Show: MacGyver

Episode: Blow Out (Season 3)

Scene: "Supermarket Sweep"

The episode Blow Out, which aired during the third season of the action-adventure show MacGyver, had one of its more memorable scenes contained within its opening scene, a scene that only had a minor significance to the subplot of the episode.  The subplot involved our (usually) unflappable protagonist, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) proving that he is, well, rather flappable.  How flappable?  He's sick with a cold.

MacGyver: ACHOO! (NARRATION) Anyone who sounds like this, should be home in bed.  The fact is, after a weekend of hearing myself sneeze... (in background - "ACHOO!")...I was desperate.  So here I was, searching for the ingredients to an old home remedy.

MacGyver: Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find some eucalyptus leaf, please?

Snot-Nosed Sales Clerk: Australia!

MacGyver: Thank you for you help...ACHOO!

While shopping in the local supermarket for the ingredients for an old remedy for the common cold, MacGyver winds up getting caught up in a robbery at the supermarket.  Because, as any MacGyver fan knows and can attest to, anytime Mac does something not exactly out of the ordinary, something always winds up happening that he must thrawt.

The crowd of extras at the food store, all ten of them, begin handing over their wallets and money in this terrified manner that only the right coaching could create.

MacGyver: (NARRATION) I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.

So, with some spices, baking soda, and vinegar, all mixed in a hot water bottle, Mac has the perfect remedy for robbery...homemade tear gas. 

 

 

He hides the expanding but unsuspecting hot water bottle between to large pieces of fruit and conceals his pocket knife in his hand, and walks unsuspectingly toward the front of the store, when a robber spots him and accousts him for his wallet and watch. 

Mac gives up his wallet, but then bursts the hot water bottle, releasing the homemade tear gas on the unsuspecting robber. 

This is enough to distract the other robber, as the assaulted robber gets a shopping cart rolled at him by an innocent-looking older lady.  This is good enough for Mac to hurl a can at the robber who is trying to get away, who is then knocked out by the can.

As the crowd of adoring extras from Central Casting clap in adoration of their hero, the older lady walks up to Mac and slaps him on the back. 

"Way to go, kid!"

Mac, enjoying the admiration that comes with, well, being him, hugs the older lady.

Proof that just because MacGyver is sick doesn't mean he can't save the day.

Why I love It

This scene was so well-done on the same level that the best whole episodes are based.  Not only does the show continue to portray MacGyver as human in every respect (he goes to the supermarket; he gets sick), he manages to make a precarious and rather unusual situation work in his favor by thrawting the robbers who have threatened the store.  I also love that he managed to think on the fly to create a "remedy for robbery" using common household ingredients to make tear gas.  The older lady getting caught up in the excitement and ramming a shopping cart at one of the robbers adds some humor to this scene.  The narration is also well done, it gives you a sense of how Mac is feeling without overusing his inner thoughts and allows action to tell the story.

In all, a great scene, and the beginning of a great episode.

To see MacGyver save Stong's from hockey mask-wearing robbers, click the "Play" button on the embedded video below.  And if you have a You Tube account, show some love for this video (and your admiration for Mac) by commenting on it. 

As always, thank you for visiting! :-)

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