Original subtitles

It's how every message ended.

Previously, on "MacGyver"...

But who they are remains a mystery.

They call themselves Codex.

They've been around a lot longer than we first thought.

There's nothing more dangerous than people who do

the wrong things for the right reasons.

Tell him...

...about File 47.

47...

would plunge the world into chaos.

What do you say? A little breakfast with your dear old aunt?

Why do you refuse to see what is actually happening here?

- And what is that? - You're compromised.

Auntie Gwen got to you.

I'm gonna try something,

but it means risking everything,

everyone I love.

I'm sorry.

"We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel playing...

Get out of my way!

We're not gonna make it.

? The world's been turning ?

Ah, God. Nice try,

- jackass! - Gwen, that was

- a Meals On Wheels. - We're running out of time.

? We tried to fight it ?

? Rock-and-roller ?

? Cola wars, I can't take it anymore ?

There is a plan in place.

Just take a deep breath.

- Okay, bossy. - But if something happens to me,

There's something you should know.

I'm gonna send File 47 to some friends in D.C.

Okay, that is a terrible plan.

It is a complex statistical analysis of the climate crisis.

Indisputable scientific proof that our planet is dying.

File 47 posits a plan to wipe out

a considerable amount of the population

- in order to get the planet back on track. - A theoretical plan.

You don't think that's a little dangerous,

to put that in the hands of the government?

Seeing it in print might scare them into action.

Politicians only care about power.

And you want to give 'em even more power

to play God and decide who lives and who dies.

We know what kind of planet

the next generation is going to inherit.

We have to do something.

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Oh, God. You know what, I think you're right.

- We're not gonna make it to the hospital. - Damn it, Ellie.

You never listen to me!

- Pull over! - Okay, okay, okay.

It's okay. We-we can do this.

We-we can do this. We've got five PhDs between us.

Right. Well, I've got three, you've got two.

Okay, I don't see how that's important right now!

Oh-oh, God.

Hey there, little guy.

Hi.

All right.

- Ready to cut the cord? - Can you wait

Just a minute? I just feel like the second we do,

he's gonna... float away.

Aw, you...

You deserve the world.

And the world

deserves you.

Oh, look at us.

- So you don't have a name? - We couldn't decide.

But I'll-I'll think of something.

We have enough food for a nice, long hibernation.

Generator's not great, but, thanks to you,

we don't have to worry about power.

What do you mean, thanks to us?

You brought us Shiva.

Spoiler alert:

not just a weapon.

It's also known as a god

they call the Destroyer.

It's also named after a goddess

associated with reincarnation,

rebirth.

In order to be born again,

first, we have to die.

Shiva here's a...

renewable power source.

Be right back.

Your aunt must be really great at dinner parties.

She thinks she's saving the world.

Exactly.

Do you really think we can change her mind

about this plan? We don't even know what the plan is.

Yeah, I have a gut feeling about this. Just...

deep down somewhere, there's some humanity left.

- Somewhere. - Hey.

I get it.

You feel connected to her,

to your mom.

But I need you to clear your head, Mac.

We need to do everything we can

to figure out what they're planning.

Yeah. You're absolutely right.

- Okay. - Until then,

we need to look like true believers.

Right.

That doesn't look good.

Your reputation as Artemis precedes you, Ms. Davis.

You've got a lot of fans around here.

Would you mind accompanying me to our tech room?

Uh, like I said, we're a package deal.

You and I have other business to attend to.

We don't have a choice.

Right.

I'll s... I'll see you later.

- Okay. - Okay.

You come with me.

And where are we off to?

To meet Leland.

What's a Leland?

He's the man who saved my life when the CIA tried to kill me.

Uh, he paid 'em off, had 'em declare me dead.

Who is he?

He is Codex.

The man behind the curtain?

Among others.

He's a genius.

Before Codex, File 47 was just theory

and statistics on paper.

Now it's a plan to save the world.

He helped me resurrect it.

He believes in me.

And now...

he has to believe in you.

And if he doesn't?

Roman,

isn't it about time for your 4:00 feeding?

Let me guess. They drop a live goat into your cage.

I'll take it from here.

- No, you won't. - Leland wants you to get your team ready.

So, I will meet you in an hour in the vehicle bay.

You'll be fine.

Chopin's "Nocturne in E-flat minor" playing...

The years 1347 to 1351.

The Black Plague in Europe.

Over 100,000 million people died.

And what happened after that?

The Renaissance.

And?

Codex.

- Codex dates back to the 14th century? - I know.

- It's hard to believe, huh? - How is that

Even possible?

