Season 7, Episode 1: Commander Pierce
Special Guest Star: Tim Horpinitch
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Glad to have MASHcast back, Iron Guts!
First time, long time…
1) I do feel highlighting the scenes cut in syndication is quite relevant. I was able to catch early Henry-Trapper episodes via reruns and still feel weirded out when I see what feels like bonus footage inserted in, like a director’s cut of a popular movie.
2) This episode has perhaps my favorite line out of the entire series from Margaret: “If only Frank Burns could see you now. It’s not so easy to be the clown when you have to run the circus…” BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!
Also: I’m almost certain that the syndicated versions were by Fox and seen everywhere. Like I said, the cut scenes you referenced from S01-03 are familiar to me here in Hawaii…
Sorry, *one* more thing: Animus towards mustachioed B.J. is a real thing with a whole lotta faceless profiles on the intarwebs. Message boards, Reddit, etc. You thought raging on Alda for his support of the ERA back in the day was a thing… Hoo boy! Not sure if it’s hating on the B.J. character (i.e. how he was written) or taking it out personally on Mike Farrell specifically.
Anywell… That is all.
Great to have the show back!
Regarding Potter’s comment of “Courage, Camille”:
as Tim said, ‘Camille’ began as a novel and then a stage play – but Potter was almost assuredly referencing the 1936 MGM Greta Garbo film ‘Camille’.
‘Camille’ is famous (infamous?) for the death scene at the end of the film.
So much so, that in the MGM musical ‘The Bandwagon’ it gets a gentle ribbing in the lyrics to “That’s Entertainment”
“No death
Like you get in MacBeth
No ordeal
Like the end of Camille
This good-bye
Brings a tear to the eye
The world is a stage
The stage is a world
Of entertainment”
It’s great to have MASHCast back! And I’m very excited that we get it for 25 weeks in a row. I love watching along and reliving the series with your podcast.
This episode is definitely kind of low-key for a season premiere. Especially after the one-hour season premieres from Seasons 4, 5, and 6, all of which involved big changes or events (BJ replacing Trapper in season 4, the camp bugging out in season 5, and Charles replacing Frank in season 6). Also, I agree that this episode was probably not originally intended as the season premiere. It’s funny that we hear Colonel Potter talking about BJ’s moustache before we actually see it for the first time (not counting the newly revised opening credits).
But overall, I did like this episode. It’s interesting to see how Hawkeye acts when he has to deal with the responsibility of command. Although Colonel Potter is not in the episode very much, we see part of why he is such a great commander. As Potter explained at the end, he knows when he needs to step in and exercise his authority and when it is better to ease up. Wise leaders know when to exercise restraint, which is part of what Frank Burns never understood. Margaret was right that Hawkeye was acting more like Frank than like Colonel Potter, although I’m sure Hawkeye would have improved over time if he had been the permanent commander.
It was a dreary and rainy morning here in Alaska when I got into my car. I plugged in my phone and became happy when I saw that the new season of MASHCast was in my podcast feed. It was great to hear a guest that’s pretty much on the complete opposite side of the world.
Seeing how Hawkeye became serious when he was in charge made me think of an incident back when I was a LT and deployed to Iraq for the 2003 invasion. When we were in stability operations, we’d get daily reports and forecasts for insurgent activity that also described where all IEDs were encountered. As a platoon leader, I’d read the reports and forecasts after dinner and prepare my permission brief for the next morning before leaving the FOB. The brief also included a hazard rating.
The rating was the same number each day for about a month. One of my soldiers kept joking that the rating never changes. So, I had him join me while I read the reports and showed him how I prepare the morning briefing. I told him to prepare his own brief and he’d read it to the platoon the next morning. He stopped making jokes after that.
Yay! I’m so happy you’re back! Not only is this my favorite podcast, but it comes with my favorite comment section. I honestly stay away from most comment sections these days, they just make me lose hope for humanity. Someone asks the most innocent question, and five comment later someone is calling someone a stupid idiot. But not here, this one is filled with kind and courteous people expressing their opinions without bringing others down. It’s a wonderful respite.
As for this episode of MASH, I like it, and I liked listening to your conversation about it.
To me, it’s an interesting, very low key way of starting the season. It feels like the show has truly find it’s footing by now, they don’t need to start of with a bang, they had already done that for season 4, 5 and 6. They know they have their audience, they know what kind of show they want to be with the balance between drama and comedy, and they are very comfortable with having the hero being shown in a not so flattering light.
