Plot A: B.J.'s wedding anniversary is coming up, and with the help of a tape recorder and Peg, Hawkeye arranges to make it a very special one.
Plot B: Charles goes off to do a health inspection, armed with a very large chip on his shoulder. When the unit's commander protests the poor report Charles made, he ends up punching Charles, who does nothing to defend himself. Ashamed by his cowardice, Charles takes some karate lessons from the grandfather of a wounded boy.
Plot C: Hawkeye and B.J. scheme to replace the harmonica that the little boy lost.
After Charles gets his face bashed in and loses a tooth, he comments, rather off-handedly, that within a week he would have the tooth replaced. This would entail going to a dentist, would it not? In the next season, we find that Charles is terrified of dentists and has not been to one for years.
Peg Hunnicutt mentions that the filming was done with the help of "Dad." Was this a reference to her father-in-law? Or did her own father buzz in from Quapaw, Oaklahoma to help out?
It was real nice of B.J. to send Peg a portrait of himself with his mustache. Gives her time to get used to the idea.
I may be wrong, but I thought that once, Peg referred to BJ's parents as "Mom and Dad." But I could be wrong.
By this point, B.J. has been on M*A*S*H, what, five seasons? And this is his first anniversary away from Peg? What kind of time warp do the MASHers live in?
In early episodes of M*A*S*H, the 4077th had a dentist assigned to the unit. After that, there was never a mention of a dentist in the camp. After this ep, in "The Tooth Shall Set You Free", a dentist is sent for to work on Charles' teeth. I can't help but wonder if they had to send for one to give Winchester his false teeth (tooth?) in this ep? Interesting that's there's never a mention of the fake chopper(s) in other eps.
Wonder how Charles explained his missing teeth (tooth) to Colonel Potter? Or the dentist who worked on him?
I can't help but think that if this had happened to Frank Burns, Ferret Face would have applied for a purple heart.
I'm beginning to think that M*A*S*H is in a paraelle universe where the Korean War lasted around 10 years; from 1950 to 1960. Just in time to gear up for the next one (Vietnam).
This episode starts on April 30. (Potter mentions that tomorrow's the first and B.J. bemoans the fact that April is over.) The year, logically, should be 1953. However, this season seems to have rebooted M*A*S*H, so that the 9th Season takes place in 1951. Meaning the first eight seasons took place in 1950. :0
For the record, the Hunnicutt's anniversary date is May 23rd.
B.J. works on Soon Chi, the young Korean boy with the fractured leg. After the operation, Hunnicutt carries the boy into Post-Op. What? There weren't any wheelchairs available? Wouldn't a wheelchair avoid any discomfort that might result from the leg swinging around or possibly banging into the wall or door accidentally? And isn't the use of a wheelchair SOP?
Is Major Finch's unit so close that he can stop at the 4077th's Officers Club to have a few drinks? Charles seems to indicate that's where Finch was drinking. And how would Charles know that? How does Winchester know it wasn't Rosie's that Finch stopped into?
While talking to Major Finch, you can see Charles put his pen into his pocket twice in two different shots.
Surely, Charles realizes that the odds are the news of Finch sucker-punching him would be all over camp by lunch the next day? So why's he so worried about his display of the "art of self-collapse"? The people he has to work with on a daily basis will most likely already know about it. Why not go ahead and have Finch court-martialed?
Just after Hawkeye finishes talking with Charles, the Major starts to raise his hand with the napkin/tissue paper (whatever it was) to his mouth again. The camera angle changes, Key Yong Lu starts speaking to Winchester and Charles' hand is lowered again. The napkin being used for the blood has also changed positions.
I hope the camp didn't need that crate Key Yong destroyed while demonstrating his skills at karate. It'd probably be awhile before it could be replaced.
Note that Soon Chi reaches for the harmonica twice in successive shots.
Twice in this ep we hear B.J. say, "I go downstairs and Peg pours me a d4mn cup of coffee and I drink it." Mike Farrell's reading of the line is different from the first time he says it (in the Officer Club) to the second time he says it (on the tape for the home movie). They're supposed to have the same, obviously.
So did Soon Chi understand what Father Mulcahy was telling him? From what we've seen in this ep, the boy only speaks Korean.
"Beaver biscuits!"