Well, a group of people got together back then

with a singular purpose:

to protect the planet from plague,

from famine,

and... Excuse my French...

Dumbasses,

like the people in power today.

A lot of amazing science had just come out

of the Middle East,

but Westerners needed a...

bit of a push.

So we funded a lot of the Enlightenment.

Things were really clipping along for us.

And then, of course,

things took a turn

for our dear Mother Earth.

The Industrial Revolution.

Kid's good.

Everything went all pear-shaped after that.

Plastics were invented.

We were worried when they started splitting the atom.

But we found

that chain reactions do come in handy.

You remember World War I?

'Course.

Franz Ferdinand.

Guess what.

He was Codex.

Is that a J.M.W. Turner?

Yes, it is.

Look at that sunset.

He was influenced by

the... 1814 eruption of Mount Tambora.

Spewed gas and ash up into the sky.

Volcanic particles in the stratosphere

probably diffused the light.

Used to be Mother Earth

could protect herself

with an eruption.

Cool the Earth back down for the next couple

of years.

That's not the case anymore.

Things have gotten out of hand.

There's just too damn many of us.

Please,

tell me what I can do to help.

You got 20 people on a lifeboat meant for ten.

You're sinking.

You're not gonna make it to shore.

What do you do?

You throw the ten weakest out.

And the strong can row us back to shore.

Very good, Angus.

Have a nice day.

You know...

...years ago, a man that you know

answered that question the exact same way.

Russ Taylor.

His mind and his resources were a perfect fit for us.

But he refused our proposal.

Because he's weak.

Friends...

every single one of you

has made this day possible.

It's time to go to work.

- You okay? - Hey. Yeah, fine.

Let's do it!

All right, for security reasons,

each team has a tablet

with instructions that will load once you are on the road.

Everybody will be traveling a different route

to attract the least amount of attention.

I'll be directing the ops from here in the bunker.

"What was is lost..."

"What was is lost..."

"...but from death comes life!"

"...but from death comes life!"

- Yeah! - Yeah!

Still think you can change her mind?

Yeah, I think our best bet right now

is just go along with this plan and see if we can figure out

- a way to stop it. - What plan, Mac?

We're flying blind.

Hey, thanks for helping us out.

We can really use you out there.

Sorry to...

keep you in the dark.

Don't suppose you could let us know what we're in for?

This is how Leland does things, but it's for our own good.

Right.

Come here.

Oh. I just wish your mom was here.

All right,

let's do this.

Can you get in? We need all the intel

- we can get. - This thing is, like,

The Fort Knox of tablets.

Did Leland give you any clues?

No, but I did see something

in the vehicle bay.

Dosimeters.

The things that measure radiation?

Yeah. So, the question is,

what do they have, a...

- a dirty bomb, or...? - Do they have

A nuke?

Any clues in the tech room?

No. They just had me writing code.

There was something written on the white board, though.

It's... it's weird... It wasn't code,

it was like an equation, with maybe six letters.

It didn't happen to have an "f" over an "m," did it?

Yeah.

It did. Why?

It's an equation for determining...

nuclear fission critical mass.

So they have a nuke.

That explains why they wanted to hack NORAD.

Leland said something about starting a chain reaction.

Maybe they're trying to start World War III. If we can...

Well, well, well.

The fam's all here.

Get your gun out of my face! We're trying to save everyone!

Oh, that's funny. So are we.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

Okay, everybody needs to calm down,

- and we'll be okay. - You really want us to believe

You used Shiva to infiltrate Codex?

Yes. So Mac could find out what their master plan is.

Yeah, and we were making a lot of progress

until you two showed up. We do not have time for this.

- I'm not buying any of this. - You gassed us, Mac.

I didn't have a choice! You booted me out of the Phoenix!

Guys, I promise we're on the same side here.

Yes, I seem to recall

You betraying and lying to us

- as well, Riley. - Betrayed you?

You guys dropped a freakin' Hellfire missile on us.

- We tried to stop it. - Oh, really? Now who's lying?

Codex has a nuke!

And every minute that you keep

your guns trained on us, it gets closer to going off,

and we get further away from stopping it.

I've known Mac longer than anyone.

He's telling the truth.

Desi, Taylor,

- take a breath. - No, I'm bringing them in.

Mac, don't!

I am going to change this tire,

and we're gonna make the rendezvous.

- We do not have time for this. - Don't make me do this.

Taylor, stand down!

He's compromised, Matty.

Oh, really? I'm the one who's compromised?

