MacGyver (1985–1992): Season 6, Episode 9 - Bitter Harvest - full transcript

Halt! Halt!

Can't go this way, sir.

I'm just trying to get to
the garage over here.

Sorry, but I got a
bigger problem right now.

You'll have to turn around.

Stop the spray
today! Stop the spray today!

Stop the spray today!
Stop the spray today!

Growers and
contractors in this valley

have robbed you once again...

and are poisoning
you and your families.

Why should we risk our health,



our lives, our children,

Because of their
apathy and greed?

now... now how can state
and government agencies

allow the spraying
of toxic chemicals

with known effects
on human health?

With deadly effects on
birds and fish and wildlife,

With the poisoning of
our air, our soil, our water.

Now I believe...

I believe that
future generations

will look back at the
20th century's use

of toxic pesticides

in... in food production
as just total madness.

Farm workers must be
informed about the dangers

we face every day.



Can you hear us? Can
you hear us, Mr. Kasabian?

Our vineyards are clean.

We observe the pesticide laws.

The laws are weak.

Enforcement is in the hands
of government agencies

Run by the growers for
the benefit of growers!

We've got to do
something about Garcia.

My father's tied my hands.

- Garcia knows.
- So concerned about your workers,

Explain the slavery
in your fields.

The deplorable conditions.

The... the low
wages, long hours.

Why don't you
balance your speeches

With the truth, Mr. Garcia?

This man is using
some personal tragedy

to incite unrest.

I'm a grower,

and I care about my
workers. I care about all of you.

Your speeches are
exaggerations and distortions.

Hey, explain to me

why workers who complained
about being sent out into the fields

too soon after
spraying were dismissed

after seeking medical
help for nausea,

Blurred vision,
burns of the skin?

That happened in
someone else's fields.

Not mine.

A contract would
help us see to it

that no worker is
hospitalized again

for exposure to
toxic pesticides.

you're gonna end up hospitalized

if you don't keep
your mouth shut.

He's a liar!

You shut your mouth!

You're under arrest! Now move!

Stay here!

Hey, hey!

Hey, man, this is illegal.

Whatever happened, uh, to the
constitution and freedom of speech?

Right, man!

Hector Lopez.

- Yeah?
- Lopez, Lopez.

Mr. Kasabian posted bail.

Posted bail?

Well, that's a joke.

I mean, you weren't supposed
to be here in the first place.

Shut up, silva.

Hey, I got an idea.

Maybe you should get a nametag

that says "kasabian chump."

And that way, you know, the
police won't get you mixed up with us.

Hey, Alex!

Hector's not the problem here.

Hey, compadre.

You do what you
have to do, okay?

Okay.

We made a good
showing of ourselves.

The day is coming

when the grapes will
no longer be washed

with the tears and
blood of farm workers.

Nice speech.

You're starting to
sound like a politician.

Uh, excuse me.

I'm sorry.

Aren't you guys
on the same side?

You stay out of this. I
mean, nobody asked you.

Hey, nobody asked
him to fight for us, either.

Excuse my brother-in-law.

He's young.

Tony Garcia.

MacGyver.

I was kind of interested in
what you were saying out there.

Yeah? I wish others
were as interested.

You know, they conduct
investigations after investigation,

and then they say they don't know
what causes the health problems.

We live in an area

That's flooded with pesticides.

I-I-It's exactly what
happened in mcfarland.

What do you mean?

He means the cancer
clusters among the children.

It's... it's happening here.

Just like in mcfarland.

Three times the
national average.

Well, you know,

I've read about the
mcfarland studies,

- and...
- I know, I know, I know.

They say that cancer
may include factors

such as our hard
life, uh, poverty,

exposure to all kinds of
things, including fertilizer

And bad plumbing.

Can you discount that?

Yes, I can.

See, in my opinion,

our children are exposed to
pesticides when they play outdoors,

when they hug their mothers and
fathers returning from the fields,

and I believe, despite
government findings,

When they drink our water.

I've read a lot of those
government studies.

They seem to be
trying to get all the facts.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, see, but we don't
need any more government studies,

or... or committees,
or experts, right?

What we need

is recognition from the growers
that addresses our concerns.

It's what we believe
is happening to us.

See, that's what we need.

But this
is what we get.

Okay, on your feet.

Let's get a move on here.

Time to go home, everybody.

Aw, so soon?

You
know, you could hold us.

Keep talking, silva, and I will.

Let's move it, people.

You're a liar and a
troublemaker, Tony.

I know the growers
in this valley.

The majority of them are
good, law-abiding people,

especially caspar kasabian.

But he is the biggest
one and once I have him,

I have the ones that
do endanger my people.

