There's always those two magic letters. A and U.

Maybe Murdoc set it up so that Mike would plunge to her death, by making it look like Mac tampered with the equipment. Why would an experienced climber want to take someone who is afraid of heights climbing?

The only thing I can think of is that Mike was hoping to help Mac with his fear of heights? Other than that, I've got zip

Mind you, like Mac, I don't like heights (although I'm fine flying, which may or may not be strange)...

But wouldn't that be a big liablility? Someone has scared of heights as Mac is, is someone I wouldn't want to take mountain climbing. I think that is why he blamed himself for her death. Altough it doesn't explain why all of her stuff was left scattered over the mountain. Like the chalk bag, and how the hook holding her vest ended up on the moutain face.

MacGyver didn't let his fears control him and we know from episodes such as Eagles, that he's no stranger to mountaineering.

We know that he likes adventure and excitement (much like RDA himself) and Mountain climbing has an abundance of both, so to me it makes sense that he would go climbing with an old friend who just happens to be an expert climber.

Although I have to say that does make the whole "Mike fell because she had a tear in her eye" pretty darn weak.

Evidence on Mike's person would have made what happened obvious: a broken harness. Why go looking for a scrap of cloth? The Widowmaker is no hiking trail... folks can't just wander around looking for stuff--they'd have to scale the mountain just like Mac and Mike had. I imagine it wouldn't be considered worth risking somebody's life to retrive the items.

As far as Mac going climbing when he 'has a thing about heights'... Mac is precisely the kind of person who identifies his irrational fears and faces them. For the thrill, and for self-respect.

When Mike--the experienced climber--fell and died, MacGyver might blame himself for it, rationalizing that he must have done something wrong that made her fall. And of course, he hated himself for pushing her away emotionally, which for a physical guy like Mac, could easily translate in his mind, during his period of irrational thought, as a real 'push'.

I think it more likely that she fell because she forgot her chalk bag, and had orange juice on her fingers. You can see her reach around behind for it just before she fumbles.



Anyhoo... that's my two cents worth

Mac had be airlifted off by chopper after the accident -- and with negative evidence and zero motive, the cops aren't going to drop legitimate police work to go try to concoct a murder case out of an obvious accident. The whole point of Mike's death is that it was an obvious accident; Mac's depression wasn't rational. It wasn't intended to be.

And as I read it, Mike's fall wasn't caused by her emotional distress (the tear-in-the-eye cliché): but since one event followed the other, Mac felt responsible, especially since she was out of line-of-sight from him, and he didn't see the actual cause of the fall. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

The real antagonist in the episode isn't Murdoc: it's the title character. That's part of why the episode is so eerily powerful. Murdoc, for all his presumed significance, is merely a catalyst whose appearance forces Mac to go up against the real enemy: the mountain.

I always thought that she fell because she was upset and not taking the necessary care, maybe because she wanted to get away from MacGyver, or at least out of sight.

I can see that, Rock... and I agree. She wouldn't have left her chalk bag behind if she hadn't been embarrassed... probably wouldn't have made the mistake that led to the accident.

You're right... it doesn't track that she'd be that careless. Not when she knew MacGyver as well as she ought to have. She picked a crappy time and place to put the moves on her old friend!

All very good points.

Here's something else to consider: the slip by itself didn't kill her; she was properly rigged and her harness caught her, even after she'd slammed into the rock face and been stunned. The slip would not have been fatal if her equipment hadn't failed.

True.

Which brings us to the question how unbelievable was that harness breaking?

Those things are designed to hold a lot more weight and force than she was exerting on it.

It's not very believeable that the harness would have broke like that. I would've thougth an experienced climber would've known better then to discuss an emotional issue on a climb.
I don't find it believable that she would have left the chalk bag behind because she was upset?

This post has been edited by MacNymph on 24 June 2009 - 09:09 AM

One of my all time fav ep, you see MacGyver go through so much pain, his friends, Pete and Nikki helping him out through such pain, then Murdoc comes back from the dead and it's a tug and war of staying alive.

This was my first time watching MacGyver with this episode. My friend introduced me to it and I watched it with her. I liked it from the very begining! Murdoc is very crafty with his plans.

Same hear I saw this Episode and had the need to watch everyone since then.

