Plot: Margaret confines Nurse Baker to her quarters. When Baker's husband shows up, Hawkeye, B.J, Radar, and the other nurses scheme to let her spend the night with him--in Margaret's tent. This leads to a face-off between Margaret and her nurses.
Whatever happened to the V.I.P. tent? Why didn't they put Baker's husband in there? Or was this something explained away in the uncut version?
Point about the cuts--I can remember seeing Baker hurl the helmet of liquid fudge at the door of their tent after Margaret walked out. I've never seen it in the syndicated version. Newcomers to the show must wonder about the stain that suddenly showed up on the door.
Margaret does. Saw this one the other day and at one point when she enters the tent you can see her looking at the stain.
I saw her throw it in the syndicated version on FX. I'm too young to have seen the original run, but I do remember her throwing it at the door.
Since when does the 4077th have a radio in the OR? Normally the radio is played over the loud speaker, not from an actual radio.
Margaret tells Baker, "I will not tolerate drunkeness." Yeah, right. Major Houlihan's been drunk a couple of times herself.
Why wasn't the V.I.P. tent used for Nurse Baker's husband to hide in? Why Margaret's? Heck, even Klinger's tent would worked just as well. Klinger was on guard duty that night.
Margaret should have been be more suspicious than she was about Sgt. Baker being sick. Pierce initially tells her Baker has the Plague. In Potter's office, Hawkeye changes his story. He now claims Sgt. Baker may have typhoid. (Heck, the fact that neither Pierce nor Hunnicutt can give a straight answer on what's wrong with Sgt. Baker should tip Potter off that the doctors are up to something wrong.)
One of the nurses, Mary Jo, originally appeared in the episode, "The More I See You". She had just been assigned to the camp. In that ep, she was bunking in a tent for two people. In this one, she seems to have been transfered to the normal four woman nurses' tent.
BTW, were any of the other nurses ever seen in any of the other episodes? I believe this is their only appearance.
Gregory Harrison guest stars as Sgt. Baker in this ep. He would later star in the pseudo-M*A*S*H sequel, Trapper John, M.D., in which he played Gonzo Gates.
Oh yeah, this must be a new Nurse Baker. IIRC, in the past, Hawkeye has had a few romantic encounters with Nurse Baker. But not this one.
In early episodes, Able and Baker were generic names for nurses (but not Charlie; Charlie was up flying a North Korean plane). Nurse Kellye was originally an Able/Baker nurse before she merited her own name.
Able and Baker are also two alternatives for "A" and "B" in the military alphabet.
N.B. The generally accepted alphabet starts Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta...
Margaret has always been very standoffish in her attitude. She has always seemed to be someone who doesn't need friends. So, why does she get so upset at her nurses? Because they won't invite her into their world? Has she ever invited them into hers? Has she ever given any indication that she was approachable? What right does she have to complain about the "lousy way" the nurses treat her?
I know, I know. It's human nature to shift the blame to other people. The thing is, I just think it's very dishonest of Margaret to blame the nurses for their bad relationship. The Major is very much a part of the problem.
They cut part of the scene where the nurses are in the OR and welcome in some Korean children. The little dark haired nurse comes in, very upset, and says that one of the burn patients has died. Mary Jo tries to comfort her, but the little nurse brushes it off, saying that she's bothered by the fact that she doesn't feel anything--it's just another death. Just death. This puts the scene near the end, when she delivers the breech birth and says, "It's just life," in better context.
At the beginning of this episode, the OR personnel are listening to a baseball game on the radio. From the information the announcer gives, it is apparent that this game is taking place late in the 1951 season, with the Giants starting to catch up on the Dodgers. Yet, a later episode, "A War For All Seasons", indicates that Charles Winchester had already replaced Frank Burns (who is in this episode) before this time.
Actually, if you go by the information given in "Welcome to Korea", Colonel Potter assumed command of the 4077th on 19 September, 1952. The events related in the ep, "The Novacaine Mutiny" took place during the week of October 11, 1952. This pretty well means that neither Potter, nor B.J. nor Charles can be in any eps earlier than '52. (Actually, Todd, if you go over my Fourth Season nits, you'll find a rough chronology. Some eps clearly took place in '52, others in '53, near the end of the War.)
Horse hockey!
When did the 4077th acquire a burn section? How come we never hear about it in any other ep?
In the scene where Baker tries on the nightgown, Mary Jo's position changes in two different continuous shots.
When did B.J. learn Korean and why don't we ever see him speaking it again in the series? (When the pregnant woman is brought in on the truck, Hunnicutt speaks a few words of Korean to her.)
Who delivered the baby? Hawkeye, B.J. and Colonel Potter were prepping to get into O.R. Frank would probably not have done it because the mother was a "foreigner". At least I don't think he would have. So who was the doctor involved? One of the "other doctors" we never see in the series but mentioned from time to time.
You'd think from this ep, that Margaret would have become closer to her nurses. Perhaps even becomes best friends with one of them. Yet this never seems to happen. Her friendships at the 4077th are with the doctors, clerks and priest of the camp. The men.
BTW, the show B.J. and Hawkeye parody was called This Is Your Life, hosted by Ralph Edwards in the 1940s. It started its television run in October of '52 with Edwards as the host.
"Mule fritters!"
Who delivered the baby? Hawkeye, B.J. and Colonel Potter were prepping to get into O.R. Frank would probably not have done it because the mother was a "foreigner". At least I don't think he would have. So who was the doctor involved? One of the "other doctors" we never see in the series but mentioned from time to time. - me
Gotta retract that one. As the very next ep ("The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan") demonstrates, Margaret and (presumably) her nurses are perfectly capable of delivering babies. So in the immortal words of Miss Emily Litella, "Never mind." 
"Mule fritters!"