MacGyver Online Forums [Powered by Invision Power Board]

Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format

MacGyver Online Forums > Episodes > 137 - Off the wall

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 13 April 2007 - 03:16 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 137 - Off the wall

When his grandmother is suddenly evicted from her apartment, a young graffiti artist enlists MacGyver’s help in battling greedy landlords and corrupt officials.

Posted by: MacGyver 14 April 2007 - 08:18 AM

Man, "Off the Wall" is off the wall!

(Okay, just had to say that.)
I enjoy this episode pretty well, actually. It reminds me some of what Steven Cannell has said about The Greatest American Hero, another show I like I've been watching lately. There were some episodes that had Ralph dealing with really big situations like taking on terrorists and stopping bombs, etc. and smaller everyday things like rescuing the kids in his class from greedy prospectors on a mining expedition. Of course, Cannell preferred to do the everyday situations.
I know some people decry the fact that MacGyver wasn't on enough "secret agent" type missions in the latter part of the show, but I think these types of episodes are just as important. Sure, MacGyver's not retrieving stolen documents from another country or something, but he's helping a young friend fight corruption and duplicity on the part of this slumlord. And these kinds of scenarios are just as important for MacGyver to be taking on.
And really- there was quite a bit of action in this one. I particularly liked the rooftop chase- there's a certain thrill in watching MacGyver leap across rooftops!

And MacGyverisms were pretty good too- locking the fire escape with a pipe, escaping from the hand ties and nailing the escaping car with their own bomb- that was pretty cool. So overall, I enjoyed this episode pretty well.

Posted by: Sheepy 14 April 2007 - 09:36 AM

Oh I so loved this episode.
I must admit the plotline was a bit cheesy but this is one of the eps I remembered from many years back.

I love Lobo. Still don;t know if this is supposed to be the same Lobo as Walking Dead. Guess it is, which is a shame, too big a conituity mistake.

The part in which Mac checks out the closet and sees one of Lobo's first artworks
"Vegetables...suck..?" (the expression in his face; just priceless!!!)
Pretty neat hah?
"Oh yeah..."

Love the way how he lifts himself over the fence. Woohooooooo!!!

And when he tries to disarm the bomb and fails.
"Dang"
Lobo: "Dang??"

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 14 April 2007 - 02:29 PM

I love the line..

"Lobo and MacGyver... couple confused dudes"

Gets me every time.

Posted by: Sheepy 14 April 2007 - 09:04 PM

QUOTE (Rockatteer @ 14 April 2007 - 11:58 PM)

I love the line..

"Lobo and MacGyver... couple confused dudes"

Gets me every time.

Hahaaha, you're so right Rock, how could I have forgotten that one! The face of Lobo when he says that!!!
For some reason I like Lobo. Maybe it's because he's named after a wolf, LOL, but I like him.

Also like it how Mac finds out who's to blame for all the misery.

Posted by: Devon636 14 April 2007 - 11:07 PM

I liked this episode pretty well. Loved the rooftop leaping action!

I was just watching this weird old movie called "The 3 Amigos" (don't ask...) yesterday, and it had the actress that played Lobo's Grandma in it, and also the actor who played Hans Visser in "Collision course" and others. A MacGyver two-fer.

My favorite line comes when Lobo's Grandma says to MacGyver "...You're like family." And Lobo says something like "How about that MacGyver, we're related." And MacGyver's very underwhelmed "Great..."

Posted by: MacGyver 15 April 2007 - 12:20 PM

Yeah- I've seen The Three Amigos before- it's pretty funny, when edited...

I need to watch "Off the Wall" again- it's been a while since I've seen it...

Posted by: MacGyverGod 15 April 2007 - 01:17 PM

I voted good on this episode. The rooftop chase is for me the highlight of the episode. Their last jump is so cool. It's like they both jump at the same time.
And how MacGyver was captured in this one was hilarious. Waiting, waiting, waiting with the bottle and in the end the bad guy comes from the other side.

QUOTE

I love Lobo. Still don;t know if this is supposed to be the same Lobo as Walking Dead. Guess it is, which is a shame, too big a conituity mistake.

That was Robo in The Hood and one of the so many Wayans Brothers. And I don't think it's a mistake. Robo and Lobo are just two different persons, just like all the Lisa's we had.

