Commander Pierce was the Season 7 premiere episode of M*A*S*H, also the 148th overall series episode. The episode, which was written by Ronny Graham (teleplay/story) and Don Segall (story), was directed by Burt Metcalfe. The episode originally aired on CBS-TV on September 18, 1978 and was rerun March 26, 1979.
Synopsis[]
When Pierce is temporarily put in charge of the 4077th, the weight of the responsibility takes its toll. He changes, becoming uptight and authoritarian.
Full episode summary[]
Col. Potter has to head to Seoul for a pow-wow with the other M*A*S*H commanders, so he turns to Winchester to take over. But Winchester is battling sinusitis and is unwilling to take the job. Potter then turns to Hawkeye (who has seniority over B.J.), who absolutely refuses. Potter refuses to take "No" for an answer, and tells him that Radar will see him at 6am sharp.
Hawkeye refuses to take any part of being in command seriously: he shows up to Potter's office in his robe, unshaven, and pretty much just wants to get some sleep atop Potter's desk, much to Radar's horror at all the paperwork not getting done.
Klinger figures this is his best shot at a Section 8, and begins a procession of attempts to get Hawkeye to ship him out. Father Mulcahy turns to Hawkeye for blankets, since the 4077th is running low and it's getting colder outside. Hawkeye runs into a wall trying to get the blankets from I-Corps, when he learns that they won't send the 4077th anything without the proper forms. It's then that he realizes the mile-high pile of paperwork must be attended to, and he sits down, grumbling, to get it all done.
In O.R., Hawkeye wants all the noise to stop, acting very much like the "regular Army" clowns he despises. He's short-tempered with everyone, even Radar, and when B.J. makes a crack at Hawkeye's expense, Hawkeye admonishes B.J. to "Stay in the back seat where you belong!"
Later, a wounded soldier arrives in a Jeep and mentions that a buddy of his, who's hurt worse and got left behind at Battalion Aid. B.J., not bothering to check with Hawkeye, takes off in the Jeep to go get him. When Hawkeye learns of this, he's furious, knowing there's even more wounded arriving, and now he's down two surgeons.
They manage to get through it, and he scolds B.J. for taking off without telling him when he gets back. B.J. is having none of it, saying he did the same thing Captain Pierce would've done, not wanting to know what Commander Pierce would've done, and he's not sure he wants to.
Col. Potter returns, and Hawkeye goes on a rant, delivering a list of complaints about the difficulty of running the 4077th. Potter refuses to take the bait and grabs a bottle of whiskey, which he takes to the Swamp. He shares drinks with Hawkeye and B.J., who immediately start squabbling. Potter watches all this, and then steps in, admonishing Hawkeye for overreacting, but also reminding B.J. that if he had done his disappearing act while Potter was in charge, he would've been in a lot of trouble. He manages to get Hawkeye and B.J. to make up, but then an errant comment by B.J. starts it all over again. As they fight, Potter looks at his near empty bottle: "All that good whiskey, shot to hell." He leaves the Swamp as Hawkeye and B.J. continue to argue.
The next day, Potter is back to work in his office, signing form after form that Hawkeye had left unaddressed for the past 2 days. Margaret comes in and requests that the Colonel do something about the shower situation, since the men get there first, use all the hot water, and leave the place a shambles. Potter says he'll "look into the ladies' shower", to Margaret's satisfaction. She leaves as Klinger enters with a box of chocolates and flowers for the Colonel. After rambling off a new list of alleged psychological ailments (that Potter simply replies "No." to), he sulks, takes the flowers and candy, and leaves. After finishing the forms, Potter asks Radar to get him a tall bicarbonate of soda, quipping "This place is gonna drive me nuts."
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- B.J. makes his first appearance here mustachioed.
- Potter might have made a mistake putting a malcontent like Pierce in command. The only one with experience and seniority (Winchester may have seniority, but lacks experience, as would be shown in Season 9's "Tell It To The Marines") is Major Houlihan (although, with it being the early 1950s, it probably wasn't a consideration at the time).
- After Potter's return, he and Hawkeye each take 2 shots of whiskey in less than a minute; the pair then make the short walk to the Swamp, where they join BJ, drinking another 4 shots in under 2 minutes in a reconciliation effort with BJ. This is the most rapid binge drinking ever portrayed on the show, and the fact that neither Potter nor Hawkeye were unduly affected afterwards (Potter calling the effort a "waste of good whiskey") speaks to their characters' high alcohol tolerances.
- Frank Burns is mentioned by Margaret in the latter half of this episode in the O.R.
- Anomaly: Margaret asks Col. Potter to do something about the men leaving the showers a mess for the nurses. In other episodes, the nurses have their own shower (not to mention the numerous references throughout the series about peeking into them).
- A fun fact worth noting is the irony of how angry Hawkeye was at B.J. for leaving camp without permission - when Hawkeye himself does the very same thing in the next episode (to give the powers that be at the peace talks in Panmunjom a piece of his mind).
- When Hawkeye tells Radar to sign the papers for the day, Radar is horrified, saying "That's forgery!" However, he had no problem forging Henry Blake's signature on more than one occasion in previous seasons.
- Radar is equally upset about Hawkeye lying to I-Corps about the requisition forms for the blankets. Radar would often call I-Corp impersonating an officer.
- Actor James Lough appears as Hawkeye's patient (having tubes and stitches removed), Private Webster. If he looks and/or sounds familiar, it's because he usually plays an M.P. (he appears later in this season as an M.P. in "Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys").
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- James Lough as Webster
- Andrew Masset as Corporal Hough
- Enid Kent as Nurse Bigelow
- Jan Jorden as Nurse Baker
- Kellye Nakahara as Nurse Kellye
- Uncredited background appearances:
Gallery[]
