I always thought the Phoenix Foundation was a contractor, someone federal agencies would outsource their work to. DOD's been using more and more of those in the last decade, supposedly as a way to control costs. Course, I've never heard of a contractor who did intelligence or special ops work, but that's part of the fun.

The actual reason was probably that they wanted Mac to remain untainted by association with government agencies (this was post-Vietnam, post-Watergate and eventually Iran-contra time). That, and a fictional foundation wouldn't be constrained by the jurisdictional rules or official charters of any real life organization, so they could essentially involve Mac in anything he wanted. (There are no real life departments that would be in charge of rescuing hostages in Colombia AND setting up witness protection from the Mafia AND doing environmental surveys AND developing new technologies... but just invent the Phoenix Foundation, and voila).

Mac cuts the bag of coke and tastes it and then tells us that it is, indeed, cocaine.

How the heck does he know? Has he tried it before? I've seen this episode twice and that's been bugging me. Anyone know?

Cocaine makes your tongue go numb because it's an anesthetic.

It should be noted here that real cops don't do this because of the inherent dangers of not knowing exactly what it is or what it's been cut with. You never know if it's been laced with something.

Aha, I see - but if you snorted it, your nose would go numb then. That'd feel weird.

This episode is one of my favorite ones. :-)
Does anybody know where that nice lake is located at? It is called "Crystal Lake" in the show. Despite the fact that there is a lake with such name in the Vancouver area, I believe it was shot somewhere else and that "Crystal Lake" is just a fictitious name.

Welcome to the site Turner76.

Your question just caused me to do a map search on a couple of areas I thought looks similar to the scenes in this episode. Now I admit I'm running from memory here, but I found this shot of Petgill Lake which looks very similar to how I remember the lake in this episode looking.

What do you guys think?

Thanks KiwiTek! It could be this lake.
I will re-watch this episode to try to find some hints.

Maybe someone in the forum is from B.C. with a good clue. :-)

Hey Everyone!

That beautiful place plus this lake location is Bunzen Lake, BC
In that 'Survivors' episode where seaplane was landed, that same beach knob was in episode 'The Widowmaker'. The Pete's cabin was on same beach knob. And the first scenes in 'Endangered' episode where was the pier, that was same Bunzen Lake place too.

This has to be my favorite Pete and Mac episode. lol I've been a sucker lately for Pete and Mac bonding episodes for some odd reason. I just love their interaction with each other. That and it shows just how strong their friendship is.

I think it's because it just bugs me that neither Pete nor Mac ever really find anyone special. It just makes the friendship they have all the more important.

It also shows what good friend Mac is and how patient he is with others, even when things don't go according to plan.

Just my two cents... lol

There, back from my trip (and the Christmas concert)! Time to keep on watching!

This is another very nice episode--in my opinion, the episodes at this point in the series are just getting better and better--with the exception of just a few, until the start of the seventh season when everything just went downhill... but more about that later.

Anyway--I, too, am very fond of Mac-Pete friendship episodes, and this one is no exception. The test methods for field agents did raise some questions, some of which have already been mentioned. Would people actually be reassigned if they failed the tests? Sounds a bit harsh... I think they should be offered training sessions or something as a first option. Because seriously, if you've once been an athlete (which I guess pretty much was required if you wanted to become a field agent in the first place...) there's generally something seriously wrong--either work wise or habit/health wise--if you suddenly start gaining weight.

Then again, if the premise was different, there wouldn't be a possibility that Pete could actually fail the test, and what would happen then.

Anyway, it was a delight to see how athletic Mac/RDA actually is, the "MacGyver land" track was pretty impressive. And Pete *almost* made it too... *almost*. I think it's pretty clear, though, that most of Dana Elcar's shots were made with a stunt double.

This episode is considerably low tech, set in the wilderness and just focusing on Mac and Pete and their friendship... and a few clever MacGyverisms. They used the battery acid from the plane, yes, but all the other chemicals came from the first aid kit and the oranges. Pretty neat. Though I suspect the open cocaine bag would have affected them all, from what I heard, just even bagging the thing can be dangerous.

