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MacGyver Season 2 Episode 18

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8.8

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 3/2/87

MacGyver and Pete are tricked into meeting at a wrecking yard, where they're caught inside a large truck. An obituary for them and Jack Dalton provides their only clue to who has captured them.

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Fan Episode Reviews (4)

A rare, well crafted flashback episode.

9.5

By johnjaha99, Apr 14, 2009

Normally I don't like flash back episodes but this one breaks the rule. We are introduced for the first time to Murdoc, a reappearing enemy and one of the few adversaries that actually stands a chance against Macgyver's intelligence. I particularly liked how this episode started. Murdoc brings all three (Macgyver, Pete, Jack) together by sending them a message involving a private meeting. The next thing they know they are being smashed inside a car and locked in a tractor trailer for their last ride. While in the trailer, we see the flashbacks of how Pete first met Macgyver and Jack (although there are inconsistencies here from earler episodes). Without going into more detail, we learn Murdoc is an elusive and demented man that plans out his enemies deaths with great care and precision. We learn just how crazy Murdoc is when his main plain fails and he resorts to more "direct" methods like lighting dynamite in his hand and throwing it and Macgyver. Although Jack Dalton isn't one of my favorite reappearing characters, he excelled in this one. Especially loved his reactions to his car being totalled. While his character tends to "takes over" some episodes, turning them into comedic jaunts, this one he was used more sparingly and it worked.

Note this episode is not currently viewable online (hulu/youtube) due to licensing so you'll need to pick the season 2 dvd up to see it (it's worth it)moreless
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first time we meet Murdoc...

9.5

By Fwirrel, Jun 30, 2007

This is one of my all-time favorite episodes because it is the first time we meet Murdoc. It also has an awesome story with flashbacks back to the time Thorton and MacGyver met. It was funny watching the flashbacks and they did a really good job with them. Mac was driving his friend's cab when he meets a woman, which was a man named Murdoc, and he drops her off and sees that Pete is following her with a gun. Since Mac is a do-gooder, he goes off to save the woman, which was a male assasin. Anyways, eventually Mac goes on to help Pete capture Murdoc, but on the way they meet up with bazoocas and bed bombs and, in the end, Murdoc is "blown up" when the building he was in collasped. That was just the flashback...in the episode Mac and Pete come together for their anniversery and meet Murdoc again and Murdoc tries to blow them up, but fails. The best part of the episode was when Jack comes up at the end and says that he's sorry he's late and that he must have really missed something great. Mac and Pete just laugh...that was halarious. Anyways, great episode and one of my favorites!moreless
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Introduction of Murdoc and a fun, exciting story help this stand out as season two's best episode.

9.7

By mark_28, Apr 28, 2007

Season two's most significant episode starts out unassumingly enough, with MacGyver going to meet Pete in a wrecking yard on a dreary Saturday (or was it Sunday? Seems like both days were cited?) morning. But an ominous and mysterious tone is quickly established followed by the kidnapping of MacGyver and Pete by a tormentor quickly identified as Murdoc, the eccentric, chameleon-esque hit man that would become this series' most memorable and recurring villain. Michael Des Barres chewed the fat nicely in the role, which seemed custom-made for him, and the unfolding of the story, interspersed with amusing and imaginative flashback sequences, really raised the stakes for this episode's entertainment value. Perhaps a little too much time was spent in the climactic final scene with the dynamite-packed semi trailer, but it was still very satisfying and led to an excellent epilogue featuring Jack Dalton. My only grievance with the episode was how the story of Pete and Mac's original meeting conflicted with the story of their original meeting as told in "Deathlock" in season one. A slap on the wrist to writers for lack of narrative consistency, which unfortunately was a frequent problem for this series.moreless
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MacGyver and Pete celebrate the anniversary of their friendship while trying to escape yet another elaborate situation created by none other than MacGyver's nemesis, Murdoc.

