I’m reviewing every episode of AfterMASH, in original broadcast order, and asking fans to add their memories and opinions.
“Another Saturday Night” (#19, 1×19)
Originally Broadcast: Monday, February 6th, 1984 from 9-9:30PM ET
Teleplay by Ken Levine & David Isaacs
Story by Dennis Koenig
Directed by Jamie Farr
TV Guide Summary
With Mildred out of town, Potter plans a quiet dinner at the Recovery Room Bar and Grill, but the evening is interrupted by a stream of restless friends.
The Hartford Courant Summary
When Mildred goes out of town for a night, Potter thinks he will be able to spend a restful evening at home by himself.
Review
As has been the case many times before, there’s a lot going on in this episode but for once I think it all works pretty well. Potter trying desperately to avoid Mike D’Angelo is perfectly believable. Likewise, Mike D’Angelo messing everything up while trying to connect with patients, nearly killing a patient, and getting knocked unconscious by an angry patient is likewise completely believable.
After seeing Mildred off, and keeping Bob from boarding the same bus, Potter talks his way out of meeting Mike D’Angelo for dinner. Instead, he heads to the Recovery Room bar for a hot meal. At first, Potter can’t figure out why the new waitress, Sarah, looks familiar.
Sarah made her first appearance in “Night Shift” earlier in the season. It’s a treat to see a character from earlier episode return.
When Mike D’Angelo shows up at the Recovery Room, Potter isn’t able to avoid him. Mike is concerned about a newspaper article that. “Mike, people say far worse things about you at the hospital every single day,” Potter says. “Incompetent, gross, negligence, gross negligence.”
“Yeah, but they’re not saying it in the paper,” Mike replies. Potter’s solution? Mike should spend time in the wards and let the men know they can come to him with their problems.
Father Mulcahy stops by the Recover Room. He does recognize Sarah but thinks she’s a nurse, which is what she told him when they met. Things take a nasty turn when a man rushes in with his paycheck and calls Sarah a chippy. Father Mulcahy tries to defend her honor and gets punched in the face. Potter stitches him up. Sarah then comes clean to Father Mulcahy about her past as a prostitute.
It’s interesting how open everyone is about Sarah being a former prostitute. It’s not funny learning Mike D’Angelo engaged her services. It just seems sad.
Klinger pops in and out of the Recovery Room a few times. He now has four jobs and is struggling to handle Soon-Lee’s intense cravings. Klinger brings Soon-Lee to the hospital worrying about stomach. She knows it’s indigestion but Klinger is convinced she’s either dying or giving birth early. Soon-Lee convinces him to quit one of his jobs, just not the bakery job.
Dr. Boyer doesn’t have a storyline of his own. He appears in two brief scenes. He gets in Mike D’Angelo’s face when the hospital administrator nearly kills a patient suffering from heart failure by lowering his bed. Later, after a different patient with anger problems punches Mike, Dr. Boyer gives the man his phone number and the offer of a friendly ear.
Notes
Alma Cox does not appear in this episode.
References to the 4077th
There were no references to the 4077th in this episode. Soon-Lee mentions growing up in Korea, however, when Klinger insists they need a washer and dryer. “I’m from Korea,” she says. “I have a river, I have a rock.”
M*A*S*H Connections
Jamie Farr directs this episode. He previously directed the M*A*S*H episode “Friends and Enemies” during Season 11.
This is the seventh of 13 episodes written or co-written by Ken Levine & David Isaacs.
This is the sixth of 12 episodes written or co-written by Dennis Koenig.
