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MacGyver Season 5 Episode 9

The Ten Percent Solution

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9.2

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/20/89

When the Phoenix Foundation acquires a painting once possessed by the Nazis, a Holocaust survivor claims it was stolen from his family, and MacGyver's investigation of the matter leads to his discovery of a dangerous Aryan group who still seeks the extermination of Jews.

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Evil never forgoten.

9.2

By sh811a, Apr 11, 2008

I'll admit this was the first episode where I actually learned about the Hollocost. This show takes a look back at the Hollocost maturely and is one of the rare Macgyver episodes that really takes an unfun turn. It has a well thought out and rather believable plot involving a lost painting which is suspected to be one of the one's stolen from the Nazis. And it's up to Mac with the help of Sam a Hollocost survivior to track down the Neo Nazi's base as well as slow down their master plan of taking over America. The episode tackles the issue of facism and racism. How close it truely hits, it's so powerful it easily spreads like a disease. But most of all it's a way of looking back and remebering the Hollocost. From some historical facts we hear about Hitler's ERR but most of all Sam's heartbreaking narrative of his experiences. It's both chilling and makes your heart bleed, knowing how much was stolen from innocent people and the extent of human tresspasses. In the end (and unfortunately in real life) even though the good guys might have won in the end we know from what was on the map of the master plan they didn't stop anything, because it's a seed of evil that has already grown big and will continue. The whole episode is an important lesson about why we shouldn't let the horror of the Hollocost repeat itself again.moreless
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A very solidly crafted episode that takes views from Point A to Point B in the most shocking and unorthodox way.

9.1

By mark_28, May 09, 2007

Watching this episode as a 12-year-old boy back in 1989, I didn't admire the layered craftsmanship of the story the way I do as an adult, and as a consequence I enjoy this episode more with every viewing. The actor who played Sam (Nehemiah Persoff???) portrayed the role with such effortless brilliance that it hardly even seemed like acting (his response when getting his first glimpse of the abandoned silver mine and feeling a deja vu factor related to Sobibor was priceless), and it lent a degree of authenticity to this episode that is very much needed given the dimension of evil undertaken in the plot. The storytelling is solid throughout, and I really appreciate how everything got started with a simple art auction. I'm kind of surprised that Jewish audiences didn't object to the scene where MacGyver, Sam, and Laura were left to suffocate in a makeshift gas chamber by their sadistically "nostalgic" tormentors, but it worked because it conveyed the depth of evil and ethnic hatred from which these people were operating from. The final scene between "Madam" and Sam could not have been more effective, and capstoned the episode's thematic mainstays perfectly. My only objection to the episode was the very opening scene with the mugging in the park, apparently undertaken by the Nazis themselves. But why? We're they committing the street violence themselves as a means of scaring voters into supporting their cause and voting for anti-crime candidate William Brand? That seems a little far-fetched, and a little too risky for a group sworn to cautious "infiltration before domination". Still, this is a great episode that improves with time and, like so many MacGyver episodes, was worthy of much more acclaim than it ever got from the TV industry.moreless
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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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Nehemiah Persoff	Sam Bolinski	Guest Star
Barbara Stock	Dr. Laura Sand	Guest Star
Gretchen Wyler	Madame Brandenburg	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (5)
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- MacGyver: Quite a painting, huh?
  Laura: Peter Paul Rubens. The hills north of Antwerp. About 1625.
  MacGyver: 1625? I wouldn't give you $15 for it. Sorry.
  Laura: I know where you can get a great deal on a matador painting. On black velvet.
  MacGyver: Now you're talking art.
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- Laura: You know, Rubens painted a lot of Antwerp landscapes, Mr. Bolinski. Are you sure this one is yours?
  Sam: Listen, doctor, this painting used to hang over our fireplace. As a boy, I would stare into it and wonder what was behind that hill, what was beyond those trees. I grew up in this painting, Dr. Sand. It is part of me.
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- Laura: Those are historic documents.
  Madame Brandenburg: And now they're historic ashes.
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- MacGyver: Hi, Pete.
  Pete: MacGyver, you look terrific. You should wear tux more often.
  MacGyver: Strictly camouflage. As long as I have to be here I might as well blend in.
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- Sam: Changing your name, you can do. But changing who you are... this you can never do.
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NOTES (6)
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- This is the first of Ron Halder's two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season six's "Blind Faith".
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- The French episode title is "Un paysage d'Anvers", meaning "A Landscape of Antwerp". The Italian episode title is "La superiorità è assoluta", meaning "Absolute Superiority".
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- This is the third of John Novak's three, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season three's "Kill Zone" and season four's "Renegade".
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- This is the second of Darcia Carnie's two, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. She can also be seen in season four's "Renegade".
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- Due to themes relating to the Holocaust, this episode is not aired in Germany.
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- This is the third of Gary Chalk's three, unrelated appearances on MacGyver. He can also be seen in season three's "Thin Ice" and season four's "Deadly Dreams".
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