I am also a fan of the episodes where BJ and Hawkeye aren’t the best of friends, I just really enjoy that they can argue and make up, their friendship can survive it, it’s on a deeper level. They are two very different people, and also so much alike, and when living so close together under so much stress, friction will arise.
I really enjoy Margaret’s and Hawkeye’s interactions here. The “If only Frank Burns could see you now” is great. And she is so right, of course. But I also really like that when they do mention Frank, it happens like this, Margaret mentions him in this circumstance. And it’s spoken in a soft voice, one would think that if she did mention him it would be in anger or in a spiteful way in a completely different situation, but no – it happens here, and is just quiet, calm and reflective And a bit of a dig at Hawkeye, of course, but again – she is right.
I would have loved to seen Hawkeye and Margaret actually work together a bit more in this episode, it would have been a nice reference to Carry on, Hawkeye, and it would have been great to see more of how their dynamics has changed by now.
The scene with Colonel Potter being drunk and deciding to sleep in his chair is great. And it also shows us that Colonel Potter is able to adapt to a situation, and Hawkeye is not in his new position. There is of course a huge difference between getting drunk and decide to sleep in a chair and getting a huge chunk of responsibility dumped on your shoulders, but it’s still a great little insight to both of their personalities.
I know he didn’t come to MASH with it, but it’s hard to picture BJ without his mustache. I love that little crumb-catcher, of for no other reason than it’s BJ’s quiet, personal rebellion against the situation he’s found himself in.
I think there are a couple of reasons the mustache is such a big deal to the camp. First, it’s certainly not G.I. And also, back at that time it would’ve been considered beatnik, the facial hair of a weirdo who listened to jazz and smoked funny cigarettes. The ‘stache was definitely a choice on BJ’s part. It reminds me of his pink-red shirt, another subtle way of pushing back against the madness.
It’s great to have you back and what a lovely first guest. I don’t know much about the Seychelles, but I have always liked their flag.
I also prefer the older look of the show. I like season 7, but I agree with others that this isn’t the strongest episode to have as a season opener.
So awesome for the show to be back on!
As always, I feel differently about the show now that I have been in the medical field. BJ leaving a MASH unit full of patients to go fetch one is just wrong.
What if he gets there and the GI who he talked to was wrong and the guy was fine?
What if he gets there and the GI who he talked to was wrong and the guy is dead?
What if he gets killed on the way there or back?
What if 4 soldiers die in pre-op because BJ was gone and they had to wait too long to get into actual surgery?
You have to deal with the patients in front of you, not the potential patients.
I think he is totally … TOTALLY … in the wrong.
That said, it does sound like something Hawkeye would do. And for god sake, why are there only 4 surgeons running this place! You think they’d at least ship over a replacement for Potter while he was gone!
Anyways, fantastic episode with great discussion, as always.
I always consider this the beginning of the “Angry Mustache BJ” era of M*A*S*H. I know that the show had years to make the characters more complex, a huge positive. But as someone who adored BJ for the first few seasons, the darker change to the character was a bit of a shock, and still is.
As to the changing look of the show, I equated it to how the last three seasons of Star Trek: TNG look very different than season 1-4. It was more polished and almost more fake looking at the end. Look at how Tomalak changes from his introduction to the series fanale.
I’m so glad this podcast is back!
I’m curious to hear from the actual military people, but I’m wondering if it’s a rank + position thing as to why Hawkeye was the next in line. Putting Margret to the side, for which I’m inclined to go with Tim’s explanation of being a nurse, you have Charles as the Major being the second in command. After him would come Hawkeye and BJ, but Hawkeye is the Chief Surgeon so that puts him a leg up on the org chart.
Comparing it to Star Trek (as I’m want to do) this would be why Sulu and Uhura would get the center seat as Lieutenants and Bridge Officers, when I’m sure there are other Lieutenant-Commanders on the ship.
I do like the fact that Hawkeye is getting a bit of his comeuppance by being put in charge and having to see what Potter deals with, especially with BJ’s taking off on his own. When you think you only need to worry about yourself, it’s easy to just go off on your own. When you need to worry about EVERYONE, you suddenly have to button down more. Did it happen pretty quick? Yes, but you don’t have a lot of time to tell the story so it needs to be on fast-forward. Maybe if Hawkeye would take a turn as the Officer of the Day once in awhile, he wouldn’t have such a hard time with taking over the unit now and then. 😉
This is also the fact that I think the Winchester years (especially while Radar is still there) are the best years. You’re able to have Hawkeye and BJ snipe at each other (sorry, Rob) when that would never happen with Trapper. If you want to have more hard-hitting stories, then you need to have the characters act like real people, and real people don’t always get along.
