Episode 126 - Honest Abe

MacGyver gets whisked away from his Godson’s Bar Mitzvah by the boys ex-CIA agent grandfather, and straight into a web of international intrigue involving an eccentric Caribbean dictator and a stolen high-tech helicopter.

I voted good on this seventh season opener. We're back in the real L.A. for this final season with only 14 episodes more to go instead of 21-22. For me this was a very funny episode. Especially Mac's 'haha' remark with Peugeot's magical joke. Always great to see Lance LeGault starring again and Tim Winters who later reappears as Merlin in Good Knight MacGyver. Very good jokes.
'Boy, talking about the left hand not knowing what right hand's doing.'
'Then they talk about our feet.'
'Government humor.'

'Major Sneed!'
'Major Sneeze?'
'Sneed!'
Ben Stein is also a great actor showing up through the Wonder Year series.
Very good start, unfortunately the last one of Lincoln Kibbee who had a great sense of humor for his episodes mixing with great action. Exceptions: Humanity and Trail of Tears.

Of the very few episodes I remember, this one is my favorite. I love Ben Stein! His dry wit is hysterical.

I was quite amazed at how the landscape of both LA and the Caribbean look identical.

Actually it's just a thought but is San Rochelle actually not the same village as we saw in The Golden Triangle?

Gah!

I didn't even make it through a viewing of this ep. Abe rubbed me the wrong way and Ben Stein makes my eyes roll and, well, GAH!!!

The only thing of note of this ep is the hysterical exclamation of 'J'accuse!'

Otherewise, GAH!

Mac, the critic

I went with excellent for this 7th. Season opener episode- "Honest Abe". This has got to be one of the funniest episodes of MacGyver- and one of the coolest too. Shelley Berman was great as Abe Sherman! It was somewhat reminiscent of Jack Dalton as once again Mac gets tangled up in some international affair despite his protests. And having Ben Stein in there as Major Sneed! That was great- with a name like that, you can tell the writer was playing it a bit tongue-in-cheek!
And Time Winters did a great job as the President! (He later shows up as Merlin and the paramedic in "Good Knight, MacGyver" (Parts 1 and 2)).
And the MacGyverisms were really cool- breaking out of the containment room- and especially firing the helicopter's weapons by shaving and flashing the mirror. Yeah- wow, seeing that as a kid was really awesome!
Definitely a great way to kick off the season.

(And I also find it funny to note that we get really close to a crossover between MacGyver and The Dukes of Hazzard in this episode, as we have David Trim guest starring as Duke Luke! )

I voted OK on this one. There were a lot of good points... a great cast of truly hilarious actors, some really good lines, and great MacGyverisms.

But on the flip-side, this was also one of the most painful eps to watch. Abe got on my last nerve the moment he opened his mouth, and while I knew that this was part of his character, I still couldn't shake my revulsion. I think that this show could have been quite wonderful if they had left out the 'stupid factor'.

I generally skip this ep when I'm watching Mac just for fun.

Sorry, guys, I didn't like this one. Abe was funny for maybe two minutes, then he started to wear on me. Same for the dictator. It seemed like a badly warmed-over version of Jack of Lies.

Only part I really liked was Mac's "remote start" of the chopper, and Ben Stein was funny, too. Otherwise, no thanks. I'll take JoL any day.

I didn't like this ep at all. We're back to tired southern California landscapes posing as other places. Also - as I've flown this model helicopter... (the Agusta K109) it cannot do all these stupid(!) things. Actually - when this ep was being filmed, there was a serious problem with the aircraft. The blades kept malfunctioning - causing several fatal accidents (one of my instructors was killed in one such incident) and the aircraft was having difficulty getting insured. Nobody was flying it.

Oh yes... the "stupid factor"... Poor excuse for a plot/bad acting/ethnic factor overload.
BLAHHHHHHH!!!

I wasn't happy with most of the Seventh Season, and this is one I really dislike.

I think that the worst point for me in this show is when Mac wakes up in the 'chopper and Abe says "Welcome to the Caribbean"... and the landscape is absolutely not anything like the Caribbean at all!

... I mean, don't they have beaches and islands and stuff down there?? The least they could have done was re-use footage from 'The Heist', for cryin' out loud!

yeah that bugged me too (see earlier post

I think my real concern is that they didn't even try to disguise it. Are they that tired of making the show?

And pirates?

It's been a while since I've seen this episode- but, for someone who's been there, the "Caribbean" didn't look that bad to me. When you take into consideration the budget constraints of a TV show- you have to give them a little leeway here and there. I think the funness of the episode and the great music made up for any lack on the setting. And this is also one of the last times MacGyver travels out of the country. By the way, was it ever stated which Caribbean island Mac was going to? I suppose it was probably just one of those random made-up islands...

