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MacGyver Online Forums > Episodes > 004 - The Gauntlet |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 2 November 2006 - 01:10 PM |
004 - The Gauntlet Airdate: 21 October 1985 Opening Gambit Writer: Judy Burns Opening Gambit Director: Lee H. Katzin Writer: Stephen Kandel Director: Lee H. Katzin Guest Cast: Robin Curtis as Kate Connelly, John Vernon as Ryerson, Gregory Sierra as General Antonio Vasquez. Opening Gambit: Map MacGyver is assigned to retrieve a map, but ends up having to use the map as a tool of escape when he is chased by it's owners. Main episode MacGyver goes up against an entire army when he helps an American journalist escape across the border of a South American dictatorship. |
Posted by: Macs Lab Rat 7 November 2006 - 02:00 PM | ||||||||||||||||||||
Votes from 5 Jul 2006 1 - Poor [ 0 ] [0.00%] 2 - Average [ 0 ] [0.00%] 3 - OK [ 0 ] [0.00%] 4 - Good [ 4 ] [80.00%] 5 - Excellent [ 1 ] [20.00%] Total Votes: 5 Archived posts
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Posted by: Amy 17 November 2006 - 11:33 AM | ||||
I voted excellent, of course! This is definitely one of my all time favorites, especially in season 1.
Totally agree with that! it's a great ride from beginning to end, and I liked Kate. This ep has one of my favorite conversations in the whole series...no wait. Yeah...not just "one of", but my favorite snip of conversation: “You’re an unexpected man, MacGyver...You keep me off balance.” Mac pauses over what he’s doing and looks up at Kate. “I’m sorry.” “No. I think...I think I like it.” I just love that. I also love the opening gambit with the whole map thing.
Yeah...I wasn't sure that was very realistic...I would've thought a quicker and more sensible fix was just . |
Posted by: Macs Lab Rat 18 November 2006 - 09:31 AM |
I vote good. It was an action packed fun episode. I liked the firecrackers in the bell tower and his periscope so he could drive without being shot. It was great to see MacGyver camping out in the wilds and trapping lizards and it was fun how he sneaked passed the guards at the river. For the opening gambit - I remember as a child when I first saw this I thought he was going to climb up and repair the balloon with the tape he stuck to himself. When he used the map I thought it was funny and a good way to slip in another use for a map – the gambit was all about how a map can get you out of trouble after all! Whether it would have really worked or not…I doubt it, but it made a cute opening gambit. |
Posted by: Lothithil 7 February 2007 - 03:17 PM |
Good ep! I melt every time I see "The Kiss". Love Ryerson the Bad Guy! He's just too smooth! A shame that he didn't come back in another episode. General Vasquez must have kept his threat! |
Posted by: Mimiedie 31 May 2007 - 03:41 PM |
This episode is very good !! I love the kiss !! This is very cute !! Elodie |
Posted by: abacab 5 July 2007 - 09:06 AM |
This is a pretty solid episode, but it has a few minor (very minor) flaws. I liked the opening gambit, which is apparently agreed by fans to be the very best. I wouldn't disagree. I think this is one case where the gambit worked in favor of the episode and would not have worked as a full show. The performances are solid all-around. In specific, Robin Curtis was excellent as Kate Connelly, and John Vernon projected a decent evil personality that was entirely believable. Best of all is Gregory Sierra (known primarily to me as "Julio" from 'Sanford and Son') who plays his role as General Vasquez with astounding realism. His performance isn't overblown or idiotic, and he'd be this good in his next two show appearances. The story is highly interesting and believable, and I like how they turned what could have been a simple car chase into a solid action-drama. The stunts with the rolling barrels are very cool too. The episode has one nearly gut-wrenching scene with Mac and Connelly getting "romantic" (wouldn't you know it), which might have been better had it not been so sappy: the dinner over fire, the close-ups on the two, the slow kiss, the sappy underscore. It's the only real misstep in the episode, thankfully: the rest is entirely enjoyable and worth watching. It's not exactly spectacular- just very good- but it's worth seeing. My rating: 7/10 |
Posted by: j12752 14 July 2007 - 11:34 AM |
Excellant!!!!!!!!! This was the episode that hooked me in completely |
Posted by: MacGirl 14 July 2007 - 10:00 PM |