That is totally unfair.

The farm inspectors
do a good job out here.

There aren't enough of them.

We live in a real
world, for god's sake.

The growers follow
pesticide regulations.

Most of the growers aren't in their
own fields doing the picking, sheriff.

We are.

Well, you listen up, mister.

The things you are saying are
unproven and erroneous scare tactics.

And it better stop.

Now are we through, sheriff?

Yeah, I'm through with you.

Where are you staying?

Not really sure.

Are you staying?

Not really sure
about that, either.

It all kind of depends on when I
can get my car back on the road.

Yeah, figures.

That's his way of saying thanks.

What's he got to thank me for?

Caring.

I'll tell you what. It's too
late to get your car fixed now.

Um, I'll call my nephew,
tow it back to my place,

and fix it for you
in the morning.

Tonight, you can stay
with me and my family, huh?

What do you say?

I say muchas gracias.

You must be glad you came
this way, huh, MacGyver?

Well, someday I'll learn
to drive on the interstates.

Actually, you've... you've
come at a very interesting time.

I've just received some
information that, if true,

could help change
things around here.

What kind of information?

Well, at this point, I
think it's best left unsaid.

Tell me, MacGyver,
you got any kids?

No.

I have a 12-year-old. Natalie.

Wait till you meet her.

Oh, my god!

What are they doing?

Run, MacGyver, run!

You gotta go!

Tony.

You were sprayed.

And hit.

Workers found you in
the field this morning.

You were hosed off, but
you should still see a doctor.

I am Carmen Garcia.

My husband, Tony,

he was with you last
night. He's missing.

We have searched all over.

What happened?

That description could fit any
truck in the county, Mr. MacGyver.

Well, why don't you try
starting with the kasabians?

Sheriff, the front Fender
of the truck that hit us

has got to be dented.

Garcia's vehicle was found
abandoned outside of town,

Burned in a wreck.

I sure didn't see
any bullet holes.

It was a shotgun.

What are you, some
kind of weapons expert?

It was a shotgun.

Look, will you just tell us
what you're doing to find Tony?

That's police business, silva.

I'll conduct the
investigation as I see fit.

- That's what I was afraid of.
- Don't give me any of your mouth.

- Well, then why don't you...
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on.

Sheriff,

Tony Garcia was chased,

And he was shot at
and now he's missing.

You've got a
description of the truck,

and, sheriff, I would
think you'd want to find it.

Don't push me, Mr. MacGyver.

I'm trying to help.

Help?

Know what I think? I
think you're an organizer.

You drove into this town
just looking for trouble.

Well, you're not here 10 minutes
and you're thrown in jail for fighting.

And now you're in here
with the local hothead,

accusing one of the most
upstanding citizens of this county

of murder.

Let me give you some advice.

Soon as your car is
fixed, get out of town.

And just keep going.

When I'm ready to, sheriff.

Yeah, this is where I was hit.

And Tony ran up this way.

You okay?

I hope so.

You know, I heard a story
about a worker in Texas

who was applying, uh,

dinoseb with a backpack,
uh, type sprayer.

You know, he wore regular
clothes, not protective clothing.

Well, it leaked.

Next day, he
collapsed in the fields.

Contractor gave him aspirin,

which makes the
dinoseb poisoning worse.

He died an hour later, with a
temperature of 110 degrees.

Now dinoseb is against the law.

Well, that makes me
feel a lot better. Thanks.

It's not Tony's.

Must have belonged to one
of the guys that jumped you.

Tony's blood?

I did hear two gunshots.

Look, I didn't
know him very well.

But he sure seemed
like a friend to me.

Yeah.

That's the way it was with him.

You know, this
won't prove anything.

Yeah. I know.

I gotta go tell my sister.

We'll get them.

I swear to you, we'll get them.

At night,

Tony would confide in me.

He knew he was in danger.

They would only
allow him to push so far

before they would
try to stop him.

Um...

he told me he had
some information

that might change
things here in the valley.

Did he ever mention
anything like that to you?

Only that he suspected
kasabian of illegal activity.

When Tony got
proof, he would use it

to pressure them into

signing a contract to
protect the workers.

Tony believed that
would be the only way

that... that we
could win this war.

You know, that we
wouldn't have to wait for, uh,

for Sacramento or Washington

to, you know, to pass
laws to protect us.

And now it's too late.

Mama, what's wrong?

No! No!

No!

No!

How's Natalie?

She'll be okay.

one good thing about
Natalie's handicap,

it makes her strong.

I...

Worked in the fields into my
seventh month of pregnancy.

They used to spray
the fields at night,

And every day when we worked.

You noticed this smell.

