63. Bombed

January 7, 1975 (B-320)

Written by: Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum
Directed by: Hy Averback
Guest Stars: Louisa Mortiz as Nurse Sanchez, Edward Marshall as Delboss.
Semi-regulars: William Christopher, as Father Mulcahy. Jamie Farr, as Corporal Klinger.

Plot: The camp is being bombed. The gang are trying to conduct surgery with things going boom everywhere. Radar is trying to get the shelling stopped, but everyone in charge is at the Bob Hope show. A North Korean patient who doesn't want to be operated on is causing ructions. Colonel Blake gets bombed in the latrine with Father Mulcahy - Mulcahy seems OK, albeit a bit shocked, but the Colonel has a damaged arm. A patient comes in booby-trapped, which scares the hell out of the staff. They manage to get the grenade out of the OR and throw it toward the minefield, where it detonates relatively safely. The gang discover that the bombing is apparently not from the enemy, but from the US. Trapper and Hot Lips manage to lever open the door to the supply room, but it is hit while they're in there and they get trapped. After being stuck in there for a while, Hawkeye and Burns get them out with lots of innuendo. Despite her protestation that nothing happened between her and Trapper, Burns is so jealous of Trapper, he proposes to Hot Lips. Burns's anxiety leads to him being wonky in surgery, till Hawkeye tells him that nothing happened with Trapper. The shelling stops and Radar reads the camp a letter from his mum - only to be interrupted by more shells. Eventually the day manages to end, with no lasting damage - except that Hot Lips isn't likely to forget that Burns proposed!

Glitches: Interesting, isn't it, that we see the explosions from the shells, but don't see the shells falling.
The way the grenade got caught in the window netting, I'm surprised it didn't blow up the OR when it went bang.
The continuity of this episode seems odd - the movie happens at night, but the preceding and following scenes are during the day. There can't have been a whole night between the two scenes in the supply tent or Hot Lips and Trap would have fallen asleep far earlier.
Hot Lips has an interesting definition of 'perfect gentleman' regarding Trapper's behaviour. He did try to kiss her and then groped her. (I'm kind of surprised that she'd pass up an opportunity to bitch about Trapper).

Great Lines: Radar, catching a toilet roll from the destroyed latrine: 'That's him! His wife sent him stateside paper for their anniversary!'
Radar, on the phone: 'No, sir, I did not hang up on you. I put the phone out the window and it blew up!'
Hot Lips: 'Where I was raised, every morning we ran naked in the snow!' Trapper: 'We ran naked in the subway.'
Trapper: 'Just the old football injury.' Hot Lips: 'Knee?' Trapper: 'Haemorrhoid. I spent a lot of time on the bench.'
Hot Lips, crying: 'I'm so embarrassed.' Trapper: 'Why?' Hot Lips: 'I outrank you.'

The Klinger Collection: He wears his lovely red frock. It's got a black tie around the neck, which is just gorgeous.

Je ne parle Korean...do I? Hawkeye doesn't speak Spanish, either. Burns apparently doesn't speak Spanish or French.

Suction: One regular, one with cha-cha-cha.

Notes: It's very helpful that neither of the chaps in the lav were - well - in the middle of anything, so to speak.
Father Mulcahy's sister gets another mention. He seems to mistake Klinger for his mother, which I'm really hoping was just the shock talking!
Father Mulcahy was trying to get The Yearling as the movie. It was stolen by some Buddhist priests and so the camp got a war movie instead - not brilliant for taking their minds off the shelling!
Trapper's middle name is Xavier. (I think his whole name is John Francis Xavier MacIntyre).
Burns and Hot Lips both listen to Mantovani, and trim their crusts.

Comments: Costa Rica, another international participant in the war, gets a mention.
It's nice to see that even though Burns was scared to death of the booby-trapped patient, he did move fast to anaesthetise him.
There's a very cute moment when the metaphorical bombshell of Burns's proposal is matched by an actual bombshell outside.
There didn't seem to be much of an 'A' story in this episode, but the 'B' story about Burns being so jealous he was ready to propose was pretty funny. A bit more substance would have been nice but you can't have everything.

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