I Just Can’t Stop Watching M*A*S*H - Part Two

Last week, I started a post about the TV series M*A*S*H in honor of the show’s anniversary. But M*A*S*H was on too long and just too darn big to cover in one post.

So here we go with Part 2 of I Just Can’t Stop Watching M*A*S*H, Today, we take a look at Seasons 4 and 5.  

This was a time of transition for M*A*S*H. McLean Stevenson left at the end of season 3 and over the summer, Wayne Rogers announced he was leaving as well. 

The first episodes of season 4 dealt with that departure first.  "Welcome to Korea" finds Hawkeye scrambling to catch up to a departing Trapper John who got his discharge while Hawk was on R&R.  He misses Trap by mere minutes but he’s there to greet his replacement, Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell). This is an interesting episode as it gives us a perspective on someone entering the war from the outside for the first time.  Hawkeye does what he can to acclimate the new surgeon to this insane life in war time. Hawk’s influence is definitely felt when B.J. first encounter with Frank Burns is to call him “ferret face”.  

After Col. Blake’s discharge, Major Frank Burns has been left in command of the 4077th. But the Army has other plans.  "Change of Command"  brings in Harry Morgan as Col. Sherman Potter. Unlike Blake, Potter is regular Army, serving in one campaign after another since World War I. (Yep, WW ONE, not Two.)  While it’s immediately clear that Potter is going to run a tighter ship than Blake, it’s also clear that he is not obsessive  with the rules, even allowing Klinger to keep wearing his dresses. 

"It Happened One Night" is a complex interplay of storylines as a brutally cold winter’s night in Korea spawns a number of storylines including an American bombardment that keeps rattling the 4077th’s bed pans, despite Potter’s constant climbing up the Army hierarchy to find someone who will stop it.    

"The Late Captain Pierce" gives Hawkeye an implacable enemy in the military bureaucracy that has listed him as dead despite Hawk’s repeated efforts to convince them otherwise. The episode was written by Glen Charles & Les Charles who would create the long running NBC comedy series Cheers.

"Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?" is a particularly touching episode when a patient comes in with the idea that he is Jesus Christ. 

While the evolution of M*A*S*H had moved the show away from the more farcical elements of its 1st seasons, "The Novocaine Mutiny" is a funny call back to those episodes. Potter’s away which means Burns gets to play and things get out of hand. Burns accuses Hawkeye of leading a mutiny. Taking a page from the classic Japanese film Rashomon, we’re given two separate accounts of the specific events leading to the alleged mutiny.  Burns’ telling is shown using distorted camera angles and soft focus lighting as Burns is shown powering through a particularly busy and exhausting session in the OR, even giving last rites (in Latin) to a fallen soldier when Mulcahy succumbs to exhaustion. If that doesn’t sound like Frank Burns, well, it’s because it’s not and the 2nd telling of those events with more conventional angles and lighting shows it was Burns overwhelmed by the pressure. 

Before he left M*A*S*H, as Executive Producer, Larry Gelbart produced one of the show’s most unique episodes, “The Interview", an episode done in black and white as a news report. The staff of the 34077th are interviewed. The most memorable segment of the episode is when Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) describes how doctors, on brutally cold days, will warm themselves from the steam that rises from the injured soldiers’ bodies. “How can you look on that and not be changed?” 

The 5th season began with an ambitious 2 parter as the 4077th has to bug out ahead of a Chinese advance. Part 2 has one of the funniest scenes of the series. At the new site for the 4077th, Father Mulchay offers a prayer before the waiting caravan moves into action to set up the new MASH.  
Mulchay: “Hear ye, O Lord.”
Frank Burns (into a bullhorn): “Hear ye, O Lord”
Soldier in a jeep: "“Hear ye, O Lord”
2nd soldier in a jeep: "“Hear ye, O Lord”
3rd soldier in a jeep: "“Hear ye, O Lord”
4th soldier in a jeep: "“Hear ye, O Lord”

"Margaret's Engagement" is a significant episode of M*A*S*H  with Margaret Houlihan all giddy that she is engaged to be married to Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott. What makes this episode interesting to me is that Hawkeye and B.J. feel genuinely sorry for Frank Burns. Hell, I feel sorry for Frank and I don't won't to feel sorry for Frank. But he is abruptly left out in the cold, cut off now from the one person in the whole damn camp who was on his side. Margaret never fails to miss an opportunity to remind anyone who might be listening that Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott is her fiance. It is a very annoying trait that persists for the entire 5th season.  

"Out of Sight, Out of Mind" has Hawkeye temporarily blinded in an accident. It is note worthy for being the debut episode of Ken Levine & David Isaacs who, as the incoming story editors for M*A*S*H,  effectively and creatively built upon the foundation left by Larry Gelbart. Levine & Isaacs were very adept at bringing the funny and the drama of life in war time. 

"The Korean Surgeon" involves Hawk, B.J. and Radar trying to sneak a Chinese soldier/doctor into camp as a South Korean surgeon. The episode ends with a wonderful line as the ruse is exposed and the Chinese soldier is forced to turn himself in to the authorities. He says that perhaps when the war is over, perhaps his American friends can visit him in China. Radar suggests he must know a lot of good places for Chinese food. The doctor says he does "but they are all in Chicago."

 "Movie Tonight" is a heartwarming episode. For the camp's movie night, Col. Potter has arranged for a showing of "My Darling Clementine" starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford. I saw "My Darling Clementine" in college for a class on the works of John Ford and it is one of Ford's finest western films. The copy of the film shown to the 4077th is not in the finest of conditions and keeps breaking. The celebrity impressions and singalongs that pass the time between film breaks makes this episode a stand out.  

Season 5 ends with "Margaret's Marriage". After spending every episode of the season of reminding everyone who
might be (or might  not be) listening that Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott is her fiance, Margaret gets married. The season ends with Frank Burns getting the last word. As Margaret and Donald wing there way towards honeymoon bliss, Frank stands alone, watching the chopper vanish from sight, he utters a sad and lonely "Goodbye, Margaret."  

And so ends season 5 of M*A*S*H. Next week, Season 6 arrives along with more change.