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MacGyver Season 4 Episode 2

Blood Brothers

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/21/88

MacGyver returns to his home town of Mission City, MN to meet up with two old friends, Chuck and Neil, so they can dig up a time capsule they buried 25 years ago. Haunted by the death of his friend Jesse, who died when MacGyver was young, MacGyver also has to contend with a drug dealer after Chuck's and Neil's sons, Danny and Sean.moreless

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Fan Episode Reviews (4)

MacGyver despise the use of guns.

10

By carnival19, Oct 27, 2007

This episode dates from around 1989 and still today in 2007 this subject is still up to date. Gun control is and should be a major issue in the USA. Too many people are dying because of careless use of guns. It shouldn't be easy to buy them. Now everybody can go to a store and within 10 mins come out with a killing engine. It's ridiculous and as long as the government don't legislate to make it tougher to buy a gun, this thing will go on. How many more deaths will we endure before we/they do something?? It seems like there's gonna be much more deaths because the american people think they have the right to defend themselves no matter what…

What is great about MacGyver is that he despise guns (and we learn why in this episode). We need more heroes like him who uses their brains instead of a gun.moreless
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The official fourth season premiere of MacGyver reveals more secrets from the character's past with an impressive present-day story in his hometown that parallels it.

9.2

By mark_28, May 03, 2007

It wasn't until late November 1988 that MacGyver returned as a regular fixture on ABC's schedule, allowing its sitcom competitors on CBS and NBC a six-week head start in the new season. As was the case going into nearly every season, MacGyver was expected to be the casualty of this arrangement, but actually went on to have his most consistently season ever in the ratings--and in quality--just as NBC's "ALF" and "The Hogan Family" began to lose a little steam and CBS's veteran sitcoms "Newhart" and "Kate and Allie" completely fell apart. The darker and more intense tone of season four likely contributed to larger number of viewers taking notice, showcasing a new side of the series and helping it feel fresh. The haunting tone of "Blood Brothers" is an excellent example, serving up new revelations of MacGyver's tragic past involving his responsibility for an accidental shooting death of his best friend when he was a boy. The story dovetails nicely with an old friend's son whose made himself the target of drug pushers who have taken over his hometown. The story is compelling and the characterizations are much stronger than usual, with a clever and emotional epilogue involving the unearthing of a 25-year-old time capsule. My only grievance was the overly preachy anti-gun tone. I don't have strong feelings either way on guns, but this episode was a precedent-setter for the series taking itself entirely too serious. This episode wasn't as bad as some from upcoming seasons on the preachiness front, but I still cringe when the medic laments "when are they gonna do something about guns" as he looks at Jesse fighting for life. Just my opinion....moreless
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Fairly intense ending

7.3

By jchamberlin, Aug 02, 2005

For a long time, MacGyver has been against the use of guns, and in this episode, we were show a full flashback of why. We knew why earlier, but this was much more information. His best friend Jessee was accidentally killed by a gun, because it was knocked out of a friend's hand and it went off after hitting the ground.

This episode is part flashback and part real-time. Mac goes to Minnesota to dig up a time capsule, as he and his friends agreed to do one day. They're all a little hesitant to do so. It turns out that their kids are now wrapped up with a drug dealer, and he wants his money. The last 20-25 minutes of the show are a bit more intense, what with guns going off and whatnot.moreless
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A dark memory from MacGyver's childhood resurfaces when an old friend's son is almost gunned down by drug dealers who will stop at nothing to kill their target.

10

By bryce_d_oguinn, Aug 02, 2005

I rate this a series classic, because it is not only a fine display of good story telling and excellent acting, but it also reveals an important fact about why MacGyver hates guns. This entire series is based on MacGyver's hatred for guns, so this is a necessary episode. Jason Priestly does a superb job playing the part of teenager trying to help a friend hooked on drugs. This episode also does an excellent job of combining MacGyver’s childhood memories with the events of the present. It is difficult to do an episode that merges two stories into one, but this episode does it perfectly. It also manages to fit in a couple of classic MacGyverisms. My personal favorite was when he mixed some chemicals together to make what looked like blood so he could trick one of the drug dealers into thinking that a wounded Danny (Jason Priestly) had headed in a certain direction he didn’t really go. After this trick lures the drug dealer to an old cooler, MacGyver drops from a hiding place in the ceiling, using his feet to knock the drug dealer unconscious and locks him in the old cooler. This episode includes all of the themes and characteristics that define a classic MacGyver: drama, adventure, suspense, science, antiviolence, and friendship. Great work!moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Richard Dean Anderson

MacGyver

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Dirk Blocker	Chuck	Guest Star
Bernie Coulson	Sean Ryder	Guest Star
Ramon Franco	Spider	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- Danny steps in oil as he runs through the basement. When he runs into the hallway upstairs, he doesn't leave any oily footprints behind him. When Spider and Watts enter the hallway, the footprints aren't there. But when Spider looks down, the footprints suddenly appear.
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- MacGyver's watch is missing in the shot of him picking up bullets.
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- A Smith & Wesson would not discharge from the single action position without the trigger actually being pulled. The breech block would prevent the gun from firing.
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QUOTES (6)
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- Danny: I still remember that homemade volcano you showed me how to make.
  MacGyver: Oh, yeah, did you get it to work?
  Chuck: We had to repaint the kitchen.
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- Sean: Danny is my best friend.
  MacGyver: I don't think you have friends anymore. You have sources!
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- Danny: I might need it to scare 'em off.
  MacGyver: It never stops there, Danny! You got a gun; things happen. People die!
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- MacGyver: Dragnet—the show that made you what you are today, huh, Neil?
  Neil: Nah. I couldn't get in the Army.
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- Chuck: Don't start, MacGyver. Everybody has a right to defend themselves. If he doesn't buy it from me, he'll just buy it someplace else.
  MacGyver: Well, now that's original; did you come up with that yourself?
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- MacGyver: My hometown had grown up a whole lot in the years since I'd been back. But comin' home was still like reachin' into a grab-bag full of memories, some of them good, some of them not so good. The decisions we make shape our lives. When I was a kid, I made a bad decision about a gun, and my life was never the same.
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NOTES (7)
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- The Italian episode title is "Giocando con il passato", meaning "Playing with the Past".
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- This is the first of Douglas Stewart's two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season six's "Lesson in Evil".
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- This is the second of Kerry Hutchings' two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season three's "Early Retirement".
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- Though credited, Dana Elcar does not appear in this episode.
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- This is the first of Michael Benyaer's two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season five's "Cease Fire".
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- This episode was publicized as the season premiere by ABC, though it aired nearly a month after "The Secret of Parker House", which they had called a Halloween special.
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- This is the second of Ramon Franco's two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season two's "Final Approach".
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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