Plot: Black marketeers steal the 4077's supply of Hydrocortisone. Hawkeye and Trapper trade Henry's new 100 year old solid oak desk for a new batch.

How the heck did Henry get a 100 year old solid oak desk in Korea anyway? Doesn't sound very army to me!

Probably the same place he got the barbecue.

At the beginning of this episode, Hawkeye and Trapper are operating on a general. Neither of them are wearing their masks; they've both got them pulled down under their chins. Both of the nurses involved are wearing their masks properly. Why weren't the doctors?

It's just as well that Henry lost his desk. What is the point of having a desk when you can't (or won't) put anything on top of it?

Where, exactly, is that desk that Hot Lips was working on, the one with the big sign saying OFFICER OF THE DAY?

Why did it take Radar so long to find out Hawkeye and Trapper were locked in Henry's office? He sleeps just a few feet away from the door.

The episode (and the laugh track) brushed over this little bit very lightly. Charlie Lee said that he had made a deal for the Hydrocortisone (sp) for ten thousand dollars. Then he said that if the doctors could match it, he would KILL the other dealer. They didn't match the deal in cash, but they did arrange an acceptable deal. After Henry's desk went sailing off into the sunset, with laughs all around, did Charlie Lee murder that other dealer?

When and how did Hawkeye and Trapper summon the helicopter?

I think he said he would kill the other DEAL, not dealer.

I'll have to listen for that the next time I see that episode. There was a burst of laughter when he said the line--saying that he would kill the other deal wouldn't be funny. (Unless they were laughing at the thought of the doctors matching the ten thousand dollars.)

No he said, "Kill the other dealer." I'm sure of it. It was meant to jokingly show ruthlessness.

A couple of things are now missing from this episode. After Hawkeye says they're locked in (Henry's office), he asked, "How can anyone so lousy with a needle, know just where to stick it to us?" (Refering to Maj. Burns.)

Also now deleted is the scene where Hawkeye and Trapper frantically work to get Radar's attention to open the door.

I hate syndication. Henry Blake's immortal, classic V.D. lecture is also on the cutting room floor.

I could of sworn the closed-captioning said "Kill the other deal". I watch all shows with closed-captioning and I just KNOW it said Deal!

In some parts of the English speacking world (especially the southern USA), when the verb kill procedes a non-living noun (in this case deal). Kill means to stop using the non-living noun; such as "Kill the engine, John, I will work on it later".

Not to mention in the computer world, where the verb "kill" is used in both senses. i.e. "to kill a process" is to stop it, but also uses the anthropomorphic concept of a process as a "living" thing, and terminating it brings its death.

"How the heck did Henry get a 100 year old solid oak desk in Korea anyway? Doesn't sound very army to me!" - Margie
"Probably the same place he got the barbecue." - D. K. Henderson

Henry apparently bought. Edited out of this ep is the tag. In it Henry tells Hawkeye & Trapper that the insurance company will pay for the desk if Henry can come up with a good explanation for its loss. Question is, how could Henry afford the desk? Especially since it's an apparently imported American desk.

"Why did it take Radar so long to find out Hawkeye and Trapper were locked in Henry's office? He sleeps just a few feet away from the door."

There's another cut in this ep. Just after Hawkeye asks "How can someone so lousy with a needle know just where to jab us?" (also cut), Trapper gets on the phone to call Radar. Shouting through the door might've alerted too many people.

"...did Charlie Lee murder that other dealer?" - D. K. Henderson
"I think he said he would kill the other DEAL, not dealer." - ScottN
"No he said, 'Kill the other dealer.'" - me
"I could of sworn the closed-captioning said "Kill the other deal". I watch all shows with closed-captioning and I just KNOW it said Deal!" - Anonymous

Scott and Anon are right. Watching the DVD without the laugh track and with close captioning, Charlie Lee distinctly says, "Kill the deal."

This episode marks the first time Henry loses his desk. The next time will be in the episode, "Crisis", where some of the people at the 4077th will steal the desk (little by little) to use as kindling.

Frank Burns is not as clean cut as he would be in later eps. He needs a shave and has his shirt unbuttoned.

