MACGYVER: CLEO ROCKS (TV)
Summary
One in this action/adventure series about MacGyver, a former Special Forces agent known for his inventive survival skills.
Penny lands the leading role in “Cleo Rocks,” a rock opera about the life of Cleopatra, and she invites MacGyver down to visit her at rehearsal. Unbeknownst to him, he is being watched by a mysterious figure via the theater’s security cameras. Penny and the cast perform the show’s opening number, but at the end the wheelchair-bound director, Jacque Leroux, comes out to berate the cast for a poor performance. Leroux is interrupted by the arrival of the theater owner, Benjamin Wintergreen, who urges that they speak in private. MacGyver and Penny speak, and he congratulates her on her success. Leroux and Wintergreen get into a heated argument about the show’s ever-increasing budget, and Wintergreen loudly insults Penny’s lack of experience or ability. During the rehearsal MacGyver saves Penny from being crushed by a falling piece of the set, apparently caused by some sort of electrical malfunction. Leroux indicates that other “accidents” of this nature have occurred recently, and Penny notes that there is a rumor that the show is “cursed” in some way.
MacGyver goes backstage with Penny, who indicates that she is becoming attracted to Leroux. She is unnerved when she receives a bouquet of dead roses in her dressing room. Jacques pulls MacGyver aside and thanks him for saving Penny, noting her importance. MacGyver runs into Wintergreen on his way out and talks to him about the recent incidents around the stage, but Wintergreen wants nothing to do with him and asks him to leave. He asks Pete to run a check on Wintergreen, suspicious that the recent misfortunes at the theater may be the result of deliberate tampering. Penny confronts Wintergreen in his office about his repeated slights towards her, but he calls her an “amateur” without the ability to draw a crowd. She arrives early for a rehearsal with Leroux, but the lights go out backstage and she is chased around by an unseen man. MacGyver arrives and investigates along with Penny, finding a mannequin with a knife through the chest covered in fake blood, along with Penny’s headshot and a death threat against her in the form of a short poem.
Leroux arrives and claims that Wintergreen is likely behind the death threat, as he has been trying to force the production out of the theater for some time. MacGyver decides to speak to Wintergreen about the death threat, but he seems unconcerned about it, as he is still concerned about the potential financial impact of Leroux’s show. MacGyver inspects the fallen sign from earlier and takes note of the snapped cable which sent it plummeting. Pete’s background check determines that Wintergreen is in massive debt due to the theater’s operational costs, and that he has a large insurance policy taken out on Leroux’s show if it were to close prematurely. During rehearsal, Leroux gives Penny a dress as a gift, and invites her out to dinner. MacGyver performs an experiment on the cable and concludes that it was dissolved with sulphur. Pete is called down to the theater, supposedly by MacGyver and Penny, and heads down to see what is happening. MacGyver analyzes the poem and comes to the realization that was left by his arch-nemesis Murdoc, although in their last encounter Murdoc apparently fell to his death from a cliff.
Pete arrives at the theater and hears Penny calling for help. However, it is actually Murdoc imitating her voice somehow, and he reveals himself to Pete. He renders Pete unconscious via an expulsion of knockout gas from his cane. He brings him to a makeshift dungeon beneath the theater and locks him in a hanging cage. He suspends the cage over a pool of boiling water and claims that even MacGyver cannot rescue him. Penny arrives on stage for her date with Leroux, and suddenly hears the sound of a cheering crowd. MacGyver enters as Murdoc, hidden away somewhere, taunts the both of them. Penny tries to call the police, but the line is dead. MacGyver searches for Murdoc, who tells him that Pete has been captured. He demands that Murdoc release Pete, but Murdoc insists that they confront each other “face to face, no tricks.” Penny lets Leroux into her dressing room, wondering what is going on. Leroux reveals that he is actually Murdoc in disguise, standing up and tearing off the prosthetics on his face to reveal the burns underneath.
MacGyver heads into the audience to face what he thinks is Murdoc, but is actually Wintergreen’s dead body propped up in a seat and with a tape of Murdoc’s voice strapped to his chest. Murdoc brings Penny out on stage and takes her through a secret entrance in the set as she pleads for help. He leads her through the dungeon, where he has taken up residence, and takes her to see Pete. MacGyver follows behind while Murdoc sets up a tripwire for MacGyver; if he triggers it, Pete will be killed. Murdoc manages to seal MacGyver in a room with a view of Pete’s prison and Murdoc explains that if he opens the door, Pete will die. Murdoc activates a switch which causes the floor to slowly rise, threatening to crush MacGyver to death. Murdoc takes Penny into another room and ties her up in case either Pete or MacGyver manage to escape. Penny pleads with Murdoc, noting that his identity as Leroux proved that he is capable of sensitivity and artistry, and Murdoc says that being around Penny brought these qualities out of him, and confesses that he loves her. She rejects him and calls him insane.
Using a plank of wood, a length of lacing from his jacket, and his Swiss army knife, MacGyver manages to disable the tripwire without killing Pete, thus allowing both of them to escape Murdoc’s deathtraps unharmed. MacGyver goes on ahead to rescue Penny, but is cornered by Murdoc, who prepares to shoot him. Penny manages to kick the gun out of Murdoc’s hands, and he and MacGyver struggle until MacGyver electrocutes Murdoc and sends him into the pool of boiling water, seemingly killing him. However, Pete later reports that the pool was drained and Murdoc’s body was nowhere to be found, and that he may have escaped through a sewage pipe. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:11
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:51046
- GENRE: Drama, action/adventure
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, action/adventure; Criminal investigation
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1985-1992
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Stephen Downing … Executive Producer
- Henry Winkler … Executive Producer
- John Rich … Executive Producer
- Hudson Hickman … Coordinating Producer
- Michael Greenburg … Supervising Producer
- John B. Moranville … Associate Producer
- Chuck Bowman … Director
- Lee David Zlotoff … Created by
- John Sheppard … Writer
- Rick Drew … Writer
- Dennis McCarthy … Music by
- Terry Frewer … Music by
- Michael Des Barres … Lyrics
- James Hibbard … Choreographer
- Randy Edelman … Theme Music by
- Richard Dean Anderson … Cast, MacGyver
- Dana Elcar … Cast, Pete Thornton
- Teri Hatcher … Cast, Penny Parker
- Robert Donner … Cast, Benjamin Wintergreen
- Michael Des Barres … Cast, Murdoc
- Max Reimer … Cast, Gary Newton
- James Hibbard … Cast, Jim
- Susan Chapple … Cast, Helen