A strange episode of MacGyver (TV)
I'm with my in-laws this week, and they like their classic television. One of the shows they've added to their "rotation"1 is MacGyver, the classic 1985 TV series2 starring Richard Dean Anderson, created by Lee David Zlotoff and Henry Winkler3. You might be familiar with the term "MacGyvering something" but maybe you didn't know it came from this TV show. The premise:
Angus MacGyver's main asset is his practical application of scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items—along with his ever-present Swiss Army knife and duct tape and the usual coincidence of being locked up in a room full of useful materials
I was busy helping prepare our fish dinner (caught fresh by my wife and sister-in-law!), so I missed the start of the episode and walked into the room in media res. MacGyver is surrounded by mideivel knights after saving Sir Galahad from being killed. I'm familiar with the general premise of MacGyver, so I was confused why he was suddenly a time traveller. Was he suddenly Sam Beckett?
I went along for the ride though, because it was a fun episode. In this episode, MacGyver battles Sir Duncan with a rope instead of a lance in a duel, and eventually has to prove himself against Merlin, which he does with his Swiss Army Knife and a matchstick.
Later in the episode, King Arthur is poisoned, and using supplies available MacGyver saves his life. Duncan finds evidence that Merlin poisoned the King—but despite the show doing a good job of sewing suspicion on both Merlin and Duncan, we quickly realize that it is Merlin who's been framed. Yadda yadda yadda, MacGyver uses science to discover the poison was derived from Scotland many years earlier than it should have been invented, and the King realizes Duncan was the only knight who had been there recently. MacGyver saves Merlin, and eventually they get sent on a quest to Morgana's castle to save Cecilia.
Phew, covering a lot of ground here. On the way to Morgana's castle, MacGyver and Merlin end up dangling over a pit of lava, where the episode ends - TO BE CONTINUED!
It turns out we were watching a season 7 episode, "Good Knight MacGyver". Naturally we needed to know how he got to King Arthur's court in the first place, and how he gets out of that pit! What a great two-parter. Thankfully, the "last time on" recap revealed to us that MacGyver was researching his family history with an Irish historian (Colm Meaney!) and found his name was disgraced, or something.
He saves a groom from a falling...something (I can't remember what it was), and gets hit on the head...sending him to dreamland. So that's how he got there.
As the episode goes on, we discover Morgana has gunpowder somehow? And through a series of events MacGyver builds a kite in a lightning storm and blows up her lab. Look, there's a lot more that happens but the more fun stuff happens in Part One. MacGyver is shot in the head by Morgana before she is electrocuted a THIRD time, and "dies"; rather, he wakes up in present day and sees all the figures he dreamed about. The doctor treating his wound looks suspiciously like Merlin! The groom is Galahad! The bride is Cecilia! A fun Wizard of Oz moment (but they skip the "and you were there, and you were there" part).
In "researching" this episode, it turns out that this is the episode that reveals his first name is Angus! Unbelievable that they went 7 seasons and he never had a first name. Reminds me of The Big Bang Theory, where Penny doesn't actually have a last name (until, technically, she marries Leonard).
From the MacGyver Fandom page:
MacGyver's given name is finally revealed here. The name Angus was chosen because they felt it was unusual and something with an "ick" factor (although not according to any Scots in the audience). The name was "suggested" from a poster for a charity event in Canada, where the series was being filmed at that time.
What a strange set of episodes to watch without much context. It was fun, and I needed to share it with you.