004 - The Gauntlet
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Dennman
Posted on 22 March 2010 - 04:06 PM                                    
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Easily in my top Mac episodes. Love the opening gambit, my favorite in the series. Too bad they never had opening gambits in the other seasons. Ricky Dean is the king of cool. No doubt.



 
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MacGyverOnline
Posted on 22 May 2010 - 08:23 PM                                    
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QUOTE (Miasma @ 16 April 2009 - 02:30 AM)
>> Were they trained?

Not well, apparently! biggrin.gif

roller.gif true.


The name of Montoyas newspaper (El Tiempo) is Spanish for weather. That's an odd name for a newspaper I would say.




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rinaldi_LOL
Posted on 27 January 2011 - 10:30 AM                                    
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QUOTE (Macs Lab Rat @ 19 November 2006 - 05:34 AM)
For the opening gambit - I remember as a child when I first saw this I thought he was going to climb up and repair the balloon with the tape he stuck to himself. When he used the map I thought it was funny and a good way to slip in another use for a map – the gambit was all about how a map can get you out of trouble after all! Whether it would have really worked or not…I doubt it, but it made a cute opening gambit.

It was not neccesary at all to fix the balloon. A “little” hole in the bottom side of the ballon, logically, cannot make the ballon crashed. Beside that, a hot air that load the ballon and makes it go up, actually cannot “go down”. This was a “physics fail”.



 
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Posted on 27 January 2011 - 11:34 AM                                    
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QUOTE (rinaldi_LOL @ 28 January 2011 - 07:33 AM)
Beside that, a hot air that load the ballon and makes it go up, actually cannot “go down”. This was a “physics fail”.

You'll have to explain what you mean.





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Hannibal_Smith
Posted on 25 February 2011 - 09:32 AM                                    
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Anyone ever pondered which country this episode took place in?

They swim across the river to Mexico, so I hunted along the Mexican boarder in Google Earth looking for a river.. at first I didn't see it, but when I zoomed in a little closer I saw it.

SO I'm guessing the country was Guatemala as Belize doesn't have a river along it's Mexican border.


Funny you should ask. My sister and I watched this season together: since we've lived in quite a few different countries and are both nerds, I have to admit, we'd often play the "guess which country they're actually in" game, and came up with Guatemala too. (Geography makes sense, and it was going through some really bad times when this episode was made, military government and all).

Good episode. I like the fact that Mac so often gets sent to help people like Kate, e.g. journalists and travelers who're of no value to the government, strictly speaking, but just happen to be in a spot and need help.



 
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MacGirl
Posted on 6 June 2012 - 09:27 PM                                    
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Another interesting thing I've noticed in this ep:

Mac calls Kate by her last name ("Hang on, Connolly!") Guess they were really playing up the fact that he was ex-military. This becomes less common as the series progresses.



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KiwiTek
Posted on 7 June 2012 - 12:38 AM                                    
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QUOTE (MacGirl @ 7 June 2012 - 06:30 PM)
Mac calls Kate by her last name ("Hang on, Connolly!") Guess they were really playing up the fact that he was ex-military. This becomes less common as the series progresses.

That's something I've never thought about before. hmm.bmp





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NightTinkerer
Posted on 29 July 2012 - 05:16 PM                                    
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My thoughts on this episode:

"The Map" opening gambit is very charming. As some of you have already mentioned, Mac really just needed the duct tape to patch up that hole--but then again, this was all about showing the usefulness of a good map...

Really adventurous episode--and in my opinion, Robin Curtis/Kate Connolly is one of the most believable female characters of the series. I really like her, and I wasn't really bothered at all by the kissing scene. In fact, I thought it was rather sweet.

It was a good decision to tone down Mac's romantic life later in the series, but if he eventually was to "settle down", I could totally see it happen with her, or someone like her. She was independent, smart and resourceful, yet feminine. Not by any means a damsel in distress.

