Here you go, MacGyver.
I brought you some batteries,
some plums and some fresh corn.
On sale.
Black plums! All right.
Yes, the inside as red as your sweetheart's lips.
I need to fatten you up.
Mama, you are just obsessed with taking care of the whole world.
I'll tell you a secret.
A person who takes care of everybody else
don't never end up alone and pitiful and old.
What you makin' now?
Oh, I'm reconstructing a bomb for the arson squad.
Who the arson squad wanna blow up?
Nobody. It's a firebomb.
I'm trying to make it from bits and pieces
found in those buildings Prometheus torched.
I knew it. The crazy man from the news.
What kind of name is Prometheus, anyway?
Well, he was a character from Greek Mythology
who stole fire from the gods.
Don't he know?
You gonna get your face stomped if you go stealing from the gods.
Well, the theory is he thinks he's purifying the world.
All right.
Mama, do you have any of that flash powder on you?
You be careful.
- This is powerful mojo. - Mmm.
It'll protect a good man, but if you're a bad man,
it'll make your eyes roll back in your head
and your flesh fall from your bones.
All right. All right.
- Mind yourself. - Okay.
Uh, thank you.
You're welcome.
- Here, Earl, look, I've gotten... - Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Let's just do this one more time.
He makes a call to the emergency line
every time he sets a fire, right?
The apartment building, the hospital,
pharmacy, and supermarket.
See, nothing connects.
Not for us, but I guarantee you it connects for him.
We need a psychological profile, Earl.
Rachel, we need facts, leads.
This man has been setting fires for a long time.
He's too careful, too damn smooth to be an amateur.
So what does that tell us?
You know as well as I do.
Pros like to think of themselves as artists.
They leave their signatures.
And I think I've seen this man's signature before.
But we're not gonna know anything
until we nail down what flammables he's using,
and that's going to happen with good, hard detective work.
Rather than a lot of psychobabble.
Look, if we find out what's driving him, we get into his head.
Oh, Rachel!
You're a dinosaur, Earl.
Am I interrupting?
Yeah, you are.
But don't think I'm not grateful.
Please tell me those are fingerprints.
Yeah, I got prints, boss. But they're all burned off.
Oh, wonderful.
Your friend's back, Earl.
Hey. You got it?
I think I'm close. Take a look.
Got the battery, and the timer.
Toggle switch?
Yeah, right activates the detonator, left shuts it down.
Motion detector?
Yeah, touch it, move it, jar it, anything, it blows.
Great paste-up job, MacGyver. Does it work?
Well, we'll see.
All right, I'm gonna set it for five seconds.
Prometheus can set it for as much time as he needs.
Stand back a little.
Nice show, MacGyver.
A little gratitude, Rachel. The man is doing us a favor.
It's nothing personal, it's just that this doesn't prove anything.
No, it doesn't tell us who Prometheus is,
but I don't happen to have a crystal ball
or a degree in psychology,
so I have to start with what I've got.
Fine. Did the Rube Goldberg contraption tell you
what kind of combustibles he's using?
Well, actually, it helped.
From the bang this guy is making,
it almost has to be thermite.
Wrong.
Thermite burns at 5,000 degrees.
The kind of fires Prometheus sets up
are in the 9,000 to 10,000 degree area.
It's got to be something else.
Well, unfortunately, with that kind of heat,
all you've got left is a couple of chunks
and maybe some black dust.
Stringer.
Is the trace on?
I'll pick it up in here.
Prometheus on the emergency line.
Must I destroy to make you listen?
Since you don't want to clean up this polluted sinkhole,
I'll have to,
by burning every filthy part of it.
I am Prometheus, the destroyer of sin and corruption.
I have been called upon to perform a mission.
I must purify with fire all that is unholy and unclean.
Go to the abandoned hotel at the corner of Oak and Thatcher
and watch the vengeance of Prometheus.
Damn! Let's go.
MacGyver, come on!
You can see this sicko in action.
- No smoke. - Yeah.
Start taking pictures.
Pictures of what?
People watching.
Arsonists like to hang around and admire their work.
What's going on, Andy? False alarm?
Chief, there's a bomb up there on the third floor,
it's ticking down pretty fast. Four minutes, max.
Call it in, Morgan. Send the bomb squad.
They're not gonna make it.
We better have a look.
All right, hang on, hang on.
Hey, wait a...
Stringer, you letting that civilian go in there?
Chief, he's the only man I know who can disarm that bomb.
