MacGyver (2016–…): Season 4, Episode 9 - Code + Artemis + Nuclear + N3mesis - full transcript

Los Angeles' power grid is taken hostage in a ransomware attack resulting in a citywide blackout; the team discovers that the ransomware code used was written by Riley years ago.

Angus.

I'm Auntie Gwen.

James, did you tell your son

about File 47?

47 is a hypothetical plan

to initiate a series
of natural disasters

that would plunge
the world into chaos.

This is a reset switch.

A reset switch. MacGYVER: Dad.

Someone's got to slow them down.

I'll set off
the explosion manually.



Hey.

Um, I invited some
random people over.

Hope you don't mind.

MacGYVER:
Hey, guys.

So I'd just rescued a dog,

and I told your dad that I was
trying to come up with a name.

I didn't even think that
he was listening to me,

but then he calls me
at 2:00 in morning,

"Matty, you have to
name the dog Gus.

"Research shows
that dogs respond

"to hard consonants
because they create

energy across
more frequencies."

Then he hung up.

So, did you name him Gus?



No. I named him Jim.

To Oversight.
To James MacGyver.

To James MacGyver.

Wait, you guys
know the one about Bozer

- and Oversight's bathroom, right?
- What?

Riley, nobody
wants to hear that.

False. I absolutely
want to hear about that.

Hey.

In Vietnam,

when someone dies,
we say, "Chia buon,"

which means "To divide
your sadness."

So, maybe let me
take some of it on, too?

Thanks, but

I don't really have time
to be sad. Well, Mac,

you have to give yourself... Codex is still out there.

You're worried about File 47.

My mother was convinced that
the only way to save the planet

was to wipe out a quarter of
the world's population, and now

my aunt,

the last family I have left,

is trying to put
that plan into action.

There's got to be a way. A way for what?

To save everyone.

Uh, hey, Mac.

Probably one
of Mac's experiments.

Mac, what'd you do now?

No, it wasn't me
this time, I swear.

Uh...

L.A. forget to pay
its electric bill?

The city's power grid
has just been hacked.

Guess that means I'm up.

Okay. Bozer, you're with me.
The rest of you,

get Riley downtown.

Yeah.

Leonard Hawkes,
Incident Commander.

Everybody's here.

DWP, Police, Fire, Transpo,

even those chuckleheads
from Sanitation.

Welcome to the suck.

How widespread is the outage?

You can drive from
Santa Monica up to Palmdale

without hitting a light.

The whole county?

Hospitals and the like
are on backup generators,

but that won't last forever.

45 minutes with no power,

and we got looting,
traffic accidents,

fires, you name it,
and there's that.

Ransomware.

They're holding the city's
power grid hostage.

Whoever's behind this wants
12 million bucks in Bitcoin

to unfreeze everything.

- Any chance that the city will pay?
- Definitely not.

Paying the ransom just goes
to encourage future attacks.

That is true.
Well, it's a good thing

we have someone here
who can stop the ransomware.

Matty Webber mentioned that.

So, which one of you
is the convicted felon?

Convicted.
Wait,

you're the hacker? Yes, sir.

You did time? Yes, sir.

You are not... You know what?

I'm gonna stop you right there.

Because in the time it took you
to ask me dumb questions,

there were, like,
five more traffic accidents.

You want the power
back on or not?

What the...?

My techs were trying to get
past that screen for hours.

The malware looks
like it's phoning home

to a command and control server
we'll never find,

so our next best chance is...

No, that's impossible.

No way.

What is Nemesis?
What is that?

It's the name
of a notorious code.

They used it
to shut down the grid.

Wait, you've seen this before?

Yeah.

I wrote it.

You know what?
I think they're so cute.

No.
It's just like a wonton.

I don't want to think about it.

You should
think about it. I don't want...

Ladies.

Eat it. It's weird that
you're trying to feed me.

Children.

I've gathered you here today

'cause I decided
to field-test our little code.

Hmm.

Wait, do you mean Nemesis?
Because that

was supposed to just be
an intellectual exercise.

Tell that to the ATM
across the street.

You're my hero.

This is gonna be awesome.

Oh, come on, Peyton,

you put in six months
of late nights

working on this badass code.

