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Coming from a Texas town, the cultural differences in his own country have shocked Jack Wyatt Dalton Jr for years. Unlike his partner and best friend Angus “Mac” MacGyver, Jack chooses to convey his opinions and uncertainties out in the open instead of bottling up his emotions. This has consistently led him to the erroneous ways, as is his relatively blunt personality. Nonetheless, he does have a sense of humor. Being the least systematically inclined of the squad, Jack attempts to persevere with Mac's imaginative solutions as best as he can, but he has learned to put faith in his friend’s ingenious approaches as they have – oftentimes with only seconds to spare – saved their lives more than once and identifies with him the best, having served and now working as partners for the Phoenix Foundation.
Jack moves up to the jump site, adjusting his parachute straps and watching out for the lapping waves. “I can taste it from here, man.”
Mac glances up from fiddling with a pile of paperclips. “We’re almost over the ocean. It’s bound to happen.”
Jack shakes his head. “No, man. They’ve got these waffles, and they top them with tropical fruit and coconut syrup, okay?” Riley gives him an unimpressed look and he waves his hand. “No, no. have you seen the island?”
“I’ve gathered from research.”
“No, no, no.” Jack shakes his head. “When we get to the head of the Kalalau Trail, and out on the Ke’e Beach… it is so comforting. There’s this bed of rocks by this incredible waterfall off the cliff hanging off the coast. The waves just take these shapes like you’ve never seen. And then the sun sets like gold meshing into remarkable colors. It’s an experience.”
Riley smiles at Jack, setting her straps correctly. “That was beautiful.”
Mac nods absentmindedly. “Get ready to jump in two minutes.”
Jack and Riley share a look. After jumping and parachuting into the waters, the Phoenix Foundation is met up with Hawaii’s mayor, Harry Kim, and his executive officers. Jack, Riley, and Bozer admire the island as they walk and talk, but Mac is focused on the literal aspects of the case at hand. Kim explains the situation to them as they shortcut through the Waikanaloa Wet Caves.
“Magnificent.” Riley Davis breathes out.
She zones out as she takes in how the bright lights and colors replicate on the rock walls. There is an undernourished, hushed lake of still water along said walls. The mystics leave the walls as quickly as they appear. In the pit of her stomach, the nature of this scenery pulls her back to her childhood of neglect and abandonment. As she carries after the rest of her crew, the wonders reappear on the walls, and a new sense of astonishment surges through Riley’s mind and body.
She catches the tail end of Mac’s explanation on their upcoming hiking expedition. She faintly registers Jack’s mild-mannered complaints, and she notices Kim has long since gone and left them. After walking a good distance through sandy woodlands, the team comes across a gathering of ligneous signs, threatening residents and visitors to be wary of the tide’s strength. Bozer reads aloud a few specific signs commemorating those who have lost their lives at this spot. Mac clears his throat to signal to the others to follow him since he’s gone farther than them. A brief walk down the way, amidst the rocky shoreline, Jack, Bozer, and Riley come to what gives the impression to be an ordinary natural swimming pool. At the moment it’s calm, and Mac forgoes the lovely view to busy himself with stalks of bamboo.
“You think we have time to swim?” Bozer questions the others.
“Queen’s Bath.” Mac gestures to the pool with a nod. “Circumstances can change rapidly, so swim at your own risk.”
Bozer frowns. “I’ll… just take in the view.”
Jack and Riley smirk but say nothing. No sooner than they had spoken, the waves turn toward disaster. It looks like a miniature white water rafting adventure. The trio sets their eyes on the hypnotizing pool but they are called away by Mac clearing his throat, yet again.
“We need to get to Rock Quarry Beach.”
Bozer sighs but gets up and follows his friend. Before Mac gave him a true career to finesse his skills, Wilt Bozer was merely fixated on his filmmaking vocation in his spare time all the while flipping burgers at his day job. He may have been hurtled into this frenzied world through lies and secrets, but it was easy for Bozer to forgive his close friend after witnessing and understanding the chaos and internal battles Mac needs to go through every day. There is a lot to be dealt with; he fully comprehends this. His expert skills are set to the side during this case while he instead admires the beauty of nature.
The water crashes and succumbs from the lochs and pockets of the coastline. Unique in its coastal panorama and stone constructions, the island becomes almost meditative. Bozer mindlessly watches as Mac formulates a trap for the captors of their powerful hostage. He knows the basics of the plan, but he cannot help but be distracted by the wonderment at each passing second. It is getting closer to the sunset, which is the pinnacle of their time limit. Mac leads the team through an uncanny grimy valley, leading to Kauai’s famous Na Pali Coast. Queen Lydia Liiuokalani’s great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter Leilani Kapiolani is being held hostage at the Kalalau Lookout.
Bozer nearly trips as he pulls down a mango from a tree along the Pihea Trail. “This mango tastes like a coconut!”
Jack and Riley chuckle quietly. They continue their trek down the uneven coast, trailing off at the Pu’u O Kila which is inscribed as the culmination of the road. They arrive at Kokee State Park and come across an invisible fence similar to one his grandfather set up when Angus MacGyver was twelve. The tween discovered a dog running wild in the woods, naming him Archimedes. When young Mac grew uncomfortable with the thought of the dog he adored getting an agonizing electric shockwave, he substituted the electric shock contrivance with an alternative that made penetrating sounds only dogs could hear. Back to work with his bamboo stems and a few flint rocks, Mac makeshifts this fence in the same fashion.
The Phoenix Foundation extracts the princess from the dungeon-like hideaway. Her captors are entrapped, minus one, who chases after the group. Kim is contacted and is given the names of the government officials that have rebelled against him and their tropical countryside. Mac, Jack, Bozer, and Riley race through the Hawaiian beaches and coves, all the while protecting Leilani. Once the team joins Mac on a makeshift sled to ride down the rocky terrain, to a deserted area of one of the beaches, the other abductor opens fire. Mac crafts a boomerang-type of cyclone return device while Jack takes the reins, Bozer protects the princess, and Riley contacts Matty. A grenade is hurled at them, but Mac manages to catch it. The weaponry deflects against the criminal, throwing him off balance and creating a powerful explosion into a rising geyser.
Mac hops into the driver’s seat of a discarded jeep, jamming his iconic red Victorinox Swiss Army Knife into the ignition outlet to hotwire it. Jack climbs into the passenger seat, glancing to Mac. Riley, Leilani, and Bozer slide into the back seat. A column of fiery smolder and soil boils up from the fountain. The crater is violently disturbed from the bottom. A sequence of new blazes break out, elevating and distributing the luminescent radioactive vapors, and then a boundless gush of fire rises. An enormous ball of varicolored combustion hiccups skyward, leaving a succession of smoke-rings to drift more gradually after it.
“Mac?” Jack’s voice cuts in. “We gonna go?”
Blondie glimpses around the vehicle. No one is chasing them anymore, and Matty is on the speakerphone. Mayor Harry Kim is calling for him over the radio, and Princess Leilani wants to go home. Gears begin to shift in Mac’s mind, and he realizes he’s been drawn into the beauty of destructive Hawaiian nature. Riley quells Kim’s frantic questioning by clearing up the past few hours. Matty demands to hear from Mac, and he finally tears his gaze away from the blast.
“Mac, what happened to you? What is going on over there?”
“Everything went in every possible direction, and it all just slowed down.”
“Mac?”
“Like a flower blooming for the first time.”
Jack takes the phone from him as Mac lays into the gas pedal to surge down the coast. The Phoenix Foundation arrives before the mayor and hands over Leilani to her mother. They hitch a ride on a similar jet from earlier, and they leave the beautiful Hawaiian island for the city.