Season 8, Episode 21: Goodbye, Cruel World
Special Guest Star: MJ
This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK:
- Visit the Fire & Water WEBSITE: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com
- The Fire & Water Podcast Network on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/fwpodcasts.bsky.social
- Rob Kelly Creative on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/robkellycreative.bsky.social
- Like our Fire & Water FACEBOOK page – https://www.facebook.com/FWPodcastNetwork
- Support The Fire & Water Podcast Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fwpodcasts
- Use our HASHTAG online: #FWPodcasts
- E-MAIL: fwpodcasts@gmail.com
That is all!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
While I do find everyone laughing and making fun of Klinger’s decorations to be mean-spirited and hurtful (and almost out-of-character, except perhaps for Charles and Margaret), it was a bit grating for me how both of you are trying to make excuses and defend Klinger’s redecoration of the office. Just because their reactions were wrong doesn’t make Klinger’s actions right.
I love Klinger too (he’s such a genuinely good guy) but what he did was way out of line and not at all compatible to having a few things such as a pillow or some curtains – in fact, I very much doubt anyone would have had a problem if Klinger had stuck to an oriental pillow and perhaps a small wall hanging carpet by his bed. So no, Klinger doesn’t have a point at all because adding a few personal items to areas designated as living quarters is not the same as completely redecorating an office that also functions as the camp’s front desk.
Radar and Klinger sleep in the office because they were responsible for the phone (and all other forms of communication) and thus had to be available 24/7. They also had to be there to make sure everyone couldn’t just walk in and snoop through reports, documents, etc., or steal official and/or private letters (or worse, Col. Potter’s alcohol).
Also, as an introvert watching the show and trying to imagine what it would be like to be there myself, I can say 100% that I would take Klinger’s place over that of the doctors or the nurses any time because while the office is not private, 1) he gets to sleep alone and 2) would have been able to get time for himself in the less busy hours. I would say everyone in camp who had to share a tent had less privacy than what Klinger was afforded as company clerk.
Another thing, Sidney used hypnotism in “The Billfold Syndrome” (7×05) so it isn’t the first time he’s ever done it.
The thing is, Klinger didn’t choose the company clerk role or to even be part of the military/a MASH unit in the first place. His whole character arc for seasons has been about how much he does not want to be there – and in the s6 episode “War Of Nerves”, he gets into it with Sidney why he hates being an unwilling cog in the machine so much – he doesn’t want to be around all of the killing. So the fact that he’s been unwillingly drafted into this position of responsibility in an institution he vehemently objects to is extremely important on top of the ridicule he gets for trying to make his situation bearable for himself with reminders of what he loves about his home. Yes, the extent of the decorations was over the top because MASH was a sitcom and they had to exaggerate it for comedic effect, but Klinger’s whole thing is that he does not want to be there/is doing what he can to make it bearable for himself. Normally the rest of the MASH understands this and is sympathetic, so it’s jarring when we have a scene where no one is really on his side even a little bit.
No one wants to be there, and Klinger’s situation is, IMO, no more sympathetic than B.J.’s or Hawkeye’s or Charles’ (or to reference Margaret: Klinger’s “brand of suffering is [no] worse than anybody else’s” ). As I said, I doubt anyone would have raised an eyebrow if he’d stuck to a few personal items around his bed. Most of Charles’ character arc is also about how much he does not want to be there, but I don’t think anyone (characters or viewers) would defend him if he had decided to redecorate the Officers’ Club into something that would make it more bearable for him alone.
I don’t think the scene is jarring because no one is on his side (because they absolutely shouldn’t be), but because they are being so unnecessarily cruel about it. But of course, it’s all necessary to push Klinger to the breaking point to get the plot going, but I think it would have worked better if Klinger’s decorations hadn’t been so completely over-the-top.
Great discussion, and MJ was a terrific guest. I too found everyone laughing at Klinger’s possessions offensive from a modern perspective. I’m glad at least Potter and BJ partially rectified how they acted.
Jamie Farr’s impression of Harry Morgan is so funny. Like you said, it doesn’t sound exactly like him but captures the essence of him in an exaggerated way. I keep thinking it would have been hilarious if there had been a Saturday morning cartoon version of MASH, like they did with other sitcoms of that era such as Happy Days, and Jamie Farr could have done the voice of “Sherman T. Potter.”
That is funny about the MASH timeline in terms of references to who is president and vice-president. It was in the season four episode “Dear Peggy” that Hawkeye mentioned Richard Nixon being the vice-president, and Nixon was VP under Eisenhower, but yet here in season eight Truman is still president!
I totally agree that I wish we could get a bit more of Sidney Freeman than once a season!
The fishing pole was probably left at MASH by Henry Blake. When he walks to the helicopter on his last day I didn’t see him carrying one. Also I don’t think Sidney “cured” Yee He tells Hawkeye that the twitching
is temporary and then he tells Yee that he’ll be by to see him soon. What Sidney gave Yee was a Band-Aid. He still has a lot of work to do to repair that wound.
