KURT NEILSON

Kurt Neilson was a colonel with East German Intelligence. When MacGyver returned from a mission behind the Iron Curtain carrying a microfilm list of terrorist names and plans, Neilson was assigned to recover and destroy the list.

To carry out his mission, Neilson hired Barrett and two of Barrett's men, Crisp and Polk, to capture MacGyver. They were in position at the pier in San Pedro when MacGyver arrived with the intention of passing the list on to Pete Thornton. Pete instructed MacGyver to get the list to safety while he took on Neilson's men, and he was shot in the left arm by Barrett as MacGyver secretly hid the list in the base of a light standard in the parking lot. However, MacGyver was apprehended by Neilson's men and brought to a warehouse on Tucker Street in San Pedro.

When MacGyver would not reveal where the list was hidden, Neilson injected him with a serum designed to persuade him to give up the information. The initial effects of the serum included a burning sensation, followed by disorientation, memory loss, double vision, and hallucinations. In approximately three hours the mind would begin to clear but the drug would cause excruciating pain that would lead to death if the antidote, a tiny red pill, was not administered within six hours.

MacGyver was able to escape from his captors, and in his state of confusion and pain he was taken in by Lisa Allen, a young runaway whom he had helped earlier and who hoped to return the favor. Neilson ordered his men to search the area and recapture MacGyver, but when they failed to find him, Neilson reported to his superiors that the location of the list would be lost with the death of the courier. However, when MacGyver began to recover his memory, he returned to the warehouse. With clever contraptions he knocked out each of Neilson's men, then he confronted Neilson in an attempt to acquire the antidote. The two struggled in a fist fight before Neilson, in a gesture of victory, tossed the small metal tube containing the antidote into a sewer grate. With one final punch, MacGyver knocked out Neilson, and he was able to use a magnetized rod to recover the metal tube and take the antidote with moments to spare.

In addition to helping MacGyver while he was poisoned, Lisa had also phoned the DXS for help, and just a MacGyver succeeded in recovering the antidote, Pete Thornton and his men arrived on the scene to take Neilson and his men into custody.

Portrayed by: Robert O'Reilly

Cross Reference: Lisa Allen, Barrett, Crisp, Polk, San Pedro

Episode Reference: Nightmares