| Pilot | |
| Season 1, Episode 1 | |
 | |
| Airdate | September 29, 1985 |
| Written by | Thackary Pallor |
| Directed by | Alan Smithee |
| Guest Stars |
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| Episode Guide | |
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Next The Golden Triangle |
Pilot is the first episode of Season 1 in the original MacGyver series. It first aired on September 29th, 1985 on ABC, ranking 54th out of 63 primetime network shows aired that week.[1]
Episode summary[]
MacGyver is called in to clean up a mess resulting from an explosion in an underground lab. He makes his way through the wreckage to find an acid leak and a trapped pair of Nobel prize-level scientists. He learns that the explosion was not an accident, and he alerts the team on the outside that the leak is stopped just in time before the lab is wiped out by a missile.[2]
Opening Gambit[]
Our story begins with MacGyver climbing a rock face in a far off country. His mission is to recover a downed pilot and retrieve a classified circuit board from a missile before escaping back down the cliff. When Mac arrives at the camp it is crawling guards and the guy in the guard post will sound the alarm if Mac enters the camp.
Mac drops the guard and steals his clothes before he makes his way into the camp. Mac heads over to the crash site and recovers the flare gun he will need it later. Mac surveys the camp and realizes this mission is more difficult than he thought when he sees the downed pilot in a cage. Mac talks to the downed pilot and says to him "They did not tell me there would be survivors the missile where is it?" the pilot points to the missile but it is in a tent surrounded by guards and is heavily guarded. Mac will have to use one of his classic MacGyverisms to lure them out. He gives the pilot his signature Swiss Army Knife and tells him to cut himself some elbow room and that he wants his knife back when he is done.
Mac goes to the tent and pulls up the stakes. Inside the tent is the missile, so he gets out his keys and opens the casing and disarms it. Before he can get the circuit board out the timer activates and the missile courts down to detonation. Mac uses a paperclip to disarm the missile and successfully removes the circuit board without it going off.
With circuit board in hand Mac goes to his next objective, rescue the downed pilot and escape. To get to the downed pilot Mac sets up that MacGyverism which consist of a machine gun tied to a tree, a tree branch through the trigger, a rubber band, string, and some matches. Mac lights the matches and heads over to the downed pilot just as the machine gun goes off creating commotion in the camp just as he planned it to do. Mac and the downed pilot head to the cliff, but when he realizes he has no way to repel down and with the enemy on his tail he grabs a parachute and prepares to base jump. To get off the ledge he sets up a final MacGyverism he smashes the flare gun with a rock and jumps off the cliff with the pilot using the flare gun as a rocket thruster.
Act I[]
MacGyver and "Little Brother" at an observatory looking at celestial objects through a telescope but it is overcast and they head to lunch while they wait. In New Mexico a limo delivers Dr. Marlowe to Kiva Labs which is hidden inside a radio station. When the limo arrives Barbara Spencer delivers Dr. Marlow to Level 3 where he will continue his chess game with Dr. Steubens. As they are halfway through their game a bomb explodes destroying the lab and filling the facility with sulfuric acid which leaks out of the tanks.
At the observatory Gantner Mac's boss arrives and gives him his assignment. Mac has to infiltrate Kiva Labs and stop a leak and rescue those who are trapped inside.
Act II[]
"Time for a Smoke," scene from "Pilot" episode of MacGyver (1985). Courtesy of CBS; all rights reserved.
In New Mexico rescue teams wait outside while inside Dr. Burke tries to contact Steubens and Marlowe but loses their signal. Mac and Gantner arrive and Dr. Burke explains the situation. Burke calls Colson into the room and they go over the plan. Mac needs to enter the elevator shaft but it is protected by a laser net which will fry anything that enters it. Mac will have to set up a MacGyverism to get inside without being fried by the laser. To set it up Mac barrows some cigarettes, smashes his binoculars, and kicks out the grate causing the lasers to react. To see the lasers he fills the chamber with smoke from the cigarettes and uses the prism from the binoculars to short out the lasers so he can enter the shaft.