Hey, Matty, did Taylor ever happen to mention to you

that Codex tried to recruit him?

What's he talking about, Russ?

Yeah, go ahead, tell 'em, Russ.

Tell them how Codex approached you,

tried to bring you on board, but you kept it a secret

because you didn't want us to know

that you're the one who's compromised.

Desi,

I want you to put your weapon down

and put me on speaker.

Taylor, stand down!

I am not the one who is compromised.

All right?

Three years ago, I was approached by an organization

with considerable resources.

- Codex. - Yes. I didn't know that at the time.

Spearhead Operations had a contract with the U.S. military

to deliver the Hades prototype.

The bioweapon we stopped in L.A.

The very same.

Codex offered me a large sum to deliver it to them instead.

I, of course, refused.

So then they turned to Bishop.

Exactly.

Someone tried to eliminate me, and they missed.

Instead, five of my teammates...

my brothers in arms for the last ten years,

were taken out by an IED,

which I later traced back to Codex.

And I've been hunting them ever since.

I'm sorry for your loss, but does it justify this?

All of this... Buying the Phoenix,

using us...

for your obsession, for revenge,

no matter the cost.

You're all the best at what you do.

I needed you on my team.

Well, then why wouldn't you trust me?

Because I can no longer read you, Angus.

You fit no discernible pattern.

For all appearances, you crossed over to Codex.

Yeah. To stop you from taking innocent lives.

To save you from yourself.

I just got a location

- For the rendezvous point. - That could be

Where they're launching the nuke from.

Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Mac, Riley,

you're gonna keep your covers

and get to that rendezvous point.

Taylor, Desi, I want eyes on them,

and keep a low profile.

There's just one little problem.

Thanks.

The last time I changed a tire

was our camping trip to Yosemite, remember?

Didn't leave our sleeping bags for two days.

Hurry up.

Yeah, got it.

Good.

You know what? I trusted you,

and you broke me down and you got me to trust you

and let you in again and again,

and when things got tough, you pushed me away.

Do you have any idea what that did to me?

You're the last person I wanted to hurt.

Tire's done.

Time to stop a nuke.

Everything okay?

No. No, definitely not.

Got it.

Coordinates say the rendezvous should be right there.

We're in position. We have eyes on Mac and Riley.

You're late.

Yeah, we got a flat.

What are our instructions?

Standing by. Nothing received yet.

Copy that.

What is this place?

Just empty trucks. No nuke.

What the hell is a Codex team doing here?

I don't know, and I don't like it.

This doesn't make sense.

They're all at the rendezvous point.

- Where's the payload? - Gwendolyn.

Everything's on schedule. We're just getting eyes

- on the payload. - It's not there.

What do you mean?

Folks, give us the room a sec, please.

Sit down.

When I first found you...

right after the crash,

I thought to myself, I've never seen another human

shine more brightly.

I could read a book

by you on a moonless night.

It's easy to shine when you have purpose.

Yeah, but I've always been in awe

of you, Gwen.

I'm in awe of your mind and your loyalty.

Even your anger.

Justifiable anger.

They took your sister.

Still here.

Thanks to you.

Leland, what is happening?

You've brought me...

so much joy over the years.

I hate to have to bring you pain.

Your nephew Angus.

You've had such high hopes for him.

But he's still a Phoenix man.

So I've put us all in jeopardy.

We're often blinded by the love of our children.

As I've been by you many times.

But now comes the hard part.

What?

What is this?

Guys, you've got a helicopter

- approaching from the south. - Can a helicopter

Transport a nuke?

Not this one.

That's a Cobra attack helicopter.

It's a trap.

What?

Everybody needs to run now.

- What are you talking about? - They're gonna blow up the warehouse.

Everybody needs to get out of here now.

Let's move! Let's go!

Go, go, go! Code red!

- Riles, over here. - Come on!

It's gonna be loud!

Why?

Scarlett, Mr. MacGyver,

and Ms. Davis compromised

our security. More importantly,

they compromised you.

These human connections

are holding you back.

Taylor, tell me you see them.

No. This fire's too big.

There's no way of getting in.

Returning to base.

It's too hot! Drop it!

We've got them, Matty.

Only you could've survived this.

- You okay? - Yeah.

Anyone else in there alive?

What have you done?

What Codex always does.

What was necessary.

These people were your weakness.

I need your strength.

Need you to see the big picture.

Now, I know it stings.

Even though he betrayed you,

Angus is your family.

And Scarlett, like a daughter.

Yeah, what am I gonna tell her sister?

The truth.

Her sister died for a greater good.

Is that what this is?

