AfterM*A*S*H Episode 26 - The Recovery Room

Season 2, Episode 26: The Recovery Room
Original Air Date: 10/30/84
Written by: Jay Folb
Directed by: Charles S. Dubin

The Potters are up very early in the morning, to catch Father Mulcahy's first televised sermon. They're also caring for the baby Klinger, which Mildred takes in stride, but Col. Potter has more problem with.

Raising a baby--at their age--is causing a but of stress between the Potters. Col. Potter is angry at how busy Mildred always is, but she reminds him that's the way it is when raising a baby--something he missed the first time around, since he was off at war.

Meanwhile, at General General, Klinger gets an idea to make some money--a fellow patient has been collecting his disability payments and investing in the stock market, so Klinger decides to apply for the benefits, too.

Klinger tells Dr. Dudziak the story of how he was wounded in Korea, but we see the reality, via flashback. She doesn't believe it, and Soon-Lee is worried that if Klinger tells the government he needs disability pay, he'll never be able to get himself free.

Klinger, realizing he screwed up, jumps Alma Cox to make sure she doesn't mail the disability payment forms he gave her. Cox, thinking Klinger's attacking her, screams, and two of the hospital's orderlies come and take Klinger away--but not before he tears up the forms.

Col. Potter and Mildred reconcile at the bar across the street from the hospital (The Recovery Room), and Dr. Boyer decides, after much protesting, to sit down with a group of fellow Korean vets who are part of a therapy group of Dr. Dudziak's.

The next morning, we see another TV sermon by Father Mulchay, playing in a hotel room, where the Potters spent the night, so they could have some time alone.


Fun Facts: Dr. Boyer, over these Second Season episodes, was definitely being crafted into more of an angrier Hawkeye type. He romances (or at least tries to) every nurse he can find, with a never-ending stream of pick-up lines. But the role is continually well performed--and given a nice edge--by David Ackroyd.

This episode features something we've never seen, on either series: a flashback to Klinger's first day in Korea.


Favorite Line: Soon-Lee is skeptical about Klinger's plan to get money without having to do anything: "Max, unless you're a high Korean official, this does not happen."