Countdown

Episode:  014

Production No.: 40191-013

Airdate: 05 February 1986

Writers: David Ketchum & Tony DiMarco

Director: Stan Jolley

Nielsen Ratings:  15.2 rating / 23 share / 2nd (36th overall)

 

EPISODE

MacGyver races against the clock as he tries to disarm two sophisticated bombs on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean .

 

CAST

Richard Dean AndersonMacGyver
Dana Elcar Pete Thornton
Ellen Bry… Carol Tanner
Steven Williams… Charlie Robinson
Michael Cavanaugh… Mike Donahue
Robin Pearson Rose… Suzanne
J. Michael Flynn… Carlysle
Burke Byrnes… Captain Howard
Jeff Abbott… Officer Atkins

 

MACGYVERISM


Turned cargo net into a
rappel line and harness.

Used sharpening stone
to scratch through the end of a
neon tube to break it off.

Pushed tube through silicone
seal to maintain vacuum
in the bomb.

Used edge of powder dish to
remove the cork from the
tube inside the bomb.

Used neon tube with the end cut
open to vacuum phosphorus
powder out of bomb trap.

Injected a mixture of low-fat
milk and oven cleaner via a
pastry tube to neutralize an
acid mixture inside the bomb.

 

TRIVIA

  • The ship seen in this episode was named the MS Vistafjord and has since been renamed twice. Its current name is MS Saga Ruby.
  • MacGyver has a Motorola DynaTAC 8000x “brick phone”.
  • This episode is based on the 1974 movie ‘Juggernaut‘ starring Richard Harris.
  • This episode is the first and only time we hear about MacGyver being in a military bomb disposal team in the Vietnam war.
  • This episode has the first introduction of Susan, MacGyver’s landlady even though we see her in the previous episode due to episodes 13 and 14’s airdates being swapped.
  • Susan’s name is spelled “Susan” in the dialogue and captions but “Suzanne” in the credits.
  • Carlyle’s name is spelled “Carlyle” in the dialogue and captions but “Carlysle” in the credits.
  • MacGyver’s robot is spelled “Roboter” in the captions but he refers to her as “Roberta.”
  • It is specifically stated for the first time that MacGyver’s apartment is in Venice Beach, California.
  • It is specifically stated for the first time that the Federal Building where Pete works is in Los Angeles.
  • Charlie Robinson and MacGyver served together in Vietnam as a bomb diffusing team that busted 51 bombs together. The TV Guide summary stated that they served in the Army.
  • Donahue ran the 227 Bomb Squad out of Da Nang “a couple of years” before MacGyver and Charlie’s tour of duty and also commanded the lead sabotage control group in Cam Ranh Bay from 1971-73. This suggests that MacGyver may have served in Vietnam after 1973, which conflicts with other timeline information presented in later episodes.
  • MacGyver specifically states that he has a contract with Pete Thornton’s “outfit” that says he takes only those jobs he wants to take.
  • MacGyver is still driving the blue Jeep Cherokee Chief with California license 1KWT818 in this episode.

 

MEMORABLE QUOTES

  • Sure is great to start off a sunny day thinking about the people you like most. My pal Susan, for instance. She’s my landlady, the building maintenance person – and the only human being who’s figured out how to keep me organized. So, how do I repay her? A twenty-first-century breakfast, of course. I wonder how she likes her eggs? – MacGyver
  • Love that modern technology. – Susan, after Roberta, drops an egg on her shoe.
  • Mac, I need your help. – Pete Thornton
    The last time you said that to me, I ended up in Washington, wearing a pin-striped suit and a necktie. – MacGyver
  • I had this contract with Pete Thornton’s outfit that says I take only those jobs I wanna take. Now, you’d think I’d say “no” once in a while. Especially when Pete wants to put me in the middle of the ocean to baby-sit a bomb. – MacGyver
  • Ignore him. He has this irrepressible paternal instinct toward me – Charlie Robinson
  • Tell me, Mr. MacGyver. Would you want to know that a very good possibility exists that you could die a violent death sometime during the next three hours? – Carol
    Yes, Ma’am, I would. – MacGyver
  • Pick a number, Mac. – Charlie
    Oh, no . . . We played that game already. – MacGyver
  • Remember the routine in ‘Nam: by the numbers. Slow and easy. And we’ll live forever. – MacGyver
  •  It’s not technology, it’s . . . art. – MacGyver
    “Art”?! MacGyver, it’s a damn bomb! – Pete
    You just lack artistic tastes. – MacGyver

 

NIT-PICKS

  • Mac’s shirt changes color when he moves from his balcony to inside his apartment.
  • The ship is called The Victoria in the episode, but the actual ship name seen in the show is Vistafjord.

 

FILMING LOCATIONS

Federal Building
Regus Building
12100 Wilshire Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA

 

1 Comment

  1. I have watched this episode many times and it seems that the bomb that kills Charlie does not damage the ship at all, but people is worried about the other 2 bombs will kill all the passengers … It does not make sense.

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