Every week I will be posting a new topic titled "Episode Discussion". In this we will discuss an episode, what we liked about it, what we didn't like, etc.


Episode 116 - Jerico Games

MacGyver happily reunites with his high-school sweetheart, who's now the wife of an abusive businessman sponsoring an international sports competition.

Poor Mac--he just keeps ending up with the wrong woman! I felt sorry for him in this episode, having to learn once again that he's been manipulated by someone he loved. You can tell confronting Ellen made him revisit some painful emotions in his life, and we learn part of his reasoning for why it's so difficult for him to commit (the people he knows end up dying). I would think that after Ellen uses him, that would just add yet another reason!
I felt sorry for Ellen though, too. It sounds like she had a rough life. Still, that doesn't justify what she tried to do to poor Mac.

I think "Jerico Games" is an excellent episode!

Here we have yet another one of MacGyver's old girlfriends coming back on the scene. This one happens to be MacGyver's high school sweetheart. It was sad to see the junk Ellen had to put up with from her husband- and the whole unrequited love from Mac thing- and for which she needed help.
I can definitely see how MacGyver is wary of commitment after seeing all his past girlfriends!
But I also like the US-Russia relations that's highlighted in the episode- in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall- and glastnost and all. Nikolai made it a pretty funny episode- which was a good buffer for the heavier emotional scenes.
And MacGyver has some pretty classic MacGyverisms- another lock pick and escape by hanging on to the bottom of the car- no matter where I see that- in movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark or books like The Hardy Boys- it's always cool!
And MacGyver had a pretty great escape from the incinerator as well. I enjoyed this episode pretty well- especially the scene at the end where MacGyver pulls out his old Mission City High School yearbook- seeing the picture of Ellen and the entry there- makes for a poignant and rather sad end to the episode- definitely leaves the viewer with something to ponder.

This was indeed an excellent episode. Another redhead but less to my taste then Roxy/Carla.
This is also the last US-Russian related episode in the series.
I really like the close friendship MacGyver and Nikolaï build up, no matter how short it was. Nikolaï was a great character. He shone of self confidence, had a cool way of observing things and like Ellen said had a way with words.
I think this was a rough episode because everything happens within a day. You meet you're old girlfriend again after twenty years, then she betrays you by setting you up. Just because she couldn't handle the rejection, it tore her up inside. She definitely needed help as MacGyver said.
This episode also has of course it's educational moments, like fast food is bad for you.
'Energy!'
'You've got any idea what is in that?'
'No.'
'Nobody knows. It's weak.'
MacGyver's face is worth millions when he sees that hotdog but he's got a point. Just love it when he spits out his opinion and touches the wrapper in disgust.
I also like Ellen's opinion about men. 'Men are so stupid!' Well actually there's not much to like at that phrase but she mentions it in such a way as if she meant it. Mary-Ann Pascale played good in this episode of a torn up woman.
MacGyver snooping around in Ellen's office is also one of my favourite scenes. The music is also very good there. As always it's always cool when the hero goes somewhere where he actually shouldn't be.
This is of course a Robert Sherman episode so MacGyver's anger emotions are brought up.
'Ellen! ELLEN! You're grudge is against me, not Nikolaï.'
I love it when he has to mention her name for the second time.
Also no MacGyver-episode without cool MacGyverisms. Lockpicking with the pin and escaping the incinerator. One thing about escaping the incinerator I find VERY dangerous. That's when goes with his arm through the small window in the door. He sure goes all the way with his arm but what if his arm got stuck? What if he didn't got his elbow back through the window? Welding through the door? Or losing the arm?
When they got out MacGyver signals Nikolaï to be quiet as possible. Also very good.
Of course the final confrontation between MacGyver and Ellen is the cherry on the pie.
'You need help. I know the right peoples.'
'We were 18 years old. Peoples don't know what they want at 18.'
'You care about gun control and the enviornment but not me. No, never me!'
'We were 18 year old kids. KIDS! And you know I cared about you.'
'Shut up! Shut up. Shut... up!!! Why couldn't you just love me? We were the perfect couple everybody said so.'
Then of course the last scene I think I like it the most. It's a good way of showing of what MacGyver is doing when he's alone at home. The soft piano music on the background with his Eryie year book.
'Everybody says we're the perfect couple. Forever and ever. Ellen.'

