TV.com

MacGyver

A Prisoner of Conscience

Season 1, Episode 21, Aired Apr 30, 1986

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

Episode Summary

EDIT

8.4

EPISODE RATING: Great

50 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
Your Rating: 9.5

"Superb"
Your Rating: 9

"Superb"
Your Rating: 8.5

"Great"
Your Rating: 8

"Great"
Your Rating: 7.5

"Good"
Your Rating: 7

"Good"
Your Rating: 6.5

"Fair"
Your Rating: 6

"Fair"
Your Rating: 5.5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 4.5

"Poor"
Your Rating: 4

"Poor"
Your Rating: 3.5

"Bad"
Your Rating: 3

"Bad"
Your Rating: 2.5

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 2

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 1.5

"Abysmal"
Your Rating: 1

"Abysmal"

Rate Now!

Pete needs to get the daughter of a Russian dissident out of the Soviet Union, and MacGyver volunteers his help.

WRITE A REVIEW FAN RECAP

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

GUEST STAR
Sharon Maughan

Maria Karsoff
GUEST STAR
Austin Kelly

Boris
GUEST STAR
Stephen Anthony Henry

Stepanov

Richard Dean Anderson

MacGyver

Watch Online

Fan Episode Reviews (3)

See All

MacGyver pretends to be a mental patient to rescue a patient inside a Russian mental hospital.

10

"Perfect"

By marvelfan89, Feb 27, 2008

Not a bad episode overall. A good episode that showed that MacGyver wasn't just an action show but could have good acting to lead an episode. Both Mac and Peter are in Moscow where MacGyver learns that one of Pete's friends needs help.

It's also an episode where a guest star (Mr. Dobkin) playing the character of Alexander Karsoff, a Russian patient would later play in the series a completely different character in Professor Ryman, an American professor. LMAO (I always love it when writers to do that sort of switch almost to tell the audience to wipe a previous character from the memory).

As mentioned this episode has a lot to say from my view about mental institutions perhaps implying that people with mental illness aren't better off there as they might be subject to the abuse of crooked doctors and staff.

Richard Dean Anderson actually shows again that he can act by using a Russian accent through half the episode.

Overall it's not bad it may not be as flashy as the other MacGyver episodes but it didn't have to be.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 1

Flag
Share Hide
After a snazzy start, here's another episode that crashes and burns with an anti-climactic escape sequence.

6.4

"Fair"

By mark_28, Apr 26, 2007

Writer Stephen Kandel was stretched to his limit in the first season one of MacGyver, contributing to nearly half of the season's 22 scripts. Late in the season, it got to be evident as stories full of potential such as this one eventually spiral into humdrum, generic retreads. Particularly following the clever prison break fare from "The Escape", this episode's escape sequences via slipping a psychotropic drug into the mental hospital's community coffee pot and turning the entire staff into intoxicated louts seems lame. I also failed to understand the dynamic that separated the "political prisoners" from the actual mental patients in the hospital. With the exception of Demetri, all of the patients at the hospital struck me as crazy. Were they simply being drugged out of their minds? Whatever the case, the story didn't work for me and lost almost all of its momentum in the episode's second half. With that said, the high-voltage speedboat chase that began the episode, complete with James Bond-esque background music, will still go down as one of the series' coolest action-adventure sequences.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide
Pete travels to Northern Russia to free a Russian dissident and his daughter from conspiracy. A mental institution is where the action takes place and a well thought out plan by Pete, Maria and MacGyver. Will MacGyver free Alex Karsoff and the mental/pomoreless

7.6

"Good"

By the80sKNIGHT, Oct 22, 2005

I thought this episode was very average compared to other MacGyver episodes.

MacGyver follows Pete to Northern Russia as Pete believes that Alexander Karsoff, a Russian dissident is dead because of him and Karsoff's daughter, Maria, is also in trouble for conspiracy. MacGyver was never meant to be involved in this mission, but Mac was worried and wants to help.

The opening scene has a bit of action when Pete goes to Maria's cabin in Moscow and finding out that Alex isn't really dead, he is secretly locked up in a mental institution. The secret police turns up and Pete, Maria and MacGyver escape - and a speed boat chase occurs. MacGyver comes up with a plan to tie some rope on a fuel can and jam the other's intake, as it is a jet drive.

They come up with a plan to pretend MacGyver is a mental patient, Pete is his doctor and Maria is from the village helping out. Mac meets a good guy in there named Demetri, who is only political not mental. With the help of Demetri and Lovat, they successfully rescue Karsoff and free him from the institution.

I did enjoy the episode, but didn't think it was one of the best. It was quite funny how relaxed and calm MacGyver was during the final escape... so at ease.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide

WRITE A REVIEW

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (1)
ADD TRIVIA
- MacGyver picking the lock with the lightbulb filaments has been confirmed as possible by the Mythbusters.
  EDIT SHARE
QUOTES (10)
ADD QUOTES
- Natalia: You are black market. MacGyver: No, we're just your basic revolutionaries. Demetri: Power to the people!
  EDIT SHARE
- MacGyver: Comrade, it is night. Wolves and owls can see. Men and flowers must wait for the sun.
  EDIT SHARE
- Pete: Change the timing? MacGyver: Remember Belgrade? Pete: Mm. Don't change the timing.
  EDIT SHARE
- Dr. Suvarin: Still having illusions that you are a political prisoner, Demetri? Demetri: That's what I am, you bedbug.
  EDIT SHARE
- Natalia: Is he really schizophrenic, or is he political? Pete: He's ill. Why do you ask? Dr. Suvarin: There are... different modes of treatment.
  EDIT SHARE
- MacGyver: I've never been to Leningrad before. I hear it's a real... party town.
  EDIT SHARE
- MacGyver: All this fun and you wanted to leave me behind. Pete: Everybody makes mistakes.
  EDIT SHARE
- Russian Officer: I am only a policeman. Maria: Then find yourself an honest trade.
  EDIT SHARE
- Pete: Maria, are you sure you can handle your part of this plan? Maria: My part is simple, they take advantage of cheap labor from the village. But yours, MacGyver, is… it's a bit mad. MacGyver: Yah, that's the idea.
  EDIT SHARE
- Pete: What the hell are you doing here? MacGyver: What do you mean what am I doing here? You take an emergency leave of absence, grab a soviet ID, a map of Northern Russia and you split. You didn't even say goodbye to me? Pete: What, so you just naturally have to follow me? MacGyver: Pete, we're friends. If you got troubles, I got troubles.
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (4)
ADD NOTES
- This is the first of Elya Baskin's two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season two's "Soft Touch".
  EDIT SHARE
- This is the first of Tim Rossovich's three, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season two's "Friends" and season six's "Squeeze Play".
  EDIT SHARE
- This is the first of Lawrence Dobkin's two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season three's "Hell Week".
  EDIT SHARE
- The German episode title is "Hinter der Mauer", meaning "Behind the Wall". The French episode title is "Affaire de conscience", meaning "A Matter of Conscience".
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.