I used to get sick often,

but I thought it
was the pregnancy.

When Natalie was born, her
leg was not formed properly.

And you think it was
from the pesticides?

We're poor people, Mr. MacGyver.

Many things contribute
to birth defects.

There's no proof, but...

But that's what
Tony believed, right?

Yes.

That's when he quit
work in the fields.

He vowed that no
other child or parent

Should have to suffer so much.

A fine dream.

But now it's dead.

Like Tony.

Carmen.

There is no reason in the world

why Tony's work has to die, too.

Who's gonna follow
in his footsteps?

Alex? You?

No one.

But we can all do our part.

But how?

Lopez,

if any of this bunch
is rabble-rousing,

I want to know about it.

We can't stop
them all from talking.

If they get the kind of
agreements that they're after,

labor contractors like
me will be out of business.

Just tell me who
the agitators are.

I'll take care of it from there.

There's one right there.

Get outta here.

Troublemakers don't work for me.

I don't need to work
for you to make trouble.

Get on up there.

Excuse me.

Is there any drinking
water around?

Uh,

Excuse me.

Is there a bathroom?

Really.

Yours?

Isn't yours.

Well, it was on the
ground. I just put it back.

Now I remember
you. From yesterday.

You're the gabacho that
went in to help Tony Garcia.

Big help, huh?

You know, you're
crazy coming out here.

No, I need the work.

Yeah, right. You're probably
one of those organizers.

No, I'm not.

But I did want to see what
Tony Garcia was fighting for.

Tony's my friend. We grew up
together working in these fields.

He tried to get me to
leave here to go with him.

But supporting my
family comes first.

You know there's a good
chance that Tony Garcia is dead.

Murdered.

I don't know anything
about a murder.

You know where to find him?

No, and why should I?
Now get off kasabian's land!

How?

It's 20 miles to town.

Crawl, for all I care.

Oh.

Good morning.

Hi.

You missed mass, but
mama said to let you sleep.

Oh, that's a good choice.

Where's she?

She and uncle Alex
are still at the church.

Here are the
things you asked for.

Sunglasses and
nail Polish remover.

Oh, that's great.

Polarized. Perfect.

Can you pop the
lenses out of that?

Okay.

That's a microscope?

Actually, it's a spectroscope.

I can't make a microscope.

See anything?

Take a look.

Wow. Crystals.

Yeah, and they're melting.

What does that mean?

Well, I have to verify it.

But I think I know
what your dad was onto.

Nick, I checked on that
outsider I told you about.

Carlos got the report on his
fingerprints from the sheriff's station.

And?

His name's MacGyver.

He works for the
Phoenix foundation.

Look, Hector, get the big truck

and meet us over
at the warehouse.

MacGyver.

Is he the one who
was with Tony Garcia?

Yeah.

And we've got ourselves
a major problem.

So we'll just get rid of the
evidence, and then MacGyver.

Let's go.

All right. Thanks,
Pete. I'll be here.

It's Alex.

He's gone to the kasabian farm.

What for?

Uh, we saw our
friend, Juan, at church.

He owns the auto body shop.

Yesterday, he repaired a
Fender on Nick kasabian's truck.

We better report
that to the police.

Juan did.

That's why Alex is so angry.

He says the police
have done nothing.

Well, how does Alex
know what they've done?

He doesn't. I said the same
thing, but Alex would not listen.

MacGyver,

I'm afraid he's going
to do something foolish.

Um...

I ran a test on
kasabian's grapes.

I think he's spraying a
growth enhancer called fix.

I've... I've heard of it.

Yeah. It's illegal on grapes.

All right, listen. There's a team
from the Phoenix foundation

coming here to run some tests.

You meet them. I'll find Alex.

Okay.

I need to talk to you.

Later, okay, dad?
I'm kind of busy.

Now.

I got a call from the sheriff.

Yeah? So what's he want?

- Another contribution for his campaign fund?
- He wants to talk to you.

I got nothing to say
to that rent-a-cop.

All right. Then you tell me.

How'd your truck get banged up?

You know, I really don't know.

Someone must have smashed
into it when it was parked.

Yeah, Davis thinks that
you may know something

about what happened
to Tony Garcia.

Well, I don't.

Nick, contrary
to what you think,

I don't own the
police department.

They're gonna
start investigating

Tony Garcia's
disappearance all the way.

Sounds like you're
worried about me, dad.

Yes, i'm...

I'm worried about you.

I, uh,

went to the clinic
last night, you know,

where the workers take their
families for medical treatment?

I'm gonna start making
concessions about spraying.

You crazy?

Are you gonna give in
to a bunch of pickers?

What has happened to you?

Well, we didn't have

ddt scares 40 years ago.

