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 54 - Blow Out

Political terrorism hits close to home when Nikki, who accidentally witnessed a terrorist bombing, is targeted by the bomber, who fears she can identify him.

Votes from March 2006
Poor [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Average [ 0 ] [0.00%]
OK [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Good [ 6 ] [50.00%]
Excellent [ 6 ] [50.00%]
Total Votes: 12

Hey! Yeah! biggrin.gif And it wasn't totally seperate from the rest of the episode.

blink.gif Just one thing... isn't this the one were the baddie killed Nikki's neighbor's dog she was watching?? (might not be.. can't remember) What ever episode that was... mad.gif Stupid Baddie!! ranting2.gif

*scratches dog out of script and replaces with cat* blink.gif

Mac didn't make a mistake, he wanted her to know that he read her file. Being straight honest is not a mistake if you ask me. Also one of the very few moments throughout the series that Mac gets angry and loses his temper in that scene. But of course he's just being protective. Just loving it.
Alright now what's this with hanging upside down on a chair with two smoking stuff on each side? To reduce the fever? Was that cold real anyway?

No... that was "The Negotiator," and our favorite villainness, Deborah, was the one who did the dirty deed.

Yeah, I know, I know... I know this show WAY too well! I'm starting to scare myself here! biggrin.gif

Yeah, well of course he had the best intentions. Maybe not to tell her at the moment but he had to come out for it, liking it or not. He probably thought, "I can better do it now than later." And the look on his face when he said it was more like 'I know that this'll hurt you.'
'Let me out of here!'
'You think Nikki Carpenter is jinx, is that it?'
'Stop it!'
'How much longer are you going to say that you're divorced?'
'That car bomb was meant for me, not him. Oh God, not him.'
Nice conversation eh?

This is something very bizzarre I saw yesterday - on an episode of JAG.

Remember the scene where Nikki takes Bunky out to her car - to go to the police station - it's at night... and it ends with Nikki almost getting run down by the guy in the car... Anyway, you first see them walking out of the apartment building... it's dark and raining. But I swear that exact scene was put into a JAG episode I saw yesterday.

Since both MacGyver and JAG were put out by Paramount, and I guess since Paramount OWNED this footage from MacGyver... they cut and pasted it into the JAG episode...maybe a cost cutting measure. It was just an establishing shot, but I gotta tell you... it was weird. For a split second, I wasn't sure what I was watching - since I've watched Blowout so often, I practically know it by heart. You could even see the "person" walking down the steps with a dog. Paramount is CHEAP!!!!!

I think you'll find its more about time than money.

As RDA has said many times in interviews.. people don't appreciate the work involved and the tight schedules required to make an hour long (45 minute) TV show every week.

So if they can get a whole scene or even shot without having to film it themselves.. then it means a little more time for them to film something else... makes sense really.

would put you into a bit of a twilight zone, if its a scene you know well from another show though

What's even funnier about it is that in Blowout... it's supposed to be Los Angeles, and in the JAG episode, it's supposed to be Washington DC, but in reality, it's - of course - Vancouver, BC...

... and only we know for sure...

I thought it was interesting that MacGyver was preaching to Nikki about keeping people "at arms length" so they don't get hurt and also about blaming herself for her husbands death, when he does exactly the same thing.

I guess that "...It takes one to know one..."

yeah I guess..

I just found it odd (and kind of out of character) that MacGyver was lecturing her to not do the very same thing that he does do himself.

I guess we're all guilty of hypocrisy at some time or other.


*it's hard being perfect.. but someone has to do it.*

Nah.. not takes one to know one..... is "do as I say, not as I do."

Mmm... I don't know that it's so much *hypocrisy* or inconsistency on Mac's part, as it is trying to keep a good friend from going down the same road he's taken. I think this is a "I've-done-this-and-I-know-I've-hurt-myself-with-it-and-I-don't-want-to-see-you-make-the-same-mistake" moment.

Exactly. I did not know how to put it, but that is what I'm thinking about it, too. They also say that we only see at others our own mistakes and that they then bug us a lot.

A spooky image (avatar?) you got there!

interesting and exciting episode. mac with a cold and still being heroic. i liked that old lady at the grocery store.

does being upside down and humidifier work? what kind of cold remedy is that? mac must be desperate.

remember it was the 80's.

"draining your sinuses" was a popular notion, if not a somewhat ill-conceived one.

I voted excellent.
I really like Nikki and the way Mac and her bounce off each other and then Mac gets to show that work is work and caring about people is more important.
Also loved the humour in this as well, with his cold.

I like this episode very much. Interaction between Mac and Nikki was great and I also liked the plot involving the terrorists.

Mac's flu, using concrete to soften the explosion and Pete's last expression are things that raise this episode from good to excellent.

I like this eppy, too. I like Nikki, Mac w/flu, Pete and also Don S Davis as the cement truck driver!

I just curious that if the cement could really flow fast enough to cover the bomb in just a little more than 2 minutes.

It does flow out of those trucks pretty fast, but maybe something for the Mythbusters to try in their next MacGyver special.

"Can you really fill a mail truck full of cement in 2 minutes or less?"

My favorite episode! I love the whole storyline, intro is kinda funny... But EXCELLENT episode!!!

Yeah it is a good episode, but that's what you expect from season 3.

I did think Nikki seemed a bit weak at the post office, when that dude knocked her over. It's like she went from being a strong willed able to take care of herself character to some weak-willed fall down and cry when someone knocks you over character.

The Nikki from Fire and Ice would have jumped up and kicked that guys ass.

