| Early Retirement | |
| Season 3, 056 | |
 | |
| Airdate | 18th January 1988 |
| Written by | John Whelpley |
| Directed by | Cliff Bole |
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Early Retirement is the 12th episode of Season 3 in the original version of MacGyver.
When an explosion in a Phoenix Foundation hot shop kills three workers Pete is forced to retire. Can MacGyver and Nikki Carpenter catch the saboteur in time and save Pete's job?
Summery
Act 1
Pete and Angus MacGyver are in the Phoenix Foundation hot shop dismantling a Trident Missile. According to Mac in his monologue, Phoenix Foundation has been contracted by the US Navy and the Department of Deference to destroy all the missiles in the US stockpile as part of Phase 3 of the START 3 Missile Treaty. Pete is up in the control tower and Reese and Mac are on the shop floor removing the warhead. Once the warhead has been removed Mac and Reese board a lift and do the most dangerous part of the job removing the uranium core and the detonator. Once the detonator has been removed Mac places it in a case it will be taken outside where a disposal team will set it off as for the warhead it will be taken to an underground bunker at the Nevada Test Site where it will be detonated and the uranium disposed of. Mac loads the warhead into a cart that will transfer it to a track going to the Nevada Site. Pete tells Mac the words he has been waiting for the missile is disarmed and Mac gets to paint out the labels. with brush in hand Mac gets the white paint and crosses out the word LOADED on the side of the missile. Later Pete is talking to Ed Farrell about the missile disarmament and then the Amunde visit is brought up. as the two sit down in the office Kennan and Matt Webber voice their objections. Webber even digs inside Amunde's personal files and ask about where he is staying. According to Ed when Amunde arrives his car will be switched to a siding at Union Station and the building will be placed on lock down. Webber talks to Pete about Security and Pete tells him he will have Nikki work on it. Later Pete and Mac are playing hockey and Pete blocks every shot. Mac tells Pete he needs to have some fun and that he is becoming a burnout. Pete tells Mac what he told Farrell he is not a burnout yet just a workaholic. Pete and Mac go one more round and Pete lets Mac score a goal to cheer him up. Back at the office, Webber shows Nikki his shrunken heads and then ask her on a date Nikki refuses and then Webber ask Nikki for the personal report on the Amunde visit Nikki gives it to him and then leaves the office. Hours later Webber meets up with Reese, Robert Kelham, and an unnamed DSX Agent at Union Station inside a baggage car. They plot to shakedown Amunde then kill him after they get all the names of the people working for him. Webber also plots to remove Pete as director of the Phoenix Foundation. Back in the hot shop Mac and Pete are defueling the missile when something goes wrong. The pump explodes killing three men and Pete wonders what went wrong?
Act 2
Farrell pulls Webber, Pete, and Reese into his office and he ask them for an explanation of why the rocket exploded. Pete then takes the blame and tells Farrell he has no choice but to resign. Hours later Mac goes to Pete's house to visit him. Mac tells Pete he watered the plants and threw out all the rotten stuff in the fridge. then it gets personal Mac ask Pete why he called it quits? Pete says it is time for him to retire and Mac tells him he can't quit because he is still needed and tells him to call Farrell and tell him he overreacted. Pete denies this and tells Mac that it was his fault those three people died. Mac tell Pete it was not his fault and they get into an argument with Pete telling Mac he does not want to talk about the explosion. Mac then ask Pete about his retirement Pete says he will write his book and then work on his boat and even go fishing or go on a camping trip. Mac tell Pete he hates camping and fishing and that he needs him back. Pete still tells Mac he is retired and to take it up with Webber. Mac tells Pete that Webber is Gung Ho and Pete tells Mac that he hand picked Webber as his successor. Mac tells Pete that Webber is not him and he still needs him. Pete tells Mac the matter is closed and hands him his security pass and Mac and Pete say their goodbyes. Back at Phoenix Foundation Webber pulls Nikki off the Amunde visit and gives her a job at research. Mac comes in and talks to both of them and tells Nikki to call Pete then Nikki leaves the office. Webber tries to give Mac a job at the research division working on environmental projects but Mac refuses and leaves the office to head to the hot shop to find out what went wrong. Down at Union Station Amunde's train pulls into the siding and the place is put on lock down. Webber then goes over his plans with his co-conspirators and says "we just became next door neighbors" as Amunde steps off the train with his guards and Webber goes to shake his hand and welcome him to the United States. Back at the hot shop Mac starts his investigation of the rocket explosion. Sam lets him in despite what Webber told him that the building is restricted. Nikki comes in with the parts inventory and Mac gets caught. They go over the parts and Mac finds something that is not right and gets out his signature Swiss Army Knife. A booster cap was found in the pump assembly according to Mac it needs to be on the electrical side of the pump by the motor and not on the fuel side. The pump has been sabotaged and Mac tells Nikki that Pete is innocent.
