MACGYVER: EYE OF OSIRIS (TV)
Summary
One in this action/adventure series about MacGyver, a former Special Forces agent known for his inventive survival skills.
Somewhere in the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, MacGyver enters a lodge and is greeted with unwelcome stares by its occupants, engaged in the middle of a dice game. A woman at the dice game seems intent on winning an ornate pendant worn by the gambler Kurush, and he takes this as a challenge. When she wins and tries to take the pendant Kurush threatens her with a knife, but MacGyver intervenes on her behalf. A fight erupts and Macgyver and the woman, Beth Webb, manage to escape together in a large snow vehicle. They had arranged to meet on behalf of the archaeologist Professor Axford; he believes the pendant is the key to unlocking the true resting place of Alexander the Great, which he claims is not in Alexandria as is popularly thought. MacGyver and Beth arrive to meet Axford, presenting him with both the pendant and a Greek artifact acquired by MacGyver. These are combined with a third artifact to form a small gold tablet, the Eye of Osiris. Axford possesses a copy of Alexander the Great’s last will and testament, discussing Alexander’s acquisition of the Eye just before his death, and the construction and location of his tomb in the “birthplace of the gods” somewhere in the Taurus Mountains. The Eye itself depicts a mythological story involving a battle between the deities Osiris and Set and the fall of Osiris’s eye to earth, which Axford is convinced is some sort of clue to the location of Alexander’s tomb.
In the morning, Axford and his team extract a statue of Ra, the Egyptian sun god, from an underground temple. One of the workers secretly activates a device which causes a winch to malfunction, dropping the statue and shattering it. While everyone at the camp is distracted, the man sneaks into Axford’s tent and steals the Eye, along with several ancient documents. MacGyver discovers evidence of sabotage and Axford hurries back to his tent to check on the artifacts. The thief, Hakim attempts to get away but is held up by an unknown man with a gun, who gets him to hand over the stolen items. Axford, Beth, and MacGyver discover the missing items, but note that the Eye was dropped at some point, leaving a perfect imprint of its surface in the sand. MacGyver improvises a thickening substance in order to spray onto the imprint and create a mold for later use. The man holding up Hakim introduces himself as Nicolas Von Leer, a criminal dealing in stolen artifacts, and claims that he was the one who arranged for MacGyver to join the expedition. Hakim pleads for his life and offers to partner with Von Leer, claiming that because he can read the ancient Greek and hieroglyphics on Alexander’s will and the Eye, that they can find Alexander’s tomb and possibly obtain much more treasure for them to steal.
MacGyver’s mold hardens and gives Axford a replica of the Eye to consult, although he believes they still need Alexander’s will in order to make any progress. Beth reveals that Axford is her father, and that she joined with his expedition when her mother died. She feels that he is obsessed with his studies and makes no effort to connect with people, especially not her. MacGyver decides to inspect the surrounding area in order to test a theory, and gets into an argument with Axford about the way he treats Beth. Secretly, Beth has allied herself with Von Leer, and he asks her to keep an eye on MacGyver. Their original agreement was only that she would sell him photographs of Alexander’s tomb in order to help her pay off her mother’s debts remaining after her death. Axford speaks to Beth and apologizes for yelling at her earlier, admitting that he is uncertain of how to properly be a father. MacGyver returns and says that he has discovered tektites west of the dig site, and believes that this is another clue to the location of Alexander’s tomb. He believes that based on the legendary accounts of the Eye of Osiris and the physical evidence he has discovered, a meteorite may have impacted the earth and been observed by the ancient Egyptians. He believes that Alexander’s tomb rests somewhere in the crater left by that meteorite.
MacGyver, Beth, and Axford leave to investigate the crater and find a structure that seems to correspond to a location described in Alexander’s will. They discover a narrow deep hole in the structure and figure out that they must use a tool held by the statue of Ra to open it like a “keyhole.” A passageway opens up and they venture inside, finding an inscription within which references the four classical elements of the ancient world: earth, air, fire, and water. Deeper inside they find a sarcophagus and a statue of the god Anubis. Before they can discover more, they are cornered by Von Leer and Hakim. Von Leer reveals that he has orchestrated this plot as a means of vengeance against MacGyver for killing his brother Eric Von Leer. Von Leer forces them to open the sarcophagus, but they find that it is empty. This somehow activates a trap which seals them within the tomb. Von Leer threatens to shoot Axford and Beth, but MacGyver gets him to stop by promising to devise a way to escape. He and Beth manage to get another entranceway to open by placing an urn in the hands of the statue of Anubis.
Beyond they discover a large ornate chamber based around a golden pillar, the true resting place of Alexander. Hakim becomes stuck in the doorway and Von Leer decides to shoot him. Von Leer forces MacGyver to help him figure out how to open Alexander’s coffin. MacGyver finds a flammable substance in an urn and concludes that they must employ the four classical elements as tools to unlocking the coffin. He uses the coffin’s mechanisms to heat water, which sets off a reaction that unlocks the coffin. Inside is a mummified Alexander clutching an enormous sapphire, which MacGyver theorizes was created by the meteorite impact. Von Leer takes the gemstone but sets off another trap which seals them inside and makes the walls start to close in around them. MacGyver uses the stone in conjunction with a specially designed light source within the tomb to discover a secret passageway to serve as an escape route. Von Leer attempts to take the gemstone back but is instantly crushed by another trap. MacGyver, Beth, and Axford narrowly escape being crushed as well, and manage to make their way out of the tomb and back to the surface. Axford is grateful to be back safe, and decides to reprioritize his life to focus more on Beth. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 9:00
- RUNNING TIME: 0:47:53
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:51043
- GENRE: Drama, action/adventure
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, action/adventure; Inventions/Inventors
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1985-1992
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Stephen Downing … Executive Producer
- Henry Winkler … Executive Producer
- John Rich … Executive Producer
- Michael Greenburg … Supervising Producer
- John B. Moranville … Co-Producer
- Thomas R. Polizzi … Associate Producer
- Robert Frederick … Line Producer
- Michael Vejar … Director
- Lee David Zlotoff … Created by
- John Sheppard … Writer
- Ken Harrison … Music by
- Randy Edelman … Theme Music by
- Richard Dean Anderson … Cast, MacGyver
- Dana Elcar … Cast, Pete Thornton
- Deborah Foreman … Cast, Beth Webb
- Kai Wulff … Cast, Nicolas Von Leer
- Antony Stamboulieh … Cast, Hakim
- Peter Haworth … Cast, Professor Axford
- Mark Acheson … Cast, Kurush
- Raimund Stamm … Cast, Worker