(09x05) 203 - Death Takes a Holiday
(09x05) 203 - Death Takes a Holiday
Use this thread to discuss 09x05: Death Takes a Holiday.
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Ferret Face
- First Lieutenant
- Posts: 101
- Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:11 pm
Re: (09x05) 203 - Death Takes a Holiday
If I had to rank the three Christmas episodes, I'd put this at the bottom of the list. But that says more for the strength "Dear Dad" and "Dear Sis" than it does for this episode, because this is still a great episode overall.
Of course, one can nitpick at the plot with the wounded patient, asking if it will make that much of a difference if the patient dies just a few minutes after midnight, or pointing out the fact that it would still be Christmas in America. Those issues certainly are merited, but for me it doesn't really matter. Personally, the real heart of that story isn't so much from the perspective of the patient's children's pain at losing their father at Christmas (though that certainly would be a terrible thing to happen, and does add a certain emotional weight to the episode), but rather, the strongest emotional weight came from BJ's perspective IMO. Obviously he's a father, and could see himself in his patient's shoes, and that's what drives him to be so passionate about saving him until after Christmas. And that's also part of the reason I don't think the issues I mention before really matter that much, because they don't matter to BJ. He needed this, similar to how he needed to set up the "reunion" party in "The Party," and that need pushes him well beyond reason, trying to save the patient when Hawkeye and the others see that he's beyond saving, yelling at Mulcahy for doing his job, and not really thinking about the technical aspect of the time differences, because it didn't matter to him. And realizing this gave me a whole new perspective on Hawkeye changing the clock. He was helping his friend, in a similar way to how he did when he got everyone to agree with BJ's plans in "The Party."
And of course, I can't forget Charles' story. I think part of the reason it works so well is because of how it plays with the viewers' expectations. Before this point in the series, we've seen his compassionate side in a few episodes (i.e. him helping the piano player in "Morale Victory," and lashing out at the unfairness of the situation in "Yessir, That's Our Baby"), but for the most part he was a selfish and arrogant person, so him giving so little to the orphans seemed to fit with the character. So it was great seeing a more generous side to him as he gave the candy to the orphans. But I also loved the more humbling moment, as he finds out why the candy was sold on the black market. And on top of that, the ending where Klinger overhears them, and offers Charles an "anonymous" dinner was a great bonding moment for their characters.
Of course, one can nitpick at the plot with the wounded patient, asking if it will make that much of a difference if the patient dies just a few minutes after midnight, or pointing out the fact that it would still be Christmas in America. Those issues certainly are merited, but for me it doesn't really matter. Personally, the real heart of that story isn't so much from the perspective of the patient's children's pain at losing their father at Christmas (though that certainly would be a terrible thing to happen, and does add a certain emotional weight to the episode), but rather, the strongest emotional weight came from BJ's perspective IMO. Obviously he's a father, and could see himself in his patient's shoes, and that's what drives him to be so passionate about saving him until after Christmas. And that's also part of the reason I don't think the issues I mention before really matter that much, because they don't matter to BJ. He needed this, similar to how he needed to set up the "reunion" party in "The Party," and that need pushes him well beyond reason, trying to save the patient when Hawkeye and the others see that he's beyond saving, yelling at Mulcahy for doing his job, and not really thinking about the technical aspect of the time differences, because it didn't matter to him. And realizing this gave me a whole new perspective on Hawkeye changing the clock. He was helping his friend, in a similar way to how he did when he got everyone to agree with BJ's plans in "The Party."
And of course, I can't forget Charles' story. I think part of the reason it works so well is because of how it plays with the viewers' expectations. Before this point in the series, we've seen his compassionate side in a few episodes (i.e. him helping the piano player in "Morale Victory," and lashing out at the unfairness of the situation in "Yessir, That's Our Baby"), but for the most part he was a selfish and arrogant person, so him giving so little to the orphans seemed to fit with the character. So it was great seeing a more generous side to him as he gave the candy to the orphans. But I also loved the more humbling moment, as he finds out why the candy was sold on the black market. And on top of that, the ending where Klinger overhears them, and offers Charles an "anonymous" dinner was a great bonding moment for their characters.