Plot A: Charles schemes to collect military script from the locals at ten cents to the dollar, and then exchange it all for the new script.
Plot B: Hawkeye is entrusted with a wounded MP's money, but it is stolen from him.
Plot C: Klinger has arranged to take the entrance exam to West Point.

Watching this, I wondered about the locals; much is made about how poor they are, yet they all had a heck of a lot of military script.

That was a poor move Charles made, throwing up his duffle bag so close to the barricade. Klinger or the other guards could have used their rifles to pull the bag and some of the loose money over to the barricade, and made out like gangbusters after their shift was over and they could exchange their own script.

For that matter, given Klinger's interest in a fast buck, Charles could have waited until Hawkeye and B.J. left and then asked Klinger to exchange it for him--for a share of the profits.

Interesting curse: "May the seat of his pants turn into scorpion."

After Zale and the other soldier fight, Hawkeye rushes back into the Mess Tent to retrieve Boone's money. Out loud, he asks if anyone in the Mess Tent has seen the bag. I doesn't appear that anyone listens to him. The nurses directly behind him still carry on their conversation. Also why doesn't Hawkeye even look at anyone else in the tent? He continues to face the camera and barely moves away from where he's standing. I'd be frantically checking everyone in the tent. Especially people by the doors to the tent, asking who left the tent just now.

Were the officer through eating when the fight began? Hawkeye's the only one to go back to the Mess Tent, but only to retrieve Boone's money. It looked to me like at least Hawkeye and B.J. were still eating before the fight.

It's hard to imagine Father Mulcahy delivering such a fiery sermon from the pulpit, isn't it? Must be due to the fact that he can't see the faces of the people he's preaching to.

Y'know, I get the impression that this script may originally have been pitched with Frank Burns in mind. Much of the segment involving Charles and the south Korean could easily have been with Major Burns replacing Charles with little or no dialogue changes.

Benn,

Were the officer through eating when the fight began? Hawkeye's the only one to go back to the Mess Tent, but only to retrieve Boone's money. It looked to me like at least Hawkeye and B.J. were still eating before the fight.

Didn't Hawk and BJ discuss going back and saying sth. like the food's not worth it until Hawk remembers the money? The way the always complain about the food I guess they are not eager to continue eating.

Y'know, I get the impression that this script may originally have been pitched with Frank Burns in mind. Much of the segment involving Charles and the south Korean could easily have been with Major Burns replacing Charles with little or no dialogue changes.

A good point. Charles comes from an old family, so he doesn't need to hunt new money, and his explanation of "its the thrill of the hunt" doesn't sound convincing to me.

D.K.

Watching this, I wondered about the locals; much is made about how poor they are, yet they all had a heck of a lot of military script.

I understood they got it by doing services to the MASHers - houseboys, doing laundry, etc. But what can they do with military script? Would they be allowed to buy what they need at an army store?

And they are poor because they own little and have no regular income - when farmers have little fields, they can't produce enough, and when the war drives them away, they loose everything. The americans are very rich in comparison.

What I don't understand is: why military script all of sudden? So far, I only remember dollars being mentioned and green papers passed along.

During the scene with Hawk and charles at the barricade, I wonder why hawk doesn't take all of charles money and donate it to the orphans.

You got to love Pierce, he rips off Winchester just to cover up his screw up. And when Father Mulcahy comes in with the missing money, Pierce tells him to give it to the orphans. What about the poor villagers Winchester ripped off? Pierce said he would fix the situation.

Actually, considering that Winchester did not succeed with his scheme, and that the locals would not have gotten anything without Charles, they didn't do so badly--and it was in American cash that would hold its value (reasonably), not military script.

This is, what? The third episode in a row without Radar? The third ep where Klinger's the company clerk? Where was Corporal O'Reilly and how'd he get so much leave?

The soldier Zale gets into a fight with is the same soldier helping the Sargeant build the bonfire in "War of Nerves". And once again, his name is Igor. Where was Jeff Maxwell?

In the Mess Tent, just before Hawkeye loses Boone's money, the position of the salt shaker changes on the mess table. In the shots focusing on Hawkeye and B.J., the salt is right in front of Pierce. In the shots showing Pierce, Hunnicutt, Potter, Mulcahy and Margaret, the shaker is down by Father Mulcahy.

I thought all Koreans were supposed to be out of the camp before the scrip exchange began? Why was Mr. Kim still in camp? (It's in camp that Charles picks him up.)

As Boone tells Hawkeye, "If I weren't flat on my back, you'd be flat on yours", he moves his left fist over his chest. In the next shot, the fist is nowhere to be seen.

Did the Army set up a separate time for the MPs to exchange their scrip? Because otherwise there'd be a few soldiers - like the two MPs who divert Winchester - who'll be stuck with the blue scrip.

One of the questions Klinger has to answer for his West Point exam has been cut for syndication. It's a question about what political changes occured as a result of the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

"Gentlemen, please. Mozart."

Boone's $400 in 1952 is equivalent to $2681.48 today. I'd be mad about Hawkeye losing it, too.

This is my kind of humor-
Potter: "...BJ and I will proctor the exam."
Klinger: "I already had my physical!"