Plot: When the mail comes in, Trapper begins planning to desert, and Frank rearranges his stock portfolio following a "tip" from Hawkeye.

Great bit of dialogue:
Trapper: "Do you know how long it's been since I've made love to my wife?"
Hawkeye: "At least one daughter ago."

One line that always struck oddly on my ear was when Hawkeye tried to prevent Trapper from leaving and was knocked down. Frank walked in and Hawkeye yelled, "Stop him, Frank!" I really can't see Hawkeye calling on Frank for help in any situation. (Although, to be sure, Frank did, in fact, stop Trapper, in his own inimitable fashion.)

Henry receives a package from his wife. Instead of a hoped-for cake, it turns out that she wants him to balance her checkbook. In the episode "Henry in Love" when Radar puts a call through to his wife, Henry ends up telling her to send her checkbook, stubs, etc, and he would balance it for her. Did the package arrive just then, or does Lorraine foul up her checkbook on a regular basis? For that matter, wouldn't it be simpler and faster to have an accountant do the job, rather than send a package all the way to Korea, balance it, and send it all the way back again?

I was wondering--did Henderson, so-and-so, and Flynn sell off Frank's portfolio BEFORE they found that there was no such company as Pioneer Aviation?

No, Hawk and Radar prevented Frank from contacting the firm.

Thanks. Does this mean that Hawkeye has some scruples when it comes to Frank Burns?

As far as I can tell, Hawkeye Pierce thinks that scruples are Russian money, and morals are painted on a canvas when it comes to Frank Burns.

Yeah, but i don't think even Hawkeye would go so far as to completely ruin a man.

"Yeah, but i don't think even Hawkeye would go so far as to completely ruin a man."

Well, Kerriem, I think it depends on the man is. He's come awful close a couple of times. ("The Ringbanger" comes immediately to mind.)

In the movie, Trapper asks for an olive for his martini. He's told that certain concessions had to made for the war and because of how close they were to the front. However, throughout the series olives seem to be rather plentiful. This episode is but one example.

Does Henry have trouble remembering who he is? During the famous "half the family dead, the other half pregnant" scene with Klinger, I couldn't help but notice that the nameplate on Henry's desk faces Colonel Blake. You would think it would face away from him.

Oh and NANJAO (happy, Scott?), but didja notice that the back of one of the pictures of Trapper's daughters has an inscription on it? Nice touch.

For the record, the name of Frank's brokerage was Henderson, Landers & Flynn.

Hawkeye hets a sweater from his sister, do we ever hear of her again? I thought he said many times all he had was his Dad.

He used to have a mother, too. In one of his first letters home, he tells his Dad to "...kiss Mom, and Sis...."

Relatives are shuffled around as suits the convienience of the story. Margaret's Dad used to be dead. Charles presumably had a sibling to provide him with a nephew with fainting spells, but ended up with one unmarried sister, Honoria. There's probably more if you listen closely.

In “For Want of a Boot”, we see Radar sorting the mail. I presume this is done before handing it out. However, in this ep, O’Reilly gives the mail to its MASH personnel straight from the bag.

“Mail Call” marks Alan Alda’s debut as a director for the series. Alda is the first actor ofd M*A*S*H to direct an ep.

D.K. mentioned that in “Henry in Love” Henry was supposed to balance his wife’s checkbook. D.K. wondered if the checkbook was just arriving in this ep. Thing is, Henry is genuinely surprised that the content of the package consists of check stubs, bank statements, etc. Henry clearly wasn’t expecting it. Maybe Lorraine has sent another batch unexpectedly.

When Margaret says, “Sometimes Frank you can be such a stoop,” we get a rare glimpse of the backside of her tent.

This ep probably takes place in 1952. In an earlier episode this season, we’re told Klinger had been wearing dresses for 6 months. In this ep, Klinger is said to have alleged that his father was dying “last year”.

When I mentioned Henry’s nameplate facing him, it’s during the scene with Klinger that it does so. Max sits just behind the nameplate.

Frank tears up the Swamp looking for the rest of Hawkeye’s letter to his dad. You gotta wonder how Frank explained the condition of the tent. That’s a scene I’d’ve liked to see.


In an earlier episode we see Kellye dancing with Radar in the Officers’ Club. In this ep we see her holding hands with someone in the Mess Tent. Later we’ll see her on a date with Klinger and dancing with a very drunk Frank Burns. With all this in mind, her frustration with Hawkeye in “Look Me Over” becomes quite understandable.

Frank says he can’t write his wife about getting a divorce because he’d “ruin her whole yesterday.” What’s he gonna do? Send her an email? I imagine it would take a week by snail mail (pretty much all that was available in the Fifties) for such a letter to arrive. If Frank and Margaret were talking about sending a telegram or making a telephone call that’d be different. But they’re specifically talking about writing Louise to tell her the news.

Great. Hawkeye earns more than Margaret does. In “Dear Dad…Three” Hawkeye indicates he earns $413 a month. In this ep, Margaret says she gets $400 a month. They both out earn Winchester who apparently will earn a paltry $250 a month.

I don’t think that revealing that Pioneer Aviation was a fake was an act of kindness on Pierce and McIntyre’s part. I think it was done spontaneously to distract Trapper. Also, it gave the Captains a chance in Frank’s face.

Margaret sets a date with Frank for 8:00 that night. She does this while they are in OR. There must be a fairly light casualty load that day.

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?

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.

OOOPS!!! These nits (my August 9th, 2002 6:38 p.m. post) belong under "A Smattering of Intelligence". We regret the error.

Alaska became the 49th state in either 1959 or 1960, right before Hawaii.