Monster M*A*S*H
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Good-Bye Radar: Part 2 is the fifth episode of the eighth season of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H, also the 178th overall series episode. Directed by Charles S. Dubin, the episode, the second part of a two-episode story arc, was written by Ken Levine & David Isaacs, and it originally aired on network TV on October 15, 1979. (Both parts were re-aired back-to-back as a special hour-long show, on May 12, 1980.)

Synopsis[]

Radar prepares to go home, but due to Klinger's poor performance as company clerk, and the camp's lack of a needed generator, Radar begins to have second thoughts about leaving.

Full episode summary[]

Later in the day after receiving his hardship discharge, Radar is going through his belongings and finds various mementos of his service, including his Purple Heart and a rectal thermometer Lt. Col. Blake gave him after his own discharge, but then he finds a picture of his Uncle Ed, and is reminded of how much he will miss him. Meanwhile, the office is still in disarray as Klinger has organized nothing and still cannot find a generator. Despite his pleas for help, Radar refuses and tells Klinger that he is going to have to learn how to do the company clerk job on his own, mentioning that nobody helped him when he first came to the 4077th. Charles chides Radar's selfishness for being eager to leave for home while the 4077th is still without power. When B.J. asks Radar for help with the Wangensteen machine and makes a comment about how, if they don't get power soon, some patients may not survive, Radar finally decides to help Klinger with obtaining a generator.

While on the phone with a supply clerk named Alvin (who, for some reason, wants a frozen custard machine in exchange), Radar hears choppers bringing in wounded. Night is falling, so he improvises by ordering Alvin to send all his available vehicles to the 4077th; they arrive just in time for a rare outdoor surgical session, with the headlights from the vehicles used to light the area in front of the OR. The session is a success, and Hawkeye operates despite his injured finger.

After the session, Potter and Radar share a drink in his office as sort of a farewell toast. Radar, however, tells Potter that due to what he had to put together and Klinger's inability to do the job, he is going to decline the offered discharge and stay on at the 4077th. Potter insists that they have been through tough times before, so Radar shouldn't let the current situation deter him from leaving. But Radar is adamant as too many lives are dependent on his job being done right. A disappointed Potter says Radar isn't thinking clearly.

The next morning, Hawkeye angrily berates Radar for refusing his discharge. Radar repeats what he said to Potter the night before, which Hawkeye doesn't buy, claiming that wars have gone on long before Radar was around, and will continue long after he's gone. Radar reminds Hawkeye that the 4077th still has no generator, Klinger probably won't be able to get one, and Hawkeye would do the same thing if he were in Radar's shoes. Hawkeye insists that if he were in Radar's shoes, he'd flee in a heartbeat, no matter how dire things were, and reminds Radar that he also has duties to his home and to his mother, but then Radar shuts Hawkeye up when he cites his own words: "Nobody should tell somebody else how to run their life!"

Later, in a last-ditch effort to procure a generator, Klinger intercepts a call for Radar from a Sergeant "Hondo" McKee at I-Corps Supply, who is willing to trade a generator for a case of scotch. Moments after Klinger arrives at Supply with the scotch, a Major Van Kirk from the 243rd Service & Supply pulls up and angrily demands the generator, complaining that most of the supplies he orders through I-Corps (including two other generators) turn up lost; Van Kirk also unknowingly blurts out in front of Klinger that they were down to using a backup generator which they had to steal from a MASH (presumably the 4077th). While Van Kirk and Hondo go to process the paperwork, Klinger sees an opportunity to turn the tables. He goes to dispatch and, posing as Van Kirk's driver, blackmails the clerk. With the new generator in tow, Klinger returns to a hero's welcome at the 4077th; Potter later remarks "I always knew he had the larceny in him".