I laugh every time I hear Pete tell MacGyver and Nikki to "get out of my hair." It's such a simple line but seeing the look on his face when he realizes what he just said always cracks me up.

Well, everyone can have a bad day... even Nikki.

I wonder if maybe her reaction was just from being startled, and she was clearly hurt a bit as well. But yeah, I found it a little puzzling too.

I suppose it's also possible that she'd wound up in a previous physical confrontation in which she was either badly hurt, or really hurt someone else. That might make her hesitant to take someone on again. Or it could be that she found herself on the edge of being fired as the result (maybe she went too far and really hurt the other guy when he was no longer truly a threat). If it was the second instance, she may have found herself in legal trouble too. I know that here in Minnesota, for example, if someone attacks you, and you manage to get them on the ground or otherwise get their hands off you, you are then LEGALLY OBLIGATED to run and do your best to escape. If they come after you and attack you again, you can again defend yourself, but again, you're legally obligated to run as soon as you can. If you, say, knock someone down and then step on their hand, breaking it, you can be charged with assault. Nikki seems just hotheaded enough that this is a real possibility. Fanfic possibilities here?

A humidifier works, I believe the are also calle vaporisers if I am correct. I've had one for years.

I have never hung myself upside down though. If I came across Mac hanging upside down, I think I'd be tempted to tickle him.

Sorry it's taken me so long to post this, but I've been very busy for the last couple days, planning a mini-trip for next month--first time I'm going away for several months (my parents' house doesn't count).

I'm positively thrilled over the fact that this is the third episode in a row I'll give an "Excellent" vote! In general, season 3-6 are the best in my opinion... and right here, during season 3, we have a couple of really good episodes in a row.

"Blowout" is one of those, and definitely one of my all time favorites. I love the mix of humor and suspense! The robbery scene was hilarious. RDA's sneezing attacks are hysterical, and the old lady is just totally awesome.

Nikki's character is much better than in her first episode, but I still think she's too clueless and a bit inconsequent at times. I found it odd that she didn't even check when the dog started barking like that while she was in the bath! You don't have to know much about dogs to hear the different tones in their bark. I'm not a jumpy person myself, but I'd definitely listen to the dog's alarm... I don't really get it. Sometime's she is a professionally trained agent, and sometimes... she's just very girlish.

Anyway--there are so many little details worth mentioning here... like how miserable Mac looks throughout the episode, but manages to get himself together when the situation calls for it. Even Pete is hysterical, with the "Press the clear button before you leave--or die!" comment, and when he tries to protect himself from Mac's germs, holding up the papers... only to fail in the end.

I *love* the MacGyverism with the cement truck. Very much improvised--but ingenious.

I might be a bit slow posting for the next couple days too, since my schedule's a bit hectic at the moment, but I'll try to get the next episode up as soon as possible.

Take your time! Your reviews are great, and if you go too fast, you'll reach the end of the show too soon.
As for me, I would give this episode an 'excellent' if it weren't for Nikki. I can't stand her in this episode. She spoils a lot of the fun. To start with, her reactions to Mac in Pete's office are so arrogant, telling him that her methods are so much better than his. While she never, not in any episode, proved to us that she has even the tiniest part of Mac's genius. She has the right to work alone? Come again? She would never survive on her own, Mac has to save her time and time again. So who's talking? Her role in this episode is nothing more than a catalyst to get the plot on its way. Trained special agent, my foot.

Yeah your right she certainly didn't live up to the hype that the built up for her with the speech about being FBI (or what ever it was) trained in fire and ice and the "I'm a professional...blah blah blah" in this episode. I can't help thinking that the writers didn't really know what to do with the character. It's like they started off with one line of thought and then changed to something else and then just got lost.

There's one scene in this episode that stops me dead every time. And that's when MacGyver is punching the hole in the pain can and the paint runs over his hand. I always think "You're getting paint on your SAK!!!" and then I think about paint on your hand, and probably part of your clothing... and that stuff doesn't come out ya know!

So that bit always pulls me out of the episode and back to reality for a few seconds.

I also always seem to to focus on finger wave thing he does as he walks back to the jeep after hanging the paint under the truck. It's kinda like he's figuring something out in his head... but there's nothing to figure out... just get in your jeep and follow the paint drops Mac... it's not rocket science.

Yeah, Kiwi, you're definitely right about the paint! That stuff must be very adhesive, and apparently, neither Mac nor SAK got a single stain.

(Oh, I just got this "inner vision" of those bad guys confronting Mac while he's frantically trying to remove the paint stains from his hands, his SAK, his clothes, the side door and the smeared steering wheel of his jeep... not to mention his face. )

This was fun to watch although I usually don't like Nikki very much. Here I felt sorry for her, losing her husband in such tragic circumstances. And I did like that elderly lady at the supermarket, pushing a shopping cart at one of the bad guys. I want to be like her when I 'grow up'.

Follow the yellow brick road!

I thought this episode was good. I really liked Mac and Nikki together much of the ep, but cannot stand the part in Pete's office. Though I love Pete's comment about getting out of his hair! The old lady in the store was priceless!! I agree, I wanna be like her when I "grow up" too!! Mac's caring yet nosey nature are evident in this ep too.

I really like when we get to hear the rare true giggles out of RDA. There is one in this ep. The many pics I've seen on rdanderson.com with RDA and his dog show how much he must like dogs. When Nikki enters the houseboat with the dog it runs over and starts licking RDA in the face...you can hear RDA giggle when the dog "gets" him.

He really likes dogs

In this episode I like Mac with Nikki, but not only in this episode. Here Mac is so good, he wants to help her even though she doesn't want because he knows she needs it.