That's what it always is.

We're too close now for these kind of mistakes.

Your nephew was dangerous.

And your attachment to him even more so.

Hmm.

So, who's next?

The council and I have complete trust

- in you. - And yet you chose not to tell me

That you were gonna neutralize

- my entire team! - To protect you.

To protect your mind.

To protect your natural leadership.

You are valued beyond measure

because you know the hard truth.

Some are worth more than others.

You really think Gwen iced her entire team?

No, I don't.

Everything about that attack just feels off.

No, Angus. That's the true face of your Aunt Gwen.

I'm not giving up on her.

Guys, there's movement

at the Codex Ranch House.

Small convoy just pulled out.

Looks like a five-ton truck with two jeeps acting as the escort.

They're moving something big.

Well, that's got to be it. That's the nuke.

Closer!

Doing my best!

I'm inside.

Look for ID numbers.

I'll call up specs.

It wasn't me.

It was Leland's call.

He knew that you would betray us.

He knew I would do the right thing.

The ends will justify what had to be done.

Who are you trying to convince?

Me? Or you?

Gwen,

it's not too late to put a stop to this.

This couldn't be what my mom wanted.

Nobody wants this, Angus.

It's what's necessary.

I can't believe that.

Sometimes you just have to give people a chance.

We gave people a chance.

They failed.

- The world is dying. - Then give me

a chance to do it the right way.

It doesn't take the whole world.

Sometimes you just need

that one person that you can count on.

Who you trust.

And, together, any problem can be solved.

I wish that were true.

You know it is. I can see it.

This isn't who you are.

This isn't who my mother hoped you'd become.

Not the place I'd pick for a family reunion.

- I've got this, Roman. - Got what, exactly?

Your supposed-to-be-dead nephew hiding in the back of our truck?

No!

Angus!

- Mac! - Take my hand.

I still believe in you.

No!

Mac!

Mac!

Get a little help here?

It was a National Park Service logo

That said "Yellowstone" on it.

Why would they pretend to be forest rangers?

Volcanoes.

Leland had a Turner painting of one.

He was talking about them a lot.

Yeah, but that guy just sounds buckets of crazy.

Right. But what's under Yellowstone

is a supervolcano.

Did-did you just say "supervolcano"?

Yeah. I think they're gonna use the nuke to somehow set it off.

You know, I actually did you a favor

because Leland would've had me kill you.

It's a bumpy road.

I need to concentrate.

Okay, so, think of a volcanic eruption

like the, uh, popping of a champagne bottle.

The cork blows out,

and then all of the gases that are trapped inside,

they suddenly expand and shoot out.

And Codex is popping

that cork using a nuclear bomb?

Right. But now imagine

instead of liquid shooting out,

it's the gases that have been trapped inside of magma

for hundreds of thousands of years,

expel ash and cover the entire western hemisphere.

Summer would disappear for possibly years.

Wait a second. Just from one volcano?

Well, yes, but not just any volcano.

A really, really big one.

The best I can tell, we've been driving over this thing

for the past two hours.

Without sunlight, the planet cools,

reversing the greenhouse effect, which is good.

But it also destroys crops, causing famine, disease.

It's basically a reset switch.

We need to find that nuke.

Matty, are you still tracking that convoy?

We're trying.

We haven't spotted them yet.

Actually, I know how to find it.

You do?

Yeah. Before I fell out of that truck,

I managed to jam my phone under the loading ramp.

Tracing the signal now.

It's good to have you back, Mac.

Sorry about the, uh... gun in your face thing.

Eh, what's a gun in the face between friends?

One lookout. Truck's empty.

They must have already moved the bomb.

The Park Service

awarded a contract

to a construction company to retrofit the dam.

It's been under repair for a year.

And the president of that company on paper?

Martin Bishop.

So Codex set up a dummy corp to run the dam. But why?

I don't know, but it has something to do with drilling.

Drilling. Wait, what makes you say that?

Because at the same time

Codex took over the dam, they started buying up

a bunch of local, heavy-duty drilling equipment.

Riles, I need a USGS map

of Yellowstone.

Right.

Here you go.

Thanks.

I knew it. Okay, see there, directly under the dam?

Mm-hmm. - It's a side vent

to the volcano's magma chamber.

It's a thousand feet and some change down,

but it's right there.

They want to aim a nuke at a river of lava?

No, I think they're gonna blow a hole where the dam is.

What they want is this river. Massive amounts of water

flood into the hole that they drilled,

right into the magma chamber.

Pressure builds, and boom.

Water triggers the eruption. Thanks.

