Season 8, Episode 2: Are You Now, Margaret?
Special Guest Star: Amanda Reyes
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Just a quick tidbit on Marilyn Maxwell. She’s probably best remembered (if at all) today for her relationships with several of Hollywood’s top male & married celebrities: Frank Sinatra & Bob Hope.
Just a quick tidbit on Marilyn Maxwell. She’s probably best remembered (if at all) today for her relationships with several of Hollywood’s top male & married celebrities: Frank Sinatra & Bob Hope.
I love to see Potter, Hawkeye, BJ, and Charles all stand up for her!
Williamson and Winchester were discussing polo. In Captains Outrageous Charles says he lettered in polo and crew.
Nurses in the ‘40s and ‘50s didn’t necessarily have bachelor’s degrees, although there were schools that gave them. They attended nursing schools at hospitals which took three years. Since Margaret says “He was in college, and I was a student nurse” that implies she doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree. I like to think of her getting one after the war though.
It’s kind of scary that this episode is more resonant today than when it was made in 1979. It shows how MASH grappled with timeless themes including the unchanging dark side of human nature. This episode is kind of reminiscent of the earlier seasons when some sort of comedic caper would be used to wrap up the episode. As you and Amanda discussed, I’m not sure there was another way they could have ended the episode, since they really couldn’t have our characters save the world from the McCarthy hearings.
It’s kind of amazing that a corporal like Radar gets an R&R that lasts three episodes! I guess the first three episodes of the season are meant to occur within a short time period. But given everything that happens in all those episodes put together, it’s hard to believe Radar was on R&R for only a week or so.
Are you now, Margaret, is one of my favorite episodes, and this was a lovely conversation about it.
As a non-American, I know almost nothing about this communist hunt, but I find it fascinating. So I go into this episode from an angle more of character development,
and acting – and oh, it’s a great one! The whole episode reminds me of the plot of the opera Tosca, where the main character has a boyfriend in jail, and the chief of police tells her that “if you sleep with me, I can absolutely for sure help your boyfriend out” with no intention of helping anyone but himself. It also reminds me of Hot Lips is Back in Town, when the general tells Margaret that “Oh, yeah, I’ll help you work on your project if you sleep with me.” Gross dudes.
I cannot praise Loretta Swit enough for her performance here, she just kills it in every scene. From being all starstruck and dorky – my goodness, girl, calm down! Just look at how tense she is, how she holds her head, just so keen on presenting herself in the best way possible to this important man.
Then being shocked and upset – I just love her whole journey in the scene in Potter’s tent. She stands tall at first, her voice loud and certain, then her voice and the look in her eyes shift when asked about her old friends, and then when the comittee is mentioned, and you can just see the weight that suddenly hits her shoulders, and she can’t even stand up anymore.
Then, her tearfilled eyes in the scene in the mess tent. She is so beaten down. Margaret is usually so high energy, always going somewhere, physically or mentally, but here – she has just stopped and let misery slip in. The fact that she does remember all of the names is so beautiful, and the lenghts she’ll go to protect her old friends and her father is heartbreaking. Love that it’s like she’s not in control of her body anymore either, when she gets up to leave, her foot hits the bench she was sitting on, and it’s such a tiny detail that says everything about the emotional turmoil she’s in. Margaret craves control, but her body is just betraying her.
Then her whole fake seductive act in her tent, it’s so precise and subtle, and then her joy when the creep leaves.
Beautiful, beautiful performance.
I truly enjoy that the men band together to save her, and the whole set up they come up does seem very believable, just the kind of plan I would expect these men to put together. But it makes me a bit sad too, when you consider Margaret’s history. In MASH-time, it wasn’t that long ago that Bananas, Crackers and Nuts happened, when that guy just grabbed her in her tent and tried to force himself on her. So this whole situation, even though she knew she was completely safe this time, must bring up some unpleasant memories. And just having to kiss someone against your will is pretty bad.
Margaret’s sexuality has been used as a joke so many times, and while that doesn’t exactly happen her, the scene still ends with joy and laughter, and I keep thinking about how she must feel a bit later, when she has had some time to reflect.
But still – love the rhythm of the whole scene, it’s really great, and so well performed on everyone’s part.
Happy you brought up what would have happened if this was set in an earlier season, because I’ve been thinking about that too… It’s a scenario I wanna write a fic about one day. Frank would for sure not have had Margaret’s back, I think he would have turned away from her in a heartbeat, horrified. Then Margaret wouldn’t have had anyone to talk to, Henry would have been no help to her. And Hawkeye and Trapper, well – I can see a scenario where they set the same thing up – telling the guy about Margaret being a slutty partygirl basically, and sending him to her tent – but I don’t think they would have told her about it. He would have showed up, made his offer to save her against certain favors, she would have felt like it was her only way out, and then Trapper and Hawkeye would have jumped in, catching them in the act, and giving Margaret another trauma. Hawkeye and Trapper were not friends with Margaret, of course, but I do think they would have seen her as “the little guy” in all this, and taken her side against the greater evil, but still not in any way including her in their plan, just focusing on getting some compromising pics, her well being never being a concern for them.