By the way, In the beginning, Pete offers Mac some stew, and he accepts it. Some may argue that it's out of character, but my impression has always been that Mac was *mostly* a vegetarian by choice, but wouldn't be too picky if there was no vegetarian alternatives around.

There are also some *hilarious* lines... well, I think most of you know them by heart already... the "Suck it Up" thing was hysterical, and the ending, of course... "Nurse!"

My rating: "Excellent."

What I love about Pete is how normal he is as a person. The interaction between the two shows just how down to earth Mac is. Not to mention, I feel that Pete's character is someone the viewers can relate to... because despite his age and difference in lifestyle compared to Mac's, they're best friends. It also shows how Mac values his friends and how patient he is.

I could go on and on. lol

The whole "MacGyver-land" line cracks me up every time. It's the line and how RDA delivered it.

I also love the line where Pete tells Mac out of respect for being an older man and his superior, he would have the common decency to be a little bit winded. XD

I also love at the end where Mac tells Pete how much he looked up to him.

Season 4 is such a great season. Next to season 3, it's my favorite. But, at this rate... I don't think I can really pick a favorite season anymore. They all have such great episodes with classic moments...

And... here I go gushing again. LOL

@NightTinkerer - You're coming up on one of my favorite episodes in the series. I can't wait for your review on Deadly Dreams.

I also agree with you on the whole "vegetarian" thing. Though, I really don't class Mac as a vegetarian since his eating habits aren't very consistent. I class him as a health conscious eater. lol

Sometimes it's better to just eat something unhealthy then it is to starve, which is something Mac did in the pilot with the chocolate bars.

The vegetarian debate has been discussed in detail here and I think the general consensus was that MacGyver was a healthy eater when possible, but would eat what ever he could find is the situation required it.

What are you talking about?

That's a great line isn't it.

Sorry for the late reply! I'm in the midst of another very busy period, both IRL and online. But it's all because of my friends--and I'm so happy I've got friends who don't hesitate to ask me if they need help--and always make sure to invite me to various gatherings (lots of Christmas concerts this time of the year! )

Anyway--about the cocaine bagging--well, maybe it's not downright dangerous, but if you're not a drug user and exposed to the dust from pure cocaine, you will definitely feel the effects. Thankfully I've never been near the stuff myself, but I've seen quite a few documentaries about drug dealers, and many of them claimed they'd experienced mild to moderate effects from the drug just packing it. The guy who got whacked with the open bag would definitely get hyper/high, and seeing that there was lots of dust in the air, too, I guess everyone would have been exposed, more or less.

And, JediFerret, I'm just about to watch next episode, if I don't get interrupted. Will type up a review as soon as possible afterwards, too.

Hmm... that's actually a very good point and something I'd never thought about before.

All that cocaine floating around in the their face would be bound to get a decent amount inhaled, must be about as good as snorting the stuff.

Yeah, you're right. But you know what irks me in this otherwise great episode? How Mac and Pete, knowing the bad guys are close, leave the opened cocaine bag in plain sight. That's just plain dumb. There is no better way to attract the attention to themselves. They might just as well have yelled: 'Hello-oo! We're here!'

But of course, if they hád hidden the bag, the rest of the episode would be totally different from what it is now. Because in that case the bad guys wouldn't have known Pete and Mac were there, so there would be no need to throw a grenade, so Pete and Mac could escape unharmed, alert the police and.. in fact, there would be no story. So I understand that the writers had to find a way to tell the story they wanted. I only wish they would have come up with a more clever way.

Yes, Traveller, you definitely have a point. There could have been some other--and better--reason for the bad guys to discover Mac and Pete. Footprints on the ground, accidentally ripped pieces of clothing left behind, etc. Or that they discovered, for some reason, that the sack itself (not the plastic bag) had been cut... oh well.

Another one of my highlights from Season 4. A great episode-in my opinion. This episode came at the point when the series was getting better and better... except for a few episodes. Until the 7th Season when everything went downhill. Anyway I myself am very fond of the Mac-Pete friendship episodes and this one is one of the best. This episode best showcased Mac and Pete's friendship in the whole series. The chemistry between RDA and Dana is very well done in this episode. Again if the story was different, what would have happened if Pete had failed the test? I have some questions about some of the training methods for field agents. I mean would they really resign after they failed the test. To me that sounds a bit harsh. This episode I noticed is very low tech. Just Mac and Pete in wilderness surviving for three days with just what they've got. A few very cool MacGyverisms. The line "Some may call it an obstacle course, others call it MacGyver Land" is hilarious. My rating "Excellent".

