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"Nobody gets the truth out of me. I keep myself in a constant state of confusion."

[~Colonel Flagg]

"For a man with no sense of humor, you are awfully funny."

[Charles to Flagg, in Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys]

Sam Flagg is a neurotic CIA agent whose area of assignment includes the 4077th MASH unit on the CBS television series M*A*S*H, played by actor Edward Winter. In nearly every appearance in the series he went by a different rank, but the one he used most was Colonel.

Character history[]

Flagg is a U.S. Military Intelligence agent. His behavior is rather reckless and irrational, and he appears to the staff of the 4077th to be a paranoid, overly methodical military man. At times, he deliberately injures himself - sometimes seriously - to continue a top-secret, highly classified investigation. At one point, he tried to get into CIC headquarters by crashing his jeep into a brick wall and setting himself on fire. When told of this event, Hawkeye's response was, "Is this guy available for kids parties?" Another time, to get into MASH 4077, he orders a helicopter pilot to crash, and then twice breaks his own arm. He claims that he is either with the CIA, the CIC, or the CID, depending on who he's dealing with. Majors Frank and Margaret, both strong anti-Communists and super-patriots, followed one of his assignments with great interest, but they backed out once they learned that Flagg was willing to go to any end to achieve or advance his own agenda.

His dedication to duty is such that Flagg even accuses Frank twice of being a communist agent on the "grounds" that Burns had seen a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet in Tokyo, and is reading Reader's Digest, which Flagg notes is "Red's Digest" if you eliminate the 3rd, 5th, and 6th letters.

Flagg used multiple aliases, including "Captain Halloran" in the episode "Deal Me Out". (Though it is never made explicitly clear if Halloran is Flagg, dialogue in a later episode referring to the poker game at the core of the episode makes it plausible that the character was indeed one of Flagg's many alter egos.) Flagg's other aliases include:

  • "Major Brooks"
  • "Lieutenant Carter"
  • "Ensign Troy "
  • "Captain Louise Klein"
  • "Perkins- CIA" ( Episode "white gold" Flag states he's also Perkins in CIA , when playing a Jewish chaplain )
  • "Captain Goldberg" (a Jewish chaplain with horn-rimmed glasses)
  • "Queen Victoria" (a code name)

At the conclusion of his second appearance (and his first under the name Flagg), a rival intelligence officer says, "Buy you a cup of coffee, Sam?", revealing his (probable) first name. However, his disguises were so obvious that people generally saw through them immediately. Once, he showed up as a Chinese double agent named Ling Chow ("The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan") dressed like Benito Mussolini. Both Potter and Radar casually greeted him by name. When pressed, Radars hasty explanation was that since Flagg looked nothing like himself, it had to be him, as only Flagg had that skill. Potter asked why Flagg was dressed like an Italian wedding usher; it was only then that Flagg claimed he was the Chinese double agent Ling Chow. When Potter remarks he doesn't look Chinese, Flagg claims that "neither would Ling Chow if he was dressed like this."

When Colonel Potter took Blake's place, Potter made a point of never backing down from Flagg. Sidney Freedman also refused to cave in to Flagg's intimidation saying, "I'd like to help you, but with your schizophrenia, I'd have to charge you double time." Hawkeye, Trapper John, and later B.J. were all suspected of being subversives or sympathizers by Flagg, but they always managed to outwit him, provided that Flagg wasn't already busy outwitting himself.

Flagg's "trademark" is to assure that no one sees him leave when he finishes a job. ("I have no home. I am the wind.") In The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan, his attempt to keep up that image backfired when he ordered all of the others in the room to close their eyes as he exited via a leap through the window. When the others opened their eyes after hearing a yelp of pain, Hawkeye investigated and dryly noted, "The wind just broke his leg."

Flagg later made a serious mistake when he manipulated Charles into spying on Hawkeye in Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys. Charles, who was of better character than Flagg suspected, reluctantly agreed, but as expected found nothing against Hawkeye. but after being given a choice of "disappearing" or a one-way ticket back to Boston, Charles again reluctantly continued his espionage, only this time planting fake evidence of a Commie meeting to be held in the Swamp; when Flagg takes the bait hook line and sinker and decides to raid the "meeting", it turned out to be a simple bridge game with Potter and Hawkeye along with the mayor of Uijeongbu and his brother, the city's chief of police. Even though it was revealed that Charles had set the whole thing up, the two Korean officials were furious with Flagg and vowed to use their American connections to have him punished, which they evidently did as Flagg never appeared in the series again.