I've been watching all of the Murdoc episodes out of order recently, and I finally got around to this one.

You know, as good as it is as an episode, I actually don't think it's a great "Murdoc" episode. I kind of miss the cheesiness that Murdoc episodes usually have. Most Murdoc episodes are humorous, fun, campy episodes, and, most importantly, they always allow Michael Des Barres to really shine. This one, though, doesn't give him a whole lot to do. Sure, he runs around with a flame thrower, but he has very little real interaction with Mac. And his "death" scene felt almost too quick and anticlimatic.

Overall, this felt more like a great Nikki episode that just also happened to have Murdoc in it. If I want Murdoc, though, I think the other episodes are better, as they make better use of his character. Here he's just a one-dimensional villain, lacking the charm that he has in other episodes.

Yeah I think Murdoc was just there to give Mac and Nikki something to run from. The story really isn't about Murdoc at all; It's about Mac and Nikki being chased. It could have been anyone or anything chasing them and wouldn't have altered the episode much at all.

He does add a touch of psychotic villainy though.

I watched this episode only the other day for the first time, and it is probably as close to 'Hell Week' as any episode will get. It was amazing - although I admit I missed the last few minutes because I had to dunk to the loo. I was thinking Murdoc had finally bitten the dust but it seems not.

I wonder why Mac didn't mention anything about the obvious fact that the harness holding Mike was cut? He looked at it, and I thought 'He must know that Murdoc killed her' but he said nothing at all. It didn't break as it would probably have torn and looked a little jagged, but that was a pretty clean cut to me.

That's the only thing I haven't figured out yet.

um... don't we see Mikes harness ripping?

Wasn't the whole story ploy based around Mikes death being an accident which MacGyver thought he'd caused?

It wasn't cut. It ripped. They examine the harness and talk about the rip when they are on the ledge just before Murdoc swings in.

That was an excellent episode! Seeing such pain in Mac's eyes in camp scene with Pete really got to me. Probably the most memorable scene I've seen in this season (so far, still have to watch other episodes).

I also think that this ep wasn't so much Murdoc episode as it was Nikki-Mac relation episode. Remember, when Mac says to Nikki: ''Thank you, friend.'' after they successfully climbed to that flat surface...
This short line indicate us that they could become friends after all. I haven't seen other episodes yet (at least I don't remember them, I've probably seen all eps when I was a little child) so I don't know what will happen next. (And please don't spoil to me. I consider myself lucky I haven't seen al the episodes yet. Some good material waiting for me. ^^)

And as someone has already said - Mac with 3 days old beard looks so hot.

There have been so many replies to this thread, and many of my observations while I was watching this have already been covered and discussed.

However, I do *love* this episode. I, too, think that these are some of the best acted scenes from RDA in the entire series. Very emotional, and everything, from his physical appearance (the only time you see him with a three day old beard, hehe...) to the way he moves and deliver his lines... it's painful to watch!

I must also confess that I did like the "original" Mike even better (Patricia McPherson). Lisa Bayliss is doing a good job but there was something about McPherson's spirit that made her an even more plausible Mike.

I tried not to remember the "Eagles" episode while watching this one. I might not be a mountaineering expert, but Mac sure seemed to have quite a bit of experience climbing mountains even back then...

Mike's accident might have come off as a bit unrealistic--why did her harness just break like that? But I've heard about similar accidents when experienced adventurers have forgotten to properly check their equipments, being too obsessed with the fact that they're bringing a beginner. One of my diving instructors was supposed to dive with a group of beginners in near freezing water, wearing dry suits. He was making absolutely sure the beginners' suits were water tight, and they began their descent... when all of a sudden, he felt water pouring in from behind his neck. It turned out that he'd forgotten to check his own zipper, and gallons of freezing water filled his suit. This lake was more or less in the middle of nowhere, so they just had to abort the dive very abruptly and hurry home, but he was *this* close from severe hypothermia...

Getting back to Mike--she was also very emotionally distressed when the accident happened. It shouldn't have affected her--but it's hard not to get affected when she was surely panicking over the fact that she didn't only get rejected in a very uncomfortable way, but also worried about jeopardizing their friendship, most likely feeling a fool for even opening her mouth in the first place. I pity her.