Bit of trivia: this shows us where MacGyver did his high school years. I assume Eryie is the name of his high school, just like Western Tech was the name of his college.

The guy who played Ellen's henchman is Ken Kirzinger, he showed up in Ghost Ship as the Bigfoot and played Jason in Friday the 13th part VIII if I'm not mistaken and starred along with Robert Englund and Gerry Chalk in Freddy vs Jason.

This was one of the most memorable Mac eps for me. Even though I hadn't seen it since it aired, I remembered a lot about it. So, it's no wonder that, when I was watching the SG-1 ep 'Smoke and Mirrors' with a friend for the first time, I scared the bejeezus out of her by jumping up and exclaiming: "Omigods, they totally ripped that off from the Mac episode with the psycho ex-girlfriend!"

This episode is intensely creepy--just think of how long Ellen has been planning her little vendetta against Mac. There's also the whole double thing which is freaky; imagine how Mac must have felt to watch himself on live tv, and then finding the moulds in Ellen's office! Watching Mac commit cold blooded murder is shocking, even knowing that it's not really Mac with the gun.

There's also some nice humour in this one, mostly from Nikolai.

Mac

He probably figured: Have I been drinking? or he thought: Okay, that's not right.

I love the scene where Mac sees Nikolai eating a hotdog.

Mac: "Do you know whats in those things??"

Nikolai: "No."

Mac: "neither does anyone else."

Last time I had a hotdog I could've sworn I saw a long shaped weenie in it. It reminded me of something else though.

Liked this one a lot. Ellen clearly needed help, though not the kind that Mac could provide. I didn't like how she deliberately deceived him, but she was deeply confused and conflicted (to say the very least!) I ended up feeling sorry for both of them. I liked how it showed that people from our past can change dramatically, and that sometimes reunions with them aren't as wonderful as we like to imagine... a good caution to remember.

Of course, I got a kick out of Nikolai... he was wonderful as the comic relief, but he was also smarter than he came off at first.

Whenever my daughter says "Mom how about some hot dogs?" while we're grocery shopping I think of this scene.

Poor MacGyver everytime he gets back with a ex-girlfriend they always push him away.

I don't think Mac really wanted to get back with Ellen especially after she lied about being married. She was kind of creepy in the begining of the episode anyway.

I wished they would've shown more with Nickoli and the hockey. Ellen came across as a clingy, immature woman, who was obsessed with Mac. I wonder if she ever got the help that she needed.

This post has been edited by MacNymph on 18 June 2009 - 01:05 PM

I think that was the whole point of the episode.

MacGyver does seem to attract more than his fair share of nutters doesn't he. One could be forgiven for thinking the only women he ever gets involved with are nutters.

Do you suppose that the character of MacGyver was written that way so he never had a girlfriend for longer than an episode or two?

This post has been edited by MacNymph on 18 June 2009 - 02:31 PM

No. Every time they tried to introduce a love interested they got inundated with hate mail from the fans. So they did want, and tried, to, but they decided that keeping the fans happy was more important.

Without the fans there wouldn't have been a MacGyver.

This post has been edited by MacNymph on 20 June 2009 - 06:48 PM

Maybe I should put the majority of this under nit picks but there are so many reasons I dislike this episode but they don’t seem like nit picks as much as writing / character flaws.

MacGyver really seems to attract the nutters in terms of women but it seems he doesn’t try to avoid it. In this episode he seemed to run to her with open arms. Flirting with disaster comes to mind.

First clue. She books you to have a total stranger stay at your home without talking to you about it first? Because she thought it would give them a chance to bump into one another? How about a reception party or a photo session, or having called after she saw your name to ask permission??

Clue dos… “No more poor little clinging vine that cried for months after we broke up.” That line right there implies that she just didn’t let it go at the time. He’s had trouble with this woman before, but he acts he’s oblivious and even flirts with her. “I’ve had twenty years to get over you… okay, not exactly over you.” hee hee

ACK! Run for your life!

