Mac: Uh, it's a long story, but basically, if I can't figure out how to grab those soda cans through all the rubble, then 32 people on a boat in the Arctic are gonna die.
Jack: Hmm. Well, I would love to help, but Riley and I gotta fake a signature on a baseball or her dad's gonna die.
Jack: Hmm. Well, I would love to help, but Riley and I gotta fake a signature on a baseball or her dad's gonna die.
Mac must help remotely when 31 college students and their teacher are trapped on a research ship in the Arctic. He and the teacher bond, but will it end in tragedy?
Meanwhile, Jack kidnaps Riley's father to find out what he's up to, and learns he's in trouble. Bozer starts spy school.
Tropes:
- Comfort the Dying: Mac talks to Zoe as the room she's in fills with freezing water.Zoe: Hope this works.
Mac: It will.
Zoe: Uh, the water's rising really fast now. Oh, God. It's, um, colder than I thought it would be. Colder than I thought, uh anything would be, but, uh—so this is what you do at the Phoenix Foundation? Save lives every day?
Mac: We try.
Zoe: You did that, okay? So don't forget that. You did everything you could, and so many parents are gonna be so grateful.
Mac: You did this, Zoe. I just talked to you.
Zoe: Uh h-hey, Mac?
Mac: Yeah?
Zoe: I wish we could have met in person.
Mac: Me too.
Zoe: I w-I would've liked to see your think tank. - Endearingly Dorky: Mac and Zoe share some nerdy sparks and make plans to meet up once she and her students are safe. Which makes her Heroic Sacrifice even more devastating.Zoe: Hey, can I tell you something stupid?
Mac: I mean, I did just tell you about the time that I snuck into a lab to ogle an icicle, so shoot. - Heroic Sacrifice: The ship can only be kept from sinking by someone sealing the door to the room that's flooding, but it can only be done from inside and whoever does it would be trapped in a room filling with freezing water. Zoe does it, and Mac keeps her company through the computer as she freezes to death.Zoe: There's only one number that matters anymore, okay? 31. That's how many lives are outside this room.
Mac: No, I can't let you do this, Zoe.
Zoe: Then come and stop me, MacGyver. - Hypocritical Humor:Jack: That's why I'm a lone wolf, man.
Mac: Lone wolf?! Last week you tried to convince Riley, Matty and I that we needed matching leather jackets to help foster - and I'm using your words here - "greater family unity." - Must Make Amends: Elwood, Riley's father, is trying to do better by her but still has some business to deal with from his prior mistakes. Fixing them requires faking a signature on a baseball, but when that falls through, he confesses and takes a beating rather than allow Jack to be hurt defending him.
- Parental Neglect: Riley may not have realised her father was abusive to her mother, but she's not about to award him Father of the Year either.Riley: I mean, this guy has not made one sacrifice for me. Not one. Then he shows back up in my life swearing he's changed, and the next thing you know, I'm helping commit baseball fraud. It's like I'm ten years old all over again.
Jack: You helped him commit fraud at ten years old? - Punk in the Trunk: Jack abducts Elwood, Riley's father, and transports him in this manner.
- Shout-Out:
- Riley refers to Jack as Columbo.
- Jack inspires Mac by telling him to "use the Force." He also mentions Luke and Wampa on Hoth and imitates Chewbacca.
- Jack calls Mac Braniac.