Fun and excellent eppy! I got a kick out of Kate from the beginning... she definitely ranks as one of my all-time favorite female characters. She's strong and smart without being overbearing or bitchy. Too bad she only showed up in one other eppy. The campfire scene is sweet without being overdone, and there's just enough dialogue, if you know what I mean. In this case, less is more. Also, this one contains one of my favorite lines, as you can see by my signature. I loved the scene with the barrels... first rolling them down the hill at the bad guys, then escaping in one! Only Mac would think of that one! Loved the firecrackers in the belltower, too. That was just hilarious. This is one I have to watch again sometime soon... it's been awhile... |
Posted by: MacGyver 29 July 2007 - 03:55 PM |
Oh yeah- "The Gauntlet" is definitely a classic! The opening gambit is great and the whole episode is a lot of fun. All the MacGyverisms are really good in this episode. And a vast majority of the scenes in the opening credits (at least for the 1st. Season) seem to be taken from this episode. |
Posted by: shannonator 29 July 2007 - 09:26 PM |
I believe this to be a solid episode. Like a lot of you, I love the campfire scene between MacGyver and Kate. Not sure I would serve roasted lizzard a la MacGyver at a dinner party though! Kate was one brave girl! Shannon |
Posted by: Stupid Little Genius 30 July 2007 - 03:02 AM |
i like this episode to^^ but it's not one of the best ones i loved the bit with bell ooooo and the periscope^^ |
Posted by: youngmacgyver 17 August 2007 - 03:07 PM |
Oh my gosh! This is one of my all time favorite episodes, and, well, I think that my favorite part of (besides the kiss, obviously ) is when they cause the bus to fall into the river! This is such a cool website, and keep it up, please! My favorite vehicle: |
Posted by: MacGyversCrush 17 September 2007 - 12:20 PM |
Not my favorite episode, but one of my favorites from season one. The map on the balloon was cool, but yeah you think the air would still leak out. The barrel run at the end was great. The whole to romance in the jungle was sappy to me. I can't really say much about it overall.. It was great solid episode. |
Posted by: SAK 17 September 2007 - 02:37 PM |
I cringe when I see the map on the balloon trick. It's not a helium balloon, it's a hot air balloon. The air wouldn't rush out like that, especially not on such a low section of the balloon. Ignoring that for a moment, patching up a balloon with tape on the corners would do no good, for as MacGyversCrush stated, the air (if under pressure) would leak out. A piece of tape over the hole would be better, but maybe this whole post belongs in the nit pick section. I love how he creams the bad guy with what looks like the rolled up map. The first time I saw that, I thought "No way! Artistic license!" Then he dropped the rebar out, and my reaction was . I like this episode. |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 2 November 2007 - 09:00 PM |
Anyone ever pondered which country this episode took place in? They swim across the river to Mexico, so I hunted along the Mexican boarder in Google Earth looking for a river.. at first I didn't see it, but when I zoomed in a little closer I saw it. SO I'm guessing the country was Guatemala as Belize doesn't have a river along it's Mexican border. |
Posted by: Lothithil 2 November 2007 - 09:45 PM |
I actually got out my Atlas and studied the border, too! Fic research mostly, but curiousity, too. Glad I'm not the only one who's done this! |
Posted by: Braddock 1 August 2008 - 07:13 AM |
Is MacGyver using the wenger just in the opening gambit or in the rest of the episode as well? |
Posted by: androgyny 2 August 2008 - 10:35 PM |
the barrel scene was pretty cool. |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 2 August 2008 - 11:32 PM | ||
I'm not sure we see the SAK again in that episode. I know theres lots of MacGyverisms, but I'm not sure any of them involve a SAK. |
Posted by: Braddock 3 August 2008 - 03:24 AM |
we see it when Mac is up in the church tower doing MacGyverisms |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 3 August 2008 - 01:21 PM | ||
yeah but he doesn't use it. We only get a quick glimpse of it laying on the table with the blade open. And I would say it looks more like a Victorinox than a Wenger in that shot. |
Posted by: MacDriver 15 August 2008 - 11:41 AM |
