30. Kim

October 20, 1973 (K-407)

Written by: Marc Mandel, Larry Gelbart, and Laurence Marks.
Directed by: William Wiard
Guest Stars: Edgar Miller as Kim, Momo Yashima as Kim's Mother, Maggie Roswell as Sister Theresa.
Maggie Roswell is usually better known as the voices of Helen Lovejoy, Todd Flanders and various other recurring characters from The Simpsons.
Semi-regulars: Lesley Evans as Nurse Mitchell, William Christopher as Father Mulcahy, Jamie Farr as Klinger.

Plot: Trapper is lonely and missing his children at home. However, a young Korean boy called Kim turns up injured at the camp. Nobody can track down Kim's family or anyone who knows anything about where he came from; Trap can't stand the thought of the kid going to an orphanage, and decides to ask his wife if she'd mind adopting a Korean boy. She agrees, and the boys go to tell the kid the good news, only to discover that he's wandered off into the minefield (Hot Lips and Burns were meant to be minding him and got ... ahem ... distracted). Trapper dashes into the minefield after the kid, but when Radar gets the minefield map it turns out that if he moves anywhere, he'll blow up. O'Brien the chopper pilot lifts them both out of the minefield without explosions... just in time to meet Sister Theresa with Kim's mother. Trapper doesn't get to adopt the Korean kid that he wants, but decides to think about adopting a young corporal from Iowa...

Glitches: Jeff Maxwell, who will later go on to be the famous Igor, is seen in the mess tent with a cap, apron and a tray of mugs. Next thing we know, he's in the post-op covered in bandages! I guess being a waiter is more dangerous than it looks.

Great Lines: Hawkeye, about Trapper's rubber glove balloon: 'It looks like a pregnant bagpipe.' Trapper: 'Bagpipes get pregnant?' Hawkeye: 'Of course they do, right after they make those funny sounds.'
Trapper: 'People don't just disappear!' Radar: 'What, in a war?'
Henry demands to know why the boys know about the orphanage. Radar confesses, 'Ah, they got it out of me.' Henry: 'How?' Radar: 'Uh...by listening.'

The Klinger Collection: A black skirt, lime green blouse with fur stole and red hat. Gorgeous. Then a pale blue dress with very high side splits and a green and blue and white patterned blouse with mauve hairnet, for playing ball in.

Continuity is for Wimps: The mail seems to get in and out of the camp a lot quicker in this episode than later in the series.
Henry says he's got two kids of his own. He had three in Episode 24. Showtime.

They All Look the Same To Me: Momo Yashima makes her debut here.

Je Ne Parle Korean... Do I? Hawkeye apparently gets a crash-course to learn something from Kim. Probably 'I have to pee'.
Just as well Hot Lips knows the Korean for 'stop' and 'stay' or the episode might have ended a lot sooner and a lot more morose.

Notes: Henry's got two kids this week. He had three not long ago. Trapper has two daughters, Kathy and Becky, and a wife called Louise (I hope it's not the same Louise that Frank's married to).

Comments: This was a fairly lousy episode. Trapper's motivation for wanting to adopt the kid is never made truly clear; his reasoning isn't watertight, or even particularly well thought out. Henry's point was very well made when the boys were making a fuss about him sending the kid to an orphanage - if there was a better option, it'd be really nice to know about it. Not the best episode of the series, but well worth it for some fabulous Burns and Hot Lips action. Those two are priceless.

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