83. Of Moose and Men

November 21, 1975 (G-503)

Written by: Jay Folb
Directed by: John Erman
Guest Stars: Tim O'Connor as Colonel Spiker.
Semi-regulars: Johnny Haymer as Sergeant Zale.

Plot: Hawkeye offends a Colonel on the way back from an emergency. When the Colonel turns up at the camp and needs surgery, Hawkeye has to operate on him, against the colonel's wishes. He eventually forgives Pierce after talking to Potter, but only in a very grudging fashion. Frank's paranoia is running rife - he checks all the locals, makes sure there are no explosives in his toothpaste, and suspects local Koreans of burying a bomb, which turns out to be a kim-chee pot. Sergeant Zale gets a letter from his wife telling him how she had an affair with the next-door neighbour. After BJ discovers that Zale has a Korean girlfriend, he points out the hypocrisy of Zale's anger toward his wife, and persuades him to forgive her.

AWOL: I don't recall seeing Klinger this episode.

Great Lines: Hawkeye, about the bomb: 'When did you see it?' Burns: 'When I was checking my toothpaste for explosives.'

Notes: Colonel Potter is 1/4 Cherokee. Hawkeye is still the best surgeon in camp.

Comments: I didn't find Hawkeye's sarcastic thanking of the colonel as funny as the studio audience - it was really quite disturbing and rather unpleasant. Burns's paranoia makes a counterpoint to the unpleasant pig-headedness of Colonel Spiker, but on the whole this isn't really a very nice episode.

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