It's time to see it in action.

Right?

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

It pinged the host processor.

It freaking works.

I have sent dozens of e-mails
warning them

about these zero-day
vulnerabilities.

E-mails.

God, you are so boring.
Okay, just, here, give me this.

Take it away.

No way.

Nice.

If you really want
to get their attention,

you got to think big.

Kai.

"Time to kick things up
a notch."

Oh, my God! Wait, what?!

Oh! Riley, what are you doing?

The only way
they'll fix the problem

is if you show them
they have something to lose.

That's stealing.

I like to think
of it as getting paid

for doing our civic duty.

Mm-hmm. That's
chump change to those

multibillion-dollar
corporations.

Do you guys fully grasp
what Nemesis is capable of?

We agreed to use this for good.

Ugh. What does that even mean? RILEY: No.

Peyton's right. We agreed
we'd be white hat hackers,

the good guys.

Today was just
a test. Relax.

Everything's gonna be fine.

All right,

move away
from the keyboard... Hold on.

She's trying to help.

We never intended for it
to be used like this.

Who's "we"?

Me, Peyton and...

Kai.

Is that the DWP
main control center?

Yes. She launched the ransomware

by physically accessing
the electrical grid.

It's riskier in the short term

but leaves fewer digital
bread crumbs to trace.

You wrote this thing.

Can't you make it go away?

Ransomware has two elements:

the code that encrypts it

and the master key
that unlocks it.

Without that key,
I can't stop this.

If I had
the original source code,

I could create a new one,
but I destroyed mine years ago.

It's possible Kai or Peyton
still have their copies.

And I'm guessing it's gonna be
tough to find Kai?

If she's hiding off grid,
we won't find her. Which leaves Peyton.

I doubt she'll even talk to me.

I need to loop Matty in.

In the meantime, try not to Y2K

what's left of the city.

Oh... I like him.

You all right, Mac?

There's too many
people in danger.

If Codex has their way,
it's gonna be this

and a lot worse.

You know, you've
been through a lot.

Maybe you should
sit this one out.

I'm fine.

All right.

Backup generator's up.

We have power.

Now, in order to stop Kai,

we need to see if
your old friend Peyton

still has a copy of
the original source code.

We haven't spoken in years.

Heard she discovered
a critical bug

inside voting machines.

Sold the patch for millions.

Which she used to launch her
own cybersecurity company.

I mean, I think it's cool.

She's a role model
for young women in tech.

It's pretty nice to have
someone to look up to.

Mmm.

Pork buns are the only
desert island food

I need.

Yeah.♪ Jingle bells swing and...

For you.Mmm.

For you.♪ Snowin' and blowin' up

♪ Bushels of fun

♪ Now the jingle hop has begun

Artemis Jayn signature series?

These are collector's items.

"Time to kick things
up a notch," baby.: Oh, yeah.

You dropped some
serious coin on this. Thank you.

This is a lot of money.♪ In the frosty air

Which brings me to my next gift.

♪ What a bright time

♪ It's the right time

♪ To rock the night away.

For months now,

we've been using our code
to work for the banks.

Chump change. Aren't
you guys getting tired

of the minor leagues?

We've been putting Nemesis
to good use.

And it's boring.

Is this a red pill,
blue pill situation?

'Cause I like them both.

It's a job. You guys,
Nemesis is famous.

People are
paying attention. Who for?

The Collective. KAI: What?

No way.

Way. PEYTON:
Guys, we made this program

to expose vulnerabilities.

To make the world a safer place.

Not for profit.

It's not about the money.

Okay, yeah.
The money's amazing,

but this is The Collective!

This is bigger than Anonymous.

You guys, this is
the big leagues.

It's our time to step up.

When do we start?

I have to think about this.

Look. Peyton, I-I know
you want to believe

this is white hats
versus black hats,

but what if I told you there's
a whole amazing, complicated

world out there
that's just... gray?

Do you trust me?

Hey. Thanks for coming.

This is about Kai, isn't it?

Yeah, she hacked the power grid.

She's out of control.

Yeah.
So...

how was prison?

There was a lot of
time to reflect...

about how everything went down.

