Plot: Two secret agents, including Col. Flagg, come to investigate the 4077th and each other.
"Stone" (is that the name he used?) thinks that something must be going on at the 4077th, or Flagg would not be there. Flagg, on the other hand, becomes certain that something is going on because Stone has arrived. It seems to slip Flagg's mind (a frequent occurance)that he himself got there first. This leaves the viewer wondering just what, exactly, DID start Flagg off in the first place?
Aren't background checks done during the drafting process? It doesn't seem to occur to either Flagg or Stone that if Frank Burns had all those questionable details in his file, they never would have accepted him in the Army in the first place.
This is the only episode where Flagg has a first name. Stone calls him "Sam". (But IS his name Sam? Perhaps the Shadow knows...heh, heh, heh.)
This also seems to be the only episode where we see Flagg smile. Not much of a smile, and it's gone quick, but it's there.
And speaking of the smile, I think I remember an episode in which he said he couldn't smile (or was it laugh?) because he watched a lot of episodes of some funny show, the Three Stooges I think, and then jabbed himself every time he felt like laughing.
I think this episode marks the first time the phrase "mairzy dotes and dozy dotes" is used in the series. The full phrase is "Mairzy dotes and dozy dotes and little lamzy divey." (It's heard in this episode.) It's a song by Spike Jones and His City Slickers. On the surface, it may appear totally nonsensical - and it is. But it does have a meaning, after a fashion. It's phonetic. What's being said is, "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy." (Say it fast enough and and you get "Mairzy dotes.")
Spike Jones got mentioned a coupla other times in the series, too. In the episode where Hawkeye goes without sleep for days, he wanders into the company clerk's office and starts talking to Radar. He sings that song in which he blows a raspberry. The song is called, "Der Fuhrer's Face."
Just thought I'd let y'all know in case y'all were wondering.
Trekker: I remember that scene too. He said he'd been trying to condition himself not to laugh OR even smile...by jabbing himself with a cattle prod or something.(What i wonder is how Edward Winter kept a straight face reciting these lines!)
Just what is the real name of Trapper's friend? Trapper identifies him as Vinnie Pratt. Flagg, however, repeatedly asserts that "Stone's" real name is "Martinez".
These nits and comments were actually posted under the episode "Mail Call". We regret the error and for your convenience put them opn their proper board.
This episode must take place before “Crisis”. How else do you explain the fact that Henry still has all the pictures on his office walls that were presumably burned in that ep?
The capsule that contains the phone number Flagg is going to calling is presumably made of a non-corrosive material. Otherwise, how else would it stay preserved in his stomach? Wonder what Flagg would have done if the capsule had gone further along his digestive system?
The scene where Radar reveals that Flagg is a “CPA” () has been shorten for syndication. As you can see on the DVD, it had more lines of dialogue originally.
When was Alaska admitted to the Union? Hawkeye cracks a joke that “They’re talking of making Frank the 49th state.” If Alaska was admitted to the Union before the 1950s, then Hawkeye should have said, “…the 50th state.”
Hawkeye says he did too good a job on setting Colonel Flagg’s arm. At the time, they were both in X-ray. I thought Pierce was going to take a x-ray picture of Flagg’s arm, examine it and then determine whether the arm needs resetting. Instead Hawkeye looks at the x-ray machine and pronounces the work he did on the arm good.
Flagg’s superiors are located in Tijuana, Mexico? That’s a funny place for U.S. intelligence to be based. (Tijuana is where the cable Radar is sending is going.)
The Merry Macs were the ones to record “Mairzy Dotes”, not Spike Jones as I said earlier. We regret the error.
The picture of MacArthur no longer hangs on the wall of the Officers’ Club. It’s been replaced by the “M*A*S*H 4077th” that will be there for the rest of the series. I think the MacArthur picture will next be seen in the third season ep, “Big Mac”.
So Frank’s kept a complete list of “who’s ever been subversive or promoted ahead of certain other doctors…”? You mean Margaret didn’t keep a similar list? How, exactly was Frank able to put that into his file? I suppose the letters he’s sent to the various generals would be in his file. Those letters would have that info. BTW, who’s been promoted ahead of Frank? Pierce and McIntyre have always been captains. Was Spearchucker given a promotion we were never told about? Or is Margaret referring to the fact that Hawkeye was promoted to Chief Surgeon of the 4077th? A fact that this season has tended to ignore. (It is never mentioned this season.)
The scene where Radar is caught eavesdropping on Colonel Flagg and the Majors has been cut for syndication. It is during this scene that Flagg threatens to shove nickels up Radar’s nose.
After Radar reveals that Colonel Flagg is going to look at Frank’s file, the doctors decide to make Frank’s file “a little more colorful.” I thought that was the plan all along.
If Frank’s files contain all the information Margaret and Major Burns claim it does, it’s seems to be a little too thin to. If you ask me. It looks like it has maybe three or four pages.
I thought Radar doesn’t smoke? Well, he does cough after he takes a puff..
Why did they need to give Pratt a signal before letting him have access to Frank Burns’ file? Did Pierce and McIntyre tell Vinnie that Colonel Flagg was going to check the file, too? Wouldn’t Pratt rather get the information before Flagg?
How and where did Flagg and Pratt develop and enlarge the pictures they took of Frank’s file(s)? Would the chemicals used to develop the pictures in x-ray work just as well on spy film?
It is surprising, given how anti-Communist Frank is, that the Major would attend the Russian ballet. He also doesn’t strike me as someone who has that much interest in cultural entertainment.
Why was Pratt taking pictures ofd the Swamp as he was leaving? What, exactly, was he hoping to film?
Another syndication cut – the original tag. It’s Colonel Flagg doing a voiceover of a joint surveillance report CIA, G2. It reintroduces the series’ main characters and recommends continual observation of the same.
I believe Alaska and Hawaii were admitted in 1959.
Yup. They were indeed granted statehood in '59. Wasn't sure about that.
I thought it was 1960, at least for Hawaii.
From Hawaii's official state website:
Quote:Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state of the union on August 21, 1959.
Oops! No cooky for me!