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 68 - On a wing and a prayer

MacGyver and Jack Dalton have to pose as arms dealers in order to rescue Pete and a nun from Central American rebels.

Votes from March 2006

Poor [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Average [ 0 ] [0.00%]
OK [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Good [ 9 ] [56.25%]
Excellent [ 7 ] [43.75%]
Total Votes: 16

Archived comments

Posted by: MacGyverGod Dec 20 2005, 03:05 AM

Posted by: MacGyver Dec 20 2005, 12:51 PM

Posted by: rockatteer Dec 20 2005, 01:46 PM

Posted by: Tomms247 Dec 20 2005, 01:52 PM

Posted by: rockatteer Dec 20 2005, 02:05 PM

Posted by: Tomms247 Dec 20 2005, 02:17 PM

Posted by: MacGirl Dec 20 2005, 06:10 PM

Posted by: MacGyverGod Dec 21 2005, 03:34 AM

Better quotes are: 'MacGyver, what happened?' 'Your slipknot's not slipping.'
One of the very few times Jack mentions MacGyver's full name.
'Hang on, Mac!'
'Upsidizzie! Woooooow!! Yeah, we are airbourne!!!'
'JJJJJJJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!'

Tell me about. Of course there had to be a catch when asking Jack for a favour. The bill. Why presenting a bill if you fixed the damage yourself, if it's not for the damage, it must have been the service or not having a bought a ticket. If it's something else then Mac should've presenting his bill for fixing the plane.

Posted by: MACGYVERISMYDAD Dec 21 2005, 09:44 AM

Posted by: Tomms247 Dec 22 2005, 04:07 PM

Posted by: MacGirl Dec 28 2005, 06:30 PM

Posted by: Amy Jan 3 2006, 08:14 AM

Posted by: Lothithil Jan 12 2006, 09:50 AM

Posted by: Old Fan Jan 12 2006, 10:47 AM

Posted by: MacsChick Mar 12 2006, 01:10 PM

Posted by: Sjaop Mar 12 2006, 10:36 PM

I'm quite fond of this episode - one of the reason's being ... the ponytail! Gotta love it! LOL

I also loved how Pete was half-expecting Mac to come and rescue them (Pete and the nun), and that Mac came through for him (was there ever any doubt!).

The interaction between Mac and Jack was great ... I found it to be one of their better episodes together.

Favorite scene has to be when Pete is asking where Mac is - and poor Mac is clinging to the bottom of the plane.

One of my least favorite episodes. didn't like the ponytail here ( though that's not why I didn't care for the episode ) Funny now, to see a Stargate Sg-1 character - Narim - play the bad guy

i'm not sure what to think abou the pony tail... at least it's a break from the mullet.

mac needing a favor from jack. now this is different. poor mac. and in end he ended up in the "economy" seat in air dalton. poor brave mac.

the bad guy played a good alien guy in sg1. i also remember he also played a bad guy in a MacGyver ep with jack jr and the counterfeit money. so him playing a central american bad guy was very unbelievable for me.

Not my favourite though, pony tail still better than mullet, and the yellowish sunglasses, very 80's.

Adventures of Jack+Mac+Pete are always my choice. I can see how reluctant Mac is when he approached Jack to ask him for a favor, LOL.

The bad guys look somewhat too naive to me: how could you trust someone flying from nowhere to your secret base claiming to sell some powerful weapons to you at an unbelievable bargain price?

I wonder what Mac used for his pony tail? Duct tape maybe? lol

um.... probably safe to assume no on that one.

I see this is one episode I haven't voted on. It's been so long since I've seen it, I'll have to rewatch it so I can make an accurate vote.

This was a fun episode, ruined only by some bad acting on the part of the villains. It's always nice to see Jack, Mac and Pete teaming up.

One thing I didn't get, though, is why Pete gets so annoyed at the end when Jack wanted money to repair his plane. Jack went out of his way to help Pete, putting his own life at risk, and all he asks for is some money to get the plane repaired, and Pete acts like he's being unreasonable. I would have thought Pete would be a bit more gracious. When Mac destroyed that car in Three For The Road, didn't Pete shell out money for a new one? Guess he's gotten stingier over the years.