These people...
Phoenix, they...

they took me in.

Gave me a chance to use
my skills for good.

The way you always wanted me to.

Well...
looks like you traded in

one family for another.

I thought you'd be
better off without me.

And look at you.

Look at everything
you've accomplished.

For what it's worth...

I'm really proud of you.

Maybe when all this is over,
we can get some dumplings?

Oh.

I hate dumplings.

The source code for Nemesis.

Time to get to work.

Nice.

Sure beats sitting
in L.A. traffic.

I used the source code
to create a new master key

that should unlock
the ransomware.

Only downside is, it has
to be physically plugged

into each power facility,
so we got to do this

one at a time. Well, Hawkes told us
to start here.

This will get power
to the most people the quickest.

Hi.

Phil Lasky, lead S.R.O.

I hear you can connect us
to the grid.

Yes. From your lips

to her ears. Uh, thanks.

Well, you're operating in
critical hot standby mode?

Oh, you know your stuff.

When we got locked out
of the city's power grid,

as a safety precaution,
I immediately

tripped the reactor
and dropped the control rods. Control rods?

You could think
of the control rods

like the brakes on a car.

When they're dropped,
the engine idles.

Take them out,
it's like hitting the gas.

Exactly.
You a nuclear physicist?

No. It's just a hobby.

Ah.

Okay. We're ready.

But once I execute the file

to reconnect the plant
to the grid,

the network will reboot.

So nobody panic.

Okay.

It worked.

Our main generator
is parallel to the grid.

All right. Oliver, Peters,
withdraw control rods

three steps at a time

until the reaction's
critical, and then raise

power to 15%.

We've got a lot of toasters
to turn on, people.

Let there be light.

Excellent work, Riley.

All right, let's go.
Hawkes says our next stop

is the Keswick Dam.

He also called me a
horse's ass for no reason.

Really digging the guy.

Peters. I said slow
with the control rods.

The reaction's accelerating
way too fast.

It's not us.

The system isn't responding.

It's blowing past
all the reactor trips.

The rods are pulling
up on their own.

Looks like Reactor One's
coolant pumps are shutting down.

There's no water pumping
through the core.

What the hell's going on here?

Looks like your system's gone
a little bit bonkers here.

Or maybe it's Kai.

When the system rebooted,
the firewall went down.

The plant was vulnerable, but
just for a fraction of a second.

But that's all she needed
to take control.

The ransomware was a setup.

She knew this would
be our next stop

and waited for me to
drop the firewall.

But... why?

The control
rods are fully raised.

The reactor core's temperature's

going through the roof.

Did Kai just cut the brakes
and hit the gas? MacGYVER: Yes.

And she's steering us
right towards

a nuclear meltdown.

Where are we
on an evacuation plan?

The airports and train terminals
aren't back on their feet yet.

As far as the roads,

the blackout turned I.A.'s
freeways into a parking lot,

and people are getting violent,
so business as usual.

Mac, how much time
do we have to evacuate the city

before meltdown?

MacGYVER:
Uh, it's hard to say.

I mean, the core temperature
is rising fast,

but not at a steady rate.
It's all over the place.

And at what temperature
does the core melt down?

3,270 degrees Fahrenheit.

So, uh, best guess,
five or six hours.

People will
never get out in time.

Once the public gets word
of what's happening,

panic will cost lives
before a meltdown.

I'm ordering
an information blackout.

News of the situation at the
nuclear plant cannot get out.

Is this clear? Crystal. Riley, how can we stop
your hacker friend?

I don't know.
Kai has control.

I... I just let her in.Riley...

No matter what I do,
I can't get,

I can't get ahead of this thing.Riley...

None of my codes are working.♪ By yon bonnie banks

What the hell
just happened? You were spiraling.

I had to distract you
using a non sequitur.

It's an old psyops trick.

Wow. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

The-There is one way
to get control of the plant,

but I need Kai's computer.

Like, like, in my hands.
I need to find Kai.

Okay, while you're
doing that, Lasky,

I need your help.

We can't stop the meltdown,

but maybe we can buy her
some time. Taylor?

So we can hear!

Here's Reactor
One's coolant pump.