When Mac gets to Guatamala and he walks into the print shop- the staircase is the same one from the Assassin! It's the room where he was taken along with that girl (?) to be interrogated. And yeah, the SAK in the tower is a 2-layer Vic, probably a Tinker, given what he carried in the episodes around that. And, is it just me, or did he change watches like 3 times in this episode? It looks like it's all black in one scene, all green in another, and then stainless with green band later. *sigh* MacGyver |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 15 August 2008 - 01:11 PM |
yes he changes watches a lot in this episode. It even changes in the same scene (when he's waiting beside the bus for the fireworks to start). |
Posted by: Beachbead 1 April 2009 - 06:00 PM |
Loved the kiss, and when she hits that guy over the head with her cambra and he turns around to fight and shes messing around with her cambra all broken. and he says "Nice shot." and shes all like my cambra is broken. also loved when hes carrying her down the hill and hes like you need to loss some weight. |
Posted by: Miasma 10 April 2009 - 05:50 AM |
Finally got around to rewatching this episode a few days ago... The Good: -This is classic Mac. The opening gambit, the constant adventures, the countless MacGyverisms, the evil foreigners, harrowing border crossings... THIS is what MacGyver was supposed to be, as far as I'm concerned. It's so much better than watching Mac teach inner city kids why guns are bad! (I just watched Gunz & Boyz last night... man, what a difference.) The bad: The woman who played Kate was really stiff and not believable. I don't know who the casting director was for MacGyver, but they often did a pretty lousy job, casting actors who usually couldn't act (with obvious exceptions, of course.) The nitpick: In the opening gambit, why did Mac bother climbing back down from that wall to hit the guard with the map? Wouldn't it have made more sense to just keep going? He was already just about over the wall anyway. Maybe there's a violent streak in Mac afterall, and he just wanted the satisfaction of whacking the guy? |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 10 April 2009 - 02:41 PM | ||
Or maybe he didn't want that guy to climb up on that box and shoot Mac in the back, at almost point blank range, as he ran away from the wall? |
Posted by: Miasma 14 April 2009 - 05:26 AM | ||||
Seems like a dumb decision, though. Think about it-- he was already at the top of that wall. All he had to do was hop down on the other side and run, and he'd just have one guy on his tail. Instead, he climbs back down from the wall, whacks the guy with the map, and in that time, he allows the other soldiers to catch up. So now, instead of one soldier right on his tail, he has a whole bunch of them. I don't know about you, but given a choice, I'd prefer to take my chances with just one as opposed to several. Fortunately, EVERYONE in this episode is a terrible shot, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Even at the end of the episode, the trained soldiers can't manage to shoot two people who are SWIMMING (not exactly a fast mode of travel!) |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 14 April 2009 - 01:23 PM |
They were trained?? |
Posted by: Miasma 15 April 2009 - 06:27 AM |
>> Were they trained? Not well, apparently! |
Posted by: Dennman 22 March 2010 - 04:06 PM |
Easily in my top Mac episodes. Love the opening gambit, my favorite in the series. Too bad they never had opening gambits in the other seasons. Ricky Dean is the king of cool. No doubt. |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 22 May 2010 - 08:23 PM | ||
true. The name of Montoyas newspaper (El Tiempo) is Spanish for weather. That's an odd name for a newspaper I would say. |
Posted by: rinaldi_LOL 27 January 2011 - 10:30 AM | ||
It was not neccesary at all to fix the balloon. A “little” hole in the bottom side of the ballon, logically, cannot make the ballon crashed. Beside that, a hot air that load the ballon and makes it go up, actually cannot “go down”. This was a “physics fail”. |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 27 January 2011 - 11:34 AM | ||
You'll have to explain what you mean. |
Posted by: Hannibal_Smith 25 February 2011 - 09:32 AM | ||
