Monday M*A*S*H Discussions offers fans the opportunity to offer their opinions on a wide variety of topics relating to M*A*S*H. Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. My hope is these discussion posts will continue to elicit comments in the weeks and months after they’re initially published. Have a suggestion about something you think might be worth discussing? Let me know and maybe it will become my next Monday M*A*S*H Discussion topic.
Ferret Face suggested today’s topic: How would Frank and Charles interact?
The Ignoramus and the Intellectual
It’s that time again, time to think about how two characters who never met would interact if they were to meet. Ferret Face suggested this topic but I decided to split it into multiple topics, each with a different paring. We’ve already discussed Colonel Blake and Charles, Trapper and Charles, and Trapper and Colonel Potter. Today, it’s Frank and Charles.
Frank and Charles are so different. Both have inflated egos but Charles is a gifted surgeon while Frank sometimes doesn’t make mistakes. Frank is obsessed with rules and ratting out those who don’t obey them. Charles is obsessed with making his life as comfortable as possible while stuck in Korea. Frank is married. Charles isn’t. Frank wants to be rich. Charles is rich. Frank annoys everyone around him with his whining. Charles annoys everyone around him with his snobbery.
To be honest, I think Charles would simply ignore Frank if the two ever met. They share the same rank, so Charles wouldn’t have to take orders from Frank or give him orders. Unlike Hawkeye and Trapper and B.J., Charles isn’t openly defiant, which means Charles and Frank probably wouldn’t clash over military regulations.
Frank, on the other hand, would probably want to suck up to Charles as often as possible, to convince him to support his numerous complaints about everyone and anyone around him. It wouldn’t work, but Frank would keep trying.
Hit the comments with your thoughts.
I can totally imagine Frank trying to suck up to Charles as much as possible, and try to weasel his way into whatever Charles has going on in his life so he can learn how to garner riches for himself, if not trying to get Charles to be buddies with him so he can exploit his wealth. Not only that, but the Winchester family seems to have a lot of varying different connections, even in the world of politics, which Frank has expressed interest before – perhaps Frank would also suck up to Charles in order for him to put in good words for him stateside.
As for Charles, rank-wise, yeah, he probably wouldn’t look down on Frank for that reason, but I believe in all other areas: surgical skills, and just personality in general, Charles would want nothing to do with Ferret Face.
I think Frank would try to suck up to Charles ,and initially Charles would be amused by it and use it to his advantage by getting Frank to do jobs Charles has no interest in, eg tidying the swamp but he would soon grown bored with Frank’s dullness and dim wittedness.
It would take a while for Frank to catch on but when does he would be resentful of Charles’ money and back-ground and complain how Charles had all the breaks. He might also be a jealous if he thought Margaret was interested in Charles.
Ooh, I didn’t take any of those into consideration, but yeah, I could really see all that working!
I didn’t consider Frank’s political aspirations, you made a good point there.
I can see Charles having nothing but utter disdain for Frank. Maybe he’d have occasionally used Frank for his own personal gain like he did with others in camp, but otherwise, I can’t see him having much use for him.
Frank, on the other hand, I can see looking at Charles sort of the same way he did the fictitious Tuttle; jealous but also desiring to be buddy-buddy with him, depending on the situation. Charles, of course, could have taken advantage of Frank’s desire to be pals when needed.
(Considering Charles could give Hawkeye a hard time where medicine was concerned, I can only imagine what he’d say to Frank!)
Frank and Charles would not have been together in the Swamp because that would have been a crowded house.Frank and Charles would have schemed together to go after money and power.
Frank would be the puppet and Charles would pull the strings. Given how TV writing and production dictated the stories, Frank and Charles would never have been together in the same season. Too much money to pay both actors to be there at the same time.
Frank wanting to align himself with Charles as a means to gain influence, money, and a friend. If Charles had any interest in Margaret then Frank would get jealous however his love of money and respect might override that. Charles ignoring Frank unless he needed a favor but really having no interest in any real friendship and regarding Frank’s lack of surgical skill or basic compassion for the patients to be unacceptable. Frank may even decide to concentrate on building a relationship with Hawkeye and B.J. as they at least tried to understand him on a fundamental level.
I feel that Frank would definitely have tried to make an ally of Charles, but with little success. Charles was a brilliant surgeon with little time for the pettiness for which Frank was so well known. Charles’ superior breeding and cultured bearing would have been irresistible to Burns but ultimately Charles would’ve been easily able to see him for the little rat that he was. Rest in Peace messrs Linville and Ogden Stiers. Gone but never forgotten.