56. Life With Father

October 29, 1974 (B-302)

Written by: Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell
Directed by: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Sachiko Penny Lee, as Chin Sah
Semi-regulars: William Christopher, as Father Mulcahy. Patricia Stevens, as Nurse.

Plot: A Korean woman shows up at the camp with a baby, wanting a Rabbi to perform a bris ceremony (circumcision) on her baby, who is the son of a Jewish GI. Hawkeye and Trapper try to find ten US Presidents' faces in a picture of a barnyard to win a pony. When the Korean woman approaches them for the bris, they get Father Mulcahy to help out. Meanwhile, Henry has had a letter from his wife which makes him worried that she's being unfaithful. At the same time as trying to find a Rabbi for the ceremony, Father Mulcahy finds out that his sister, who is a nun, wants to leave her order and have a baby, and she is after his approval. Henry phones his wife - she had a brief encounter with an orthodontist, but is very remorseful. Henry is upset. The boys perform the circumcision, and Mulcahy officiates. Although Burns and Hot Lips try to get them in trouble (the circumcision is elective surgery and illegal), they get away with it. Mulcahy decides that his sister deserves to have a baby as well, although from what happens in later episodes I guess she changes her mind.

Glitches: For a kid who's just had a rather tender part snipped, the baby doesn't cry at all.

Great Lines: Henry's letter: '"the hardships, the loneliness, living in tents like animals"' Hawkeye: 'I didn't know animals lived in tents.'
Radar, over the radio: 'Tell the Rabbi Roger Kosher and out!'
Mulcahy, into the microphone: 'Testing... testing... mea culpa, mea culpa...'

Continuity is for Wimps: It seems that the phone/radio system is a very peculiar animal - sometimes Radar uses the phone, sometimes a headset and microphone, and this episode, the PA microphone. It's very strange.

They All Look the Same to Me: First appearance for Sachiko Penny Lee. She turns up again later, though.

Je ne parle Korean...do I? Nobody seems to talk Korean in this episode, but Chin Sah has a moderate amount of English.

Notes: Mulcahy's sister is called Maria Angelica, as a nun, or Kathy, to family.
Henry gets dirty movies sent to him from the Tabasco film company of Havana, Cuba, in Radar's name.

Comments: I liked this episode, even though it was somewhat lacking in substance. Burns and Hot Lips will always find a way to be rotten, although it's starting to be clear that his rottenness is more a personal trait than hers; she goes by the book and sticks to regulation, he's just a prick.

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