Also those two lawyers were great, especially Kathleen Freeman. I think that was her name. She shows up in Naked Gun 33 and 1/3: The Final Insult.
They always wanted to drink tea and eat cookies.

QUOTE

Love the way how he lifts himself over the fence. Woohooooooo!!!

You actually realises he does that everytime, swinging his legs up in the air? He does it in The Invisible Killer and High Control too.

QUOTE

"Lobo and MacGyver... couple confused dudes"

That's a great one. He also says a few cool things in Ferris's office.
'Hey look a this. Doggy heaven,' and flings the stuffed dog to MacGyver's face.
'Put that down!'
How Lobo frowns on that remark cracks me up.
Than when they leave he says something like: 'Whoa Ferris, you're one happening dude bro!' And high fives him.

Love it when MacGyver finds out Ferris is behind all it.
'If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Know what I mean?'

And MacGyver has a new friend Mo on this one. Wonder where they have met.

Also in this one, in his third and final appearance, co-writer and actor in the show John Considine as Andrew Lawton with an interesting revelation that Lawton Enterprises constructed the Phoenix Foundation buildings. Might be interesting for the info pages.

This was like the last episode of 1991 and the last one to be aired of the last season for a long time, until The Stringer was aired in April 1992 and Mountain of Youth May 1992.
I mean I've seen the airdates of the show and of many other shows. How can you possibly follow a show decently in the US? Sometimes there are two weeks in between.

If this was like the ending of the series with Off the Wall, boy would I have complained. This episode is good but not to end it. Just like what I said about Deep Cover. A good episode but not good enough to be the 100th episode.

Posted by: Kate Mackay 16 April 2007 - 04:34 PM

QUOTE (Sheepy @ 15 April 2007 - 06:05 AM)

QUOTE

Hi there, yes, I liked Lobo in this episode also. But I think you are right about the continuity problem. But you would be thinking of " The Hood " . The guy that we ( and MacGyver ) meet at the end is named Robo . And they DID change somethings like he went from being a African - American to being a Latino . But I thought about it, and it would be the same person ( only they changed the name ) because he is still a graffiti artist . And in this episode " Off the wall " MacGyver was reminding us that the graffiti artist was supposed , only , to stick to the corner of his garage , as far as the graffiti goes . And not to display it on the street walls . I am sure it is the same character , only they changed the name . . . not meaning to nit-pick , but this is it . I am sure !
Otherwise, I can say , that I liked this episode also.

Sincerely,
Katey Mackay

Posted by: Mac 17 April 2007 - 06:12 AM

There is only one word that needs to be said about this episode:

DANG!

That moment is second only to the bird scaring the living daylights out of Mac.

I really liked the grand-mother; she had gumption.

Mac

Posted by: MacGirl 9 May 2007 - 11:15 AM

This was a fun eppy. I also got a kick out of Lobo... he was a great temporary sidekick for Mac.

Liked the chase across the rooftops. Very cool.

Not much else to say that others haven't said. Definitely one of the better eppys of S7.

Posted by: Liz1976 5 July 2008 - 12:11 PM

I wish they had done more with Stanley Kamel's character. He was an amazing character actor--lots of TV credits to his name

Posted by: Beachbead 21 April 2009 - 03:46 PM

It was a pretty good episode.

Posted by: Miasma 30 April 2009 - 05:57 AM

This was kind of a blahh episode for me. The slo-mo rooftop jumping seemed a bit too cheesy (once would have been okay, but three times was overkill... it started to look like a bad 80s music video.) And why didn't the bad guys jump after them instead of taking the long way around each time? Also, what was up with Mac shoving the antenna into the rooftop stairwell? That accomplished nothing. He was in a similar situation in "Children Of The Light" and had a lot more success bracing the door shut from the outside.

Oh, and it's yet another episode in which the bad guys, rather than just shooting Mac, leave him tied up in a room with plenty of time to plan an escape. How many times have we seen Mac in that exact same predicament?

Overall, this is another season 7 episode that, too me, shows the writers were running low on ideas, and that it really was time for the series to end.

Posted by: MurDaltonfan 22 December 2010 - 02:34 PM

This episode was okay. Lobo was an interesting character with a strict loyalty to his grandmother. As far as Season 7 episodes go, this episode was one of the best. But that's not saying much.

