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MacGyver Online Forums > Episodes > 037 - Pirates

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 7 November 2006 - 02:15 PM

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 37 - Pirates

Modern-day pirates, using Navy SEAL tactics, steal an 18th century Spanish captain's log that could lead them to a sunken treasure fleet.

Posted by: MacNymph 8 November 2006 - 12:05 PM

How did you rate this episode?
Poor [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Average [ 0 ] [0.00%]
OK [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Good [ 10 ] [66.67%]
Exellent [ 5 ] [33.33%]
Total Votes: 15

QUOTE (Vina @ May 2 2005, 11:59 pm)

I liked this one a lot. Of course, I like them all.

But I liked the girl in this one (name escapes me at the moment)...but like the little boy said in Spanish, "too bad MacGyver wasn't her boyfriend."

Now why couldn't they have come up with someone like her for Mac to date?

QUOTE (MacGyverGod @ May 3 2005, 01:21 am)

I voted good. It was a good episode. MacGyver got trapped in that boat, which reminded me of Deep Cover. The island was well found, just after the first mine, he's caught in a second mine. Poor dude. And then he tied up that guy with the stick in his chest. Well found. Very Rambo-like.

QUOTE (MacGyver @ May 3 2005, 03:15 am)

"Pirates" was another excellent episode. MacGyver was trapped underwater in a boat, which was kind of reused in "Deep Cover", but it was a little different circumstances then. I especially liked the scene with the mine field. That was pretty cool watching Mac navigate through that. "You lose out on a good deal if you kill me. I'm sort of a specialist at everything." (Probably not an exact quote, but I love that part when MacGyver tells the bad guys that.)

QUOTE (sonyab @ May 4 2005, 07:24 am)

I voted good.. in the beginning it's boring but after they show MacGyver it's great! hehehe.. I loved how Mac got out of the ship filling up with water! MacGyver is a great show.

QUOTE (Alex-Wylie @ May 14 2005, 08:45 pm)

Cool epi! I liked when he throws away the fake bomb in the end and it

QUOTE (sylviagzz @ May 24 2005, 11:02 am)

But it didn't explode... or did I miss that... I'ma gonna have to see it again...

Didn't see anything seal like that the bad guys were doing... they were pretty lame if you ask me...

I liked the episode..I just saw it today,

loved the black tight jeans with the balck shirt...

QUOTE (MacGirl @ May 29 2005, 12:15 pm)

Hmm... I don't think I saw this one. Well, all the more reason to look forward to getting the DVDs!

QUOTE (Nick Kismet @ Jul 26 2005, 08:13 am)

QUOTE

But it didn't explode... or did I miss that...

You are correct. I kept waiting for it to go boom, but it never did. And while it would have been a great joke, I don't think Mac would have been so cavalier about it if there was the slightest chance that it could arm. In fact, his earlier comments led me to believe that he could tell by its weight that the explosive package had been removed.

I just watched this for the first time--yes, first time ever--last night and found it thoroughly enjoyable. One thing I especially liked about it was the incorporation of the SEALs. Back when this was first written, the Navy SEAL's were just starting to get some public attention, but unfortunately most movies of the period portrayed SEALs all purpose commandos. While they are certainly trained to do almost anything, their primary mission has always been what was shown in the opening scenes of Pirates--sneaking onto hostile beaches to clear landing zones.

Anyway, a great episode.

QUOTE (Amy @ Aug 6 2005, 01:06 am)

I really like this episode.

QUOTE

in the beginning it's boring but after they show MacGyver it's great

There is a pretty long segment that doesn't involve Mac, but I think it was necessary to get the background. I didn't think it was boring, it just didn't have Mac in it!

QUOTE

his earlier comments led me to believe that he could tell by its weight that the explosive package had been removed

You're right, Nick. That's what I thought.

I liked the fact that we see a MacGyverism that just doesn't work (his "hydraulic lift")--he's not invincible after all!

QUOTE (thyla @ Aug 6 2005, 06:35 am)

This has one of my fav eye-candy scenes with Mac sitting on the rock at the beach looking out at the sea (presumably watching the SEALs at work). He is wearing jeans and a sweater. Very nice. YUMM!

QUOTE (MacGirl @ Aug 10 2005, 12:01 am)

Ah, yes, you're right, Thyla. Yum, indeed!!

Posted by: Tygr 24 April 2007 - 08:12 PM

I love where the bad guy has the dud mine in his hands and Mac yells, "DON'T DROP IT!!!" and the bad guy looks down just in time to get punched out.

Posted by: Old Fan 25 April 2007 - 04:56 PM

Well, "... like the magician said... a little misdirection never hurt..."

hehehehe

Posted by: The True MacGyver 11 March 2008 - 02:59 PM

This is a pretty good story. It was one of the first times Mac actually didn't succeed. But some of the 'MacGyver-Takedowns' (any time Mac takes out a villain using more than a punch or creatively punching someone like hiding under a body and socking a guy) were hilarious. The classic "jump-off-and-tackle" manuever makes a strong showing. THe mine distraction is clever. But the whole sequence on the island feels fake.

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 9 August 2008 - 06:19 PM

Yeah I never really liked the island scene that much, yet oddly enough thats the scene I think of when I first see this episode title.

But the episode itself is quite good, although I think the MacGyverism with the sinking boat was just rubbish.

but all in all it gets a "good" rating from me.

Posted by: Liz1976 10 August 2008 - 05:21 PM

I liked the whole premise with Mac and Pete working with the Navy SEALS.

My thing is the same as usual, one bad guy, two dumb bad guys.

