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| Kill Zone | |
| Season 3, Episode 055 | |
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| Airdate | 4th January 1988 |
| Written by | Calvin Clements, Jr. |
| Guest Stars | Judith Chapman as Dr. Sandra Millhouse Jay Brazeau as General Phillips |
| Directed by | Chuck Bowman |
| Episode Guide<font-family:Trajan Pro;font color="white"> | |
| Previous Episode Blow Out |
Next Episode Early Retirement |
Kill Zone is the 11th episode of Season 3 in the original version of MacGyver.
Summary[]
When a satellite containing a deadly virus that causes rapid aging crashes to Earth, Angus MacGyver and Pete Thornton must convince the scientist who created it to destroy it before it destroys the world.
Plot[]
Act One[]
A helicopter carrying MacGyver in a white safety suit has him in communication with Pete as he is carried to a safety zone in the Twin Ridge forest. They check their microphone levels and video feed with Air Force Colonel Phelps watching for danger. MacGyver records footage of dead sheep from mysterious circumstances. Pete assures the colonel that MacGyver knows how to handle situations in rough country like this. With the satellite re-entry site in view, MacGyver prepares to disembark.
Meanwhile at the Phoenix base, Phelps and Pete watch news footage of how rancher Elmer Hoggins lost 900 of his sheep herd and he blames the government for this tragedy thanks to nerve gas. While the captain denies any involvement, Pete is wondering how well Dr. Millhouse's experiment turned out.
Beginning his search, MacGyver is told that a harmless organism had mutated and caused the Phoenix satellite to crash into the forest; He is to recover the capsule before the Firestorm airstrike, a napalm bombing run designed to stop the spread of the organism. Pete informs his friend he is about 200 yards from the objective and MacGyver has about fourty-two minutes until the bombing run but has plenty of time for extraction. While trekking through the fields, MacGyver is surprised and horrified to find that more life than just sheep have died. He spots the bomber carrying the Firestorm napalm already within view as a precaution. Phelps informs of the rules that if something bad happens, the bombing run begins. Pete insists the bombers wait a little longer, exactly twenty miles which should give MacGyver twenty minutes to recover the capsule.
Along his way, MacGyver examines a lifeless bear. Whatever came down with the satellite it killed the animals within minutes. A deer shows signs of aging. So far there is no sign of fire as the satellite could have burned up on re-entry. He passes an aged wolf and another aged deer. MacGyver is aghast that everything within the woods is dead. Just when he finds the downed satellite on the waterbed, the ground gives way and he slides down the hill shorting out his video feed giving Pete trouble communicating with his friend.
Fearing for the worst, Phelps insists that the Firestorm run commence now that contact with MacGyver is lost but Pete protests wanting extra time to be certain MacGyver will fulfill his objective. When MacGyver recovers, he has trouble communicating and his shoulder camera is broken. Fearing the organism could wipe out America within months, Phelps orders the bombing run to commence giving MacGyver ninety seconds to act fast.
Act Two[]
With eighty seconds to the bombing target, Pete begs for five more minutes while MacGyver scrambles to get back in touch with Pete. He makes it to the crash site with forty-five seconds to go while Pete assures his agent is still in play but Phelps desperately wants to destroy the organism. With time ticking down, MacGyver rigs the satellite antenna with his shoulder camera. Just as the bomber is ready to fire, MAcGyver's makeshift video feed makes it to Phelps and Pete and the colonel agrees to give the Phoenix agent extra time. With the capsule recovered, MacGyver calls in a chopper extraction. He places the capsule with the mutated organism into a biohazard container.
Meanwhile at the Phoenix Research and Development Western Division, Pete and Col. Phelps head to the underground lab. Much of the lab personnel are faced with an unscheduled maintenance shutdown with only a skeleton crew on station. In the elevator, Pete tells of how Dr. Millhouse thinks she can run the world with her superbug. Phelps makes a phone call to Washington DC, meanwhile in the labs, Pete searches for the irresponsible scientists and sees her dog Ace.
He meets Dr. sandra Millhouse in the lab's garden accusing her of planting her organism onto the downed satellite without authorization. He also blames her for the Dutch Elm Disease situation two years prior. The doctor barbs how progress will not wait for bureaucrats to make decisions, but Pete warns a catastrophe on the horizon. Millhouse barks that if the world panics, nothing will be learned from her work but Pete wants these experiments called off. Millhouse explains she monitored the growth data on the telemetry gear and wants to share the wonders of her research, but Pete wants to shut her down over the horror she is unleashing.
Outside, MacGyver arrives in his helicopter and deposits the organism to be sent down for examination. As per regulations, MacGyver strips off his safety suit for decontamination. Wearing eyecups, MacGyver endures the enormous light that decontaminates him.
On the news, the napalm strike has scorched two-thousand acres of the forest and a sixty-mile wind will carry the fire. Now dressed in normal clothes, MacGyver is informed by Phelps the tests on the canister is about to begin while the colonel would buy up the burned sheep ranch. Before he can apologizes, MacGyver assures him of his duty.