Maybe Pete was thinking of all the times he and MacGyver have helped Jack out without asking for anything in return and then the one time they need Jacks help he turns around and expects payment - or his costs to be covered.

Just watched this ep last night. It appears Mac *ties* something in his hair for the ponytail. I know that's what I used to do way back in the day when I had long hair, pretty sure that's how most dudes do it, rather than those girly elastic band things. :p

This was a great ep with the whole team together. Too bad Pete didn't get to do much more than lie around hurt, but still one of the best episodes.

you know, I've never thought much about how guys tie back their hair...interesting thing to ponder while watching this ep

He also had a pony tail as Dexter in Jenny's Chance...but I figured he borrowed the elastic band thingy from the girl lol...unless he does carry one around with him so if he needs to go undercover he can just whip it out and put it on

I don't think bands would work well on shorter-ish hair, it would probably pop off when you turned your head, so I don't think Mac's was quite long enough for that. I'd guess he just got some string somewhere, a leather cord, or a shoe lace. ::shrugs::

I HATE the ponytail. When Pete was lying down and gestured for Mac to come closer I really thought he was going to tell Mac to pull the darned thing out! I want the mullet back!!

I liked this episode. First time I've seen it, too. Really good, and funny. Loved the end with Mac stuck under the plane and Jack saying that he's flying economy. Hahahaha

I really liked this episode--for so many reasons!

For starters--the episode title is just *perfect*; an "Excellent +++."

The scene where Mac tells Jack he needs a favor from him is... simply priceless. That expression on Mac's face! "I can't believe I said that!"

In my opinion, Captain Santina is probably one of the most plausible female characters of the entire series. Too bad she was only in this episode! She is tough, but not in a stereotypically girlish/Hollywood way, and she never turns into a damsel in distress. Despite her hard exterior, she *does* listen to reason, and she has leader skills. Too bad we didn't see more characters like her!

I, too, pity Pete a lot in this episode. Poor guy... he really looks like he's in severe pain. Obviously, Pete had a thing for nuns! This time it's a different nun, though.

Instead of "You'd better say a prayer for us," Mac says something along with "I'd appreciate it if you put in a word with the Boss..." Love that line. It's so in character for him.

This episode is also filled with MacGyverisms--and most of them evolving around the airplane. The remote rigged starter was ingenious, and so was the repair process, of course. I laughed so hard at "Your slip knot is not slipping!" ...and poor Mac was left to hold onto the pontoons!

It's understandable that Jack needed some payment for helping out, considering the damage on his equipment, but I thought it unfair that he'd leave them with such a hefty bill... However, Jack will always be Jack.

An "Excellent" vote from me.

That's a good point. Considering all the things both MacGyver and Pete have gone through for him, you'd think even with the damage to his plane etc, he'd still be in considerable debt to them.

But as you say, Jack will always be Jack.

Just saw this episode again. Did you ever notice Mac has an earring in his left ear in this episode? Probably as part of the cover. It is very visible in the scene when Mac hops in the plane to pull the rope. Just look at the bling-bling.

Furthermore I took a more liking to Captain Santina. You don't mess with her but she's willing to listen. Actually she's completely the opposite of Rafael. She thinks more of the people than he did. She didn't seem to mind that Mac, Jack and Pete got away in the end.

Odd maybe to hear later in Hind-Sight that she quit the revolution to become a teacher.

I thought there was a scene which shows him put it on, but I've just checked and there isn't.



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Nope. In the scene Mac is finishing up his cover, making a ponytail and the glasses.

I just finished watching this one! I love it when Jack and Mac pair up and this episode had some of the best lines. I agree the "slipknot" line had me chuckling, and the end scene with Mac, Jack, and Pete was great.

