A Televisual Feast

An interesting, but somehow not compelling episode. Hawkeye worries about a patient to the point he’s moved out of the Swamp and sworn off nurses and martinis. The problem with the episode is pacing… a lot of time is spent on Hawkeye ribbing Frank (previous to the patient) and poker….

But there’s also the issue of Hawkeye and the worrying. The big brainstorm is no brainstorm at all. It’s something Hawkeye should have taken care of in the first place.

So why’s the episode still so good? Writing of characters and acting of them. Except Hot Lips. This episode really does wonders for her character–it puts her on the fence, knowing Hawkeye and Trapper care more about patients (like she does) than Frank–though Frank does get a face-saving at the end too.

It’s a good episode, but given the subject matter, it should have been astounding.

3.5