"Life Time" is the 11th episode in the eighth season of the CBS television series M*A*S*H, also the 184th overall episode of the series. Originally aired on November 26, 1979, with a rebroadcast occurring on June 9, 1980, it was directed by Alan Alda and was co-written by Alan Alda and Walter Dishell, along with phantom assistance from authors W.C. Heinz, Ring Lardner, Jr., and Richard Hooker, himself a former U.S. Army MASH unit surgeon, and author of the 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors.
Synopsis[]
In an episode where the story is told in real time, a wounded soldier arrives at the camp with a lacerated aorta. Hawkeye and the others rush to perform an arterial graft, with only 20 minutes to do the job before the patient becomes paralyzed or dies from renal failure.
Full episode summary[]
Hawkeye, B.J., Margaret, and Klinger are playing a quick hand of poker on the helicopter pad when a chopper arrives with two wounded soldiers, one of them (whom we later learn is named George) is critically wounded with an open chest wound bleeding profusely through the pressure bandage (respiratory distress). Diagnosing it as a lacerated aorta, Hawkeye borrows a pocket knife from the pilot and cracks the patient's chest enough to reach inside to press George's aorta against his spinal column to stop the bleeding.
Knowing that a lack of blood flow to the spinal cord for more than 20 minutes will likely result in paralysis, Hawkeye and the others are now in a race against time to save George's life. Hawkeye asks for the time from the pilot, after which a clock (resembling the one in the chopper) is superimposed at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, counting off the procedure's time. En route to the OR, B.J. suggests that hypothermia might reduce chance of paralysis, so Hawkeye dispatches Klinger to find all the ice he can.
In the OR, when they find out they don't have enough cross-matched blood (and what little blood they do have is the wrong type), they have no choice but to give George what blood they've got. Kellye then brings in a bottle of arterial grafts (taken from patients who didn't make it), but none of them are big enough. To make matters even worse, an ambulance bus pulls into the compound with more wounded, so B.J. goes outside to do triage. One of the patients aboard (named Harold) has a severe head wound and is not expected to survive. His buddy, Roberts, who has a minor belly wound, begs B.J. to try and save him. B.J. asks Potter to take Roberts, telling him about Hawkeye's patient and decides he's going to take a graft from Harold after he dies. Potter agrees.
Hawkeye cracks open George's chest only to find that his damaged aorta is irreparable. Now down to their last bottle of blood, Winchester, having the same blood type as George, volunteers to give a pint, but Colonel Potter is reluctant, knowing Winchester will be unfit for surgery after a transfusion. But after a quick phone call (and a passable impersonation of Potter), Klinger confirms that fighting has shifted and no further casualties are expected. Winchester begins giving blood in earnest, suffering mild delirium in the process while trying to give the other surgeons direction on how to perform the procedure.
In Pre-Op, B.J. is preparing to extract Harold's aorta after he dies when two corpsmen bring in Roberts, who demands to know what B.J. is doing with Harold. B.J. gently tries to explain that something good might be able to come out of Harold's death, but then Klinger barges in with a surgical pan and unknowingly blurts out in front of Roberts that Hawkeye needs to know when Harold is dead. Realizing his blunder, Klinger sheepishly leaves, and Roberts angrily has words with B.J. As they argue, Harold comes closer to death, so B.J. orders Roberts to be prepped out in the hall, but Roberts demands to be next to his buddy when he dies. Knowing there's nothing else he can do until after Harold is gone, B.J. agrees.
Roberts takes Harold's hand as he takes his last breath. Choking back tears, Roberts asks for a picture in Harold's pocket of the two of them together. B.J. obliges, and Roberts is wheeled out into the hallway. Once there, he quietly talks with Father Mulcahy, expressing his disgust about what B.J. is doing, and then mentioning what a good guy Harold was. Mulcahy asks Roberts if he thinks Harold would throw himself on a live grenade for someone else, even if he didn't know them. When Roberts replies that Harold wouldn't give a second thought to sacrificing himself, Mulcahy points out to Roberts that "that's what he's doing now", and Roberts takes a degree of comfort in Mulcahy's words.
Meanwhile, B.J. finally gets the aortic graft from Harold's body and rushes into the OR. After a few tense moments, Hawkeye is finally able to connect the new graft, but to his frustration it took over 23 minutes, and George could very well be paralyzed; B.J. suggests that the hypothermia might have bought them some time, but Hawkeye is not so sure. Later in Post-Op, as George is coming around, Hawkeye and B.J. repeatedly ask him to wiggle his toes. After a few tense moments, George slowly begins to wiggle his toes, much to Hawkeye's, B.J.'s, and Margaret's delight. B.J. exclaims that they made a man who's "part George and part Harold." Charles chimes in and says, "...and part Winchester." Hawkeye quips, "That's right! When he wakes up, he won't know whether to be brave, generous, or pompous!"
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- Hawkeye sends Klinger to fetch his canvas bathtub. This was supposed to have been traded for ice cream in Season 7's "None Like It Hot". Still, it's entirely possible he just ordered another one.
- The story is told in real time, as can be seen with the clock on the screen. However, there is a break where the story jumps about 5 minutes from 1439:27 to 1444:48 hours. This would be where the commercial break usually comes in. Also, when they cut to and from this commercial break, the screen is black, with only the clock remaining and the sound of ticking the only sound.
- This episode is in Alan Alda's list of episodes that were "really good."[1]
- In this episode, the graft patient needs AB- blood, and Winchester gallantly volunteers to donate. In the previous season ("C*A*V*E"), Klinger is giving blood to a patient, and tells him that he and Winchester (along with Father Mulcahy) all have the same blood type - making Klinger AB-. However, in an even earlier episode ("It Happened One Night"), Klinger said he has B+ blood.
- This is the last showing of the opening scene where Gary Burghoff listed in this TV show.
- Hawkeye and B.J. mention keeping certain vascular clamps hidden in the Swamp because of their rarity and value. These are probably the special clamps they had made by the Korean merchant Mr. Shin back in Season 6 ("Patent 4077").
- Hawkeye is afraid that the operation didn't work because they went overtime. If Roberts hadn't insisted on being with Harold when he died, they could have saved 45 seconds.
- Kevin Brophy, who plays Roberts, makes an appearance in AfterMASH but as a different character. His AfterMASH character was apparently a member of the 4077th that we never saw and was quite friendly with Klinger.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Kevin Brophy as Roberts
- Kellye Nakahara as Nurse Kellye
- J. J. Johnston as Helicopter Pilot
- Jeff Maxwell as Igor
- Jo Ann Thompson as Jo Ann (as Joann Thompson)
- Roy Goldman as Corpsman
- Stephen T. McCarthy as Harold Sherwood (uncredited)[2]
- Other uncredited appearances: Gwen Farrell, Jan Jorden, Jennifer Davis, Dennis Troy
References[]
- ↑ “Alda's Favorite 'M*A*S*H' Episodes,” CNN.com, last modified October 6, 2005, http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/06/alda.mash/.
- ↑ Stephen T. McCarthy, M*A*S*H - S*T*U*F*F*S (Or, "YES, WE PLAY REQUESTS"), Stephen T. McCarthy STUFFS (blog), accessed on March 14, 2015, URL.