And if we don't let him in there now,
we're gonna have a 10-alarm to put out.
Show 'em where it is, Andy.
Come on.
All right, advance the hose line!
All right, you heard him! Advance the hose line!
I want those lines fully charged! Now!
Position the truck and stand by with a monitor!
It's in that room on a shelf.
It's all yours.
This is our first shot at a real thing.
Let's not let it get away from us.
Two minutes.
Is that going to give you enough time?
I'm gonna have to neutralize the motion detector first.
I want 200 feet of line
on the west side of the building.
Yes, sir. Right away.
- All right. - Want me to do anything?
Yeah. Hold it steady. Put your hand right on top there.
- Easy. - Okay.
MacGyver,
what if this thing gets down to about 10 seconds,
and you're still messing with it?
Run.
- Run. - Run.
- Okay.
You were right. That smells like thermite.
Yeah, Rachel was right, too. There's something else in here.
You know what it is?
No, I haven't the slightest idea.
48 seconds.
This looks like the one you built.
Only this has a digital clock.
I'm a little concerned about that handle grip, though.
Yeah, what is that?
Uh, insulation, maybe, I don't know.
Come on.
All right, that takes care of the motion detector.
Uh-oh.
Uh-oh, what?
There's two toggle switches. The one I made only had one.
- Booby trap? - Maybe.
Ten seconds. Come on, let's get out of here.
- Come on, come on. - Get out of here, Earl.
Come on, damn it, I'm not going anywhere.
Yeah.
That's not a nice thing to do to a man with a stomach like mine.
How did you know?
I didn't. It was the only shot we had.
Go!
Earl!
I'd hate to be the one to tell Stringer's wife.
- You know Betty? - Yeah.
All right.
You know, life's a bunch of tradeoffs.
Betty loses a good guy.
And Rachel gets what she always wanted.
What are you talking about?
She's next in line for Earl's job.
She's our new boss.
Rosewell,
some kids, they found this in a phone booth about 10 blocks away.
It's the recorded message from Prometheus about this fire.
Well, that means he could have been anywhere
- when the call came through, huh? - Yeah.
He calls, he talks, he wants attention.
He feels powerful when he starts a fire.
He's got to be here somewhere.
He's the type that can't resist it.
You know, I'm also thinking this whole vendetta
could have something to do with the fact
that Prometheus was burned himself.
Maybe that's what's driving him. We should check it out.
Oh, great. Months of psychological study.
Wacko profiles.
Rosewell! I know how you feel about me.
And I know how you felt about Earl.
But I'm in charge now. We're gonna try it my way.
She's real broke up about Earl, huh?
I think the best thing we can do for Earl is to catch this guy.
So, anything in those pictures you guys took?
Nah, nothing.
I've got one Earl took on the inside.
See that handgrip? The insulation on both ends?
Yeah, what does that mean?
Well, I'm not sure, but it could be an antenna.
Prometheus seems to be into remotes now.
Rosewell, they found a piece of the bomb. Let's go.
Thank you for everything you have tried to do, Mr. MacGyver,
but as of now, you're off the case.
No, wait a minute.
Earl was a friend of mine.
I don't think I can just walk away from...
I know how you feel.
But the fact remains that you are a civilian.
This is our job. If one of us gets killed, it's in the line of duty.
I do not want to be responsible for your life.
Or your mistakes.
Ease up, Rachel.
The guy went in there to help us defuse the bomb!
And Earl's dead!
You should have waited for the bomb squad.
And you would have, if I'd been in charge.
- Lady... - MacGyver, just
give her a chance to chill out, all right?
Rosewell, I've got to find out what else he used with the thermite.
If something comes up, I'll--I'll let you know, all right?
He never called in to claim a fire before he set it, right?
- Always afterward? - Yeah, afterwards, always.
Except for this one.
Why is this one different?
I don't know, m-maybe he had trouble setting it off.
No, no, it would have gone off even if we hadn't defused it.
See, that was another one of his wrinkles.
The handle.
The handle was an antenna.
So you're saying that he set this thing off with a radio signal?
Yeah. But he had to have a clear sightline
to know we were even up there trying to disarm it.
So he was out there watching the fire from the street.
Yeah.
But not down here. He couldn't have seen us up there from the street.
Rosewell!
I'm comin'!
I got to go.
All right. Thanks, Joe.
Yeah, what is it?
Uh, I need to look at one of your third floor apartments.
It has to do with the fire.
Okay, I'll buzz you in and meet you up there.
