A Televisual Feast

The first season closer is pleasant but unspectacular. Painfully unspectacular. While a USO group entertains the troops, the three or four subplots play out. Henry’s wife is nearing labor, Father Mulcahy is worrying he doesn’t make enough difference, Frank (in a turn) is pranking Hawkeye, Trapper’s got a difficult case and the camp dentist has […]

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This episode, though nice and big–practically ever recurring character shows up for a second (except Ugly John and, of course, Spearchucker) and the close is visually memorable–is kind of empty. It’s the perfect episode for Trapper, the only one who doesn’t believe a ceasefire is on the way, except he’s basically just moping around behind […]

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Here’s an interesting, wikipedia-fueled tidbit… this episode is “often considered to be the worst episode” of “M*A*S*H” by cast and crew… which is rather interesting, since it’s excellent. It’s a goofy, well-paced episode, keeping the wackiness factor down for the majority (the goofy episodes have wackiness at some point, they have to) and then going […]

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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 […]

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Slow to get moving–and generally slow throughout–but ends wonderfully. It’s sort of a concept episode–during the Army-Navy football game, the 4077th gets shelled and an unexploded bomb ruins everyone’s game day. The episode moves from person to person as they cope with the possibility of the bomb going off. The best part besides Hawkeye and […]

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Alan Alda’s first episode as writer is an odd episode. It follows the passage of Hawkeye’s longjohns from person to person, getting every cast member in while telling a very simple (no subplots here) story.
The episode’s greatest strength is in the individual vingettes. They allow for humor, but also some new situations for the characters […]

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It’d be nice to be able to say it’s hard to identify what’s wrong with this episode, but it isn’t. Hawkeye’s letter home is an empty frame to justify the episode. Real transitional scenes could bring it all together–more on the Frank and Hot Lips fight, more on the doctor who isn’t, more on Radar’s […]

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For the entire season, I’ve been commenting on the lack of subplots… now this episode. This episode doesn’t really have a plot. It doesn’t even have any subplots… it just has these things going on–Frank hurting his back, Hawkeye trying to get a night alone with a nurse, Hawkeye’s friend visiting, two guys fighting over […]

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With the series still enjoying its sudden (and staying) excellence, this episode stands out in a few significant ways.
First, the direction. I don’t think I’ve ever been particularly impressed (or unimpressed) with an episode’s direction, but Jackie Cooper does something phenomenal here. I’m not sure if the camp exteriors (walking around the 4077th) were filmed […]

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It appears my previous episode’s observation, that “M*A*S*H” has finally gotten on track, is correct.
This one perfectly mixes the comedy and relevance, perfectly uses the cast… it’s just a joy.
The great part is how well everything “M*A*S*H” has is utilized–Trapper and Hawkeye get scenes (Trapper getting a great moment at the end, after everything was […]

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