Episode Spotlight: Abyssinia, Henry

35 Comments

Every Monday, I spotlight a random episode of M*A*S*H, providing a brief review and asking readers to offer their thoughts.

“Abyssinia, Henry” (#72, 3×24)
Originally Broadcast: Tuesday, March 18th, 1975
Written by Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell
Directed by Larry Gelbart

Capsule Summary: Colonel Blake is going home and Hawkeye and Trapper decide to throw him a party to say goodbye.

This is perhaps the second most famous episode of M*A*S*H after the series finale. If by some chance you’re reading this and you haven’t seen “Abyssinia, Henry” and you don’t know what happens at the end, stop reading immediately and go watch the episode.

Everyone else, keep reading.

For those of us who didn’t watch “Abyssinia, Henry” when it originally aired in March 1975, it’s a pretty safe bet we had the episode spoiled for us, robbing us of the chance to react to the shocking twist ending. It’s unfortunate but that’s how these things go (who among us doesn’t know the twist ending to The Sixth Sense even if we haven’t seen the movie?).

Of course, as I discussed back in July 2011, there’s a chance viewers watching the episode in 1975 had also been spoiled thanks to various newspaper articles published as early as November 1974 that revealed Colonel Blake’s fate.

There are so many stories surrounding this episode that someone could write a whole book just about it. The controversy surrounding Henry’s death and the fact that both CBS and 20th Century-Fox were against it. The angry letters sent by irate viewers. McLean Stevenson’s reaction. The final scene having to be reshot due to some sort of issue with the first take. The rumored appearance by Stevenson on The Carol Burnett Show shortly after “Abyssinia, Henry” first aired.

As an episode, removed from its iconic status, “Abyssinia, Henry” works pretty well. I do feel the party scene lasts a little too long while Henry’s final review of the troops was too short (he says goodbye to one or two nurses by name but ignores the rest?). If it had ended with Henry getting on the chopper without Henry dying, it would have been a memorable farewell to the character. Henry never making it home, as so many during the Korean War never did, makes the episode unforgettable.

Henry Leaves His Tent for the Last Time

A few minor things:

Henry, after determining when to call the States to tell his family he’s coming home, looks at a picture of his family and says to Radar, “Lorraine and the kids are going to die.” Foreshadowing or just a turn of phrase?

Poor Frank. Notice that when Margaret asks him if he doubts his ability, he makes a sound indicting he just might.

This episode takes place in 1952 and mentions the previous 4th of July.

Near the end of the episode, after Henry tells Radar to behave himself, Radar says something but there’s no audible dialogue. It looks like he’s saying “thank you.”

Aaccording to Larry Gelbart in the 1981 documentary “Making M*A*S*H,” during a rebroadcast of “Abyssinia, Henry” CBS cut out the final scene. I’ve never been able to confirm that. Anyone remember watching it without Radar’s announcement that Henry had been killed?

35 Replies to “Episode Spotlight: Abyssinia, Henry”

  1. This episode was certainly not spoiled for us who are abroad. In my country M*A*S*H was broadcasted first time in the middle of 1990s and I was literally jaw-dropped when Radar makes his announcement. Until then M*A*S*H had been seen as a lighthearted comedy about a couple of womanising doctors and their incompetent officers, war was something depicted like “5 o’clock Charlie” aiming prowess and this episode really turned the tables around. Really, really great episode.

  2. When I saw this episode for the first time, I was floored… and I had only been watching M*A*S*H for a short time: I started when Hallmark Channel went back to the pilot in its rotation of 4-episodes a day reruns, and kept watching all the way through. Henry had become one of my favorite characters of the original cast, because he was so funny, especially in those scenes when he was drunk (from this episode, the conversation about which tree is the toidy, and which tree is for which number cracks me up)… him going home was bittersweet enough, but to learn that he was killed, I was not prepared for that, and I got rather choked up. I ended up taping this episode.

    One thing that gets me though is that today’s viewers don’t even appreciate this episode, at all, in fact, there was a discussion at the IMDb boards talking about, “Stupid” Radar was in this episode for springing the news on everyone while they were still in surgery… THAT WAS THE POINT! Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds both said that was the whole point! That Henry was dead, and there was nothing they could do about it, but they could perhaps save the life of those who are on the tables. Plus, Radar was just as shocked as everyone, do you think he’s going to be able to think straight after learning who was once his father figure was killed?

    Another thing that needs to be mentioned too is the urban legends that surround this episode, and were even touched on in a documentary series about TV sitcom scandals: was Henry Blake’s death really about showing the harsh realities of war, or, was it a plot cooked up by Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds, and CBS to get rid of Mac Stevenson once and for all, because he was such a meddler on the set? They spoke with Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, and Gary Burghoff, and Gary mentioned that Mac always stood up and voiced complaints about improper and insufferable working conditions while other actors were too afraid to speak up themselves, and that having his own show was never the reason behind his leaving; however, Loretta painted a different picture, saying that Mac told her, point-blank, one day that, “I can’t be number three, I have to be number one”, and that most of his motive behind leave was indeed so he could star in his own shows (I have also read from different sources that Mac really wanted the role of Hawkeye, but was given Henry instead).