Funny you should ask. My sister and I watched this season together: since we've lived in quite a few different countries and are both nerds, I have to admit, we'd often play the "guess which country they're actually in" game, and came up with Guatemala too. (Geography makes sense, and it was going through some really bad times when this episode was made, military government and all). Good episode. I like the fact that Mac so often gets sent to help people like Kate, e.g. journalists and travelers who're of no value to the government, strictly speaking, but just happen to be in a spot and need help. |
Posted by: MacGirl 6 June 2012 - 09:27 PM |
Another interesting thing I've noticed in this ep: Mac calls Kate by her last name ("Hang on, Connolly!") Guess they were really playing up the fact that he was ex-military. This becomes less common as the series progresses. |
Posted by: KiwiTek 7 June 2012 - 12:38 AM | ||
That's something I've never thought about before. |
Posted by: NightTinkerer 29 July 2012 - 05:16 PM |
My thoughts on this episode: "The Map" opening gambit is very charming. As some of you have already mentioned, Mac really just needed the duct tape to patch up that hole--but then again, this was all about showing the usefulness of a good map... Really adventurous episode--and in my opinion, Robin Curtis/Kate Connolly is one of the most believable female characters of the series. I really like her, and I wasn't really bothered at all by the kissing scene. In fact, I thought it was rather sweet. It was a good decision to tone down Mac's romantic life later in the series, but if he eventually was to "settle down", I could totally see it happen with her, or someone like her. She was independent, smart and resourceful, yet feminine. Not by any means a damsel in distress. I really enjoyed watching their cooperation preparing the jeep, too. Mac gave us a few more details on his background in this one, but doesn't give away too much. "Just a guy who... spotted a plane... great." Regarding the "El Tiempo" newspaper--"El Tiempo" can also mean "The Time." In fact, there are several newspapers named "El Tiempo" or varieties thereof, so there's nothing strange about that, really. Not my favorite of 'em all, but "Good" bordering on "Excellent" for me. |
Posted by: Lazyking 5 November 2012 - 10:34 PM |
I just watched this one going in order first time and while I do like it, I don't think it's great like most. I love the Gambit. Its unrealistic but so fun. I liked everything well enough until the kiss and the end. The kiss felt forced to me. The ending with the barrels I thought was dumb because here's these soldiers shooting at possibly explosive barrels endangering themselves in hopes I guess of killing Mac and Kate?? Well then why doesn't the barrel they're really in not kill them via gunfire? I realize MacGyver is unrealistic in nature and I'm not expecting Mac to be killed lol but I just did not like that ending or moreso the execution of the ending. Comments? |
Posted by: MDBfan 25 March 2013 - 08:39 AM |
At the risk of sounding stupid : I don't get the title. What is a "Gauntlet"? |
Posted by: KiwiTek 25 March 2013 - 12:42 PM |
In this context it means a challenge. It refers to the saying "to run the gauntlet", which means to endure a series of problems or challenges before reaching your target. So the episode was very well named in that respect. |
Posted by: MDBfan 25 March 2013 - 02:03 PM |
Thanks for the explanation, KiwiTek! |
Posted by: MacFan092985 25 March 2013 - 06:16 PM |
In reality, I know that's a relative term when talking about but anyway, Mac should have taped the map on the inside of the balloon so that the escaping air would push against the map, thereby better plugging the hole. By placing the map on the outside of the balloon the escaping air would push the map away from the balloon's surface thereby still allowing the air to escape albeit to a lesser degree. With the map on the outside, Mac would have had to tape around all four edges of the map to keep the air from escaping. |
Posted by: KiwiTek 25 March 2013 - 07:00 PM |
In reality he would need 2 maps - one for the entry hole and one for the exit hole. http://www.macgyveronline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2529 |
Posted by: Scwilson 30 July 2013 - 06:38 PM |
This is one of my personal favorites. |
Posted by: Grazer 26 October 2013 - 07:06 PM | ||
I've often had similar thoughts when watching this scene. The soldiers seem to be shooting at everything that moves, yet they don't shoot at the one barrel that not only looks different, but has voices coming out of it. Over all though this is one of the best episodes in season 1, and possibly the whole series. |