I voted good. It wasn't bad, but it didn't have me jumping for joy either.
I liked the dry sense of humour, but you can hardly take the plot seriously. I don't think it was meant to be taken that way, anyway.

The dictator is a joke. I mush rather see him as Merlin in Good Knight MacGyver.

I like the scene in which Mac is pretending to shave. Don't ask me why, I have this thing with men shaving with a blade, in stead of electrical.

Yes, I know. I'm nuts. Really. I am

I shave with a blade.

That explains all the chunks missing from your face!

I was wondering what all those little bits of toliet paper stuck to your face were about.

Nanner nanner!

That explains all the chunks missing from your face!

I knew I was missing somethin'.

I watched this ep yeasterday and I was wrong about the shaving scene, he used an electrical shaving thingy instead of a blade.
Still, men shaving with blades are HOT!

Hi!
Haven't posted here in long time. Just popped in and noticed that you were discussing that episode "Honest Abe." I voted good on this episode. I have to agree that it wasn't the Best episode, but it was funny. Someone said it reminded them of a Mac and Jack episode where Jack gets Mac involved in one of his hair brained schemes again. I have to agree on that. I felt sorry for Mac getting gased and then waking up in the Carribean. That was pretty far out. But over all it was a pretty funny episode. I too liked the part where Mac was shaving and he used that mirror to start the helicopter. It made me wonder if that kind of helicopter would be that easy to start just using the light from a mirror. But since this was written as a comedy and not a drama, I guess anything could happen. LOL Personally I thought Time Winters did a good job as the ineffective dictator. He was pretty funny. And I too like him as Merlin in Good Knight MacGyver. He was good in that. I thought that was interesting that he ended up being the paramedic at the end of that episode. But since Mac was having this dream, I guess they had to make Time be in the real world too like the others in Mac's dream.

Anyway, I liked that helicopter in Honest Abe. It reminded me of that helicopter they used in that show Air Wolf. Even though they were different colors, the one in Honest Abe resembled the one in Air Wolf. It too was a computerized chopper and had all these "special" features to it. I thought it was pretty cool!

As for location, I agree about the location. That didn't much look like the Carribbean to me either. It looked more like some village in one of the MacGyver Central American episodes. Like that Jack of Lies episode. I too think they should have used some clips from The Heist to make it look more like the Carribbean.

Basically it was a funny episode. I liked some of the lines they used that was mentioned. Like Lance LaGault saying "Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing!" That was pretty good! lol And Time Winters doing those silly magic tricks. That was pretty good too. This was definitely a very light hearted episode, and very entertaining. Overall a pretty good episode!

Take Care,
Nancy

The look on the dictator's face is priceless when Sneed forces Elliot to drop his gun.

I'm surprised someone that eccentric could get to be a dictator.

Hey heres a question....

If that helicopter was designed to be a Stealthy weapon... shouldn't it have been a more stealthy color.. or at least military color?

Was it the same kind of helicopter used for Airwolf?

I've seen prototype military aircraft painted odd colors. And the red sort of blends into the ground in autumn.

Hmm.. it would blend in well with the Australian red dirt

.. or maybe even places like the grand canyon area.

Yeah... that was just one of many BIG logical holes in this one.

Right now, I'm working at a job where I grade standardized test essays, and if this had been an essay, I would have given it a '1' for continuity (1 being the lowest possible grade).

Hi everyone:
I just wanted to comment that I find myself every time I watch this episode, I can't help myself. But I find myself counting how many times does Abe say " It's kinda complicated. " I am guessing eight ? Eight times or more ? And that includes the part at the end when he got MacGyver to say it also. Since Abe was saying it alongside with MacGyver. What do people think ? Those of you that have seen it recently, or whoever. I am just curious to know if anyone has been able to count the times, and what do you think about it ?
Sincerely,
Kate Mackay

I didn't count, but I think it was just lame writing. Maybe they couldn't think of anything else to have Abe say (he was NOT a well-developed character!), so they kept repeating the same dialogue over and over. Either that, or it was supposed to be for comic effect. If it was, it fell flat.

Yah, I think it WAS for comic relief purposes. Especially when MacGyver got so tired of hearing him say " It's kinda complicated . " up there in the helicopter ( after Abe gassed MacGyver. And kidnapped MacGyver, etc. That scene I am referring to ) MacGyver yelled back at Abe and told him , " Simplify it ! " I thought that was so very funny. I did not think it was such a waist of time, for me. I found that it worked, for me, quite nicely. . I think humour goes very nicely with MacGyver . Or at least every once in awhile. I know, not always.
Sincerely,
Kate Mackay

The Airwolf helicopter is a Bell-222 (A or B model) . Abe's aircraft is an Agusta K109. Very different.