On the heels of Klinger's coup fourré, Radar is now convinced the 4077th will solder on without him and tells Potter he's decided to go through with accepting the discharge and go home. Potter is pleased and promises Radar "one whiz-bang of a sendoff". The next day, Radar is packed and ready to go when Hawkeye stops by the office to take him to his farewell party in the Mess Tent, but right as it is about to begin, more wounded arrive in camp, and Radar's good-byes are rushed as the unit begins to move the wounded into the OR; Colonel Potter tearfully embraces him, wishing him "godspeed," regretful that this is how their goodbye is going, Margaret blows him a goodbye kiss as she rushes off, Klinger promises he will make Radar proud as his replacement, Father Mulcahy blesses him, and Winchester wishes him "the best of luck" in his "bucolic endeavors". As Radar will be stopping in B.J.'s hometown of San Francisco on his way home, B.J. has arranged for his wife and daughter, Peg and Erin, to meet Radar at the airport, and he gives Radar a package (and a kiss on each cheek) to give to his wife and daughter. Radar looks around for Hawkeye, but by now everybody has gone. Radar goes inside the empty, silent mess tent (decorated with banners and placards saying, "WE LOVE YOU RADAR" and "GOOD LUCK RADAR"). Looking at the giant cake made in his honor (which says "GOOD BYE RADAR"), he licks the icing, but grimaces at the taste.

After saying goodbye to his beloved pets, (and promising they'll be in good care), Radar goes to the OR, but stops at the door. He watches the frantic surgery in progress until he is noticed by Hawkeye, who fires off a farewell salute to him (the second time he has done so). After quietly returning the salute, Radar boards a Jeep and ships out from the 4077th for the last time.

After the OR session, Hawkeye, B.J., and Colonel Potter enter the Swamp to find something on Hawkeye's cot: Radar's teddy bear, which he had brought from home and kept in his office as a comfort. Hawkeye picks the bear up and, while looking at it, says sadly: "Good-bye, Radar."

Research notes/Fun facts[]

  • The first series regular to be hired, Gary Burghoff was the last to leave, concluding a 9-year odyssey with the part which began with the 1970 MASH movie, and following the departures of McLean Stevenson, Wayne Rogers, and Larry Linville. He would later reprise his role as Radar twice; in a 2-part episode of AfterMASH, and in an unsold TV pilot W*A*L*T*E*R, wherein Radar was a rookie cop in St. Louis. (In fact, Mike Farrell unsuccessfully tried to convince Burghoff not to leave the show, citing the lackluster television careers of Linville and Stevenson after their departures.)
  • In the episode "War of Nerves," Sidney Freedman accurately predicted that Radar wouldn't need his teddy bear anymore when he went home. In "As Time Goes By," Hawkeye offers Radar's teddy bear as a memento for Margaret's time capsule, declaring that it should symbolize "all the soldiers who came here as boys and went home as men" (although the bear used for the time capsule was NOT the original bear used throughout the series).
  • When Margaret kisses Radar in Post-Op, he says "Wa-wow, Hot Lips!" This is the last ever reference of Margaret's old nickname in the series.
  • With Radar O'Reilly gone, Hawkeye, Margaret, and Father Mulcahy become the last remaining characters on the M*A*S*H television series with ties to both the 1968 novel and the 1970 movie.
  • When Hawkeye is trying to force Radar to leave, Radar claims that Hawkeye would stay even if he had an opportunity to leave if things got tough. Hawkeye denies this. However, in "The Late Captain Pierce," Hawkeye tried leaving under the excuse that he was dead according to the Army. Yet, as he was leaving, he saw that things were getting tough with wounded and decided to stay. The possible difference between the two, is that Radar was accepting a legitimate discharge, while Hawkeye was attempting to exploit a loophole.
  • Gary Burghoff was around 36 years old by the time this episode aired, much older than his character's age, being in his late-teens/early 20's. His short stature and prepubescent voice allowed Burghoff to pass for much younger. However, an indicator of his actual age was a receding hairline, which Burghoff usually hid with a hat. Burghoff intentionally did not wear his hat for his final scenes, showing his half-bald head, as a symbol of his character growing up.

Guest stars/Recurring cast[]

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