the boat in Along Came a Spider, and even the shooting of the fisherman to death was a similar kind of bitter surprise to the death of the truck guard. If you like “MacGyver”, you’re likely to like Along Came a Spider. Megan is absolutely awesome, comes up with one ingenious yet simple MacGyver-like solution after another and refuses to give up trying no matter how dangerous and hopeless the situation is.
I was surprised to see that the cook didn’t get shot for the escape attempt as I remembered, then I realised that was in a film called Playing Dangerous. Again, MacGyver fans are recommend to check it out. It’s an action movie with formidable villains who shot the cook after taking the family hostage just to ensure they are taken seriously, so ignore comparisons to Home Alone!