AfterMASH[]

He made one appearance in the sequel series AfterMASH (referred to as "Colonel M. Flagg") in the season 2 episode Trials, during which he was a witness for the prosecution when Klinger was brought to trial for assaulting a crooked real estate agent. Only too eager to testify against Klinger, when Flagg first appears in the courtroom, he draws an 'X' with his finger on Klinger's forehead saying, "Hello, Fruitcake".

By this time, Flagg, no longer in the military, works for an unspecified government intelligence agency "whose agents are authorized to carry sidearms in their shoes", and claimed that he was already in River Bend investigating Klinger for subversion.

Rank[]

Flagg went by different ranks throughout his appearances in the series.

  • His first appearance was as CID officer "Captain Halloran" in Deal Me Out.
  • Between 1972 and 1975, he is a Lt. Colonel permanently using the name "Flagg" outside of his assorted aliases.
  • For the rest of the series (1975–83), he held the rank of full colonel.

Interestingly, his rank was the same as either of the commanders of the 4077th: Lt. Colonel Blake, and later Colonel Potter. Added to which, when Flagg appears in an episode, no higher ranked officers show up. In his first appearance, as a Captain (under an alias), Flagg has the same rank as the Officer of the Day, Captain Hawkeye Pierce. In his last appearance, he wears the DSI of the US Army Finance Corps.. Interestingly in the images displayed below, Flagg wears the Army Infantry Officers Brass, while on other occasions he dons Military Intelligence Officers Brass.

Service[]

In one episode, Flagg remarks he has been in Intelligence for twenty years. He claims he was a showgirl at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas for six weeks. Hawkeye claims to have seen him in that disguise during that time, saying he was wearing a big hat and carrying a parasol as well as being the only showgirl that was carrying a machine gun.

Gallery[]

Quotes[]

  • Flagg: The CIA can supercede anyone's orders.
    • Frank: Except the president's, of course.
    • Flagg: Give us time.
  • "I've trained myself not to laugh or smile. I watched a hundred hours of the Three Stooges; every time I felt like smiling or laughing, I jabbed myself in the stomach with a cattle prod."
  • "My father touched me like that once. To this day, he still has to wear orthopedic shirts." {Frank Burns tried to buddy up to Flagg by slapping him on the shoulder}
  • "You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb! But you've met your match in me." {To Sidney Freedman}
  • "And don't play dumb. You're not as good at it as I am."
  • (To Charles): "Do you believe I can break your leg with this finger?"
  • "Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion."
  • (After Hawkeye treated a wounded North Korean soldier prior to operating on an American one:) "You took a yellow Red before a White American, which is pretty pinko!"
  • (To Radar:) "Quiet, or I'll use you to clean a cannon!"
  • (After Hawkeye suggests using nuclear weapons in a search for the missing Major Houlihan) "Hey, don't try to make friends with me."
  • {To Frank} "You interrupt me again and I'll drop a grenade down your shorts."
  • (After Frank says, "You’re crazy, buddy!") "You call me that again, friend, I’ll reach into your throat and pull your heart out."
  • (To Burns, who remarks the CIA can supersede anyone's orders except the President's) "Give us time."
  • {To Radar, after Blake remarks Flagg can talk in front of the Corporal} "Okay, I will. GET OUT."
  • {To Colonel Blake} "I'm authorized to kill without written permission from my superiors."
  • {To Hawkeye} "I've got written permission to die in the attempt."
  • {To Hawkeye, whom Flagg mistakes for BJ} "Okay, call yourself Pierce. I can play that game, too."
  • (To B.J.) "That's insubordination...do that again ...(checks book) and I'm authorized to bite off your left ear."
  • (To Klinger) "Up close you're a guy." Klinger, "Far away too!"
  • "I have no home..I am the wind." (Hawkeye) to group, the wind just broke it's leg.
  • Radar (to Hawkeye) "[Flagg] said he was gonna shove nickels up my nose!"
    • Hawkeye: Really? What song was he going to play?

Trivia[]

When asked who he was by an MP, Hawkeye replied “[he’s] the camp self-abusement Director”

In the premiere of a TV SCI-FI series "Misfits of Science," in a character switch, Edward Winter played an aide-de-camp who is killed trying to stop an insane General - who was played by Larry Linville.

Wikipedia logo 165x125 This page uses content from Wikipedia. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Monster M*A*S*H, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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