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Use this thread to discuss episode 01x04, Chief Surgeon Who?

I always thought it was interesting here to see how much more qualified Hawkeye was as Chief Surgeon than Frank. I mean, sure, Hawkeye was more laid back and didn't conform, but he knew what was best for the patient. He didn't do his surgery for glory or honor or to be seen by the "higher-ups," but he wanted what was BEST for the patient. That's the kind of doctors I really respect.

Plus, it was hilarious!

This may be a strange re-run TV edit problem but im not sure. When they are having the party after Hawk is "crowned" he calls Houlihan, Hot Lips. Then when Gen. Barker comes in while Burns is all wrapped up in bandages Barker calls her Hot Lips and Hawk acts surprised to hear that nickname.

Grove17 wrote:This may be a strange re-run TV edit problem but im not sure. When they are having the party after Hawk is "crowned" he calls Houlihan, Hot Lips. Then when Gen. Barker comes in while Burns is all wrapped up in bandages Barker calls her Hot Lips and Hawk acts surprised to hear that nickname.

I think they are surprised that General Barker used the nickname, which suggested a level of intimacy with Margaret that apparently a number of generals had.

RJ wrote:

Grove17 wrote:This may be a strange re-run TV edit problem but im not sure. When they are having the party after Hawk is "crowned" he calls Houlihan, Hot Lips. Then when Gen. Barker comes in while Burns is all wrapped up in bandages Barker calls her Hot Lips and Hawk acts surprised to hear that nickname.

I think they are surprised that General Barker used the nickname, which suggested a level of intimacy with Margaret that apparently a number of generals had.

Good point I never looked at it that way before.

F*I*R*S*T P*O*S*T

I just started a rewatch of the whole series in order. I just wanted to say I liked the tag of this episode, where Frank asks Hawkeye for help with his patient. Hawkeye assists him with just a small joke about splitting the fee instead of a joke about Frank's lack of surgical skills.

Just a nice moment to me, that's all. I love to hate Frank as much as anyone else does, but I liked this a lot.

-Kevin

I'm a bit mixed about this one. In the threads for the episodes before this, I've mentioned how the show tended to have more typical sit-com elements in these early episodes than I'd come to expect from the show as a whole, and that's definitely true for this one as well. In fact, the whole idea of a General coming into the camp and seeing how crazy everything in screams "sit-com story" to me. Even more so given some of the over-the-top reactions he gives to everything (eyes bulging, double-takes, staring directly at Hawkeye from the side). Don't get me wrong, that's not a dig at the actor, because he did do a good job with the role as it was written. It's just not the type of thing I'd expect on MASH.

That being said, there were a lot of really good moments in this one as well. Frank's reaction to Hawkeye becoming chief surgeon, the ceremony in the mess tent, Radar in Henry's office (despite being out of character for how he'd be in later seasons), and Klinger's two appearances for example. Also, while I think the scenes between Hawkeye and the General may have been played up a bit much before then, I did like when Hawkeye explains his actions while scrubbing up for surgery. And I agree that the tag was a good moment between Hawkeye and Frank.

I see I never posted about this one, but nonetheless, I think it's a very decent episode: granted, as pointed out, it's an example of just how silly the earlier episodes could be in a sitcomish tone, but I otherwise thingk the way this episode is set up demonstrates what kind of show M*A*S*H is. With Hawkeye, for example, he's seemingly non-chalant about becoming Chief Surgeon, though gets an ego stroke with the ceremony in his honor, and appears to not even care about the patient who's waiting to be operated on . . . but in the end, we see that he does, indeed, take his work as a surgeon seriously, and although his instincts may seem unconventional or unorthodox, they're on the hose. With Frank, we get the sense of how much self-importance he places on himself, and the money and prestige that comes with being a surgeon mean more to him than actually saving lives - and although the tag is usually cut from syndication, I agree, it's a rare human moment for him to quietly accept Hawkeye being appointed Chief Surgeon over him, and swallows his pride to ask for assistance. Though, there's a big, glaring, technical mistake there: Hawkeye sticks his hands into the patient Frank is working out without changing his bloody gloves from patient he was just previously working on!