Season 8, Episode 24: Back Pay
Special Guest Star: Billy Shulman
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Welcome, Billy! Such an excellent and enthusiastic conversation! Hope Rob invites you back again soon (even though you’re not such a fan of later seasons!)
Re: X-Ray films. These images would be considered just as much a part of the patient record as written notes, so should be retained in keeping with whatever Army Medical Corps rules say about that. (In the UK, our GP records are retained for 10years after a patient has died, but it’s likely a bit different over here than in America – because of the National Health Service, our patient records are technically the property of the Secretary of State for Health… but we needn’t bother ourselves with such esoterica!). Maybe not so much in a MASH unit, but in my practice, a Radiologist will often compare a new image to an older one to monitor progress of a given treatment: for example, compared to a previous image a tumour might be seen to shrink in response to chemotherapy. Or a chest x-ray might show that a shadow on a lung might not be getting better with a given antibiotic. All useful information to guide treatment decisions.
Old X-ray films were big too, typically 14×17 inches for a chest x-ray, and – yes – a sizeable packet of those was heavy indeed.
Of course, it’s all digitised now, so viewed on a computer screen, it is weightless. (Although, your local data centre’s power & water needs will be non-negligible. Sigh!)
Chris, you are very kind.
I had an absolute blast being a guest with Rob.
I still enjoy the later seasons even though I lean towards the earlier seasons.
Agree with all Chris said. In the old days before these things were digitized there was a ‘film library’ just like there was a medical records room.
And yes, you could compare one film to another if people had chronic conditions or needed to check on healing. They were heavy big plastic folders and you’d put the films up to a lightbox. Thinking about things like that make me realize how old I am and how much medicine has changed over my career.
I don’t know if a MASH unit would want to keep all the films they took, perhaps keeping only a few months worth before sending the rest to some depot. It is unlikely you would have a repeat patient where an old film would inform something you did in the current encounter.
I mean, if you had to bug out, there is no way you are packing up the old films.
Great guest and discussion. I don’t know if this is a medical or military issue, but I wonder whether Potter had the authority to force Charles to undergo the alternative medicinal therapy for his back. I understand the point of this B plot was to make Charles look like a fool for pompously mocking the Korean doctors and then recovering from their therapy (rather suddenly and miraculously). I certainly understand patients should be free to choose alternative medicine if they wish, but it seemed like Potter almost forced Charles into it. Does being in the military deprive a patient of the right to make such medical decisions? On the other hand, I suppose this could generously be viewed as a gray area if Potter didn’t force Charles to undergo this therapy but strongly encouraged him to do so, and Charles agreed.
I agree Richard Hurd did a fantastic job and was reminiscent of someone we would have seen going up against Hawkeye and Trapper in the early seasons. I know him best from Seinfeld as Mr. Wilhelm, George’s boss at the Yankees in Seasons 6, 7, and 8 and a final appearance in the finale in Season 9.
This was a lot of fun, loved hearing from Billy!
For some reason, I had mixed up Back Pay with That Darn Kid, so a good ten minutes into the episode I was still like “Hm, they sure take their sweet time to introduce the goat.” 😀 But alas, there was no goat. It had obviously been a very long time since I watched this episode, and I really enjoyed it.
Love the little Margaret and Potter-interaction with the swatches. She is being very tactful, those are some ugly prints. It’s always nice to get to know a little something about the characters we only hear about, and here – we learn that Mildred Potter has horrible taste in fabric.
BJ’s relationship to Margaret is so interesting to me. We see them be friendly, absolutely, but the joke about the quartet just has a tone to it that is so casually insulting. If he had said something like it to Hawkeye, yes, absolutely, they are super close, they have their own jargon, but BJ doesn’t really have that with Margaret.
There are several aspects to their relationship through the seasons that intrigue me. He is okay with joking like this, or with Hawkeye and him offering to step into the shower with her. He giggles happily outside her tent as a dummy with the weight of a grown man falls upon her. Had some guy talked to Peg like that, or played that prank on her, there would have been murder on BJ’s mind. But he can also be protective of Margaret, like when Tom is about to walk off with her. I really wish we would have gotten some storylines where BJ’s and Margaret’s dynamics was explored more.
Also – the way BJ is just casually a jerk in this episode, pouring salt into the sugar. Why, dude, just to ruin someones coffee break? So interesting, and it also makes me think about Peg, and what kind of person she is. She must be a practical jokester too, to be able to stand BJ. Doesn’t she send him a really horrible cake in one episode, maybe that was a joke too, maybe she really could bake, she just decided to keep her husband’s spirit up with a little prank.
I really like the scene where Charles is being tortured by everyone’s concern, frustrated Charles is always fun to watch.
Very true to character for him too, that he is rude to the Korean doctors right up until he discovers that they can do something for him. He does apologize quickly, though, so that’s at least something.
Oh, and also – I have a problem with feet, so that sudden close up of Snyder’s naked foot worked as a jump scare for me. Not fun times…. 😀 But this discussion was, so thank you both.
I saw a picture once of Mamie Eisenhower in her living room and it was very ugly decor. Must be an Army wife thing.
It took me way too long to realize that the title “Back Pay” applied to both plots. UGH!
I’ve always had back trouble, so I’ve seen chiropractors since my 20s when it came to a head sitting at a computer all day, but I’m not sure Father Mulcahy’s approach is legit. I’ve even tried acupuncture, but it always seems to involve the needles in my toes, and it sets off sensitivities so it’s not for me. I’d be fine any place besides my extremities. With that, this is a story that works best for Charles and was hilarious. His moment about anatomy was great, as we’ve seen he has quite the poetic soul multiple times for art and music, and it makes him a well-rounded character.
Hawkeye has such a great “doctor voice.” He goes from being cornered by Snyder to “Let me take a look at it” after injuring his foot seamlessly. It just jumped out at me this episode.
I love Charles’s speech. On a few occasions he lets it slip that he really does enjoy medicine as a science.