(07x05) 152 - Our Finest Hour, Part 2

Talk about individual episodes here. Every episode has its own discussion thread and there are also threads for each season.
Post Reply

Rate This Episode

Best of the best
0
No votes
Above average
1
50%
Average
0
No votes
Below average
1
50%
Worst of the worst
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 2

User avatar
Big Daddy O'Reilly
Colonel
Posts: 543
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 10:57 am
Location: The Swamp
Contact:

(07x05) 152 - Our Finest Hour, Part 2

Post by Big Daddy O'Reilly »

There's actually a couple of really bad edits in this episode:

1. During Klinger's big moment from "Mail Call" (2x23), much of it has been condensed, which kind of makes the big build up at the end of, "Half of the family dying, other half pregnant" less funny.
2. Even worse: during the sing-along from "Movie Tonight" (5x22), some verses are left out, but what really kills it is that after Klinger sings his verse, instead of being met with boos and hisses from everyone else over his really corny verse, we cut straight to the final chorus, which starts of with clapping and cheering.

Other than that, still gotta love M*A*S*H clip show.
Ferret Face
First Lieutenant
Posts: 101
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:11 pm

Re: (07x05) 152 - Our Finest Hour, Part 2

Post by Ferret Face »

I'm not someone who automatically hates an episode because it's a "lazy" or "cheap" clip show. There are quite a few clip shows which do feel like cheap filler to pad out shows (with the worst being on more serious hour-long series), but there can be some pretty enjoyable ones depending on the show. Unfortunately, while it may not be the worst offender, this one doesn't really work for me overall.

I think the main part of it is the comparison to "The Interview." That episode had a very distinctive style it was going for, and was willing to do anything to preserve that style, including using black and white film, and removing the laugh track. And so having a similar episode, and sticking normal footage from other episodes at random spots throughout the episode really takes me out of it. Granted, it may not exactly be fair to compare the two, since they're specifically trying to be two different types of episodes, but it's just jarring to go from one style to the other. And it doesn't help that the video of the clips they used tend to be pretty bad, even on the DVD, and that this is the one episode where the DVDs which don't let you turn off the laugh track (so it's not only jarring compared to the laugh track-free interview sections, it will be more so for people who are used to it without them - maybe not the episode's fault, but it only serves to heighten the issues with the episode).

All that being said, the episode wasn't all bad. There were some good moments with the interviews (even if they were not on the same level as "The Interview"), and the clips that they did use were pretty enjoyable overall. Not to mention, there was one very nice moment where the clips actually did work well with the interviews: when Radar talks about the one awful day he'll remember, and it shows the scenes from "Abyssinnia Henry." So I wouldn't say I hate the episode, I just think the two aspects of the episode seem at odds with each other.
Post Reply