Plot: The nurses are evacuated after the threat of an enemy attack, which turns out to be Five O'Clock Charlie.

So, does anyone think that Louise DID take off her glasses?

It just occurred to me--the writers seemed to have a fetish for "L" names. Henry's wife is Lorraine, Klinger's is LaVerne, and Frank's is Louise. Not certain what Trapper's wife's name was.

Trappers wife was Louise as well.

I know Henry's wife is Lorraine, but in at least one earlier episode he refers to her as "Mildred." I have no idea which episode. But I'm 100% sure it happened because I remember thinking it an odd coincidence that Blake and Potter would have wives with the same name.

It's the episode when Henry's son is born and he's going nuts at Radar. He tells the phone operator that his wife's name is Mildred Blake.

Who is this "Captain Spaulding" (sp) who has the guitar in this episode who does the musical interludes. (He is also doing operating in OR in one scene)

The reason I asked is that he is extremely important to the scene in the O Club. At the start of the scene he is "standing on his head til the nurses come back." A few seconds after Frank orders him to uprghting self, Klinger comes in with his guitar and he starts to sing.

Why does Klinger bring the guitar? If he was standing on his head til the nurses came back, would he really want his guitar then? Just wondering.

Good question. I suppose he could have been planning on playing upside down....

To answer your more general question, steve, Capt. Spaulding is in real life Loudon Wainwright III - sort of a poor man's Pete Seeger.
In retrospect, the M*A*S*H folks' reasoning behind a Greek-chorus character (almost literally; he rarely spoke and was seen sans guitar only in this ep, I think) is a wee bit obscure. However it happened, Spaulding's musical commentaries became a prominent feature this season - notably in 'Rainbow Bridge', wherein he and his guitar provide almost the entire musical score.

IMHO, the character actually had a sort of surreally goofy charm when he wasn't strumming...but his music emphatically did not. Besides which the producers were facing a major personnel overhaul at the end of the season and likely just didn't want the bother of trying (again) to develop a fourth surgeon character.

IIRC, at the time Loudon Wainwright III was hired, he was riding on the crest of a big hit (only real hit): "Dead Skunk". Because it was a popular novelty song, TPTB may have been trying to cash on in his "success", limited though it was.

Incidentally Captain Spalding's name was quite possibly a Marx Brothers reference. It's Groucho's character in Animal Crackers.

Here's a first - a Nurse Baker with a first name: Janet.

In this ep, we learn that Margaret reminds Radar of his sister, who's 37. I was somewhat under the impression that Walter was an only child. Wonder what happened to the sister after Radar's Uncle Ed died?

Is this episode the first time Hawkeye and Hot Lips kiss?

At the end of the bar in the Officers' Club is a bell. I've never seen it before. When did they put it up in there? When was it removed?

On the phone, Frank complains to Margaret that Hawkeye and Trapper filled his foxhole with peas and carrots. Where'd they get that much food to waste on such a childish prank?

For the first time since the first season (boy, a lot of firsts in this ep. ), we hear the Japanese version of "Happy Days Are Here Again."

The scene where Frank and Margaret argue about who's going to drive the jeep is funny, but it does beg one question - just where were they going? The bus has already brought the nurses back into camp, if I'm not mistaken, so Margaret's tent should be in walking distance. Besides, isn't it lucky for the couple that the motor pool just happened to have left a jeep sitting with the keys in it so anyone (and I do mean anyone) can come along and use it?

In the end credits, there is no listing for "Nurse Baker". There is, however, a listing for "Nurse Able". Was the insubordinate nurse (Baker) originally Nurse Able?

The episode starts with there being conflict between Margaret and her nurses. You think this is where the ep is going. It instead goes into another direction. Yet, it feels incomplete. It feels like there should have been some sort of resolution to the situation between Hot Lips and her nursing staff.

Abyssinia!

Radar had previously mentioned a sister in "The Gun". He keeps his bicycle lock key on his MASH keychain, because his sister always flipped the chain of his bike when she borrowed it. There is also reference to a 4F brother, as well as assorted uncles and cousins. They all vanished into limbo when Uncle Ed died.

The same limbo also holds Hawkeye's mother and sister, Margaret's sister, an unnamed sibling of Charles', and Potter's son the dentist.

Hey, isn't "The Gun" a later ep, not a previous one? I think B.J.'s in that one.

Abyssinia!

Is this episode the first time Hawkeye and Hot Lips kiss?

I believe so; I seem to recall a lot of 'threats' up to this point but no actual lip-locking. (Interestingly enough, though, by this point Trapper has gotten snuggly with the Major on several occasions...)

On the phone, Frank complains to Margaret that Hawkeye and Trapper filled his foxhole with peas and carrots. Where'd they get that much food to waste on such a childish prank?

Peas and carrots aren't necessarily a scarce commodity, given how easy they are to process and ship. I'm picturing a couple huge tubsfuls of mushy frozen 'mixed vegetables' that no-one can bring themselves to eat left over in the kitchens. (As an added bonus the consistency would be just at maximum 'ewwww' value for this kind of prank, too. Might even have been what suggested it in the first place.)

Hi, I would like to know the Guitar Chords for the song that was played in this episode.
I saw it last night and I would love to learn the track.
(Capt. Spalding's song about the Nurses)
Can anyone help please....