Which does what exactly? Okay,

think of a nuclear power plant

like, uh, a really high-tech
teakettle.

A fission reaction creates steam
which rises, spinning a turbine,

generating electricity.

This pump moves seawater

through the core
to keep it cool.

Well, it did until
the hackers turned it off. MacGYVER: Right, so,

to delay the meltdown, what we
need to do is create a new pump,

one that is separate from the
plant's computer system,

one that will move seawater

from the ocean
to the reactor's core.

O-Okay. Let's say we can.

If the water evaporates
too quickly...

Yeah, the fuel casings will heat
up, interact with the steam,

and split the hydrogen.

And then we're dealing
with a combustible gas.

As in kaboom?

As in Fukushima.

That's a bit risky. Yes,

but Riley needs
more time to find Kai.

This will give it to her.

All right, so what do you need? All right.

I need, uh, two Jet Skis...

Jet Skis? Yeah, I saw them
in the parking lot.

I'm gonna need their
blades and their motors.

Then I need a dozen firehoses,

a ton of duct tape, and
lots of car batteries.

All right, well,
as far as his usual

shopping list goes, I'd say we
got off pretty lightly. Come on.

Jet Skis?

What are you doing?

What the hell?

The FBI is gonna raid
this place any minute.

Why? We didn't do anyth...

I did.

The less you guys know,
the better.

This is not how this works.

We are in this together.

I'm the one
who got us into this.

I got us pulled
into The Collective.

You guys have to go!

Kai, get her out of here.
Take your rigs and go, now!

But we're-we're-we're a family.

Go!
Come on!

FBI! Open up!

Peyton! This is your last chance!

Open the door!

Hands!

Hands in the air!

Riley Davis, you're under arrest

for unauthorized access to
the National Security Agency.

Anything you say
can and will be used

against you in a court of law.

You have the right

to an attorney.

Riley.

Riley. Riley.

Any progress?

Um,

there's nearly a million
unique IP addresses

to sort through.

Kai covered her tracks...
really well.

Okay, forget about
all of this tech stuff,

and try to hack Kai, the person.

What do you mean? Well, I mean,

she's hiding
from forensic experts

and law enforcement, right?

What do you know about her
that they don't?

Pork buns.

Come again?

Pork buns.

She-she was obsessed with
them, she ate 'em every day.

I can cross-reference

the physical locations
of these IP addresses

with dim sum orders
from food delivery apps.

Yes, Desi!

The other end of the hose

is connected to the Jet Ski
in the water...

is a sentence I never
thought I'd say.

My guy's ready to turn it on

whenever we say so.

All right, well,
no time like the present.

Do it.

Hey.

My techs say the core temp
acceleration has slowed.

Nice work.

More good news.

Riley and Desi say they have
a lead on Kai's location.

Yeah, that's-that's great.

What's the matter?

You're doing that looking off
into the distance thing

as if you've lost your horse
at the Ponderosa.

Okay, so Riley said
that Kai's M.O.

was hacking for money, which
means that she was hired

by someone with deep pockets.

Someone who we know wants
to cause mass destruction.

Codex.
Yes.

I mean, nuclear meltdown
sure seems

like a page from their playbook.

Well, that's true,
but they don't

exactly have
the market cornered.

It could be terrorists,
hostile governments, anyone.

I'm telling you, Russ,
something's happening here.

And we need to be ready for it.

Are you sure this is the place?

It's a crazy amount of bandwidth

considering we're
in the middle of a blackout.

Not to mention those.

So, where's Kai?

Get down!

Riley?

I know. We have a lot to
talk about, but right now

I need your laptop so I
can stop the meltdown.

What meltdown?

Look, we already know you
used Nemesis to own the grid

and then took control of the
San Eurosia Nuclear Power Plant.

I didn't do anything
to a reactor.

I got paid to hack into the DWP.
That's it.

You know,
we don't have time for this.

I'm telling the truth!

Riley, look at me.

Then we need a name, Kai, now.

I can't give you one.Riley...

No, I... I can't give you one
because I don't know.

It was through
a Dark Web protocol.

Whoever it was made sure
they'd never be found.

That was Desi.
They've hit a dead end.

Well, at least it's slowed down,

thanks to your Jet Ski pump.