Act III[]
Mac enters the lab but it is caved in. He finds Barbara's shoes just outside a caved in wall. Mac uses the shoes to send Morse Code to Barbara on the other side of the wall and comes up with another plan and a MacGyverism to shift the rubble and enter the lab. Mac cuts the end off a firehose and ties a knot in it, he then wedges the firehose into the rubble and turns on the the water, the rubble shifts, and he is in the lab. Mac enters the lab and helps the survivors get out and Barbara volunteers to go with him to get to level 3 where Steubens and Marlowe are still trapped.
Mac and Barbara take the ladder down to Level 2 but when they try to open the door to the electronics lab to get to Level 3 the room is full of smoke and the door is on fire Mac will have to find another way. On the way down Mac stops at what remains of the snack machines and fills his bag with chocolate bars he will need this later to plug the leak.
Mac and Barbara head to the airlock but Barbara trips a motion sensor and the blast doors slam shut with Mac and Barbara having to run through them so they don't get trapped. Reaching the observation deck they look into the control room everyone inside is dead or dying as the room fills with poisonous gas.
Down in the lab on Level 3 Marlow cares for Steubens and tells him help is coming and they should wait a while longer. Outside the tankers are en route. Colson and Burke try to repair the circuits to the blast doors but they short out and Mac and Barbara are still trapped. To get in Mac has to devise a risky MacGyerism which might not work he rips his shirt and he and Barbara use it as a mask to turn on the extraction system to remove the gas. Up on the main level Burke gives the order to launch to the missile and the countdown begins. Gantner tries to contact him but Mac dropped the radio as he was opening the airlock hatch so they can't reach him.
Act IV[]
Mac tells Barbara they lost the radio as they head to the tanks to plug them. For this MacGyverism Barbara will stand on Mac's shoulders and will stick the chocolate bars into the hole and when the acid hits the chocolate it will turn the entire mixture into carbon plugging the leak. Up in control Mac has 30 minutes before the the missile arrives. Back in the tank farm the acid is plugged now all they have to do is find Steubens and Marlowe and get out.
Mac and Barbara go through the water wall and enter the lab, but Steubens and Marlow are still trapped. Barbara tries to use the intercom and Mac finds out what is really going on. Mac finds burned plastic on the floor indicating where the bomb was when it went off. Barbara manages to contact Steubens and Marlow and Mac tells them to take cover as he gets his final MacGyverism ready he is going to use sodium and a gel cap to blow up the wall. Above ground Mac has six minutes until the missile arrives.
Mac makes his final adjustments and sets up this improvised sodium bomb and the wall gives way. Above ground the tankers have arrived and start to pump the sodium hydroxide into the complex to contain the spill. Mac goes in and his hunch was correct this was no accident Steubens planted the bomb to sabotage Marlow's research and points a gun at Mac to show he means business. Mac explains that Marlow tried to sell Steubens' research to the government and they planned to use it as a doomsday weapon to cause global warming killing all life on earth and Steubens would not allow that. Steubens invited Marlow to lab and the chess game was a diversion while he set off the bomb. The acid was suppose to kill them and poison the very government who tried to stop the project. Barbara foolishly tries to disarm Steubens, but gets shot and Mac has to disarm Steubens. Now Mac has two minutes until the missile arrives and it is on its way.
Above ground in control they start to pump the sodium hydroxide into the facility to neutralize the acid. Mac treats Barbara's wounds and then he has one more MacGyverism to wrap it up he is going to use the switch board to contact Burke in control. Mac's message gets through: "Acid stopped all safe. Mac" the missile is aborted and disaster is averted. Once everyone is back up top Mac says goodbye to Barbara and this mission is complete. Back at the observatory Mac and "Little Brother" are playing ball and "Little Brother" wins.
Trivia[]
In this pilot episode, actor Dana Elcar plays a completely different character named "Andy Colson." The Pete Thornton character doesn't appear until the first season's eleventh episode, "Nightmares."
The Opening Gambit was filmed at Dead Horse Point State Park in Moab Utah two cliffs over from where they filmed Thelma and Louise and right next to where they filmed Mission Impossible 2.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver
- Dana Elcar as Andy Colson
Others[]
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References[]
- ↑ Mark. From a comment on "#65: Pilot," The MacGyver Project, last modified January 10, 2015.
- ↑ Sweedo, Nicholas. "#65: Pilot," The MacGyver Project, last modified January 9, 2015.