Not that I have thought a lot about this or anything, just a completely normal amount… 🙂
I honestly wish they would have ended the episode on another note, the button scene has never worked for me, I wish they would have kept it more serious. But that’s just a me-thing, I have many button scenes I’m not found of, where the tone seems a bit off, or the joke just isn’t landing. But again – it’s a me-thing, I’m always drawn to the more serious and melancholy endings.
Oh, and one more thing (of course) when you talk about how many things actors have to remember, learning other actors lines etc. There is a scene in an earlier episode – I don’t remember which one – set in the scrub room. Frank is talking, Margaret is washing her hands, and you can see Loretta mouthing the words to Larry’s line. It’s really sweet, and she just strikes me as the kind of actor who was always super prepared, knew where her character was going, knew her own and everyone elses lines. What a gem of an actor and person she was.
Also – I want a Nash! Not to hang out with Wally Chrichton in, but my patience with this world is hanging on a very thin thread, and one day, I’m just gonna fill my Nash up with wine, books and food, head out into the woods somewhere and start a new society. Anyone wants to join, just let me know, I’ll text you the coordinates when I’m all set up. 🙂
Keep my family and me in mind, MK. Iron Guts knows how to reach me.
Will do, Captain, you are all welcome! 🙂
On the blooper reel for the sitcom Friends, several times one of the main cast members will go up on their lines. In scenes that also contained the nine year old actor playing the part of Ben Geller, the child usually tells the adult actor what their line is. So knowing the entire script, not just your own lines, is common even for a nine year old.
My wife suffers from arthritis. Occasionally when the pain gets bad she will rock back and forth as a comforting gesture. Doesn’t take the pain away but provides comfort at a time where she has little control of what’s going on.
Rob and Amanda, terrific podcast episode about a funny and increasingly frightening MASH episode. I loved your discussion of Margaret’s evolving character, the Red Scare, and its relevance today. Amanda’s appreciation for Lawrence Pressman was in unexpected treat. For what it’s worth, the self-comforting behaviors you discussed are called “stimming.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/stimming
And yeah, everyone who knows anything about military medicine knows there’s a responsibility to treat enemy wounded that goes back — hundreds of years, probably? For that matter, any front line soldier who’s been trained what to do with prisoners knows it. And like pretty much everything in the law of armed conflict, it’s based on the golden rule. We treat enemy soldiers the way we want our soldiers to be treated by the enemy. But I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if a Congressional staffer knew nothing about it. He would have to have missed combat duty in World War II, but I would expect this kind of weasel to have found a way around.
I mean the legal responsibility in the law of armed conflict goes back hundreds of years. The moral responsibility is arguably much older, obviously.
if you count the whole series does Marget have the worst LUCK? i mean MAYBE KLINGER?
Just watched this episode this morning before listening to the podcast.
Favorite line was from Hawkeye. “Charles cannot be described, he must be experienced”.
In my head canon where Frank stays after her wedding, he evolves and becomes more human. I could see him defending her.
Speaking of Frank, I just read that Robert Duvall died.
Pressman did a great job in this episode. Strangely, nobody seemed too put off by him. Potter gave him carte blanche to snoop around and Hawkeye and BJ were even somewhat civil to him at first. His delivery of the line where he says who he is investigating was a great mic drop number.
There is a MASH Matters episode with the daughter of Charles Dubin. A pretty good listen if you can find it.
Not really a good way to resolve it. They saved Margaret but not much they could do about the bigger picture. Felt bad for the Congressman’s wife in all this.
Great episode and discussion!
I think the thing that stands out for me is how this episode really shows the growth that Margaret has undergone over the seasons. I hate to say it but I think ‘Hot Lips’ would have given up her communist friend back then. Margaret won’t. That’s growth.
I think sometimes you can’t solve the big problem but you can solve small ones. Yes, the HUAC trials would go on. But at least Margaret isn’t part of it. I was okay with the small victory. Maybe if everyone had a team fighting for them, the HUAC stuff wouldn’t have happened at all.
It’s always astonishing to remember that, in the show’s timeline, this is happening just a few short months since the “Hot Lips”/Frank Burns era, underscoring Margaret’s incredible growth as a person.
And Alan Alda’s father, Robert, was a prominent Broadway actor, and they seemed to be a particular target of HUAC in the Fifties. I wonder if he had his own confrontation with the committee? I’m almost certain he had friends who were tarred by that vicious brush, so we can assume what the opinion of HUAC was in the Alda household.
I absolutely love the episodes that brought in context from other historical events. I have this problem connecting pieces of history that my brain has compartmentalized separately (i.e. Alaska and Hawaii were added as states during the Happy Days time period, or Amadeus takes place during the American Revolution). I think of M*A*S*H events in their own wonky timeline, and stuff like this, or Charles musing about television being a passing fad always remind me where they are in history. I do remember that when I first saw this broadcast, I didn’t understand the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, but they provided enough context, and I certainly understood anti-communist sentiments, as they were already brewing during the later Carter years.
I did somehow know what a Nash was, i think from it being mentioned in Happy Days. I think guys who had a Nash were off limits for Joanie!
Also, so great to have Amanda back!