If Nikki had always been portrayed as she was in this episode, I would have loved her as a character. Here, she's not a damsel in distress, and there's nothing flimsy about her. I'd love to have seen her fixing that car by herself, but of course, things had to play out the way they did so Murdoc-under-cover would be able to find out where they were.

Foremost, I think this episode provides a really good insight into Mac's psyche. He's quick to deem himself when people close to him are hurt, and here, he was devastated, blaming himself for Mike's death. He was totally run down, almost ready to give up... until he realized that Murdoc had paid a visit to the cabin, and that they were in severe danger--foremost, that Nikki, another person who obviously cared about him, could get hurt. Knowing this--he snapped back to his usual self in an instant!

Nikki also mentions this phenomenon during the final minutes of the episode. "First, you say you're afraid of heights, and the very next second, you're a mountain goat!"

That truly defines MacGyver's personality. He is very human, and he has his fears and dislikes, but every time when push comes to shove he always manages to push them aside to be able to handle the situation.

"Excellent." No more words needed.

I like The Widowmaker, probably my favorite episode of Season 3. The acting from RDA in this episode is probably his best in the entire series. In this episode I think really goes deeper into MacGyver's personality than any other time in the series, MacGyver is run down, almost ready to give up but, as soon as Murdoc comes into the picture he bounces back to the same old MacGyver.

Overall Rating: 10/10

Those climbing scenes atleast from start of the episode, where filmed at Zombie Roof rock in Squamish BC.

Finally found that location I'll send photos to filming location page (Galleries)

Many thanks .I'd love to see the pictures.

This is an excellent episode, no doubt, because it includes both adventure and emotions.

RDA's acting is just impressive I also like to see him climbing, including when he goes up to send the SOS. Not bad his 3 days beard (but no more than 3 days)

I think they changed actress for Mike because she had to do a stunt and probably Patricia McPherson refused or asked for more money, or simply she couldn't go to Vancouver.

It's also good to see Nikki a little different than usual.

Definitely excellent.

Mike definitely didn't kill herself. It was an accident caused by her being emotional and making mistakes. She tried to rush up the mountain and slipped up. Then the harness torn as a freak accident occured. If she wanted to kill herself, she would have cut her own harness or rope or just removed them and jumped. We don't see that happening though.

One of my top favorite episodes. Love the emotion Mac shows in this. Makes you feel bad for him. Feel bad for pete loosing his cabin. Love how Mac makes a "call" to Ellard

I don't think Murdoc sabotaged the harness. Mike had fallen before he discovered where they were - he listened to the answerphone when he broke in to the house boat and found the leaflet. I do think he sabotaged Nicki's truck at the store so he could find out exactly where she was going. I think Mike's harness tearing was one of those unfortunate things that no-one could change and Mac has problems with this because it is finally an event that he has no time to exert any control over and he cannot accept that such situations can exist esp. when it is someone he cares about. When he has to save Nicki's life on countless occasions as Murdoc chases them I think it finally makes him realise that he can still be useful to someone and that gives him back his faith in his own abilities to make changes for the better. Esp. when Nicki makes him see that it was literally just an accident that he has to accept he couldn't have expected to control when she finds the frayed harness. It is kind of poetic justice that Murdoc ends up doing Mac a lot of good - something that is that last thing he would want to do.

If I have one critique is it that I think they could have played the 'suggestive/uncomfortable scene on the mountain for a little bit longer - there was scarcely any time for RDA to look uncomfortable, before Mike had said the line - the speed of it that bit seemed somewhat artificial. However, it is my favourite episode - I love a male hero with emotions, someone to feel sorry for, the fact that Mac does sometimes cry is what gives him a human vulnerability and I think this is essential vs. always playing the tough guy. The scenes at the cabin with Pete and Nicki are superb - I wish I had such friends and colleagues my heart just aches for him. (I also wish I had a place like that cabin!!) I can imagine RDA and Dana having a 'brotherly' hug after filming the scene on the log just to make sure there were no hard feelings. I could watch the episode time after time.

Hi Maclover, great to have you here.

I agree your your assessment of the harness although I can understand why people might think that it would have been sabotaged by Murdoc; they're designed specifically not to break or fail so in truth what they showed happening was pretty unrealistic.

But it could be argued that unrealistic is far better then too-realistic like we have now.

Welcome to MacGyver Online, Maclover! Great to have you with us!