Look at this place.
I can't believe how much it's gone to pot.
You know, junkies and bums, they come up here and crash for the night.
I clean it up, they trash it.
So I can't show it, you see. It's a mess.
Did you see the fire?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, you couldn't miss it.
Do you happen to know if anyone was in here at the time?
Could have been. You know, in and out.
You can't keep 'em out.
Homeless, alcoholics, your run of the mill bums.
We get 'em all.
They break in, looking for a place to sleep.
Smash a window, come up the fire escape. Whatever it takes.
Thanks again for coming to the funeral, MacGyver.
You've always been such a good friend to Earl, and to me.
And I really needed a friend today.
Betty,
do you remember anything
that Earl did that was out of the ordinary?
Earl never brought his work home.
All I ever heard were just bits and pieces.
I'll take bits and pieces.
Well, there was this one fire
that seemed to bother him more than the others.
Which one?
It was a cafe.
It was when Earl was still fighting fires.
Before he was promoted to inspector of the arson squad.
Uh, that was two years ago?
But it seemed to be on his mind lately.
I heard him on the phone the other day,
and he was asking about information on the fire insurance
at the cafe.
When he hung up, I asked him what he was up to
and he just shook his head, and he said,
"The common denominator had to be that woman."
Um...
Earl's assistant, Rachel Bradley, did they get along?
In the beginning, they were friends.
What happened?
He got the promotions and Rachel didn't.
She resented that.
Then, when he got his command,
they had a disagreement about a procedure on a fire.
Rachel's hands got burned,
and she was never the same.
Thanks, Betty.
- Hey, Joe. - Hey.
They gave her Stringer's badge.
She's got everything she ever wanted now.
Apparently, you don't understand a simple, declarative sentence like,
"You're off the investigation."
Goodbye and good luck.
The building manager, he wanted to see me?
I'm out of here.
Yes.
He said you wormed your way into one of his apartments
on the pretext of being on fire department business.
He assumed that.
Look, did it occur to you that maybe Prometheus set off that bomb
from the fire escape across the parking lot?
Believe it or not, yes.
What were you doing at the Stringer house?
What were you?
I was trying to find out if Earl told his wife
anything about the fires that might be useful.
Did he?
You first.
What did the manager say?
Okay.
He remembered a guy hanging around at the time of the fire.
It seems that this man
used to live with the woman who rented that apartment.
A Victoria Arnold.
- What about the man? - He doesn't remember his name.
Your turn.
Well, according to Betty,
Earl thought the common denominator was a woman.
- What woman? - He didn't say.
But I got the impression that she had something to do with a fire
that happened a couple of years ago.
- The cafe fire. - You remember it?
I'm not likely to forget it.
That's how I got these.
Attractive, isn't it?
Earl tried an unorthodox rescue attempt and I paid for it.
I'm sorry.
I don't want your pity.
I just want you out of my way.
The woman and the cafe,
are you going to check them out?
If I think it's worth it. Now, are you going?
Not far.
Victoria's Cafe.
Busy?
Hey, Joe. Come on in.
Listen, I think I got what you're looking for.
I just came back from the lab,
and the substance that's used in the bomb, besides thermite,
is a thing called... Let me see, uh...
- Koldextin, with a "K." - Kol...
"A highly volatile compound sometimes used
to enhance the effects of dynamite,
plastique, thermite and other explosives."
- Anything else? - Yeah.
"In controlled amounts,
it's used in the processing of pesticides,
petroleum products, color photography,
especially the color photography used in newspaper publishing."
You get anything out of that?
Well, maybe. I'll keep you posted.
Listen, Joe, uh, I want to thank you for what you're doing.
No problem. Nothing Earl wouldn't have done.
See you.
Hi.
I understand you were looking for me.
Uh, yeah.
Did you happen to remember the name of that guy
that was living with Victoria Arnold?
The lady paid the rent.
I don't get involved with who they live with.
Well, do you remember anything about him?
What he did for a living, any hobbies?
Where he worked, maybe?
Oh, didn't the lady over at the firehouse tell you?
- What? - About Victoria's boyfriend.
Uh-uh.
What's the matter, don't you guys talk to each other?
I heard him talking about his job.
Uh, he worked at the newspaper.
Which one?
Oh, well, that's gonna be a problem. See, it was The Globe Chronicle,
and they're out of business.
Great.
- All right, thanks. - Yeah, no problem.
Hey, listen, if I think of anything else, I'll give you a call, okay?