Overall Rating: 10/10

One of the best episodes in the series. Mac is in his element out in the wilderness. Mac is the evaluation officer to re-certify field agents. Pete has to go out of the office into the wilderness to keep his certification. Pete realizes that he has been behind a desk to long when he struggles to pass the course. Mac knows he may have to fail his friend and mentor and knows Pete is behind on the score card. Pete requested Mac as his instructor because he knew he would get a fair chance and if he failed he wanted it to be in front of his friend. Pete and Mac are around the evening fire when Pete gains his second wind and told Mac he would give it his best and goes to gather wood when they come across a crashed plane with dead DEA agents onboard. The Macgyverism was cool developing film in the wilderness. They see the film and trek on to a lake hours away. Mac moves through the forest with ease Pete moving along with determination. They come along the drug smugglers hidden stash and thwart there plans. Pete passes the course due to completing an actual mission.

So all your your doing here is giving us an unnecessary recap of the episode.

There's no actual discussion or even comment being made.

Sorry, I rambled on about the episode in a review mode. What I liked best was seeing Pete out of his element getting his hands dirty out in the field like Mac.

Hahaha there is actually a real place called MacGyverLand!! Love it!

This was awesome!!!!!!!!! I love MacGyverland! It looked like
so much fun!

A very good episode and firmly within my top ten. Beautiful countryside and well filmed with an interesting story and subplot. However, Pete's huffing, puffing & grimacing was a big turn off. He came across more as an old woman rather than a slightly over_the_hill field operative. I guess they were trying for a bit of slapstick, but in reality you would never ever have someone in that field of work wear their emotions on their sleeve as such and doubtful if he would have passed any pre-screening physical that are usually mandatory for those positions. Mac belatedly said it right in the cave .... ' Suck it up, Pete!"

It's obviously not a mistake so I just place it here but it is interesting trivia: MacGyver mentions the nearby lake is called Crystal Lake. Sound any bells? Maybe there is a bigger threat out there with a machete and a hockey mask.

1 I don't think anyone mentioned Mac being vegetarian in Season 3, so maybe he wasn't one at that stage.

2 Indeed, I'm not sure Mac was ever vegetarian. I think the most likely scenario is that he could have given up meat and poultry by Season 7. I'm not sure whether there's any real evidence he gave up fish, despite his single reference to fishing as a form of "violence" (in "Humanity"). Compared to all the episodes where he indicates he enjoys and approves of fishing.

3 The fact something is in a can does not, in itself, indicate it is full of the type of ingredients shunned by Mac. Indeed, as someone who grew up in quite a cold part of the world, he probably doesn't take a hard-line attitude to canned food.

4 It could have been vegetable stew. Or fish stew, assuming Mac wasn't vegetarian.

Just please nobody say that some vegetarians eat fish, 'cos then I will want to them.

Which reminds me, Mac is darn good at knocking people out with a single punch to the face.

Someone should make one of those compilation videos - use the clip of Mac tasting the coke and the one from "The Pilot" where he's smoking (in the interests of science and rescue, naturellement) and ... I can't think of anything else off-hand.

I watched this episode with my mom last night. We both really like the non-verbal communication between Pete and Mac. Mom pointed out how Mac never looked at Pete in a negative way due to his less than stellar physical skills. In fact, Mac seemed proud of Pete and really hoping he would pass. I can relate to Pete in this episode because, even though I am younger than him, I'm slightly overweight and my knees are shot so I'm not sure I could have even performed as well as he did!

On another note, I would happily follow Mac into that cave (My mom said she wouldn't...she's claustrophobic. Heck, I'd follow Mac anywhere! But I would definitely not climb out the way poor Pete did. I'd wait for Mac to bring me a nice tall ladder!!!

My favorite episode, simply the best, you see the friendship with Mac and Pete the best here. I never get tired of watching it