Who got Klinger’s tent?
Maybe Igor?
I absolutely love MJ’s story about what lead her to MASH! It made me think of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8. Pike driver of the Wrecking Crew is charging at Hawkeye, mocking him for firing arrawos at his bulletproof skin. He announces that Hawkeye the Archer is going to need Hawkeye the MASH doctor because Piledriver is about to mash him.
I also enjoyed your tale of the “boss’s daughter” who mocked your workplace decor just as the surgeons mocked Klinger’s. I was just as indignant as everyone else derision of poor Klinger’s attempt to make his living quarters more homelike. Someone should have come to Klinger’s defense.
This was so great, and MJ – I love your MASH origin-story!
I like Goodbye, Cruel World, but as you talk about, I wish we would have gotten more of Sidney’s storyline. Klinger’s is fine, but it is another “Klinger is trying to get out of the army”-story, it’s just what triggers it that’s a bit different.
I would have loved to see more of the hypnosis, and also get to know Sergeant Yee more, he is a really interesting character. Sidney tells us things about him, but I would have loved to watch him tell it himself. I know nothing about hypnosis, but what Sidney did seems very complicated, so I would have loved to see more of that too. Sadly, his storyline is too much tell and not enough show, in my opinion.
Always great to see Sidney, though. I would personally have loved to see him work on the regular characters more throught the seasons. He works with Hawkeye, yes, but for the rest of them he mostly just observes them. “Wow, these people are messed up. Oh, well, I must continue on.” Imagine if he would have talked to Margaret after one of the times she was sexually assaulted, for example. What if he had actually managed to make her open up a bit, how amazing would those scenes be?
When it comes to Klinger, he absolutely went beyond what’s acceptable in the units reception, and everyone was absolutely very insensitive about it.
I completely get why he would want to be reminded of home and make the space feel like his, of course. Having to sleep in that area where anyone could walk in at any time would just suck. No privacy, and no sense of security.
And many of the characters go beyond what they technically should do, just to get through the day. Drinking or having affairs or pranking people in ways that are absolutely too cruel. Hawkeye seems a bit manic about his womanizing ways sometimes, for example, like it’s the coat of a character he can put on, to protect the real him. Klinger wants to protect the real him too, by being reminded of his home and family.
When it comes to getting what they want, several of the other characters go above what’s okay too. I’m thinking about Margaret’s program for the nurses, for example, in Hot Lips is Back In Town. It’s good for everyone, but also a great career step for her, and she invites that general without permission. She only gets away with it because it’s her.
Colonel Potter calling Kinger’s stuff garbage, among other things, is a lot, and almost out of character for him. It seems in character for the rest of them, though, they all have that side to them. Laughing and making those comments over something that’s obviously very important to Klinger is not great to watch, but again – these are not very emotionally intelligent and stable people, in a lot of ways. I say with great love for them,
I was already very happy with the Swedish representation on the show – with both Inga and Per – but I had completely forgotten about Sven Lundgren! What a great guy, I think I met him for breakfast yesterday. 😀
This season of MASH really speaks to me with the struggles that veterans returning from war face. We had an episode earlier this season where Hawkeye turns to alcohol as a coping mechanism. Here we have a service member attempting suicide. And later this season, we have an episode devoted to dreams related to serving in a war zone.
I and many other veterans have faced these same situations. Alcohol helps numb the pain. Suicide, a permanent solution to a temporary problem, ends the pain. And nightmares remind us of the pain.
I’ve lost far too many friends to suicide. I even had a plan for myself. One morning, I was at such a low point that I said that was the day that the rope in my truck would be used. My eldest son was a toddler at that time. He happened to be awake when I was headed to post (Army base). He saw me and told me that he loved me as I was walking out the door. That is what stopped me from carrying out my plan.
I have medication to help restrict my nightmares. And I’ve reduced my drinking to where I have maybe one or two a month. The road to recovery is not smooth or short. But it takes a lot of determination, work, and self forgiveness.
Klinger definitely went overboard on the decorations and should have talked to Potter first. The Greg Brady beads going into postop could be a safety hazard.
The guy playing Yee was on a recent episode of MASH Matters.
I really appreciated MJs breakdown of the wars in Asia leading up to the Korean war. So much more complex than I thought. And imagine learning about the Japanese internment camps while simultaneously learning there were Japanese-American and Asian-American soldiers in WWII. Such a complicated position. In fact, I’ve often wondered why Tokyo was such a friendly place for Americans in 1950, when we had just bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki five years earlier.
I have NEVER followed sports, and I remember thinking, if I were in Yee’s position, I could not save my own life with baseball facts. I’d have a fighting chance if it were MASH trivia.