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5.0 out of 5 stars
Season 4 of "M*A*S*H" ends with "The Interview", August 12, 2003
This review is from: M*A*S*H - The TV Series, Season 4, Vol. 2 [VHS] (VHS Tape)
A pair of tour de force episodes with Alan Alda and the entire cast are the highlights from the eight episodes ending Season 4 of "M*A*S*H" collected here on Volume 4:
Episode 17, "Dear Ma" (Written by Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzel, Aired December 23, 1975) finds it is Radar's turn to write home in the third "letter" episode from Season 4 and offers a familiar hodge podge of what is happening at the 4077th. 4 Stars.
Episode 18, "Der Tag" (Written by Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzel, Aired January 6, 1976) has Colonel Potter (Harry Morgan) ordering Hawkeye (Alda) and B.J. (Mike Farrell) to be nice to Frank Burns (Larry Linville). That can only last so long and after putting on a toe tag that declares Frank to be "Emotionally Exhausted and Morally Bankrupt," the inebriated Major Burns ends up at a battalion aid station. Less than pleased, Potter orders the two doctors to the front to retrieve Frank. A nice example of the Swampmates going too far. 4 Stars.
Episode 19, "Hawkeye" (Written by Larry Gelbart & Simon Munter, Aired January 13, 1976) is a chance for Alan Alda to shine as a actor. Hawkeye overturns his jeep trying to avoiding hitting some children and sustains a concussion. Knowing that if he loses consciousness he might never wake up, Hawkeye babbles continuously to the mystified Korean family into whose home he has stumbled. Ambitious if not completely satisfactory and certainly something completely different. 4.5 Stars.
Episode 20, "Some 38th Parallels" (Written by John Regler & Gary Markowitz, Aired January 20, 1976) has Frank's bright idea of having the South Korean locals bid on the 4077th garbage merging with Hawkeye's disdain for Colonel T.K. Coner, who insists on losing more men sending them to retrieve the bodies of their dead. An average example of the type of episode where the doctors bump heads with gung-ho Army types. 4 Stars.
Episode 21, "The Novocaine Mutiny" (Written by Burt Prelutsky, Aired January 27, 1976) provides a "Rashomon" like look at an incident for which Frank wants Hawkeye court-martialed. The chief attraction here is Frank's idealized vision of himself as a medical deity. Even if it is only in his own mind, this is one of Frank's finest moments. 4.5 Stars.
Episode 22, "Smilin' Jack" (Written by Larry Gelbart & Simon Mutner, Aired February 3, 1976) is the nickname of Jack Mitchell, a M*A*S*H chopper pilot who has flown 839 soldiers to M*A*S*H units and is shooting for the record of 842 help by Dangerous Dan Murphy. The only problem is Smilin' Jack has diabetes and has to be grounded. On the one hand taking a look at the chopper pilots is a nice change of pace, but the ending of this one is pretty foreseeable if not forced. 4 Stars.
Episode 23, "The More I See You" (Written by Larry Gelbart & Gene Reynolds, Aired February 10, 1976) finds Hawkeye confronted with Carlye Breslin (Blythe Danner), who is not just any old flame but the one that dumped him in medicine school because it was clear he would always be a doctor first. A pivotal episode that pokes some major holes in the persona of Hawkeye Pierce. 4.5 Stars.
Episode 24, "The Interview" (Written by Larry Gelbart, Aired February 24, 1976) takes the simple idea of having reporter Clete Roberts interviews the staff of the 4077th. Partly scripted, mostly ad libbed, this is a riveting episode in which the most memorable comment comes from Father Mulcahy talking about surgeons warming themselves over open wounds when it is cold. This episode more than any other signals that "M*A*S*H" is now a dramedy and not a situation comedy. 5 Stars.
One of the problems with rating the "M*A*S*H" episodes on this videotape is that if "The Interview" is a 5, then nothing else here can be. But half the episodes here at only half-step below that classical black & white season finale. The show will keep getting better, but clearly Season 4 of "M*A*S*H" was the best to date.
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