(08x15) 188 - Yessir, That's Our Baby

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edmund0901
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(08x15) 188 - Yessir, That's Our Baby

Post by edmund0901 »

This is one of the most moving episodes I've seen. When Father Mulcady mentioned that if the baby was turned into
the orphange that because she was of mixed-race that the other children would be cruel to her, that didn't make sense because children don't care about that, prejudice and bigotry can only be taught later on. When the 4077's attempts to get the baby out of Korea didn't work out they took her to the monastery where Hakayee referred to it as like making a bank deposit. Couldn't the 4077 have kept the baby, there would always be somebody available to look after her while others were working and after the war somebody could have adopted her and taken her home just as Trapper was getting ready to do with Kim in season 2 until Kim's mother came back.
Ferret Face
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Re: (08x15) 188 - Yessir, That's Our Baby

Post by Ferret Face »

This was a strange case for me, where I remembered the basic premise of the episode, but I didn't remember any specifics about it, and how it played out, so it was kind of like watching a new episode. And with that being the case, I was very pleasantly surprised.

I'll be honest, the idea of using kids as a focus for episodes in shows (especially older sitcoms like this) is a bit iffy for me. A lot of times it can come off as a bit too mushing and sugary, and could make it feel like a weak "special episode." However, while there were scenes that could be considered borderline mushy, I feel like MASH generally made it work for the better, and used them to bring out the best in their characters. And that was certainly true for this episode IMO.

Add to that the fact that they took on a serious issue of mixed-race babies during a war... I can imagine some people feeling like it got a bit preachy in places, and there was even one or two scenes where even I felt it was laid on a bit thick, but for the most part I thought it handled the subject pretty well. I liked the way the different characters reacted to the situation, and how even Charles got so invested in the child's fate that he lost his temper.

I do agree it's not perfect, and there are some fair questions like "why didn't anyone think to adopt the baby?" But I thought this was a very strong episode overall.
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