I really enjoyed watching their cooperation preparing the jeep, too.

Mac gave us a few more details on his background in this one, but doesn't give away too much.

"Just a guy who... spotted a plane... great." laugh.gif

Regarding the "El Tiempo" newspaper--"El Tiempo" can also mean "The Time." In fact, there are several newspapers named "El Tiempo" or varieties thereof, so there's nothing strange about that, really.

Not my favorite of 'em all, but "Good" bordering on "Excellent" for me.



 
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Lazyking
Posted on 5 November 2012 - 10:34 PM                                    
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I just watched this one going in order first time and while I do like it, I don't think it's great like most.

I love the Gambit. Its unrealistic but so fun.

I liked everything well enough until the kiss and the end. The kiss felt forced to me.

The ending with the barrels I thought was dumb because here's these soldiers shooting at possibly explosive barrels endangering themselves in hopes I guess of killing Mac and Kate?? Well then why doesn't the barrel they're really in not kill them via gunfire?

I realize MacGyver is unrealistic in nature and I'm not expecting Mac to be killed lol but I just did not like that ending or moreso the execution of the ending.

Comments?

This post has been edited by Lazyking on 5 November 2012 - 10:36 PM



 
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MDBfan
Posted on 25 March 2013 - 08:39 AM                                    
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At the risk of sounding stupid wink.gif : I don't get the title. What is a "Gauntlet"?



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KiwiTek
Posted on 25 March 2013 - 12:42 PM                                    
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In this context it means a challenge.

It refers to the saying "to run the gauntlet", which means to endure a series of problems or challenges before reaching your target.

So the episode was very well named in that respect.



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MDBfan
Posted on 25 March 2013 - 02:03 PM                                    
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Thanks for the explanation, KiwiTek! smile.gif



"Definitely Murdoc's handiwork. I could fix it if I only had some duct tape." -Murdoc (impersonating MacGyver), "Strictly Business"

 
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MacFan092985
Posted on 25 March 2013 - 06:16 PM                                    
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In reality, I know that's a relative term when talking about MacG.gif but anyway, Mac should have taped the map on the inside of the balloon so that the escaping air would push against the map, thereby better plugging the hole. By placing the map on the outside of the balloon the escaping air would push the map away from the balloon's surface thereby still allowing the air to escape albeit to a lesser degree. With the map on the outside, Mac would have had to tape around all four edges of the map to keep the air from escaping.




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KiwiTek
Posted on 25 March 2013 - 07:00 PM                                    
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In reality he would need 2 maps - one for the entry hole and one for the exit hole.

see the discussion over in our nitpicks forum



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Scwilson
  Posted on 30 July 2013 - 06:38 PM                                    
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This is one of my personal favorites.



 
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Grazer
Posted on 26 October 2013 - 07:06 PM                                    
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QUOTE (Lazyking @ 6 November 2012 - 07:34 AM)
The ending with the barrels I thought was dumb because here's these soldiers shooting at possibly explosive barrels endangering themselves in hopes I guess of killing Mac and Kate?? Well then why doesn't the barrel they're really in not kill them via gunfire?

I realize MacGyver is unrealistic in nature and I'm not expecting Mac to be killed lol but I just did not like that ending or moreso the execution of the ending.

Comments?

I've often had similar thoughts when watching this scene. The soldiers seem to be shooting at everything that moves, yet they don't shoot at the one barrel that not only looks different, but has voices coming out of it. laugh.gif

Over all though this is one of the best episodes in season 1, and possibly the whole series.






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Barry Rowland
Posted on 31 July 2015 - 07:42 PM                                    
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I just watched this episode for the first time in years. It's a great Mac show, showing just how big Central America was in those days. I liked the end, even though I knew it was coming. The first time it surprised me when they jumped out of that barrel! I figure the soldiers had their hands full with an enemy that just kept throwing a curve ball at them, so I can see how they didn't shoot at the wooden one. In all, I really liked this one!