Yeah, but not slow enough.

In less than an hour,
this reactor is gonna have

its own chapter
in the history books.

Where's Lasky?

Uh, he was here just a minute...

Mac?

What do we do?

What's the call?

We're going to alert FEMA
and the NRC

that there's
a radiological emergency.

They'll set up a 50-mile

EPZ around the reactor.

We're giving up?

No. But if we can't stop it,

we have to save as
many lives as we can.

It was a blast

hanging with you and Peyton
for a while,

but nothing lasts forever.

Oh, come on, Kai.
It was more than that.

I'm not a white hat hacker,
Riley.

I do it for the money.

I do it for the thrill.

I think you know
what that's like.

That's not who I am anymore.

Sure.

Matty's calling FEMA.

They've slowed it down,
but they can't stop it.

Four million people.

Four million?
What do you mean four million?

They're all gonna die?

It's a nuclear meltdown in one
of the most populated cities

in the country.
Yeah, we're all gonna die.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't sign
up for an Armageddon.

Oh... okay, so, look.

I... I might have done something
you told me to never do.

I left a bread crumb
in the code.

Actually, an Evercookie.

Are you serious?

In my payment receipt,
I can ping an IMEI number.

All I got was "cookie."

Whoever's behind this,
I can trace their cell phone.

Mac!

What happened? This seam ruptured.

Hand me the duct tape.

What is it?

Not here. Come on.

The pump was sabotaged.

What? You don't know that.

The tape could have loosened
from the pressure.

Do I really have to
spell this out for you?

Kai said she was hired
by an anonymous group,

and Codex always has
someone on the inside.

Is it possible? Yes.

Or you could just be
jumping to conclusions.

How could you, of all people,
be so blind?

Because this isn't your instinct
talking, nor your experience

nor your logic. This is trauma.

Oh, spare me. Isn't there
some sort of taboo in psyops

against analyzing
your coworkers 24-7?

I am trying to talk to you
as a friend.

Instead of taking
even one second

to deal
with your father's death,

you're putting all your energies

into some sort
of Codex paranoia.

I am trying to help you, Angus. You want to
be helpful?

Why don't you keep
an eye on the pump?

I'll go find our saboteur.

Someone over there
has the laptop

with control
of the nuclear plant.

Okay. We going in
guns blazing or ninja style?

Not knowing what we're up
against, my vote's for ninjas.

Let's go.

Wait, you're just
gonna leave me?

What if... We fail and you die

along with the rest of us

in a nuclear meltdown
that you helped cause?

Kick some ass.

You have to
stop calling me here.

All right. Let's get
everything loaded up ASAP.

Almost ready.

There's the laptop.

I told you, this isn't smart.

I'm gonna get caught.

I promise to call
when I know more.

I have to get back
before I'm missed.

How could you do that? I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I had no choice.

Sabotaging that pump
means millions of lives

are on your hands!

Stop right there.

What? Sabotage?

You really think Codex is gonna
save the world by destroying it?

Codex? What?
I-I don't know what that is.

I was on the phone with my wife.

I know there was an
information blackout,

but I have to get my
kids out. I just have to.

Phil? Phil, are you there?

Peyton?

I don't understand.

I'm only trying to make
the world safe.

It's "time to kick things
up a notch."

I'm sorry.

It's the hydrogen sensor. TAYLOR: Is this the thing
we talked about earlier

but decided to deal with later?

If we don't expunge the hydrogen
from the core,

the containment wall will blow
and spray a radioactive cloud

over all of Southern California.

Lasky, I'm sorry. I think you
should call your wife back.

I'll do it later.

Please, I think
you should do it now.

Get everyone out.

Take the truck.
We're running out of time.

I won't be long.

This isn't you.

You don't see
the big picture yet,

but this is just like before.

I'm doing my civic duty.

It's the only way
to save the world.

By endangering lives?

Can't get hold of Desi or Riley.

What do we do?

We believe that
they'll come through,

and the moment that they do,
we drop the control rods

and turn on the coolant pumps.

As long as that gauge
doesn't hit 3,270,

we can stop the meltdown.

Don't we still have the problem
of too much hydrogen in the core

leading to a deadly
radioactive explosion?

