Discuss: Imagine an Episode With Only Potter

5 Comments

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.

Today’s topic is: Imagine an episode with only Potter.

A Man and His Horse

Last week, we discussed ideas for an episode in which Margaret is the only character (or the only character speaking English). Today, it’s time to ponder the possibilities of an episode featuring just Colonel Potter.

Personally, I think he’s the easiest character to imagine alone in an episode. Why? Because he has Sophie. Have Potter spend an entire day with Sophie, starting early in the morning. Maybe he’s frustrated about something and needs to clear his mind. Maybe he wants to find a private place to paint. Whatever the reason, having Potter ride away from the 4077th is a simple, believable way to isolate him from the other characters. And talking to his horse is a

Hit the comments with your thoughts.

5 Replies to “Discuss: Imagine an Episode With Only Potter”

  1. I love the idea of Potter going for a ride with Sophie. It’s much more pleasant than the ‘Hawkeye’ scenario.

    Potter is a natural storyteller and easy to listen to. I think it would have worked very well as an episode.

  2. I agree that Potter would make for the easiest and best “alone” episode. He could take Sophie for a ride in the Korean countryside, maybe to escape some specific conflict at the 4077th or just to brush off a particularly grueling session in the OR. As he rides along and “talks” to her, he could the relate current events – or perhaps even just things he sees as they travel – to stories from his past.

    There are some great opportunities for a moving, thoughtful episode involving just Potter.

  3. Considering that there -were- other characters besides Hawkeye in “Hawkeye”, Potter could very easily go on a horseback ride that involves him meeting up with Korean locals and/or U.N. soldiers and having interactions with them. The episode could easily be an outing that starts off with what’s intended to be a casual and reflective bit of personal time with his horse that diverts into Potter needing to suddenly use his medical skills and/or his leadership skills to assist on a situation he unexpectedly encounters, with some sort of lesson to be learned from the experience that he’s able to go back full circle on as he and Sophie head off back to the camp. Plus, Potter is a character with enough going on with his dialog style and personal history that he could easily support an episode on his own.

  4. Agree with all of the above. Definitely could work and would make for an enjoyable episode. Would love to see him riding Sophia across the Korean countryside, encountering farmers or something and helping them out.

  5. It really should have been either Potter or B.J. who got their own episode towards the end of Season 4 instead of Hawkeye: with both of them being the new kids on the block, it would have given us an opportunity to get to know either of them a little better, and really gain some insight as to what kind of characters they could potentially be.

    As other people have been commenting, Potter was a natural storyteller, and given his age, he would certainly have an almost endless supply of stories from his days in both WW1 and WW2.

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