    To touch on what was mentioned in the review, I kind of believe that Henry’s line of, “Lorraine and the kids are going to die” was foreshadowing, but then again, someone on another forum once mentioned that the fact that Henry’s skeleton was in every shot in his office, particularly when he was on the phone, was meant to be foreshadowing as well. As for what Radar said after Henry threatened to come back and kick his butt, I always assumed he was saying, “Yes sir.”

    1. I too have always thought Radar said, “Yes, sir.” And I thought the point of it not being audible was that he was so choked up at that moment that the words wouldn’t come out. (And now thinking about it, I wonder if that was part of the direction to “Radar”, or whether Burghoff was truly choked up shooting the scene and that’s just how it happened.)

  3. A landmark episode if there ever was one; I never get tired of watching it. Even though I know what the outcome is going to be, that doesn’t make it any easier to take. Rather, knowing the inevitable conclusion just makes everything that precedes it all the more powerful (and gut-wrenching, because you KNOW what’s about to happen). The final scene in OR never fails to knock me out, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it at this point.

    Obviously, the whole ‘going home’ plot line and it’s conclusion overshadows everything else in this episode, but there are some funny moments. Drunk Radar cracking up at the “toity tree” always gets me, as does Hawkeye’s “Leave him alone, he’s eating!” line when Henry is making the “num num” noises to his kid on the the phone.

    A definite ‘top ten’ episode for me.

  4. I agree with all the comments thus far about the impact of this episode. I think it works better for me than any other “war is a terrible thing” episode of M*A*S*H.

    I feel this episode brings home the harsh reality of war and the tragic loss of life without being the leftist-preachy “all war is always bad” that comes across in so many episodes. War is a terrible, horrible thing that should be avoided when possible, but it is sometimes a necessary thing. Any culture that forgets that is doomed to fail.

      1. Because freedom is never free. Just remembered that all the of members of the military that died in whatever military conflict gave up their today for your tomorrow. Thank a veteran when you see one and remember what they did.

  5. I remember back when this episode first aired I purposely didn’t read or listen to anything about it so I would be totally surprised by it. But then, I told my sister I was doing that so she purposely told me about the ending, (she had read it in the newspaper) I was REALLY mad at her, but it still came as a shock when Radar walked in and said that line.
    And all these years later that scene still saddens me no matter how many times I see it.

    1. Just watched this ep for the upteenth time (saw it when it originally aired, as I can personally attest that this was a show you just DID NOT MISS). As for the impact of that scene even knowing what was coming, even after all these years, I started getting choked up when Henry kissed Margaret, since I knew that was only comic relief to prep the audience for the ending. My eyes started to get watery when Henry hugged Radar, and the tears came when Radar walked into the OR. And that’s after 40 years of knowing how the episode ended.

      1. More than the final scene, I feel it in my throat when Col. Blake, already in the helicopter, looks and sees Radar holding his salute while trying to keep from crying. I think everybody’s had that experience of trying to stifle tears, and it gets me every time. This scene is also reminiscent of John John saluting JFK’s casket, also a poignant moment.

  6. I can never understand why, but my father always laughs out loud at that scene where Radar walks into the OR and says that line.

  7. I remember when I first saw the episode how truly stunned I was at the end and that the next day in my office everybody who had seen it was commenting on it .And even now when I watch the episode on either TV or my DVD set it still affects me at the end even now because even though by now I know whats going to happen its still an unforgetable moment and I have the same reaction that I had from when I saw it the first time which is one of total shock again ! And I guess thats what it so remarkable that an episode youve seen so many times still effects you each time that you see it I guess thats what makes a classic !

  8. I’ll never forget when my wife (who at that point had never seen a single episode of “M*A*S*H”, she’s from the Phillipines) and I went through the entire series a few years back…when we got to this episode, and the scene at the end in the O.R., my wife jumped off the couch and just yelled, “What?! What?!!!” She couldn’t believe they could kill off a TV character so brazenly like that, so I had to explain the whole backstory behind it to her, and she understood why they did it.

    And yeah, for all the times I’ve seen this episode, that scene is still a kick in the guts.

    1. First off, my uncle was married to a Fillipino woman previously and is currently married to another Fillipino woman.
      Now, on to my thoughts about this classic farewell to Henry Blake. IMO, he was a decent CO when he wasn’t being climbed over by Frank and Margaret, alias “The Interchangables”. Radar’s OR announcement about Henry’s death was powerful yet gut-wrenching.