Posted by: Barry Rowland 31 July 2015 - 07:42 PM |
I just watched this episode for the first time in years. It's a great Mac show, showing just how big Central America was in those days. I liked the end, even though I knew it was coming. The first time it surprised me when they jumped out of that barrel! I figure the soldiers had their hands full with an enemy that just kept throwing a curve ball at them, so I can see how they didn't shoot at the wooden one. In all, I really liked this one! |
Posted by: Maclover 21 September 2015 - 09:36 AM |
Saavik, Search for Spock! Of course!!! I should have placed her on sight, but have seen it three times recently and still couldn't place her. I sorted Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys from DSN straight away in Wildfire. I would have taped the map to the inside of the balloon too and just shut off the flame for a moment. I go all weak kneed at the campfire seen when he tells her "that's quite an offer". |
Posted by: KiwiTek 4 July 2016 - 01:47 AM |
Is it just me or does the U.S. have some extra appendages on that map - particularly the lower left hand corner? |
Posted by: Jediferret 4 July 2016 - 08:52 AM |
That extra part seems to be Alaska (and possibly Hawaii). I can't tell because it's so blurry... but the general shape looks like Alaska. Usually they put both towards the bottom left of the map. Like this... |
Posted by: KiwiTek 4 July 2016 - 06:10 PM |
AH ok. Yep that looks about right... except for Mexico being missing. |
Posted by: Barry Rowland 4 July 2016 - 07:52 PM |
I just (re)watched the Search for Spock and never picked up on Saavik either! Anybody here ever take a balloon ride? |
Posted by: Barry Rowland 4 July 2016 - 07:54 PM | ||
I agree Jedi...looks like Alaska/Hawaii to me too. |
Posted by: Widowmaker 5 July 2016 - 01:14 PM |
I don't know if this is necessarily the place for it but since it did happen in this episode, would the MacGyverism with the camera and plastique actually work? |
Posted by: Barry Rowland 5 July 2016 - 03:40 PM |
I would think the charge of electric would do the trick, but I don't know if there'd be enough amps. |
Posted by: KiwiTek 5 July 2016 - 04:51 PM | ||
No. Because putting an electrical charge through plastique doesn't detonate it. It has to be done with a proper detonator. |
Posted by: OcupationDanger 5 August 2016 - 02:41 PM |
One of my favorite episodes from the entire series. The opening gambit is exciting, especially in the chase scene in the desert (where the soundtrack left more exciting) and the interesting scene where Mac escapes in the hot air balloon (Does it work in real life?). The setting and the plot of the episode is really exciting, and the relationship between Mac and Kate during the episode was interesting to find out the emotional side of Mac. An interesting thing I noticed in the episode, was that while the soldiers waited Mac and Kate on the riverbank, a soldier spoke in Spanish: - Take a tequila, man! Why the soldiers wanted to drink alcoholic beverages in duty? |
Posted by: MacDobromir 10 August 2016 - 06:54 AM |
As most of You I like openning gambit in this episode but what I LOVE the most is a MUSIC in it. One of the most exciting part in all series, I belive. |
Posted by: MiracleMac 9 October 2016 - 10:32 AM |
I just realized that I have been in that desert village, where Mac saved Kate |
Posted by: KiwiTek 9 October 2016 - 12:30 PM |
where is it? |
Posted by: MiracleMac 9 October 2016 - 12:37 PM | ||
At Mexican Street in Universal Studios Hollywood. If you have been in that Studio Tour the train goes thru that location |
Posted by: RadiantRose 1 November 2016 - 01:09 PM |
Is it wrong that my mind went to the wrong place and started thinking that condoms were one of the few things Mac probably couldn't improvise? |
Posted by: RadiantRose 1 November 2016 - 01:22 PM |
I'm really liking the way he said to Kate that what she said was "quite an offer". Kind of a subtle way of saying that this was a big deal for him or for her or for both of them. This differentiates Mac from a Bond type character, who would take it for granted that all the women would have no-strings attached sex with him. |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 24 November 2018 - 02:45 AM | ||
Looks like a Victorinox. It's not really in focus in this scene but you can just make out the Victorinox silver cross on the top of it. |
Posted by: MacGyverOnline 5 December 2018 - 02:39 AM | ||
Lizard skin |