Last month’s poll asked a very simple question: Has M*A*S*H ever made you cry? More than 80% of visitors–an overwhelming majority–said yes. A total of 209 votes were cast. Here are the full results:
- Yes (81%, 170 Votes)
- No (19%, 39 Votes)
If we’re being totally honest, I must admit that M*A*S*H has never made me cry. There are many scenes that I find emotional but not to the extent that I’ve actually ever teared up. For those of you who have shed some tears over M*A*S*H, hit the comments with examples of which episodes and/or scenes make you cry.
When I started watching M*A*S*H for the first time eleven years ago, there were two major episodes that really turned on the water works for me: “Good-bye, Radar, Part 2” and “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.”
“Abyssinia, Henry” stunned me too much to make me cry.
I cry each time I see the ending to GFA. The music as it plays when Hawkeye’s helicopter slowly pulls away, and we see the ‘GOODBYE’ written in rocks is enough to have me blubbering. It doesn’t stop till the end credits are over.
I have also cried with BJ when he was agonizing over being away during Erin’s childhood, and when Radar says “I’m ready, let’s go.”
I have watched ‘Abyssinia, Henry’ only twice. The first time, I was too stunned to react, and the second time, I stopped watching just after Henry’s helicopter takes off. That way I can pretend he made it home, and everything was just fine.
“Abyssinia”
“Goodbye, Farewell”, not at the end but when Charles’s musicians are killed.
“Sometimes You Hear the Bullet”
My husband and I have just started watching the show on Netflix and last night we got to “Sometimes You Hear the Bullet.” I definitely teared up at Alan Alda’s performance as he conveyed utter despair using only his eyes. This episode, too, made it crystal clear that he drinks, jokes, and sleeps around to distract himself from all the horrible things he’s regularly seeing. “This show didn’t take long to get great,” I remarked to hubby.
Welcome to the M*A*S*H fan universe. I have been a fan for over 40 years and never get tired of the show. So glad that new fans are still being added.
I’m right with ya, folks. I rarely watch GFA because of the “goodbye” spelled out in the rocks as well as when the musicians died (I’m a pianist and violinist and a lover of Classical music). I totally forgot about the scene in “Period of Adjustment” when BJ falls apart in Col. Potter’s office with Hawkeye. Being a husband of 23+ years and a father of three, I can’t help but put myself in his shoes. Powerful scene, for sure. And I hate goodbyes, so Radar’s leaving is tough to watch, especially when he and Hawkeye solute each other through the window and when he tells his driver that he’s ready to go…..All scenes that I get teary-eyed over, to say the least.
Great poll question, RJ – simple, yet very thought-provoking.
The episodes that have ‘home movies’ usually bring tears to my eyes — even poor Frank Burn’s wedding film! (I usually react like Col. Blake to that one “why do I feel sorry for Frank?”). The home movie from Radar’s “family” makes me both laugh and cry (I have to NOT think about Gary Burghoff in drag playing Radar’s mother, otherwise it feels a little creepy). I also am moved to tears by the home movie from Henry’s wife and daughter and the one from BJ’s wife & Erin as well.
“Abyssinia Henry” gets me every time. So does Charles & Radar’s scene with the cap from home in “Dear Sis”.
I have shed a tear during many other episodes, including some mentioned by other commentators, but the above were the first ones that sprung to my mind.
One that always gets me going is Who Knows, when Hawkeye gives the eulogy, as you know this is the final series and it is almost like he is saying goodbye then. GFA definitely gets me going for the last fifteen minutes or so, Abyssinia Henry, probably most of all ‘You take care of yourself or I’m gonna come back and kick your butt’, the hug and Radar’s face. Goodbye Radar part 2 is another one, the series of goodbyes and last time I watched Period of Adjustment, I was welling up in that scene. GFA has the edge though, eleven years worth of episodes build up to it, you love these characters and you don’t know whether they would see each other again and you know you won’t so it really is final.
Most of the episodes and scenes mentioned by others are ones that are emotional for me, just not emotional enough for tears. I will also add “Death Takes a Holiday,” specifically B.J.’s line about not wanting the dying soldier’s kids to remember Christmas as the day their daddy died. That always gives me goosebumps.
Just reading all these replies is getting to me. There are so many emotive episodes. Of course GFA is the worst. That last Goodbye written by BJ who had refused to say goodbye to Hawkeye really got me. I was so sad that when my girlfriend phoned me I could hardly speak to her and put the phone down!! It was the end of an era, but I am watching it all over again on TV and no one dare disturb me. I won’t watch GFA. Love to all my fellow MASH worshippers.
Potter’s toast in “Old Soldiers”.
The More I See You in season 4 was heartbreaking. The way Hawkeye struggles seeing his ex now married. The one girl he ever truly loved. It made me cry.
I have watched M*A*S*H since the first episode in 1972. I don’t remember crying during its first run. The first episode that brought me to tears is when Henry died. Now nearly 50 years later there is something in nearly episode that fills me with emotion. Happy tears, joyful tears or something that brings back a personal memory will brings tears to my eyes. It is a bit cathartic to me. I can’t look away.
Most of MASH has this affect one me for a few reasons. When I was a kid in the 70s I watched the show with my dad. He died 17 years ago, but in many cases I can remember what he would say to me when we watched it together and it stirs wonderful memories. Couple that with the emotional episodes the deaths, the superb acting and many times I find myself wiping away a tear from the combo of fond memories days gone by and wonderful storytelling and acting. To me…all of this contributes to just how good the show is and how poorly unmatched it is in more modern times.