Thanks for the reminder,
Debbie Downer.

Yes, well, I'm British.
We're taught

from a very early age
to be disappointed.

Wait a second.
What-what if we open the valves

and flood nitrogen gas
into the reactor?

Which would expunge the hydrogen
and prevent an explosion.

Exactly. I'll go.
Wait!

Nobody knows this plant better
than me. Yeah, but, Lasky,

you have a family.
I'm not letting you go. If I'm putting

my kids' lives in someone's
hands, it's gonna be mine.

Well, it's up to Riley now.

This country's cybersecurity
is pathetic.

I saw it first with Nemesis.

A couple lines of code, and the
whole world comes crashing down.

But then I remembered,

the only way to fix
the problem is to...

Show them
they have something to lose.

When the world sees what happens

here today,
they will finally understand

what needs to be done.

You know, when I started
working at Phoenix,

I felt really lucky
I'd been given a second chance

to be more like you.

Meanwhile, here I was thinking

Riley Davis was right all along.

The world is just
shades of gray.

It's done.

And there's nothing
you can do to stop it.

Up against the car.

We've got about
two minutes until meltdown.

The guts are still running.

She only hit the screen.

Here goes everything.

We have control of the system.

Engage M5-10.

Let's take it
into hot standby mode.

What's going on? They're,
uh, starting the reactor

coolant pumps and
inserting the control rods

to lower the core temperature.

She did it.

What's wrong?
Hit the scram button.

There's a built-in
safety measure.

Lowering the control rods at
this temperature will seal

the reactor room door. And Lasky will be trapped.

Well, just let him out
after you save the city.

No, no, no, a part of the
by-product of the interaction

between hydrogen and nitrogen

is all the oxygen gets
sucked out of the room.

If we close the doors,
Lasky will suffocate.

Well, I'm gonna go get him. No, no, no,
there's no time. Look.

It's him, or it's the city.

What do I do?

We can't save everyone.

Reactor room doors are sealed.

Control rods are down.

Core temp holding steady.

Now dropping.

I'm getting green lights.

It's over.

I made the call
to Lasky's family.

Took care of all
the arrangements.

They'll be looked after,
but, of course,

nothing will ever be enough.

Any word from Angus?

He hasn't responded to any texts

- or calls.
- Well,

if there's any silver lining,

I just got word

from the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.

They're overhauling

security at every one of their
nuclear plants in the country.

I was expecting more of a medal
than a jail cell.

I did help save the city,
after all.

My boss has some pull.
I'll make sure they take that

into consideration
at sentencing.

And if Phoenix happens
to have another one

of those pardons lying around,

I'd gladly accept.

If I hadn't insisted we get
involved with The Collective,

you two wouldn't be on
the wrong side of this glass.

Okay, cool it with the whole
butterfly effect thing.

These were my choices,

and I'm prepared to
face the consequences.

But I need your help
with one thing.

I need you to smuggle
something in here for me.

Two orders barbecue pork buns?

Anything for my sis.

You, uh...

you don't lock
your door anymore?

World's ending.
Haven't you heard?

What if it's true?

What if we can't save everyone?

We'll, uh...

We'll find a way, Angus.

No one has to die.

Tell that to Lasky.

When I was nine,

I took apart the engine
of my dad's jeep.

When he, uh,

came down for work, he said,

"Well, I guess we know what
you're doing for your summer."

He probably could've put
it back together in a day,

but he wanted me to learn.

Took me seven weeks.

He took the bus to work
that whole time.

What is that?

My dad left a, a goodbye.

I've been trying to for days,

but I just can't bring myself
to watch it.

Why not?

Because it's all I've got left.

Once I watch this, then, uh,

he's gone forever.

He's gone, my mom's gone.

I'm all alone.

You're not alone, Angus.

I'll watch it with you. Come on.

Angus,

if you're watching this, then...

you know.

I wish that there was,

there was more time for us,

but I need you
to listen to something

very carefully right now.

44, eight, two, 12,

11, 75, seven,

31, 51, 77,

two, 11, 38, 53,

51, 77, two, 11.

You got that, son?

Whoa.

So much for closure.

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