While back in Minnesota to fill in as coach for a high-school hockey team, MacGyver tries to change the attitude of a callous player who has a shot at playing for the pros. But when this kid's ambition lands another player in the hospital, MacGyver must try and find out what or who is pushing him so hard to succeed.

MacGyver returns to his home town of Mission City, Minnesota to meet up with two old friends, Chuck and Neil, so they can dig up a time capsule they buried twenty-five years before. However, MacGyver is hesitant to dig the capsule up because he is still haunted by the death of his old friend Jesse, who died when MacGyver was young. But now MacGyver has another problem to deal with. Chuck's and Neil's sons, Danny and Sean, have gotten wrapped up in a drug deal, and the dealer is after Danny. Danny takes off to hide, and now MacGyver must find him, before the drug dealer does.

Penny Parker's big chance in a major professional role is threatened from two directions: a money shortage and several deaths linked to the musical she is set to perform in.

MacGyver and Pete are captured by terrorists intent on wiping out a nearby city with an electromagnetic pulse, unless their leader is freed.