Dear Comrade was the 12th episode of Season 7 of M*A*S*H, also the 159th overall series episode. The episode, which was written by Tom Reeder, was directed by Charles S. Dubin. The episode originally aired on CBS-TV on November 27, 1978.
Synopsis[]
A North Korean Spy infiltrates the 4077th and poses as Charles' houseboy, in order to observe and report on 4077th's efficiency and success to his superiors.
Full episode summary[]
Hawkeye and B.J. return to the 4077th after some days of R&R in Tokyo and present Charles with a gift that they say he definitely needs: a Samurai wig. But Charles has the last laugh on them when they find the Swamp not the same as it used to be: it is clean and tidy! He then introduces Hawkeye and B.J. to Kwang, his new houseboy. Hawkeye and B.J. offer their condolences to Kwang and ask how much he is getting paid, to which Kwang answers "A dollar an hour, once a day".
Wounded arrive and the doctors rush off. We then learn, from his voiceover, that Kwang is actually a spy for "the People's Army". He narrates a report to his intelligence chief, saying that he has secured a job as a "a grinning lackey" to Charles, whom he calls "a capitalist fool", and hopes to observe the secret of the 4077th's efficiency and success at treating wounded soldiers.
In his report, Kwang tells, with some incredulity, of everything he witnesses at the 4077th. He remarks that the OR is chaotic, and their off-hours behavior (drinking, gambling, etc.) is decadent. He goes on to say that the Americans are "soft and weak-willed as we are led to believe", supplied with an abundance of food but constantly complaining about its quality. Kwang then marvels that the doctors, with all their advanced training and medicine, cannot figure out how to treat a simple rash which has infected several wounded soldiers. Everything the surgeons have tried has failed, and the rash is getting so bad that the patients could be tearing open their stitches from scratching through their bandages. Kwang offers a remedy: Oh Dong Mol, a Korean concoction made from boiled tree bark, but it has a horrible stench that, according to Hawkeye, "would offend B.O. Plenty". They tell the infected patients in Post Op about the malodorous remedy, and all of them raise their hands to volunteer, so they use the Oh Dong Mol on them, and it works.
Later that night, Kwang completes his report to his superiors and prepares to leave; he concludes that the success of the 4077th is valid but their unorthodox methods cannot be duplicated. He then rejects their suggestion to abduct Charles for questioning saying, "He is one big jerk". As Kwang is leaving, he's stopped by Hawkeye, B.J., and Potter who thank him for the remedy and present him with an official commendation from the U.S. Army for his contribution. They invite him to the Officers Club for a drink, but he initially declines. He starts to go his own way, but after a moment, citing to his superiors "an unforseen complication" in which he is "to be privy to a top-secret policy meeting", he reconsiders and joins the others.
As they are all getting blitzed in the Officers Club, B.J. is the first to notice that Kwang's English has mysteriously improved over the course of the night, and Kwang nonchalantly decides it's the whiskey, and asks "Charlie" to fill up his glass again, to which Charles eventually replies, "Ohh, what the hell".
Subplot[]
I Corps supply Sergeant Cimoli is at the 4077th playing poker in the Officers Club with B.J., Margaret, Charles, and Hawkeye, the latter of whom has a hot hand, but Cimoli is convinced he is bluffing and calls him, but Hawkeye again raises. As he has no money left, Cimoli claims he can get a Jeep and is willing to bet it against Hawkeye's hand, which he accepts. Cimoli has a full house (Jacks full of sevens), but Hawkeye has four nines and wins the pot. Later, a delivery arrives in camp for Hawkeye, but instead of a Jeep, it turns out to be a Howitzer, with a note from Cimoli that it was all he could get.
Hawkeye is furious at Cimoli, but he is now faced with the dilemma of what to do with the ostentatious ordinance. Potter orders him to get rid of it as it will invite unwanted enemy fire; when he suggests sending it to a nearby artillery battery, Hawkeye refuses as it will only create more casualties. B.J. comes up with an idea to permanently put the gun out of their misery: they perform a "cannon-dectomy", which involves, as Hawkeye puts it, "surgery of the highest caliber": removing the firing pin and then filling the barrel with cement so it can never be used again. Kwang notices what they are doing and asks them about it. Their answer only contributes to Kwang's disbelief of the camp's "decadent" off-duty antics.
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- When Charles first sees the Howitzer, Hawkeye asks him, "You got any rice you want puffed?". This is a reference to a one-time commercial slogan for Quaker Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice cereals; in the 1940s they were billed as "The delicious cereals shot from guns".
- Actor Sab Shimono, who plays Kwang, would return to the series in Season 8 ("Back Pay").
- In Season 1, Hawkeye and Trapper John had a Korean servant Ho-Jon, whom they eventually helped to get stateside to attend school.
- This episode is another unique variation of the almost overused "letter home" format (see M*A*S*H TV series narrative formats), this time from the observation of the enemy.
- Potter orders Hawkeye to get rid of the Howitzer and even suggests giving it to an artillery battery, which Hawkeye refuses. Despite being clearly marked as a hospital (a non-combat unit), its proximity to the front (though the distance is almost never the same in the episodes where it gets mentioned) subjects the unit to enemy fire in at least five episodes ("The Sniper," "5 O'Clock Charlie," "Hey, Doc," "C*A*V*E," and "The Life You Save"), and three times by friendly fire ("The Army-Navy Game," "Bombed," and "C*A*V*E," the latter in which the camp is caught in a crossfire). In real life, Potter would not have ordered the two surgeons to get rid of the artillery piece, but would have had Ordinance pick it up, and Cimoli would have been exposed. (Ironically, in real life, Alan Alda was a member of an artillery unit while serving in the US Army.)
- Hawkeye makes a joke about "B.O. Plenty", a character from the comic strip "Dick Tracy", which was still in most newspapers in 1978.
- Gary Burghoff does not appear in this episode.
- David Dozer plays Corporal Groves, who delivers the Howitzer to Hawkeye. He appears in other episodes, including "Good-Bye Radar," in which he is the supply dispatcher whom Klinger manipulates into giving him a generator, and again in "Depressing News," in which he delivers 500,000 tongue depressors to the 4077th.
- INDB goof: In post-op, when the doctors are asking for volunteers to try the Oh Dong Mol, the end of the wall in post-op is visible on the left of the screen with a member of the crew visible behind it, wearing a white shirt and dark pants.
- B.J. produces a pail of cement for pouring into the barrel of the Howitzer. The very nature of cement necessitates constant motion to keep it from hardening (which is why it's transported in rolling cement trucks). Since we never see anyone stir that bucket, it should have been a rock by the time the surgeons finished doctoring the gun into non-functionality.
- Even though the captains rendered the Howitzer useless, the issue of its presence in the camp still remained. Someone must have taken it off their hands, since we never see or hear about it again in future episodes.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Sab Shimono as Kwang
- Larry Block as Sergeant Cimoli
- Robert Clotworthy as Private Welch
- David Dozer as Groves
- James Saito as Korean Soldier
- Todd Davis as Latimer
- Laurie Bates as Surgical Nurse (see Lieutenant Laurie)
- Dennis Troy as Corpsman #1
- Wayne Long as Corpsman #2
- Uncredited appearances by:
Gallery[]
- As befits a spy's report, this episode has many good views of different areas of the MASH.
- Dennis Troy and Wayne Long rated credits as Corpsmen #1 and #2 but they don't seem to show up anywhere in the episode.