Welcome back, General! I thought for sure you’d be getting command of I Corps, though…better luck next time!
Like you, I’m not much of a fan of this episode. It really feels like filler to me, something they would burn off during the week when the show was up against the World Series, for instance.
And I really yearned for a moment when Hawkeye would have said, “Put Margaret in charge, she’s the next highest ranking officer,” and Potter could have explained, “Yes, but unfortunately Army regulations prohibit women from commanding field units…which is a shame, because she’d do better than most men I know.” (And I don’t know if that’s an actual regulation, but it seems likely, doesn’t it?)
I really don’t understand Potter’s nugget of wisdom at the end, about a good commander knowing when to stay out of something until needed, because that absolutely did not apply to this episode. Indeed, the problem was the exact opposite, that Hawkeye wasn’t getting involved even when he desperately needed to. But that got me thinking about how I might have written this episode, and I realized that it would have worked better if Hawkeye were Thanos.
Think about it…here’s a guy, a surgeon, who by his very nature, in both instinct and training, is to repair what’s damaged. And now he has the power to do something about that, at least in his immediate environment. So instead of resisting his responsibility as commander, I can see Hawkeye being consumed by it, getting drawn into every issue, large and infinitesimal, overriding Margaret (such as with the nurses’ schedules), ordering changes to the food in the mess hall, rebuking Army doctrine, reorganizing virtually everything, and all of it backfiring on an epic scale. He’d become so obsessed, he wouldn’t even sleep at night, just prowl around the camp looking for things to make “better”. Remember, Thanos considered himself the good guy…he was going to “fix” the universe. And now Hawkeye, with the best of intentions, was wearing the infinity stones gauntlet. That’s when Potter’s aphorism about restraint would make the most sense.
Oh, and regarding the observations that B.J. started getting ‘angrier’ in the facial hair years, have we considered that, much like bearded Evil Spock, mustachioed Hunnicutt is actually an evil Mirror Universe version who switched places with our B.J.? I already entertain the theory that the entire eleven seasons of M*A*S*H* actually switch between alternate realities every couple of years, veering from a slapstick universe to, ultimately, a far more realistic dramedy one. So I’m totally here for Evil B.J.
While I don’t like seeing Hawkeye and BJ fighting with each other, I do take a certain perverse pleasure in watching Hawkeye become the authority figure he’s railed against for so many years. That being said, I do agree that the two or three days that this episode appears to cover is too short a time to explain the drastic change in Hawkeye’s behavior.
I’m looking forward to the new season ahead.
Welcome back!!!
I’m guessing being female as well as not a doctor kept Margaret from being even interim CO.
BJ did become more moody in the later seasons. Even his look in the opening credits was different, he looked more world-weary with his look up and nodding as opposed to yelling off to the side.
I enjoyed your guest. Amazes me someone from another country would enjoy and relate to the show. I just wish you had asked the Aussie expat about Ugly John. Maybe have him back when the staff has to run Rosie’s.
I enjoyed the Frank shoutout. It was even a sympathetic mention and not running him down. And yes, you would have to know the show to fully understand the comment and I couldn’t explain it in five seconds.
Glad we are on a weekly schedule this season. I hope you are setting in well in your new home.
Back and off to a great start with a great guest! Hooray!
This episode struck an interesting chord with me, because I spent a 5-year stint as management with my current employer. (Or as I prefer, the “dark times”.) The department needed some help with the administrative side of managing people, and while I really didn’t think I’d be a good fit, I said I’d try. Sure enough, I was frustrated with policy changes, procedure headaches, personnel issues, and other things. Turns out I’m more of a Hawkeye myself, willing to point out hypocrisy, or being too honest by speaking truthfully not just what people want to hear. Finally, I put in my annual evaluation’s typical “where do you see yourself in 5 years” as “being out of management and back to full-time programming.” My boss considerately let the move happen much sooner, but not really understanding my choice of “quality of life” over “advancement.”
Again, I see my best role similar to Hawkeye as Chief Surgeon, and how he approached that responsibility when it happened. He was content because it was playing to his strengths, and focused on the medicine, not the minutiae. I have ample respect for those who can handle management since I’ve been in their shoes, but I’ve “seen too much” and would never go back. I’d rather help lead and mentor among peers, and leave being the boss to Colonel Potter. So I really feel for Hawkeye being in a job he didn’t want, but do think he needed to grow up some and help for the sake of the camp since it wasn’t long term. But that wouldn’t make for as good TV.