Another part that made me laugh was when Jack was drinking with Rafael in the tent talking about where they attended college and Rafael says "Berkley." Jack's line is something like "Here's to higher education at work, Salud!" as he drinks his beer gets me every time.

Santina was a great character.

This episode is one of the best because Pete and Jack Dalton are all together. I found it a bit amusing for Mac asking Jack for help instead of Jack conning Mac into one of his schemes. Jack obliged of course and they rescue Pete. Great adventure episode.

The news paper Pete is reading the article from at the end of the episode is called The Observer and is dated Monday, November 14, 1988 which is 21 days before this episodes original air date in the US.

The article is the B - International section of the paper.

It's a pity the picture quality is so bad, but you can make out parts of the writing which looks like they wrote a real article about how Santina was involved in the initiating peace talks which lead to the countries dictator President Monteyo allowing their first democratic elections to be held.

Interesting. By any chance that day, the day of shooting the episode? Or just the day they printed that newspaper? It might just be a randomly taken date? Because if I just look at the date and the airdates, there is like no way, Mac could've been there at the time. Unless they sort of aired On A Wing And A Prayer out of order. There's a three week gap between The Secret of Parker House and Blood Brothers. The Secret of Parker House aired on October 31 1988, Blood Brothers was aired on November 21 1988. This actually sets the On A Wing And A Prayer events after Blood Brothers in the Macverse. Remember that Jack asked Mac how things were at home? This actually means Mac left for Minnesota (almost) directly after The Secret of Parker House. Penny's birthday is October 31, right? And they spend two nights at Parker House. The night of the storm and the night Mac is reconstructing Betty's face. Ending it on November 2. That was a Wednesday in 1988.

I think we can assume Mac went back home first perhaps for a day before leaving for Minnesota for most likely the weekend. Does anybody actually know how long it would take to drive from L.A. to Minnesota by car? In Blood Brothers everything happened within a day. All the rest sort of depends on how much longer he stayed there. Can't be that long. This should be nevertheless in the first week of November. Most likely I think Mac returning back in L.A. the same week or maybe the start of the next. He finds out Pete and the Sister kidnapped decides to go in and Pete gets shot. This should be somewhere between the 7th and the 14th of November. Maybe a day or two passes when he returns and finds out about Pete, goes to Jack asks for his help and fly through the night. When they get to Pete again everything happens within a day. Than I think it depends on the wound, if Pete was sitting in his office the next Monday. Mac recalls the wound as pretty badly in Hind-Sight. Still Pete managed to live through the night when Mac was on the way. I'd say at least four days must've passed, if Pete was to sit in his office the next Monday feeling and looking (fully) recovered.

And the next that happens we see Mac crashing the Jeep in Pennsylvania about two weeks later. But I think we can conclude that this episode takes place before The Outsiders, because if we have to shove everything back in time it would mean Mac was most likely recovering from the car accident at the time this paper was printed. There is after all a three week gap between The Secret of Parker House and Blood Brothers.

Wow, that's quite a month. Starting of as a ghostbuster, trying to prevent history repeating itself in Minnesota, to a rescue mission in Central America hanging on a plane, to crashing his Jeep in Pennsylvania.

Wow. That is quite insane! If that is indeed the case, then this must have been nightmare month for Mac.

Just wondering. On the travel log it is pointed out that Barraca is located in Brazil. On Mapquest however it is pointed out that Barraca is on the location of Algodões. I know Barraca is a fictional country but how was decided Barraca would be located there when the travel log was made? Brazil is South America while the episode explicitly tells us Barraca is in Central America. Just wondering because I just found out that in Cuba there is a place called Baracoa. Even though Cuba is not part of Central America but belongs to the Carribean. Maybe Barraca would be more located near Dinoto another fictional country but definitely more in Central America. Just saying.

That would be a nit-pick.

I'll fix it up tonight when I get home.

Yes, November 14th/88 was the actual day of the shoot for that newspaper insert clip.

Nice work Joe.

I must admit I didn't care for the yellow sunglasses whenever they made an appearance - they just didn't suit him!