We didn't have
changing climates.

There was plenty of
water. No acid rain.

And whether there's
scientific evidence or not,

I never heard of cancer
clusters among school children.

Dad, we have an entire crop
coming and we could lose it all.

Every damn grape.

Well, it wouldn't
be the first time.

Do you want to watch
this place go under?

You want to lose
it all, forever?

Your whole life's work?

I don't understand.

Yeah, I know you don't.

And I take a lot of the
responsibility for that.

Nick, where you going?

I have business to take care of.

Let it go! It's Sunday.

- I can't.
- Why?

Because! We've
been spraying fix, dad!

Since when?

Since we've been
doubling our profits.

Why wasn't I told?

What's the difference?

The only thing that matters
now is that I get it cleaned up.

Why wasn't I told?

Why wasn't I told?

Alex, no!

No!

Don't you try to stop me, man.

That tractor's
sprayed its last poison!

Hey, hey!

You blow up a spray tractor,

kasabian gets a
new spray tractor,

You get two years at soledad.

- What good are you gonna do then?
- Yeah, well,

It's something,
man, it's something.

Listen to me!

I tested one of his vines.

It looks like he's
spraying 4-cpa.

- Fix?
- Yes.

It's the information
Tony was gonna use

To pressure kasabian into
signing a union contract.

Yeah, maybe.

If your test is good.

If you know fix from fertilizer.

I mean, who are you, man?

I work for the
Phoenix foundation.

And they can help us
expose this whole thing.

Even if you're right,

One sample's not enough.

The kasabians have
high-priced lawyers.

That'll say your
tests are inconclusive,

That there's no proof it
came from their fields.

Then I'll take another sample.

Right from the
tractor. Pure fix.

No one will be able to dispute

its chemical origin
or its makeup.

This is the way Tony wanted it.

Now, are you gonna help or not?

Huh?

You won't get anything
from the tractor.

It's washed down
after the spray.

They keep the chemicals up here.

Methomyl, captan...

Both legal.

Maple syrup?

Is it fix?

I wouldn't put it
on my pancakes.

You know, killing us
isn't going to do any good.

Authorities are gonna
be all over this place.

Let 'em come.

Once we get rid of our supplies,
they'll never place it here.

Let's fertilize
section c with them.

Like we did Garcia.

No, no.

Their deaths have to
look completely accidental.

Let's go, boys.

This tank was drained yesterday.

But they haven't
bled off the co2 yet.

So the real question is,

How long can you hold
your breath, MacGyver?

What's he talking about?

When you drain a tank
you're left with two levels.

Oxygen and carbon dioxide.
So hold your breath in there.

That's right.
Oxygen on top.

But you'll be on the bottom.

Drowning in an empty
tank. I'm very sorry.

But these kind of
accidents happen.

Yeah, right, with our
hands and feet tied.

Don't worry about that.

We'll take care of
that after you're dead.

This ought to replace
what spilled out the door.

That won't last long.

They're dead by now. Get
inside and get the ropes.

Oh, no.

You okay, man?

Yeah, I'm fine. Let's
get that sample, huh?

Let's not.

Good work, Lopez.

Shoot 'em.

Killing Tony was bad
enough. Don't make it worse.

What are you saying?

What are you doing?

What's that?

This is yours, isn't it?

It came off your
jacket, didn't it?

So what?

We found it in the field.

Where you killed Tony.

Tony's dead?

Yeah, he's dead.

And that button puts you there.

I never killed nobody.

You borrowed my jacket.

You wore it that night
when you left the pool hall.

Shut your mouth, Lopez.

You killed Tony, man.

He went with you.

You left together.

Garcia was no good.

He was a troublemaker.

He was my friend!

Lopez, no!

Hector.

Put the gun down.

Put it down.

It's over.

Thanks for, um,

Staying for the services.

Tony dreamed of stopping
the suffering in this valley.

Maybe now it will come to pass.

I hope so. I really do.

You.

- Take care of your mom.

Bye.

Back to our
music after the local news.

This is Juan velasco

reporting live from
the kasabian vineyards

Where government authorities supervised
the destruction of contaminated grapes.

Earlier today, a farm
worker named Tony Garcia

was laid to rest in our lady
of Guadalupe cemetery.

In custody without
bail for his murder

Is Nicholas kasabian, heir
to the kasabian vineyards.

Caspar kasabian,
the defendant's father

and president of the company,

has stopped using
all tox.1 pesticides,

and has volunteered
kasabian grapes

To be tested by an
independent laboratory.

Kasabian volunteered this

as a gesture of openness,

and asked that other
growers in the valley

follow his lead.

Only time will tell if they do.