But noooooo

“Is there anyone in your life now?”

“There’s a girl.”

“Is it serious?”

“Well, I think about her but um serious?” *groan* Maybe if I kiss all over you it will help me decide???

I hate that Ellen chick and the way she manipulates Mac. I’m super disappointed in Mac for letting her.

So was Amy from the Episode Flame's End Mac's girlfriend before or after Ellen? Can't remember if Amy was his high school or college girlfriend.

I do love this episode. It gives some pretty good insight as to why Mac has so many commitment issues. I feel bad for Mac... he just has so much guilt that he carries with him. I mean, can you imagine how bad he probably felt for Ellen? That he caused her that much pain... and it really wasn't his fault. If she really loved him, she wouldn't have done any of that to him anyway. But he would feel guilty anyway because he's Mac. By the end of the episode... I just wanted to give the poor man a hug. =P

Now, I understand this won't be all that important to many of you... but I kinda geeked out with this episode because Nikolai's character is played by Paul Haddad. Well... Paul Haddad also did the voice for Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil 2. Outside of this, I'm a gamer and die hard Resident Evil fan. Resident Evil 2 being my all time video game and Leon being my favorite character of the series... I'm sure you can imagine the fangirl squeal...

*cough* I try not to do that.

I do love Mac's line: "Well, I guess dudes are dudes all over the world."

Well said Mac!

Amy was High School.

I liked this episode, especially the first part. In MacGyver's defense, Ellen was flirting as much or more than he was. I felt bad for both of them, but she should not have strung him along when she was married. When he first said "Ellen Stuart?" she should have corrected him to Ellen Jerico. I enjoyed the catching up scene where we got to learn more about his commitment issues. I was thinking at the time that he could have mentioned "Mike" too as one that has died.

This scene does explain his hesitation in the Widowmaker more for me. I am just rewatching the episodes as they are replaying them on CLOO right now and so I get to see them out of order and the later seasons, so I admit that I am missing some of the background. [[can hardly wait until I get my own complete set of dvds]] For example, yesterday's MacGyver Marathon on CLOO were more Halloween oriented. I only watched a few yesterday (DVR'd the rest), but they showed Ghost Ship, The Secrets of Parker House, and Halloween Nights.

It's kind of hard for me to follow the progression of the series with them skipping around, but who cares...I am really enjoying watching any of them!!!!

Maybe something to put in the characters section but I just found that Nicolaï Rostov's last name is the name of city called Rostov-on-Don. Don is the name of a river near the city. The city itself is located in Southern Russian. Though it might be interesting to know.

There's also a town in the Yaroslavl Oblast (province) of western Russia which is called Rostov.

Well I was reading an article on the Battle of Stalingrad, I came to the name Rostov which led me to the name of that city. It's probably a common Russian name.

Did they re-use the earrings from The Visitor on the TV blonde?

MacGyverGod

I think this^^^ qualifies as TMI!

Amy was High School.

But was Amy before Roxy Yates?

There's six years of high school. Plenty of time to go out with different girls and say they're from high school.

There's middle school, junior high school, & high school. In Canada, 'high School' is grade 10-12. You
would never say that you are in 'high school' if you were only in grade 8. There, you would say I am in 'junior high'. Don't know how the terminology differs state side but would assume it is quite similar.

Then there is still three years than. Here is high school, just high school. Middle school and junior high, we don't use that here. But that's Europe I guess.

It's 4 years of high school in the USA, I believe. Freshman year, sophomore year, junior year and senior year. I'm slightly surprised that someone as bright as Mac didn't happily skip through high school in 2 or 3 years, but maybe he wasn't very good at some subjects.

Hmm, on 2nd thoughts, he probably decided to take the full 4 years so he could spend more time on sports.

And, of course, dating.

He seems to have dated a looooooot of different girls in high school.

I mean, I'm not saying that he two-timed any of them.

I'm just saying that he seems to have had a looooooot of exes who date from those days.