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Maclover
Posted on 21 September 2015 - 09:36 AM                                    
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Saavik, Search for Spock! Of course!!! I should have placed her on sight, but have seen it three times recently and still couldn't place her. I sorted Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys from DSN straight away in Wildfire. I would have taped the map to the inside of the balloon too and just shut off the flame for a moment. I go all weak kneed at the campfire seen when he tells her "that's quite an offer".



 
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KiwiTek
Posted on 4 July 2016 - 01:47 AM                                    
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Is it just me or does the U.S. have some extra appendages on that map - particularly the lower left hand corner? hmm.bmp

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Jediferret
Posted on 4 July 2016 - 08:52 AM                                    
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That extra part seems to be Alaska (and possibly Hawaii). I can't tell because it's so blurry... but the general shape looks like Alaska. Usually they put both towards the bottom left of the map. Like this...

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KiwiTek
Posted on 4 July 2016 - 06:10 PM                                    
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AH ok. Yep that looks about right... except for Mexico being missing. laugh.gif






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Barry Rowland
Posted on 4 July 2016 - 07:52 PM                                    
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I just (re)watched the Search for Spock and never picked up on Saavik either! Anybody here ever take a balloon ride?



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Barry Rowland
Posted on 4 July 2016 - 07:54 PM                                    
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QUOTE (Jediferret @ 5 July 2016 - 04:52 AM)
That extra part seems to be Alaska (and possibly Hawaii). I can't tell because it's so blurry... but the general shape looks like Alaska. Usually they put both towards the bottom left of the map. Like this...

I agree Jedi...looks like Alaska/Hawaii to me too.



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Widowmaker
Posted on 5 July 2016 - 01:14 PM                                    
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I don't know if this is necessarily the place for it but since it did happen in this episode, would the MacGyverism with the camera and plastique actually work?



 
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Barry Rowland
Posted on 5 July 2016 - 03:40 PM                                    
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I would think the charge of electric would do the trick, but I don't know if there'd be enough amps.



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KiwiTek
Posted on 5 July 2016 - 04:51 PM                                    
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QUOTE (Widowmaker @ 6 July 2016 - 09:14 AM)
I don't know if this is necessarily the place for it but since it did happen in this episode, would the MacGyverism with the camera and plastique actually work?

No. Because putting an electrical charge through plastique doesn't detonate it. It has to be done with a proper detonator.




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OcupationDanger
Posted on 5 August 2016 - 02:41 PM                                    
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One of my favorite episodes from the entire series. The opening gambit is exciting, especially in the chase scene in the desert (where the soundtrack left more exciting) and the interesting scene where Mac escapes in the hot air balloon (Does it work in real life?). The setting and the plot of the episode is really exciting, and the relationship between Mac and Kate during the episode was interesting to find out the emotional side of Mac. An interesting thing I noticed in the episode, was that while the soldiers waited Mac and Kate on the riverbank, a soldier spoke in Spanish:
- Take a tequila, man!
Why the soldiers wanted to drink alcoholic beverages in duty?




 
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MacDobromir
Posted on 10 August 2016 - 06:54 AM                                    
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As most of You I like openning gambit in this episode but what I LOVE the most is a MUSIC in it. One of the most exciting part in all series, I belive.



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Posted on 9 October 2016 - 10:32 AM                                    
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I just realized that I have been in that desert village, where Mac saved Kate wink.gif



"Colorado river kayak race, you and me shooting the rapids"

 
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KiwiTek
Posted on 9 October 2016 - 12:30 PM                                    
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Phoenix Special Agent
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Posts: 4,092
Joined: 28 Nov 2003
Gender:  Male
Country: NZ
SAK owned: Tinker

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Season: season 3
Episode:Runners
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket:  Brown bomber
House:  House boat



where is it?




MDDHosting - Professional Wed Hosting Solutions

 
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