Henry's office now has most of the furnishing we will grow accustom to seeing in it. Even the liquor cabinet. However, in this ep it doubles as a medicine cabinet.

Why does Hawkeye tell the nurse to have Spearchucker finish operating on the General? The General is his and Trapper's patient. Why don't they do it?

Among the medical benefits Hawkeye and Trapper offer Charlie Lee is a nose job. What? Any time one of Charlie's people need work done on their noses, was Hawkeye going to call his friend Stanley Robinson in to do the surgery? How many "Baracudas" are there? (Remember, in "Operation: Noselift", Pierce and McIntyre say that nose jobs are a specialty.)

When trying to figure out how Henry got the desk into the office, Pierce and McIntyre measure it by its longest length. Of course, it won't fit through the door that way. Why didn't they try measuring the narrower length?

In the pilot, Frank Burns broke the still. In this episode, we see Hawkeye and Trapper have built a new one. It more closely resembles the one seen in later episodes.

I dunno. When Frank and Margaret meet in Henry's office Hot Lips says something that doesn't sound right to me. It was about her hair. "I just washed it. It must look a mess." Wouldn't it look a mess if unwashed?

I noticed in this ep, the windows to Henry's office are opaque. In all other episodes, you can see through them.

Margaret is Officer of the Day and appears to be on duty when she hears Hawkeye & Trapper break into the Colonel's office. After meeting up with Frank in the office she leaves with him to go to the supply tent. If she is still on duty, that's awfully irresponsible of her. Besides, is there a reason why they can't go to her tent? Wouldn't it be more private than the supply tent?

The wall to Henry's is made of aluminum and wood. When Hawkeye & Trapper knock it down, it really should have made a louder noise than it does. Frank should have heard it fall. The whole camp should have, really.

Another deleted scene: After Frank tells Charlie's driver to "shove off", he walks towards the back of the building to where Hawk & Trap are. To hide the desk, the Captains have put a blanket over it. They are both kneeling as though in prayer. They tell Frank they're having an "early Mass". Cutting this scene removes a nit. From where Frank's standing, he should see the fallen wall.

Once Frank leaves there's another deleted scene where Radar tells the Captains that Charlie's driver has left. Hawkeye tells Radar to go get O'Brien.

Now let's establish our sense of directions here. The wall Hawkeye and Trapper knocked down faces away from the camp. It is in this direction that the Captains carry the desk. Now, when we see O'Brien and his helicopter carrying the desk, they are flying from within the camp. In other words, O'Brien must have circled the camp, because Pierce and McIntyre were carrying the desk away from the camp (basically they were moving in the same direction we see the chopper go.) More bizarrely, we see the Captains walk up to Henry and Major Burns from within the camp. Yet, we did see earlier that they were heading away from it.

By the way, is there a reason Henry can't find out who was piloting that helicopter and have him court-martialed for stealing his desk? (Along with Pierce and McIntyre?)

I dunno. When Frank and Margaret meet in Henry's office Hot Lips says something that doesn't sound right to me. It was about her hair. "I just washed it. It must look a mess." Wouldn't it look a mess if unwashed?

Yeah...but from the feminine POV, washing the har is quite possibly only the first step. There's also: drying, brushing, styling, smearing on whatever glop keeps the style in place, styling some more, hairspraying, brushing out the ends to make 'em fluffier, deciding they're too fluffy, tweaking them back, staring at the result in the mirror for fifteen minutes or so and if you're not happy repeating the whole process...and at the end of all that, trust me, it's still perfectly possible for a woman to walk out of the bathroom convinced her hair is 'a mess.'

Kinda thought so.

This episode is much closer in overall tone to the movie than "The Pilot" was.

While cleaning the desk, Henry says the desk represents "Roots. Solidity." It's funny, but those are the exact words Hawkeye uses to describe the desk for Charlie Lee. What's funny is that Hawkeye was not in Henry's office when Colonel Blake uttered those words.

Given that Charlie Lee seems to have everything else, and seems to be such a high roller, doesn't it seem strange that he'd have such a rinky dink desk in the first place?