Mail Call...Again was the 87th episode of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H, and also the 15th episode of the fourth season of the series. Written by Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell, and directed by George Tyne, it first aired on December 9, 1975.
Synopsis[]
With the latest mail, Potter finds out that he's about to become a grandfather, and Frank's wife back home is wanting a divorce..
Full episode summary[]
Mail Call at the 4077th, and the latest mail brings it with all kinds of news:
Potter's mail includes a letter from his dentist son, telling him that soon he will become a grandfather. His son goes on to say that the baby is a week late; he made a bet with his wife Jeanine that he believes it is late because it a girl, while she believes it's because it is a boy, and that if he is right she makes him breakfast in bed for a week, while if she is right he will buy four new tires for her car. Radar suggests that they could do a betting pool there in camp- a dollar on the baby's weight, gender, and day it's born, to which Potter gladly agrees to by placing the first bet: "A strapping nine-pound boy, born on the 21st".
Margaret gets a package from Frank- a new see-through negligee from Frederick's of Hollywood, which she is sure will drive him crazy. She then bets a dollar in the baby pool: a 6 1/2 pound boy on the 25th.
Father Mulcahy gets a letter from his sister, the sister, who is a basketball coach for a school called St. Mary's.
As Radar delivers the mail to the Swamp, he confides in Hawkeye and B.J. that he "accidentally" steamed open- and read, a letter for Frank from his wife Louise: Another officer who came through camp met Louise back home and told her about Frank and Margaret, and now Louise is wanting a divorce. Radar thinks it's good news in that Frank will be free to marry Margaret, but both Hawkeye and B.J. know different as we later find out from Frank that, "The stocks and the house are all in her name!". Frank arrives in the Swamp and reads the letter, tearing his pillow to shreds before storming out. On the way to see Potter, Margaret catches up with Frank and tells him about "the fatigues from Hollywood", but Frank is disinterested and needs to call home but doesn't say why. Margaret thinks someone is dying, to which Frank replies, "Ohh, if only it was that unimportant". He goes to Potter's office and privately tells him what is going on, but Potter is more busy trying to get hold of his son over the phone by tracking them down at the hospital his wife is staying in, but he doesn't know which one. Radar then informs Potter that there's going to be at least a two-hour delay because there's only one operator on duty in Seoul. Hearing this, Potter allows Frank to call his wife.
Meanwhile, Klinger takes advantage of Mail Call to see Potter. Dressed in a black gown and veil, Klinger claims he received a letter from his mother saying that his two brothers were killed in a boiler explosion at the Toledo Harmonica Company, and as the sole surviving son, he requests a hardship discharge. Potter pulls Klinger's personnel file to remind him that he has no brothers, and then accuses him of lying saying, "Every time you tell a lie your nose gets smaller!" Klinger retreats, but not without cautioning Potter that he will be back, to which Potter replies "I'll be here".
Radar gets through to Louise, and Frank grabs the phone to talk to her, but with Radar and Klinger listening in, Frank convinces Potter to briefly let him use his office for privacy. Just as he begins his sugar-coated conversation, Margaret sneaks into the orderly room and, hearing Frank on the phone, decides to eavesdrop on the call using the phone in the orderly room; she hears Frank disingenuously reasserting his love for Louise while referring to Margaret as "an old war horse" and "an army mule with bosoms". Amazingly, Frank successfully talks Louise into canceling the divorce, even sneaking in a question making sure that he is still in his father-in-law's will. He ends the call completely satisfied with himself, at least until he walks out of Potter's office and is nearly hit by a chair thrown by a livid Margaret. She storms out of the office toward her tent with Frank futilely trying to gloss things over, suggesting that they could go to her tent and she could put on her new nightie, which she throws out the door at Frank before slamming it shut again.
Later, Hawkeye, B.J., Klinger, Father Mulcahy, and Radar all gather in Potter's office to watch a home from Radar's mother showing her (played by Gary Burghoff himself, in drag), plus some of Radar's extended family (excluding Uncle Ed, who is behind the camera). At the end, Radar's mother mouths "I love you, Walter" to the camera, bringing Radar to tears. The moment is interrupted by a call from Potter's son telling him he now has a granddaughter named Sherry Pershing Potter; after the call, Potter himself sheds some tears of his own, and Father Mulcahy winds up the winner of the baby pool.
Epilogue[]
With some of the nurses (including Kellye) joining them in the Swamp, the new grandfather Potter hands out cigars to everyone. Klinger, wearing a negligee he found in the garbage, arrives with more drinks from the Officers Club, and they all join in singing Let Me Call You Sweetheart...
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- Potter's family is strangely inconsistent throughout the years. Here he has a son, but in later episodes he seems only to have a daughter. Also, this seems to be his first grandchild, but in later episodes, he has an older grandson (who he buys a "Shmoo" doll for).
- In this episode Potter's home state is supposedly Ohio, though a city is not mentioned; he remarks that his son was born in "City General" in 1926, Mildred (though her name is not mentioned in this episode) had gone into labor when she heard that Rudolph Valentino had died. (Valentino's death was August 23, 1926, at the young age of 31.)
- Hawkeye spends some of the episode reading stories from his hometown newspaper aloud, including a bit about "shaving mugs", a line he seems to flub. But he keeps going, trying variations on the correct pluralization - "shavings mugs, shavings mug," etc.
- Having Burghoff in drag play his mother seems an insane, cartoonish idea, but it somehow works, and is even very touching. This is the third member of the 4077th whose home life we got to see via home movies - the first being Henry, the second being Frank. We later see home movies of B.J.'s wife and daughter in Season 9's Oh, How We Danced.
- This is the beginning of the break up between Frank and Margaret, although it doesn't become final until "Margaret's Engagement."
- Father Mulcahy gets a letter from his sister, Sister Mary Francis. He calls her "Angelica", but in future episodes, he refers to her as "Katherine/Catherine." He also says she calls him by his given name "Francis" - in previous episodes, his rarely-used first name was said to be John. It generally settles on being Francis from this point forward- although he tells Lt. Gail Harris in Season 8's "Nurse Doctor" that it's John.
- Gary Burghoff (as Radar) shows off his talent for impersonations in this episode again, this time doing James Cagney for a disinterested Margaret.
Guests stars/Recurring cast[]
- William Christopher as Father Mulcahy
- Uncredited appearances
- Kellye Nakahara - Lieutenant Kellye (fairly large foreground role - no lines, unless you count her singing as part of a group. Hawkeye calls her Lieutenant Kellye.)