BULGARIA

MacGyver had been sent on a mission to Bulgaria to acquire a piece of microfilm that contained evidence of corruption within the Bulgarian government. His contact, Anton Burak, a member of the underground who spent his days playing chess in the park, passed on the microfilm, which MacGyver concealed on a stamped postcard. The mission was meant to be simple - in for the chess game, out with the information. However, at the airport, MacGyver encountered Penny Parker, who had just ended a relationship with Stepan Frolov, and who was leaving the country with a collection of jewelry Stepan had given her. Neither Stepan nor Penny had realized that the jewels were part of the crown jewels of the German House of Hanover worth 700,000 leva, over $400,000, which had been stolen by Stepan's uncle, General Petrovich, and that the microfilm MacGyver was carrying contained the evidence of that theft. Stepan followed Penny to the airport, but when she wouldn't agree to stay with him, he asked only that she return the jewelry. However, Penny had secretly slipped the jewels into MacGyver's pocket to hide them, and when they triggered the airport metal detector, Stepan arrested and detained them both as spies. MacGyver and Penny were able to escape from the airport, but they had been identified as enemies of the state, and together they had to repeatedly evade the police while trying to retrieve the microfilm and to leave the country. MacGyver was able to recover the microfilm from Stepan's apartment and to escape once more thanks to an explosive diversion using kitchen chemistry. Stepan finally caught up with MacGyver and Penny at his uncle's home outside the city where they had stopped for the night, but when General Petrovich arrived, he insisted that there be no witnesses, and he ordered his nephew to shoot them both. Stepan had come to believe that Penny was innocent, and he could not bring himself to kill the woman with whom he had fallen in love. Instead, he and MacGyver overpowered the general, and Stepan agreed to join MacGyver and Penny en route to the border. MacGyver created a highway hazard that allowed them to evade the police, and he, Penny, and Stepan, were able to safely escape across the Greek border.

Cross Reference: Anton Burak, Stepan Frolov, Hanover Jewels, Penny Parker, General Petrovich

Episode Reference: Every Time She Smiles