Plot: The weekly poker session is interupted by a wounded CID man, Col. Flagg, the famous "Whiplash Hwang", and a soldier (John Ritter) with battle fatigue.

Flagg in this episode is known as Captain Hellern. No reference to his being Flagg is mentioned.

Thanks to syndication, Frank Burns for no reason whatsoever criticizes "the conference" players for making fun of a draft dodger. It makes no sense, because excised are the discussions of how Hawkeye (I think) and Klinger (definitely) tried to avoid being drafted.

>Flagg in this episode is known as Captain Hellern. No reference to his being Flagg is
mentioned.>

Flagg was undercover. That's why he went by the name Hellern.

Great line: "I'm not going out there without a bullet-proof couch!"

Maybe. But the doctors often had fun seeing through Flaggs disguises. They tended to identify as Flagg, only to have him correct them. There was no such scene in this episode that I recall.

Mmm. I looked in David Reis' book on M*A*S*H, and noted that "Deal Me Out" marks Edward Winters' first appearance in the series. However, Flagg apparently is someone who's a bit hard to forget. Potter and BJ recognized him the second time they see him. I'd assume that when Flagg next showed up in "Officer of the Day", Hawkeye would have mentioned playing cards with him, or having seen him before. 'Sides, it's hard to imagine Flagg playing poker with the gang.

It's also hard to imagine him having a friendly cup of coffee with his rival. (I think that was the only time I ever saw him smile.)

Snappy bit of dialogue:
Flagg (Halloran, or whatever): "Hey. Up close, you're a man."
Klinger: "Far away, too."

The tent Captain Pak is put in appears to be a redress of Hot Lips’ tent. By the way, if Sidney got the V.I.P. tent, where was Captain Pak billeted? Please note that Margaret does not appear in this ep.

Because of syndication cuts, I’d forgotten where Radar was going so late at night. He borrowed the jeep to go to a dive called the Purple Dragon. And seeing that Henry has the keys to the jeep in his tent, the 4077th may not have a motor pool at this point. Come to think of it, if Henry’s keeping the keys to the jeep, wouldn’t you think he’d keep the keys in his office and not in his tent?

Klinger’s from Toledo, Ohio, right? There isn’t a Grand Central Station there, is there? ‘Cos according to Klinger when the Army came looking for him, he ran straight into Grand Central Station. Does this mean they served him his draft notice in New York?

Why is it necessary for the members of the conference to have the PA announce the need for Hawkeye and Trapper’s return to the game? They knew

the doctors would be performing surgery, so they should have a pretty good idea as to where to find them.

Another syndication cut: Frank telling John Ritter (Private Carter) to turn off his bed light. Ritter’s character throws a bedpan (I think) at Frank, after telling the Major to “Stuff it.”

Klinger's from Toledo, Ohio, right? There isn't a Grand Central Station there, is there? 'Cos according to Klinger when the Army came looking for him, he ran straight into Grand Central Station. Does this mean they served him his draft notice in New York?

Why not? Klinger's just the type to come to the big city in search of his fortune...and then get shanghaied.

I love this ep. The writing is wonderful...and so is Pat Morita's Korean military liason character, whom I dearly wish they'd kept around longer, as a corrective to the usual meek, downtrodden locals: "Now, see, what you got there is the famous Whiplash Wang."

"Why not? Klinger's just the type to come to the big city in search of his fortune...and then get shanghaied." - kerriem

I think Klinger's too devoted to Toledo to leave it just to seek his fortune. It's possible Max was visiting New York (though where he'd get the money, I dunno.) And it's hard for me to believe the draft board could have found him in New York.

When beginning his anecdote about being drafted, Klinger says, “When they came for me, I ran like a thief into Grand Central Station.” I mention this because while I can provide an out for the nit I mentioned previously about Klinger being in New York. However, Klinger’s sentence nullifies my explanation. Still, if you want to ignore the sentence, here’s the explanation: In the episode “The Party” we learn that Klinger was stationed initially at Fort Dix, which I believe is in New Jersey. (I may be wrong.) If that’s the case, then Klinger is drafted in Toledo and shipped out to Ft. Dix. The trip is by train and there’s a layover in New York’s Grand Central Station. It is during that layover that Max locks himself into a pay toilet stall. Except, Klinger said, “When they came for me.” That sounds to me like he’s saying, “When they drafted me.” He also says, he ran into Grand Central Station. That is was outside of the station previously. Still, if you ignore that one sentence, I think you’ll find it’s a good explanation.

By the way, it is a bit surprising Klinger wasn’t arrested as a draft dodger, isn’t it?

It could be a parsing error...

You're reading it, "(I ran like a thief) into GSC".

However, Klinger might have meant, "I ran like (a thief into GSC)", using the image of a thief trying to escape by running into GSC.

Could be. If choosing to parse it differently from me helps you to resolve the nit, no problem. It's still a nit to me.

Saw this episode today. Realized that 5 actors in this episode are now dead. McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville, Edward Winter, John Ritter & Pat Morita.

Actually, there's one more as well, Jerry Fujikawa who plays Whiplash Hwang