Posted by: Makedde 29 July 2011 - 09:36 PM

The guy in it with the mustache (I only watched the last 20 mins so I didn't follow it much) what other episodes was he in? Or what other shows is he in? He looks very familiar...

I remember this episode. It must have been one I watched 20 years ago as a kid, because I remember Mac throwing the bomb down the pipe.

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 30 July 2011 - 12:21 AM

QUOTE (Makedde @ 30 July 2011 - 06:39 PM)

The guy in it with the mustache (I only watched the last 20 mins so I didn't follow it much) what other episodes was he in? Or what other shows is he in? He looks very familiar...

You mean this guy?

user posted image

John Considine. You know him from There But For The Grace and Log Jam episodes.... as well as probably every other show from that time period.

He's been in every thing from Knight Rider, to A-Team to Simon and Simon to Dynasty to LA Law, even the 1996 RDA movie Pandora's Clock.

Posted by: Makedde 30 July 2011 - 09:49 PM

Yeah that guy. I'll have to watch TBFTG and Log Jam again, my memory isn't that good.
I thought he must have been in heaps of shows because his face looked so familiar.

Posted by: Rocket 7 September 2013 - 10:58 PM

I liked this one a lot. I like cheesy, heroic action films in general and this episode had a lot of the good stuff - rooftop chase, escape from being blown to smithereens, our hero getting embroiled in far more than he bargained for and the bad guys ultimately falling victim to their own bomb.

I like Lobo as a sidekick too, it would have been nice to see a bit more of him as I think he and Mac work well together.
He must be quite small, because Mac just towers over him!

It's a shame this series is nearly over, because the last couple of episodes have been really enjoyable to watch

Posted by: KiwiTek 8 September 2013 - 12:23 AM

QUOTE (Rockatteer @ 30 July 2011 - 08:21 PM)

He also wrote the following MacGyver episodes....

– Good Knight MacGyver: Part 2 (1991)
– Good Knight MacGyver: Part 1 (1991)
– Blind Faith (1991)
– There But for the Grace (1991)

and...

Trail to Doomsday movie.

Posted by: Dennman 15 September 2014 - 09:03 PM

I should watch this one ahain just for the "DANG" moment. It's classic!

Posted by: MacGyverGod 16 September 2014 - 05:29 AM

Dang?

Posted by: RadiantRose 21 October 2016 - 01:46 PM

QUOTE (Miasma @ 30 April 2009 - 05:57 AM)

Oh, and it's yet another episode in which the bad guys, rather than just shooting Mac, leave him tied up in a room with plenty of time to plan an escape. How many times have we seen Mac in that exact same predicament?

I've got it! The Phoenix Foundation has found a way of making Wonder Woman's bullet-deflecting bracelets a reality. Thus,

is able to fight off the bullets when the bad guys shoot him.

Posted by: sylvain1888 26 October 2020 - 02:39 PM

I watched this episode this evening, and I must say, that it is part of the “forgotten” or “zapped” episodes of the fans, and it's a shame ... Even if we are far from a “chef of work ”, it has very pleasant scenes, like the story, and yes we know Mac traveler, who faces the worst enemies, but there is also the Mac who helps a vulnerable and elderly person, who risks losing his accommodation. That's where Mac comes in, so it changes, but Macgyver is a hero who helps everyone, the proof here, so for me that doesn't bother me.

My secondary characters played their roles perfectly, of the young Lobo, perfectly anchored in his time at the beginning of the 90s, he forms a very good duo with Mac, moreover he does everything to help his grandmother, so it's far from a "scum" for his bravo to him. We can also see a "resemblance" with the two lawyers and the two grandmothers of "Faith, Hope and Charity" and for the third time the participation of John Considine, it is for me his best participation, it is really a good actor, he did a lot for the series ...

For me it is a success, for several reasons: a scenario that keeps you going and that changes and that can happen to all of us (a problem with its owner, an eviction, a dilapidated apartment etc.) convincing secondary people like Lobo, cool scenes like the rooftop and the views of LA, and a big Mac heart, unfortunately forgotten by fans and misunderstood ...

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Posted by: sylvain1888 26 October 2020 - 02:43 PM

QUOTE (Rocket @ 7 September 2013 - 10:58 PM)

Yes, really a shame that it stopped, because a series of this quality does not hesitate any more, we have 139 episodes and 2 films left as masterpieces.

Posted by: sylvain1888 3 December 2020 - 10:03 AM