Plot: For a time, the 4077th has no casualties. Hawkeye and Trapper get gorilla suits, and Frank confesses that he has a hernia. Suddenly things heat up again.

While lining up the condiments in the mess tent, Frank mentions that one of the condiments is mayonaise. A medical unit is the last place I'd expect them to leave mayonaise out on the tables. They're just begging for an epidemic of food poisoning.

Why didn't we ever see the gorilla suits again?

For me this epiosode contains one of the most infuriating syndication cuts of all. Henry gives a V.D. lecture in the mess tent. Behind him is "Figure A" and "Figure B". One is male, the other female. Henry rambles through the lecture. "We all know which one ('Figure A', 'Figure B') we are," said Henry. Trapper calls out, "Which one am I, Henry?" Throughout the talk Hawkeye, Trapper and Klinger (I think) heckle Henry. Henry laughs along with them. He ends the lecture by asking, "Are there... are there any questions?" Radar nervously raises his hand. "Uh, yes Radar?" "Uh, sir when are gonna give a talk on V.D.?" The entire tent breaks down with laughter. This is one of my favorite M*A*S*H segments. AND NOW IT'S GONE!! ARRRRGH!

Mulcahy’s baseball cap has a letter “G” on it. “G” for God, perhaps?

Once again, General Mitchell is mentioned. Thus far, he holds the record for being in charge of the 4077th’s sector the longest.

The dress Klinger is wearing in the picture he’s sending to General Mitchell is similar to the one worn by Rita Heyworth. Klinger would later say she’s his favorite actress.

Klinger refers to the camp as “MASH Forty-Seventy-Seventh”. I think this is the only time in the series it is not called the Four-Oh-Seventy-Seventh” (or “Four-Oh-Seven-Seventh”).

This is the third episode in a row that Radar has played “Reveille”. Badly.

YAAAAYY!!! Henry Blake’s VD lecture!! This has been cut from the ep for syndication for a long time now. I, for one, have sorely missed it and am very happy to be able to see it again.

In this episode Radar says he is 19. In “For Want of a Boot” we learn his age is between 19 and 25.

Once again the scrub sinks face each other rather than sit side by side. Side by side will emerge as the series’ standard.

The set where Trapper talks to the nurse about how much break times they have is rather minimalist. It’s clearly just a door with the words “Pre-Op Ward” above it and a solitary light.

What did they use on Frank for his hernia operation? A local? Frank is quite conscious (a bit goofy, yeah, but still conscious) when the Korean baby is born. Even if Pierce is only in the process of closing on Frank, shouldn’t Major Burns be under a deeper anesthetic? He was having his hernia operated on. Should Frank be conscious enough to be aware of what’s going on while undergoing such a procedure?

In this episode Nurse Kellye is called “Nurse Able”.

About henry VD talk: Maybe its not translated correctly, but in the german version henry says that when the guys are in a bar with hookers, they should think of home, the wives and restrain. Is that really a doctors advice, to restrain? What about condoms? They were available at that time, or not? Along the same line, if there is only one rosie, where probably the same girls would hang out, why not treat the girls for free before they infect the guys? This is a hospital, after all.

It's not just Rosie's the soldiers go to. There's probably dozens of brothels in Seoul and Tokyo, too. There are eps showing that the 4077th did treat some of the local business girls. (Remember the fun Charles had treatng them?)

constanze, you have to remember, that the Henry VD talk was echoing early 1950's US sensibilities (i.e. sex didn't exist if you weren't doing it with your spouse).

"Maybe its not translated correctly, but in the german version henry says that when the guys are in a bar with hookers, they should think of home, the wives and restrain. Is that really a doctors advice, to restrain? What about condoms?" - constanze

IIRC, in English, the episode does not specify hookers. Henry's lecture dances all around its actual topic. Colonel Blake is clearly uncomfortable with the subject matter. Thus, Henry might be a bit reluctant to outright mention the word, "condoms."

But if Henry was reluctant, so were the network censors, only moreso. At the time this episode was made in the early Seventies, any form of contraception was a proscribed subject as far as the networks were concerned. The real break through (words I'm sure Trojan hates to hear) came in the late 70s with a by now obscure, TV series called James at 15. I never watched it, mind you, but I do recall the furor that erupted when they ran the ep where the title character, James (played by Lance Kerwin, IIRC), lost his virginity. Not only was the fact that James was having sex controversial, but the episode marked the first time there was a reference to condoms. (If memory serves, the word "protection" was used instead of "condom".)

Just a note (not a nit)

I can't help but notice that, even though a terrible bugle player, Radar is quite a musician. In this episode, he is playing the piano (and doing a whole lot better than Hawkeye and Trapper seem to admit). In other episodes, he shows himself to be a very good drummer.

I don't remember him mentioning having a musical background in Iowa.

Like I said, it is just interesting that such a bad bugle player is that good a musician.

Here is a nit (I have noticed this one several times through MASH)

When Hawkeye gives Frank the sedative, he gives it intramusclar (in the rear end). A shot like this should take 10 minutes or so (if you want it to go in immediatly, you go IV). And yet, he is immediatly feeling the effects of the sedative.

but its funnier that way.

True, but it's still a nit. Besides, the shows can let the drug effect Burns in a more realistic time frame (five minutes or whatever). It would slow down the action.

Of course, it's possible Ol' Ferret Face just happens to be hypersensitive to whatever's in those needles they keep sticking into him, thus rendering him unconscious so quickly.

Maybe the pain of the needle makes him faint? I know it's not likely, but this is Frank Burns

I wonder if Frank applied for a purple heart for his hernia?

It wouldn't surprise me, Justin. But I would guess that it was turned down. Otherwise, Radar could've gotten one when his tonsils and appendix were removed.

Your point is well taken.