Post Op was the 121st episode of M*A*S*H, and the 24th in the fifth season of the show, which originally aired on CBS-TV on March 8, 1977. The teleplay was written by Ken Levine & David Isaacs, from a story by Gene Reynolds & Jay Folb. Reynolds directed the episode.
Synopsis[]
The 4077th is deluged with patients. The individual stories of several of these patients in the Post Op ward and how they relate to each of the main cast members forms the core of the episode.
Full episode summary[]
The 4077th is low on blood, so low that they have to call around to other units to see if they can scrounge up some more.
Col. Potter begs and pleads (and Hawkeye demands), to no avail. Things are made even worse when more wounded arrive. This leads to a tension-filled session in O.R., with Hawkeye and B.J. threatening to break Frank's arms when he complains about the working conditions. Potter tells them all to clam up.
In Post Op, various cases are tended to: Margaret helps a soldier write a letter home, Klinger helps a Puerto Rican soldier who is upset the doctors had to shave his impressive mustache to patch up his face, B.J. comforts a soldier who lost his leg due to a land mine, and Hawkeye gives advice to a soldier embarrassed by getting wounded in his rear end.
Frank is worried about his patient, who is still unconscious, and he can't figure out why. He asks Col. Potter for help, but is really looking to find someone to blame. After the Colonel learns that the soldier was found in his sleeping bag, unconscious, it dawns on him that perhaps a snake crawled in there with him and bit him, knocking him out. He orders Nurse Kellye to have Hawkeye check the latest round of patients for snake bites and to give the unconscious young man a shot of anti-venom.
Hawkeye treats an African-American medic who got beat up at Rosie's bar by a few racist soldiers
In a scene usually cut out of syndicated airings, Frank speaks with one of his patients who doesn't want to go back to the fighting. Of course, Frank is his usual, self-centered, uncompassionate self.
One of B.J.'s patients is a soldier who's actually upset he's being shipped home: he has such a great series of black market businesses going on in Korea, he actually tries to bribe B.J. into letting him stay. Of course, it doesn't work.
Klinger helps the despondent Puerto Rican soldier by giving him a custom-made mustache, which he gratefully accepts. Margaret rebuffs the advances of a soldier who, even though he's married, pledges his eternal love. He then turns his attentions (unknowingly) to Klinger.
The blood supply gets so low that Col. Potter asks everyone in the camp to donate, even though it's been less than 48 hours since everyone donated the last time. Frank has managed not to donate at all, but he's dragged into the Mess Tent to donate by Hawkeye and B.J.
The blood supply problem finally ends when a truck full of Turkish soldiers arrive. Thankful to the 4077th for taking care of their captain, they are here to each donate blood. They file into the Mess Tent to the applause of everyone in the compound, just as Frank bursts out, chased by a needle-carrying Klinger.
In a final scene, Col. Potter chats with a soldier from Chicago. He tries to talk about various landmarks in the town, but all his info turns out to be wrong, much to the Colonel's chagrin. He tells the soldier he'll come back tomorrow to discuss Detroit (a town the soldier hasn't been to).
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Hilly Hicks as Corporal Moody
- Andy Romano as Sergeant Justiss
- Sal Viscuso as Sergeant Raymond McGill AND as the uncredited P.A. announcer
- Richard Beauchamp as Corporal Robelo
- Alan McRae as Corporal Nessen
- Gary Springer as Private Garvin
- Andrew Bloch as Private Cordon
- John-Anthony Bailey (a.k.a. Jack Baker) as Private Whitney
- Daniel Zippi (a.k.a. Daniel Zippe) as Private Corey
- Zitto Kazann as Sergeant Attias
- Uncredited appearances:
- Judy Farrell as Nurse Able (addressed by name in dialogue)
- Kellye Nakahara as Kellye (who has lines, and is addressed by name)
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- Both William Christopher and Gary Burghoff receive billing, but do not appear in this episode. Their absence is never mentioned.
- Sal Viscuso plays both wounded soldier Sergeant Raymond McGill and the uncredited (and unseen) P.A. announcer; they are clearly not meant to be the same person.
- Frank mentions that he is going home soon, an unintentional similar fate to Larry Linville, who portrayed him, leaving the show in the very next episode.
- The actor playing medic Corporal Moody, Hilly Hicks, appeared in Season 3 ("White Gold") - also as a medic, this time trying to steal penicillin from the 4077th.
- Klinger is many things, but a nurse he is not (even though he may dress like one) - it's highly unlikely he would be drawing blood (he is seen chasing Frank with a needle in one hand and a blood bag in the other).