  9. I just saw it on a Sundance TV rerun. I was floored! The final scene had been replaced with snippets of Henry’s time at the 4077th. Frankly, I felt cheated. In fact, I had to start searching for “Abyssinia Henry two endings.” It brought me to this site.

    The new ending sucks, having sen the original. 🙁

  10. You know a comdedy show of McLean Stevenson in a rubber raft calling out I’m all right!
    Pity they could make a comedy series 20 years after Korea:
    Hawkeye Pierce is arrested by the US Army –they just found out he isn’t dead {The LAte Captain Pierce] so he eithers goes to Levenworth prison as a deserter ..or he pays off his GI insurance by working gratis at a VA Hospital…while there Hawkeye meet his Col Blake..very much alive..it seems Blake washed up on desert Island paradis of women; booze and no responabilty….until he got rescused….and he has to do the same thing as Hawkeye work gratis……now not only does Pierce have to put up with a Vietnam War surgeon version of himself….but the hospital administrator is none other than Frank Burns {He was a Congressman but even Congress couldnt stand him-so he got shipped back to the VA} Burns has never forgotten or forgiven Hawkeye or Blake for all the nasty tricks they played in him..so he going to make there lives miserable….

  11. The only major quibble I have is how Henry got to go home-they didn’t rotate doctors out based on points, which the Army got rid of after WW2.

    I have never seen an edited version of the ending. Why would that be done? The whole plot of the episode was about Henry not making it home & it was referenced in many episodes afterwards.

    1. CBS had cut out the final scene when Radar announces Henry’s death when they repeated the episode later that summer,because many viewers had written the MASH writers after it’s original airing expressing their anger over them having killed off a much beloved character that the network decided to cut that scene out in subsequent airings of the episode.

  12. I watched it when it originally aired. I think I was 11 or 12. Watched it with my parents. My dad was a fan and had gotten me into it. We were both floored because people just didn’t die on comedies. Over time, I came to understand what the writers were doing at the time, but I couldn’t help but see it as a little dig at Stevenson for bailing.

    Looking back at his departure, even as a kid I wondered what in the heck he was thinking. M*A*S*H was a special show, even to somebody my age. I know he realized it later, but it was not the same after he (and Wayne Rogers) left, but I don’t think they would have lasted 11 seasons without the change.

    BTW, the scene with Henry in a lifeboat yelling he was okay was from Cher’s series that broadcast the Sunday evening after “Abyssinia” aired. He was a guest on that particular show.

  13. Has there ever been any insight or discussion as to why they used “Abyssinia” for the title? I mean, I get that it sounds like “I’ll be seein’ ya”, but the title of this episode is the only instance I can find anywhere of someone substituting it like that. Was its use a short-lived fad around the time of the Korean War or something? Why didn’t they just straight call it “I’ll Be Seein’ Ya, Henry”?

  14. I have noticed that this episode affects my reaction to earlier episodes when I watch them again. The episode where his son is born, the one where they watch film of Henry’s daughter’s birthday, the one where Hawkeye suggests arthritis could be ticket home and Henry talks about staying, as well as others, are given deeper meant by knowing what’s ahead.

  15. I was almost 10 years old when the episode originally aired and watched it with my father . . . we had heard Henry was being killed off (it was leaked in various articles and such, as noted), but didn’t know how it would happen. I remember thinking to myself, “They’re not really going to do it, are they?” – then came the scene with Radar in the operating room. Still gets me to this day every time I watch it.

    1. The tag has the 4077th announcer talking about bidding a fond farewell to Henry, along with clips of him from previous episodes. But it always follows the OR scene and Radar’s announcement of Henry’s death. Was there no tag on the original 1975 airing?

      1. Wouldn’t that be the original tag from 1975?

        Seeing clips of Henry at the 4077 as the PA announcer says, “Mash 4077 bids Henry Blake … a reluctant and affectionate farewell.” Seems like an excellent tag to me; it would have been nice had they just been saying goodbye because he’d gone home … and gotten there! (But more potent with the way it is.)

  16. I believe season one’s “Sometimes You Hear The Bullet” was the table-setter for this episode. And when Radar went home in the early part of season 8, he has the thermometer that Henry gave him and he even comments about it. I always thought it was great that those who left the show were mentioned every now and again.

  17. Knowing how the episode ends, it is always spooky to view the scenes in Henry’s office from this episode and see how much they were photographed in such a way to show the skeleton in the background.

    I am aware that the skeleton is in virtually every Henry office scene in season 1 to 3, but it I especially poignant here.

    I agree with the above comment that I thought that the meal scene with Henry, TJ, Hawkeye and radar went on just a bit * too * long (it took up 6 minutes of a 24 minute episode!), cutting short the camp farewell scene. And did you notice that the meal scene was at “Rose Bar” (not Rosie’s spelling, the Rose bar name first used on location in “Mad Dogs and. Servicemen”) and also that it pointedly did not include Klinger – I wonder why not?