Good news is, I got a look at the bomb. It's a B61.

- And you can disarm it? - No chance.

But what I can do is build a shaped charge

to interrupt the chain reaction.

You want to blow up a nuclear bomb?

Yup. But, hopefully, we just get

a good old-fashioned, run-of-the-mill explosion,

no nuke going off, no mushroom cloud.

If I can find the right materials, and

if we can find the nuke, it should work.

I think. Follow me.

Well, if you're sure.

No sign of the nuke on these feeds.

Right. We'll cover more ground searching if we split up.

Riley, you stay here, keep watch.

Okay.

Hey, guys, I, uh, found some of Codex's drilling equipment.

And, uh...

...everything I need to finish my build.

A nuclear explosion is initiated

by a very precise conventional explosion.

This pushes the fusible material together

to start a chain reaction,

but if the material doesn't go together in just the right way,

you might only get a partial reaction

or even no nuclear explosion at all.

So how is...

whatever you're building supposed to work?

Like a shotgun.

I'm gonna aim it directly at the nuke, and it should interrupt

the chain reaction. The time-delay fuse will

give us enough time to clear the building before it goes off.

Hey, guys,

uh, something's happening. Codex is bugging out.

- I don't know why. - I do.

They're getting out of the blast zone. They armed the nuke.

How do you know that?

Because I'm looking right at it.

Right, coming at you, Mac.

Auntie Gwen, I presume.

Taylor, wait. Wait.

Dying just ain't your thing, huh?

You don't want to do this.

I don't want to shoot you...

but it's what has to be done.

That's what you tell yourself, isn't it?

But I was wrong.

I saw the data, and

I lost hope that people could change, that...

...that they could be better.

I know that Angus showed you a better way.

He showed me, too.

He's my family.

I want to help him.

Killing me doesn't stop this.

The only thing that does that is helping Angus,

and you're not gonna get to him in time.

- You all right? - Yeah.

We have less than six minutes, and it can't be disarmed.

I know. That's not the plan.

Interrupt the chain reaction.

Smart kid.

The time-delay fuse.

It must have broken when he attacked me.

I'm gonna have to set it off manually.

This is a one-way trip.

I need you guys to get

as far away from here as possible, as fast as you can.

The time delay won't work. I'm gonna set it off myself.

- Mac! - Don't think!

Just run.

Angus. Go.

I can do this.

What? No, I...

There's no time. Let me do this.

Please.

For Ellen.

You connect this to, uh...

I know. I got it.

"You deserve the world.

And the world deserves you."

Go.

Run. Now!

Well done.

We have a Nuclear Emergency Support Team excavating

the Dixon Dam site.

Although Gwen managed to stop a full-scale nuclear explosion,

we still need to sweep the area for radiation.

Mac?

We're, uh...

We're sorry about your aunt.

Thanks.

So, what about Codex?

The bunker's empty. Cleared out.

Looks like Leland took the rest of Codex into hiding.

We destroyed their infrastructure

and their plan.

Oh.

Uh, one more thing.

Oh, bloody...

- Ow! - Oh, bloody,

- Wanking... - Is that supposed to be swearing?

No, no, it's all right. No, no.

Thank you.

Your badges.

Welcome back to the Phoenix.

Hilarious.

I'll get you new ones as soon as possible. In the meantime,

I'm gonna be, uh, out of action for a while, so, Mac,

you're going to have to take over my duties, too.

There's a lot of work to be done out there.

About that.

I think I know just where to begin.

You ready for this?

Of course, yeah. It'll be fine.

You're nervous.

I know you better than you think.

Oh, yeah? What am I thinking right now?

Third season of Rick and Morty is the best,

you shouldn't have had an espresso, and

you really want to fix that broken light fixture over there.

It was Americano.

Ah.

Desi...

I... am...

Hey, let's not talk about it, okay?

Yeah, right. Understood.

What I mean, egghead, is,

I don't want to talk about it right now.

You can buy me a drink, and we'll talk later.

You got it.

As long as I do the drink ordering,

because your taste in drinks is embarrassing.

It was one time. I'd never seen a Bubblegum

Cosmotini Spritzer before.

- I just wanted to try it out. - You had two.

Hey, we're ready for you.

Yeah, of course.

- Uh... - Yes.

Thank you for joining us, Mr. MacGyver.

We value your opinion.

Thank you very much.

But this is not about opinions.

It's about science.

Our planet is in trouble.

"Knowing isn't enough.

"We must apply.

"Being willing isn't enough.

We must do."

Da Vinci said that.

And my mother.