Act 3
Mac and Nikki go to Pete's house and the landlady lets them in. When they find out Pete is not home Nikki gets into an argument with Mac and says she is going to Webber. Mac tells Nikki not to and tells her to take the evidence to Farrell and not go to Webber. Nikki argues with Mac and tells him Webber is the boss. Mac counters this by telling Nikki that Webber is a rouge DSX Agent who has been in every operation from Vietnam, Nicararua, The Middle East, and most recently Afganistan and Iraq. Mac goes on to explain Webber would do anything to get his way and that he is paranoid. Nikki does not beleive this and tells Mac she is going to Webber weather he likes it or not and then walks out on him. Back at Union Station Webber is loading guns with tranqulizer darts to take out the guards when Reese comes in and tells Webber that Nikki is in the station coffee shop and wants to talk to him. Webber tells his men to get ready and goes to confront Nikki. Nikki gives Webber the booster cap and he does what Mac says he was going to do he pulls a gun on Nikki and takes her back to the baggage car and ties her up. Back at the hot shop Mac goes in to talk to Sam and Sam tells him Pete is waiting for him. Mac goes over to Pete and tells him the pump was sabotaged and things have changed at Pheonix Foundation since he left and that Webber fired all the people on Pete's staff including several board members plus Webber scrapped Pete's agenda and replaced it with his own. Pete and Mac think it over and head into the control tower to log into the computer. Back at Union Station Kelham, Reese, and the DSX Agents get the signal and take out the guards. Kelham grabs Amunde and takes him to the baggage car where he is tied to a chair. Webber comes in a few minutes later with Nikki and threatens Amunde he then turns to Nikki and points his gun at her and tells her she should have went to research.
Act 4
Pete and Mac log onto the computer and Mac puts in Pete's card and password and Pete is dumbstruck. Webber fired his whole staff: In Operations he transferred Phillip Boyer and reassigned John Franenheimer and Nikki. In Security he reassigned Anthony Baker and fired George Renish. In Planning he transferred Sam Mulligan and fired Howard Hickson. In Field Operations he fired Paul Gelsey and reassigned Andrew Kovacs. Pete does not like what he sees Gelsey, Renish, and Hickson were with Pete from the beginning and helped him take out that mad bomber in Countdown. Mac then shows Pete the Operations Agendas and Pete knows right there what Webber is up to. The replacements on the Pheonix Foundation staff are all DSX Agents most of them rouge: Under Field Commander is Resse, Director of Operations is Webber, James Akers and Mike Dempsey of the DSX are also listed so is Kelham. He replaced Nikki with Mark Simkowski from the DSX for Security and he replaced the guards with Thomas McGuire and Sean O'Neill with George Dixon working Logistics. Then Pete hits the scroll button and the truth comes out. An assault plan is on the monitor showing Amunde's train next to a baggage car loaded with DSX Agents. Webber is going to kill Amunde and Nikki in five minutes if they don't get to the station in time so Mac and Pete turn off the computer and head to the station. Back at Union Station Webber is torturing Amunde and gets out the drugs one of them being Sodium Pentothal which is used to kill people in lethal injections with Webber calling it "The Converter" the plan is if Amunde does not talk he will inject him with it and kill him before he shoots Nikki. Outside Mac and Pete take out Webber's guards and search the sidings for the baggage car. Webber comes out with Nikki and is about to shoot her when Mac and Pete charge out of the train and tackle him and Reese. Pete demands Webber tell him why he has plotted to kill Amunde and why did he fire his staff without talking to Farrell. Webber says Pete wanted proof so he got it for him then he tells Pete he should have retired when he got the chance and runs off with Pete running after him. Nikki and Mac head to the baggage car but Kelham and the DSX Agent are still inside. Mac and Nikki set up a MacGyverism to smoke them out which involves sticking a steam pipe down the vent of the baggage car and turning on the steam. Pete and Webber fight with Pete knocking out Webber and loading his body and Reese's onto a baggage cart but after Webber knocks Pete's teeth out. Nikki and Mac spray the steam into the car and take out Kelham and the DSX Agent before they untie Amunde. Pete comes up the platform with the bodies and says he is getting too old for this but Mac says Pete is still in his prime and Pete leaves with a toothache. Back at Pheonix Foundation Headquarters Mac, Nikki and Pete are removing Webber's things from Pete's office and listening to Amunde's speach. Nikki comes in with Webber's shrunken heads and says she will send them to Leavenworth Penitentiary saying Webber would like to "see a familiar face."
Cast
Main Cast
Recurring Cast
- Elyssa Davalos as Nikki Carpenter
Others
Madison Mason as Matt Webber
Ted Stidder as Chairman Farrell
Rob Roy as DXS Agent, Paul Batten as Reese
Doug Abrahams as Robert Kelham
Elyssa Davalos as Nikki Carpenter
Richard Newman as Prime Minister Amunde