    Apparently the on location scenes for this episode (basically the actual farewells) were shot much earlier than the studio scenes and earlier than some scenes from other season 3 episodes.

    One final (and admittedly trivial) anomaly – copyright dates on episodes.

    Basically, each MASH season premiered in October in any given year and ran through to March of the following year. The episodes shown in Oct-Nov-Dec would be copyright that year, and the later episodes shown in Jan-Feb-Mar would be copyright the next year.

    However, season 3 bucks this trend in MASH, insofar as every single episode of season 3 is (C) 1974, including 10 shown in Jan-Feb-Mar 1975 up to and including “White Gold”, except for “Abyssinia Henry”, the sole (c) 1975 season 3 episode.

    I am curious as to why this would be so, as copyright dates are the main form of legal protection for a film or TV show, so any variation from the norm is interesting to me.

  18. Two other (admittedly trivial) points about “Abyssinia, Henry”:

    The meal/party scene in Rosie’s bar with Hawkeye, TJ, Henry and Radar consist of them having a great time with great fun, great food and good wine. Very enjoyable (although as I said above at 6 minutes I feel the scene goes on just a bit too long).

    However, it is probably the only time in the series that characters enjoy good food (and lots of it) at Rosie’s, which raises the question of … if Rosie’s bar can produce delicious Korean food in “Abyssinia Henry” why don’t the characters eat there regularly instead of the mess tent with its notoriously poor food? And what about the nearby locals, who all appear to be without roofs over their heads or food at their tables, the conspicuous consumption of a Korean banquets by 4 US soldiers must have looked … odd.

    Even if the food was special for the celebration, I am not aware of any other episode that featured food at Rosie’s (other than bar snacks). Even if the food didn’t come from Rosie’s routinely, the fact is that the food in Rosie’s at “Abyssinia Henry” must have come from somewhere, and it is not mentioned.

    I am not trying to criticise what is after all a very fine comedy sitcom/drama, but it would have been nice if the manner in which the high quality and quantity of local Korean food in “Abyssinia Henry” turned up was explained, even if in a throwaway line.

    Another oddity is that they give Henry the gift of the new suit at the meal at Rosie’s – the one Henry wears on his farewell. The new suit was described as being ordered by them for Henry’s farewell and hand made on a trip to Seoul as a parting gift. This kind of implies that the start of the episode (announcing Henry’s leaving) and the end of the episode (with the party and suit) must have been far enough apart in elapsed time to allow Hawkeye etc to take Henry’s measurements (they did that in his sleep), get them to Seoul, have someone find the material and tailor a suit, get the suit back, wrapped as a gift, and presented to Henry at the final party, all in the middle of a war and deprivation – that is some organising!!

    However, the episode plays as if it all happens over a short period of time, so it is a bit odd.

    Perhaps they used the same tailor from “Officer of the Day”, but with better direction this time??

    Perhaps they presciently ordered the suit in advance? Either way, a few explanatory notes of dialogue would have worked wonders!

  19. I believe there was an episode earlier in the series where Lt Col Blake gets sent to Tokyo for a permanent transfer, but Hawkeye and Trapper get Radar to fake an illness to get Lt Col Blake to return. I wonder if Hawkeye and Trapper felt like maybe they had been accessories to Blake’s death after this episode.

  20. We will never know, as the end scene of “Abyssinia Henry” is the last we ever see of Trapper.

    There doesn’t appear to be any reaction to Henry’s death in the early episodes of season 4 by Hawkeye – the closest I recall is the scenes where he discussed death with BJ in “The Late Captain Pierce”. Most of the plot of “Welcome to Korea” revolves around Hawkeye’s reaction to Trapper leaving. and that of “Change fo Command” barely mentions Henry Blake in anything other than throwaway lines. Interestingly, the most affecting response in that episode is actually from Frank Burns, seen he is sitting in his chair and stats that Henry was a slob, but may he rest in peace.

    The other thing that is interesting in season 4 is that (from memory) there are no scenes in, or even an episode featuring, a response to Henry’s death focussing on Father Mulcahy.

    I can’t help but feel there is an unmade episode there that would have been good, focussing on the man of God at the camp and the recent death of a beloved cmdr and friend. In the world of 1975 TV I guess they wanted to move on, and it would have been depressing, but nowadays in the world of story arcs and character development it would have been nice.

  21. All these years later and I still get choked up when I watch this episode. I was a kid when MASH first aired, and I do remember the rumours that Henry was going to be killed. However, when the episode started and the reason for Henry’s leaving was his discharge, I thought: Oh, the rumours were wrong. He’s being discharged, not killed off. Good. So when that final scene came, and with it the news of the plane going down, it was still a huge shock!

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