After a daring escape from East Germany where he gets rescued, and in the process saves a fellow operative with a quick mechanical fix, MacGyver thinks that he deserves some peaceful vacation time. But Pete lures him into baby-sitting a Russian defector who can identify KGB agents.

At the beginning of the episode, MacGyver literally has to jump onto a moving train that he missed earlier to return top-secret files and documents to the U.S. Government. Soon after, a local tribe stops the train. They take all passengers hostage until the men responsible for the death of the tribal leader's son is found among the passengers.

Pete Thornton investigates the supposed death of an old friend, a prominent Russian dissident, and finds he must get his friend's daughter Maria out of the country before the secret police arrest her for an alleged conspiracy. However, while in Russia, Pete bumps into MacGyver, who followed him from the United States. While disappointed MacGyver followed him, Pete gladly welcomes MacGyver into his plans when the secret police arrive to take Maria into custody. Following a high speed boat chase to escape the police, Pete and MacGyver find out from Maria that her father is not dead, he is being held in a maximum security ward at a state mental institution. To get into the mental hospital, MacGyver plays the part of a mad patient and Pete plays the part of a doctor who has been assigned to him. With the help of the other patients, MacGyver is able to escape into Ward Zero, where Pete's friend is held. MacGyver breaks him out and hides him with the other patients