They closed this newspaper so quickly
that everything was left intact.
The only thing missing around here is people.
It's over here.
Yeah.
That's it.
Okay.
What are you looking for?
Uh...
Former employee who lives at 1117 Thatcher Street.
Yeah, here we go. 1117 Thatcher.
Ralph Boardman, a color plate engineer.
Any idea where I can get some more information on him?
We can try the color lab, that's where his personnel file and desk would be.
Come on, I'll show you.
It's right through here.
The personnel files are in this back office.
There you go.
Look, I got to get back, uh...
Don't want to lose my job for deserting the post.
Well, good luck.
Yeah, thanks.
Boardman...
"Spec five demolitions."
That makes sense.
MacGyver.
In here, MacGyver.
I'm the one you're looking for, MacGyver.
You thought you could disarm the bomb in the flophouse.
You got your friend killed.
You can't catch me, MacGyver.
I'll always be one step ahead of you.
I am Prometheus.
I am the fire that purifies evil and corruption.
I am vengeance.
I am your death.
Hey!
Take my advice, MacGyver.
Make peace with your God.
Don't waste precious moments trying to disarm the bomb.
Remember the motion detector.
The slightest movement, and you're gone.
And beyond that, MacGyver, there are other surprises.
You have three minutes to make peace with your maker.
Goodbye, MacGyver.
A magnet.
Oh, man.
- What happened? - Another Prometheus bomb!
Call it in!
Go, go, go!
All right, give me a little pressure, Phil!
All right.
MacGyver, is it true? Prometheus again?
Yeah, it's true. Where's Rachel?
She's back at the station, doing a psychological report.
Rachel! I know who Prometh...
Don't move.
It has a motion detector.
All right, it hasn't been activated,
but we've got to hurry here.
MacGyver,
you continue to be a thorn in my side.
He's crazy, MacGyver.
It seems I no longer have a use for this.
Cuff yourself to the chair.
He--He said you were dead.
Close.
The clues I gave Miss Bradley
were supposed to lead her to the newspaper building.
But since you decided to stick your nose in,
I realized you had to be eliminated along with the others.
What others? Why are you doing this?
You.
Earl Stringer.
Firemen, doctors, paramedics.
You're all responsible for Victoria's death.
V-Victoria Arnold?
She was the victim in the cafe fire.
I loved her.
She was all I had.
And you
and those other cowards were afraid to go in and save her from the fire.
- We tried. - No.
You let her die.
You, Stringer and the others.
You let her... burn.
So bad that no one could save her.
Hey, she didn't start the fire. You did.
What?
Boardman and Victoria started the fire for the insurance.
Earl almost had it figured out.
I'm not Boardman.
He died with Victoria.
I am Prometheus.
I am the destroyer of evil.
I am the purifier.
Oh, God, MacGyver, get if off me.
Take it easy, don't move. Hold still.
What are you doing?
We're gonna take it one step at a time.
All right, that takes care of the motion detector.
You can breathe a little easier now.
A little easier? It's still going.
Like I said, we'll take it one step at a time.
What's the matter?
Well, moving the switch to the left always stopped it before.
Do you think he--he changed to the right?
I think that's what he thinks I would think.
Well, you have 32 seconds to mess around.
Take your time.
We'll go to the left again.
A magnet connection.
Yeah, it automatically closes when the power's shut down.
- Completing a secondary circuit. - Right.
You need another magnet to reverse the polarity.
- Where's your phone? - Boardman, he ripped it out.
Here, use my walkie-talkie.
Come on.
Tell me one more thing, MacGyver.
What?
That there isn't going to be another step.
Well, actually, there is.
Boardman!
Hey, Boardman!
Looks like your firebomb turned out to be a big dud.
MacGyver!
I guess that was step number four, huh?
Okay, MacGyver, how did you make the connection
between the Prometheus fires and the cafe fire?
Well, I got to thinking about that skid row fire.
The device was remote control,
so obviously it was a trap for Earl,
a personal vendetta of some kind.
But when did you figure out it was Boardman?
Well, remember what Earl said about
arsonists sticking around to see the fires they set?
Yeah.
But this is a picture of me and Earl at the cafe fire.
No, in the background, right there.
- Boardman. - Yeah.
He just couldn't accept being responsible for Victoria's death.
So he lashed out at anyone who could have saved her, but didn't.
All because he loved her.
You know, we really did try to save her.
I know that.
And I want you to know,
I would turn in this badge if it would bring back Earl.
I know that, too.