So that reply wasn’t too long, was it OH NO! Sorry, Rob. Welcome back!
Uh-oh. I had one of my wacky thoughts. What if “Nurse Baker” isn’t a name, but a title? Margaret is the Alpha nurse, so Baker could always be whoever is her second in command. And being Margaret, nobody stays long in that role. How’s that for a no prize?
Hello and welcome back. Hope you and your bride had an enjoyable move to Florida. And I hope you enjoy the state more than I did when I lived there in the mid 1980s.
A few points about this episode –
I think the facial hair got so much play because it was new to the actor and because facial hair is rare among the cast members. Except for a few visiting dignitaries the only one I can recall that had facial hair was Ugly John and Hawkeye called him Fungus Face.
Margaret did take over the operation in one episode. (“Carry On, Hawkeye” Season 2 #11). Remember “I am administration”.
Henry Blake had a rubber stamp made of his initials (and signature?) because he had to sign his name so much. Even Potter mentioned in one episode how many times he had to sign his name in the army.
I must agree with the IMDB assessment of BJ. I, too, find a significant change in his character starting in season 7 and going through the remainder of the series.
I’m incredibly excited that my periodic re-watch of M*A*S*H has aligned perfectly with the podcast!! I JUST started season 7 and here you are! I’ve watched enough to always be able to picture the episode you’re talking about, but now I will have watched it mere days before I hear your analysis. And I agree that this isn’t the strongest episode – Hawkeye’s been in charge before, and has never responded this way. But it does provide for some great reactions from Radar. Aside from from “You can’t lie to I-Corps!” he also delivers this great silent burn earlier, after Hawkeye pushes the papers of his desk and then says “How am I doing so far?” Radar’s look is priceless.
Hi Rob, long time listener, first time commenter…
Actually, I found your podcast and pretty much binge listened for a solid 6 months, so I’m so excited to be up to date and able to watch and listen along with you!
I’m 30 and live in Brisbane, Australia MASH has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and still watch it weekly. Obviously I was born 10 years after the show ended but my Mum and Grandma loved it so they religiously recorded it every night that it was on and we had a whole cabnet of (very bulky) vcr’s. It was constantly on and it has been engrained in my soul. I could probably perform a tracheotomy just based on my MASH knowledge.
Even though over the years we moved to dvd box sets and now streaming, I can distinctly remember commercial breaks and accidental cuts where they stopped recording prematurely and whenever I watch the full eppisode now, (much like your sindicated cuts that stick in your brain) I remeber the show the way I saw it as a kid.
I’m sort of sad we got rid of those vcrs because I would love to see some of those vintage adds of the 80’s
I’ve always wished that there was more behind the scenes footage, ‘the making of MASH” kind of thing… maybe there was, and I missed out by a decade and it’s been lost in the ever expanding cinematic filing cabinet of things I’llprobably never see??
But your podcast goes along way to helping me with this as no one that I know other than my mum and sister watch MASH, so I have no one to discuss it with and no one who gets my jokes/quotes
So thank you for delving in to my all time favourite TV show and giving me a community to help me understand the references I don’t get and give me different perspectives on eppisodes.
P.S. My favorite character is Klinger. He brings so much joy to the show and light-heartedness. The way he wants to get out so desperately but is always there pulling more than his weight. Walking through post op in a summer dress with hairy leggs just cracks me up
And Colonel Flagg also has my heart. I love his brand of serious stupidity.
Thanks again!
The question of why Hawkeye is the one in charge as opposed to Margaret in this episode becomes especially interesting when we consider what happens in ‘Carry On Hawkeye’ from season two, when a very similar situation happens with someone needing to take over command. Almost everyone gets the flu, including Henry, and Hawkeye and Margaret are among the only people who aren’t sick. Margaret tells Hawkeye she should be in charge (“You take care of the medical matters and I’ll handle administration”) and he agrees. She even mentions her rank as a reason it makes sense. There’s a joke about them being ‘Mr. and Mrs. 4077’. Obviously it would have been repetitive to have them run the unit together again, and they wanted to explore what would happen if Hawkeye was the only one in charge, but I think they could have done with a line at least showing Margaret was considered as an option.
Great to have the pod back!