In the lab, a vial of the organism is extracted and Millhouse explains how within a few months in space, the organism mutated at an amazing rate, but Pete worries about the alarming rate. Because she sent up a mix of growth accelerators, the organism became monstrous and MacGyver knows it's killing things. Millhouse is about to test the organism on a lab rat, but MacGyver speaks out as he saw the animals in the Twin Ridge forest drop dead on the spot without getting sick or fleeing or a place to hide. Millhouse reluctantly cancels her test and they have no clue as to what caused the satellite to crash since re-entry fried it but there was a crack in the canister. Millhouse brings a microscope down on the organism, she sees how DNA structure changed and it is getting stronger.
Phelps brings in the report on what happened to the sheep, they died of old age. While Washington wants to discuss the situation, Millhouse is concerned the government wants to kill her organism before anyone learns more about it; But Pete is concerned at the damage it has done alreayd. Millhouse promises four crops instead of two, livestock maturing three times as fast, but MacGyver knows of what disaster would happen if it hit a city.
Pete leaves to tell the truth to the world, and while MacGyver considers Millhouse a dedicated scientist, she has gone too far. She shows the agent to her garden with the trees she hopes to plant in the Sahara, Arctic and still bear fruit since they carry organisms in her labs. While people say her work is not valid, MacGyver warns there is the right-wrong way of taking on science. Millhouse tells of the millions who died of starvation in Africa thanks to her work on fighting world hunger and will continue until she finds the answer to her problems. MacGyver knows her methods will not work and Pete informs of the decision to destroy the organism before it spirals out of control, but the doctor wants to keep her work alive.
Suddenly the alarm goes off as the bio lab seal integrity has been compromised. While lab personnel scramble to get to safety, Pete spots the organism eating to the lab's sealing compound, but MacGyver stops him from touching it. If the seal is not fixed and the organism is allowed to roam free, the timer for the self-destruct will start in seven minutes to contain the organism.
Act Three[]
With six minutes to self-destruction, MacGyver gathers a hose and hooks it to a bunsen burner to try and burn the organism. The torch won't do it alone so MacGyver has Millhouse hold it at bay while he gathers some freon for a hose. Pete give shim pliers to give it loose. The agent sprays the freon on the loose organism stopping it from breaching the window. While seal integrity is restored, the patch won't last too long so Pete insists the organism be killed. Seeing no other option, Dr. Millhouse reluctantly lasers the organism and when she brings the same lab rat out, it is not harmed this time. Phelps leaves to inform Washington while the doctor dismisses the two Phoenix agents. MacGyver stays behind to say a goodbye to the doctor.
In Millhouse's quarters, MacGyver thinks that while her intentions are good, the results can be disastrous if left unchecked even as the doctor wants to make an organism that can eat red tape and shows diskettes of her work. On his way out, MAcGyver assures the world will know of her actions again while Millhouse tends to her dog Ace. As Phelps departs, Pete's recommendation will most likely place Millhouse and her dog behind bars forever. He tells of how the doctor snuck another organism out of the lab to handle the Dutch Elm Disease problem, transfusing the organism into the dog's bladder and when the dog got to the trees, the results were disastrous. Before they leave, MacGyer senses that Millhouse won't give up on her research.
Awaiting word on the final fate of her experiments as she plays with Ace, Millhouse shows the last remaining sample of her organism in her petri dish with which she can continue her mundane experiments in the hydroponics lab. She locks MacGyver out aware the government will confiscate and destroy her organism. While the agent and scientist argue, the dog mistakes the petri dish for a frisbee and bites it contaminating both himself, his scientist owner and the lab.
Act Four[]
Now on the receiving end of her organism, Sandra cries over what she has put her dog through and comforts him in what will be their final moments. The computer warns of the contamination in the hydroponics lab. In the hallway, MacGyver warns Pete that the doctor held out on them and of her exposure. Pete sees to his horror that Millhouse has now suffered the rapid aging that the Twin Ridge animals suffered ebfore MacGyver can get safety gear onto his party. Seeing herself beyond salvation, Millhouse sees the organism has aged the plant life rapidly and wanting to take responsibility for her work, wants the diskettes rescued from the lab as they can be important. MacGyver recovers the diskettes and the doctor thanks them then dies.
With five minutes until the explosions, the two Phoenix agents race through the corridors back to the elevator even with the doors closing. They open the elevator doors manually and MacGyver climbs to the maintenance override switch and despite attempts to tap ip upward, Pete is worried they will be caught in the explosion before they make it topside.
Epilogue[]
With three minutes remaining, MacGyver heads back to get an electrical transformer. They hook it to the override and with it they send it upwards bypassing the override system and getting them to the top and they make it out jsut as the self-destruction goes off destroying the entire underground lab and taking with it, Dr. Millhouse, her dog and her organism. Having gotten away from the blast, Pete regrets this loss in science. Without another word, the two Phoenix agents depart.
References[]
http://www.tv.com/shows/macgyver/kill-zone-47256/
http://themacgyverproject.blogspot.com/2013/09/133-kill-zone.html