I like the character of Barbara Ortega--and the dedication and loyalty she showed to her work, to the people of Spanish America and to her father's memory.

Posted by: Murdoc12 11 March 2009 - 11:50 AM

This one was really good, I love the dead grenade trick in it.

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 10 July 2009 - 06:31 PM

DO you think that brown jacket MacGyver wears in this episode is suppose to be his normal bomber jacket?

It looks very similar to the normal jacket and I couldn't help wondering if they had to find a quick replacement for some reason for this episode.

Posted by: macgybl 12 January 2011 - 03:12 PM

I think the leather jacket was a quick replacement for this episode. We never see him wear this one in any other episode.

Posted by: Madelow56 5 January 2012 - 07:35 PM

Hello all: I'm new. Loved the show since its premiere in 1985. A friend asked a trivia question I could not answer. Do we know the name of the ship in "Pirates"? Thanks in advance. Your friend Madelow.

Posted by: KiwiTek 5 January 2012 - 07:55 PM

Which ship are you referring to?

Posted by: MiracleMac 7 January 2012 - 04:13 AM

When mac found the fake mine and he guess it wasn't a real mine, but if it would have been a real, then it would been a very very bad thing, because he put the mine under his shirt to side of chest pocket!

Posted by: KiwiTek 7 January 2012 - 01:26 PM

If it was real it would have blown up when he first found it.

Didn't he find it was a dud after he had gone through the process of disabling it? Is that the one he jammed the button down with a twig and went to throw it down the hill and it rattled?

So he didn't guess it was a dead mine. He knew it was dead.

Posted by: MiracleMac 7 January 2012 - 11:06 PM

I know, I know, but it was a funny to watch when he put the thing to chest pocket, what looks like a real mine

Posted by: NightTinkerer 17 September 2012 - 03:56 PM

This episode is very suspenseful. It starts out like a potential treasure hunt episode, turning into something else... quite different.

Mac/RDA is obviously a quite experienced diver (Is there *anything* that man can not do?

) I had a great interest to learn how to scuba dive myself, and tried a few times, only to find out that I couldn't do it, (and yeah, I still haven't gotten over it, I know...

)
But it was very interesting to see him in the water, it sure looks like he's doing most of the underwater scenes himself. The underwater sequences in themselves are very interesting too.

I like the fact that the treasure was supposed to help those children who needed surgery or other medical procedures.

I don't know if I *really* bought that MacGyverism with the reversed vacuum cleaner or whatever it was--of course, the guys were rather surprised by Mac's maneuver, but still, their reaction seemed a little delayed. And I really do wonder whether the compressed gas tank inside the boat would propel from the water with enough force to blow the hatch. In fact, I doubt it. On land--definitely so, but the water would slow its momentum as it slows down bullets.

As some of you have already pointed out, Mac's first trick actually failed!

I can't say much about the accuracy of the mine field scenes, since I know nothing about explosives. It looked like a neat trick though, to keep one of those mine shells in your pocket...

All in all, a rather nice episode, though not a favorite. Will get a "Good" rating from me.

Posted by: MiracleMac 18 September 2012 - 11:11 AM

That gas tank under water trick is certain. Some objects are lighter under the water than they really are, so i can move heavy object under the water + if get also discharging pressure with it, to get more power.

Posted by: MiracleMac 18 September 2012 - 11:21 AM

By looking DVD box disc from season 2 and episodes are Soft touch, Birth day, Pirates, Out in the cold. So these first three episodes are someway directed to wharf, harbour or fishing marine life or boating, because in soft touch episode, we see old fish cannnery warehouse on the wharf and in Birth day episode we see old factory on the wharf and in Pirates episode we see bit of about sea life.

Posted by: Scwilson 8 August 2013 - 09:43 PM

I liked the adventure theme of this episode. The girl was great, Mac seems to like women who can hold their own in tough situations.

Posted by: cmbj67 13 August 2014 - 11:11 AM

This is an OK episode to me because I prefer some others.

It's interesting to see what the Navy Seals do though.

I like the part when he's in the island, with all those bombs and how he catches the bad guys.

Posted by: Connelly 7 June 2016 - 03:48 AM

I watched this episode last night on CBS Action, only the second time I've seen it, and I really liked it. I don't know whether this was mentioned before on the old forum, but Marta DuBois, who plays Dr Ortega, appeared in several episodes of Magnum PI as Magnum's former wife. She'a lucky lady to have worked with the two most gorgeous guys in the business at that time! This episode also reminded me a little bit of one of my favourite Magnum episodes, Dead Man's Channel.

My only criticism is that the writer does the typical 80s TV thing of referring to female characters as "the girl" - it's a real pet-hate of mine. Dr Ortega isn't a girl, she's a woman - an intelligent, educated, successful woman with a Doctorate. I can just about excuse the bad guys referring to her as "the girl" but it sounded really jarring when Pete and Mac did it - they are usually more respectful to people, especially women. I know it's typical of the way TV portrayed women in the 80s, and every show did it, but oh, it does annoy me. OK, I'll climb off my soapbox now!

Posted by: denizen 7 June 2016 - 04:34 AM

Posted by: Mr Duct Tape 4 October 2016 - 12:59 PM

One of season 2's best episodes in my opinion.

The story has everything, pirates, treasures, a pretty girl in distress, and MacGyver storming an island and sweep the bad guys with coolness and style.

the soundtrack is particularly good on this one.

4/5

Posted by: sylvain1888 27 December 2020 - 04:18 PM

Posted by: Mac2Nite 15 January 2021 - 10:48 AM

QUOTE (Connelly @ 7 June 2016 - 11:48 PM)

Couldn't agree more!