8.9

By brandi9, Feb 20, 2006

Ok, “Partners” is almost too good to be true. First of all, Murdoc is such a terrific villain. He’s dramatic, over-the-top, and completely out of his mind…the perfect components of a foil for MacGyver. Being insane, however, Murdoc would rather playfully torture MacGyver and watch him narrowly escape his sinister setups rather than actually kill him. After all, if MacGyver were dead the game would really be over, and that's something I suspect Murdoc can't fathom. In this episode, Murdoc lures MacGyver, Pete and Jack Dalton to an old junkyard, seemingly as an “anniversary” of the day MacGyver met Pete. Neither of them knows it is a trap until it’s too late, as MacGyver and Pete find themselves locked in the trailer of an 18-wheeler, an old taxi and Murdoc at the wheel. Wow, what a nutty extravaganza this will be!

We are treated to a lot of flashbacks to the day MacGyver and Pete met…Mac hasn’t aged a day but Pete’s wearing a toupee! It’s actually a good look for him :-). Pete (some kind of cop) follows Mac who’s following a seemingly helpless “lady” into an abandoned building. Pete draws a gun on Mac and commandeers the taxi Mac is driving for Jack Dalton (yeah, they go back a long time) and they pursue the mysterious woman. The woman turns out to be none other than Murdoc in drag (and quite successfully, I might add…he really does look like a woman). Anyway, Murdoc pens them with a bazooka (we’re still in flashback, here folks) and Pete thinks they’re toast. Well, he’s never met Mac and certainly doesn’t know what he can do with next to nothing, so he sits amazed at the prowess with which he wields a shoelace.

Anyway, back the future so to speak and Mac and Pete are still trapped in the tractor trailer, which is rigged with a bomb. Mac and Pete get out in no time at all, and believe they’ve blown up Murdoc (but we know better) along with it. At the end, Dalton shows up at the junk yard, joking that he would’ve been there earlier but it was too early for him to get up. Mac and Pete look at each other as the three buds pose for a picture…classic MacGyver fun.

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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Dana Elcar	Peter Thornton
Richard Dean Anderson	MacGyver

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Caleb Asch	Police Officer	Guest Star
Iris Albanti	Sara	Guest Star
Michael Des Barres	Murdoc	Recurring Role
Bruce McGill	Jack Dalton	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- This episode contradicts "Jack of Lies" as far as how much MacGyver and Jack have kept in touch since high school. Here it seems that they meet very regularly.
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- The account of MacGyver and Pete's first meeting conflicts with the story presented in "Deathlock".
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QUOTES (13)
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- Murdoc: I hope it's not too uncomfortable for you back there, gentlemen.
  Pete: Don't worry. We'll live.
  Murdoc: I seriously doubt that, Thornton.
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- MacGyver: Why didn't you tell me?
  Pete: I operate on a need-to-know basis. I guess you need to know.
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- Pete: Probably a low-power charge, specially designed. It's only going to destroy the bed.
  MacGyver: (sitting on the bed) What about the guy on it?
  Pete: Yeah, that, too.
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- MacGyver: Why are you smiling like that?
  Pete: I know that look. I've never been able to figure out how your mind works, but I know when it works.
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- Pete: The old duct tape, huh.
  MacGyver: Never leave home without it.
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- Pete: Listen, MacGyver. Anybody who can use a paper clip, a pair of shoelaces, and a rusty monkey wrench to take out two bazookas could be very useful in taking Murdoc. Help me.
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- Pete: You are a do-gooder, MacGyver. Ninety percent of the people in the world are smart: they see trouble coming, and they duck and run. Ten percent are like you. Can't resist cleaning up the mess.
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- Jack: They blew up my cab with a bazooka?
  MacGyver: Two bazookas. But I can explain.
  Jack: Bazookas? You can explain bazookas? You cannot explain bazookas!
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- MacGyver: Mr. Thornton and I were riding in your cab, chasing this woman who… was… actually a man who had a guy with a bazooka waiting, and he blew up your cab.
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- Pete: What's that?
  MacGyver: Duct tape. Real handy stuff. Carry it with me all the time.
  Pete: Just in case you run into a bazooka or two?
  MacGyver: Or whatever.
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- MacGyver: Murdoc's just the kind to set these neat, perfect little traps.
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- Murdoc: Do you remember what Mark Twain once said? "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
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- Jack: (Upon seeing a car being crushed.) That's how I felt when I got my first Dear John letter.
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NOTES (1)
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- The German episode title is "Totgesagte leben länger", meaning "The Condemned Live Longer".
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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