Original Air Date: 10/29/74
Written by: Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell
Directed by: Hy Averback
A young Korean girl wanders into camp, carrying a baby, asking anyone who walks by something that in her broken English is hard to decipher. Frank scoots Hot Lips away from her, sure that its some sort of scam.
Hawkeye and Trapper help her out, and it turns out she wants a bris performed for her baby. The child the son of a Cpl. Jacobsen, who is at the front and sent his wife and child to the 4077th to have the procedure done. Hawkeye and Trapper agree to perform the circumcision, but they need Father Mulcahy for the bris.
Meanwhile, Henry gets a letter in mail call from his wife, giving him permission to "fool around" while he's away from home. At first Henry is overjoyed, but a creeping feeling comes over him that maybe his wife is feeling guilty about something.
He calls Lorraine, and she tearfully reveals that she had a "brief encounter" with someone at the local Country Club. Henry's feeling of freedom quickly evaporates when the shoe is on the other foot.
Despite Frank and Hot Lips' objections (of course they object!), Father Mulcahy, with the help of a Rabbi stationed on a Navy cruiser thousands of miles away, handles the bris while Hawkeye and Trapper perform the surgery.
Fun Facts: I always thought you have to be a pretty scuzzy guy to have an affair with the wife of a guy who is overseas fighting in a war. Sheesh. (There's even a term for such a man, coined in WW II--a "Jody Grind").
After Lorraine Blake admits her infidelity, Radar comes in to ask about something, and McLean Stevenson does a wonderful series of line readings in response--he just sounds numb.
Favorite Line: Hawkeye accepts a piece of junk mail, and its a contest to win a pony. He and Trapper spend the whole episode debating what they should name the pony, and Hawkeye offers up Norman.
Trapper: "All the other horses will make fun of him!"
4 comments:
I really feel sorry for Henry here. Though wow, he's got some nerve since he's been cheating on her since we've known him!
I want to feel bad for Henry, but given his relationship with Leslie, I don't.
I'm partial to Trapper's line after Hawkeye explains they win the contest by naming the Presidents whose faces are hidden in the picture: "Hey, I see one already! Right there, Coolidge, right near the horse's tail."
When Hawk and Trap are trying to figure out what the Korean girl wants, Trapper suggests, "Maybe she's looking for Captain Forrest, the brain surgeon who fell down a lot." Hawkeye responds, "Nah, he's been gone over two years. He's got a toy store now."
Which prompts two questions: (1.) Could this be an oblique reference to Duke Forrest, from the original novel and movie? And (2.) Exactly how long are they supposed to have been in Korea by that point, that somebody they worked with could be more than two years gone already? Isn't the Trapper/Henry era supposed to take place early in the war?
Just a general comment, but you notice how much they attempted to make Trapper an equal this season -- even things like Trapper throwing the football during a conversation is a nice touch. A few other episodes, even Rainbow Bridge, shows him more in charge and an equal. Ah, what might have been if he stayed around longer...
Also, I wonder how many people under 30 would get what Trapper's doing in the last few minutes when he exposes the film.
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