Plot: Hawkeye's first letter home, describing Christmas antics, including flying into battle dressed as Santa Claus.

Did anyone ever see Klinger's bandana again--the one his mother told him never to take off?

And, by the way, why would his mother be so worried about his safety if she had thought that he was at Fort Dix? Or at least was pretending that she thought he was at Fort Dix?

I liked that extra in the background when Klinger had the grenade--he started out the door, spotted Klinger, turned smartly around and disappeared.

In the book "Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America" the author pointed out that what Klinger tried to do was something that unfortunately became common during the Vietnam War--"fragging", namely throwing a grenade at your superior officer.

The red bandana Klinger wears in the episode reappears in the ep "War of Nerves".

Early in his letter to his Dad, Hawkeye refers to Vermont as home. Of course, later eps establish Crabapple Cove, Maine as home.

Hawkeye and Trapper put pudding in Margaret's pillow. Um, as long as it's been sitting out like that, wouldn't it melt? Shouldn't the pillow be brown from the melted puuding?

Hawkeye is the first person in the series to play Santa Claus. B.J. and Colonel Potter would also take turns at being Saint Nick.

No the pudding should not have melted as it is freaking cold in Korea in winter according to the way they have acted in the show. (Also my uncle was in korea and remarked on having subzero winters where motor oil would freeze.)

Thanks to MASH, many people think Korea is the Antartic. I've lived in Korea for two years and found it no colder than Chicago or many other parts of the U.S.

I've never been in Maine in the winter, but I suspect it's a higher (more northerly) longitude than Korea. The weather in Korea can't be much colder, if any, than in Toledo. Klinger shouldn't have complained too much. Frank Burns either for that matter.

Yeah, but any winter - however mild in toto - can have days and weeks that are too ridiculously, improbably cold for anybody to adjust to.
Even up here in the Great White North, as soon as it dips dramatically below -5C, you've got folks acting as though they'd never seen snow before.

I was just referring to how the characters were acting in there world. Having never been in Korea at any time of year I will have to take your word on that. But I don't deal in reality :-)

The temperature in Margaret's tent definitely wasn't sub-zero. The pudding in the pillow wasn't frozen solid. Plus, I think Hot Lips had been in the tent awhile, so I'm sure she's had a heater of some sort on.

I've always wondered about that pudding--Margaret has her hand in the center of the pillowcase, not the end. Did she shove down on the pillow so hard that she punched through the fabric?

"I liked that extra in the background when Klinger had the grenade--he started out the door, spotted Klinger, turned smartly around and disappeared." D.K. Henderson

That's nothing D.K.! Next time watch the ep a little more carefully. Just before Father Mulcahy mentions "counting sacrificial sheep" you'll see a soldier walk up behind the Father and then quickly go back the way he came. Then, after the Padre has talked Klinger out of using the grenade, the two start walking towards the compound. In the background you'll see a soldier hiding behind a box, another behind the ambulance and a third hiding under the ambulance.

This episode should actually precede "I Hate a Mystery". Hawkeye is seeing Lt. Bannerman in "Dear Dad". Bannerman is also dating Pierce in "I Hate a Mystery". However, in "I Hate a Mystery", Hawkeye reveals to her that the Captain was seeing other women. It's doubtful Bannerman and Hawkeye got together after "Mystery". "Dear Dad" should go first.

In syndication, we see Radar and another soldier taking a tree into the Mess Tent. A scene change occurs as the tree gets to the Mess Tent's door. However, uncut there's more to the scene than that. The tree won't fit into the door. Radar falls over the tree. What's remarkable is that the cut doesn't affect Hawkeye's narration.

Hawk and Trap x-ray one of Radar's packages. All it contains is a steering wheel and stick shift. That's it? Surely there's more. I think the box has room for more. At any rate, Radar didn't put in any paper or anything else in the box to keep the auto parts from moving too much.

This episode establishes that Radar is from Iowa. Ottumwa, however, is not mentioned as the Corporal's hometown.

When Hawkeye walks into the Mess Tent, we see Mulcahy decorating the Christmas tree. (They finally got it in there!) Hawkeye calls him "Red".

During Klinger's and Frank's fight in Post-Op soldiers are cheering. Are they cheering the fight per se, or Klinger beating up Major Burns?

Margaret's tent must have a heater of some sort. While getting ready for Frank's arrival, we see that all she's wearing is a slip and a robe. A thin robe.

By the way, it looks like there's a diagonal cut in the support beam to Hot Lips' tent. Of course it's there. Frank will hit the cut beam and bring the tent down. It is surprising he doesn't bring the tent down earlier. Burns repeatedly bumps into the beam, leans against it, etc.

Cutting that support beam so the tent will collapse was a dangerous thing for Hawkeye and Trapper to do. They're lucky the tent didn't catch on fire. (Either the gag candle could have start a fire or the source of heat in Margaret's tent could have caused one.)

This episode contains the first signs of attraction Hot Lips might have towards Hawkeye. It occurs right after Pierce kisses her. (And y'know, Frank Burns must not be that much a "lipless wonder". You never saw that look on Major Hoolihan's face when Frank kissed her. But after Hawkeyes kisses her; after Henry kisses her ["Abyssinia, Henry"], she's a walking zombie.)

In this episode, Hawkeye goes to the front line for the first time.

Just saw this episode. First, I'd like to know how Klinger managed to escape being charged with assaulting Frank. There were no shortage of witnesses. Did Mulcahy talk Frank out of prosecuting Klinger?

How does Radar plan on getting the larger parts of a Jeep shipped home... The body wouldn't fit into a shipping crate easy. (Maybe this is why Radar gave up on the plan).

Along this same lines, Hawkeye starts talking about this to his dad by saying "Where was Radar when in my last letter." AND THEN right afterwards, he says "it took Trapper and I a while to catch on.." and then he tells about taking a florascope of the package." If he had been talking to his dad about radar shipping the jeep, why is it in this letter that he feels the need to explain how he found out about his activities in the first place. Seems that would have been conversation for earlier letters.