M*A*S*H, season 4

FOUR STAR
-Welcome to Korea
Henry and Trapper have left the building. How do you recover from that? By having the services of Larry Gelbart. No matter which characters you preferred, season 4 bursts out of the gate with a burst of excellence that is in all ways undeniable. Hawkeye stumbles home from R&R, to find that Trapper's been discharged. He rushes to the airport to say goodbye. Missing him by ten minutes, he and Radar welcome his replacement, B.J. Hunnicut. They smuggle coroporal-captain O'Reilly into an officer's club, treat dying soldiers on the road, and get smashed at Rosie's...all before B.J. even meets Frank.
-Change of Command
Horse hockey! One of Klinger's most shining moments. Army careerist Sherman T. Potter arrives to take command. Tensions run high and Frank runs away, but by the end of the episode Potter's singing drinking songs in the Swamp.
-The Late Captain Pierce
Hawkeye is mistakenly declared dead. Eisenhower's visit has communications down. A dogfaced undertaker (Richard Masur - RISKY BUSINESS, THE THING, RHODA) wants his body. Seamless.
-Dear Mildred
Potter writes an anniversary letter. Margaret and Frank commission him a bust, made by the indomitable Cho (Richard Lee-Sung). Radar gives a rescued horse. Potter's road apple slip is iconic.
-Hawkeye
Hawkeye has a jeep accident. With a head injury, he is taken in by a family who speak no English. He babbles to them (and sings the odd show tune) to avoid falling asleep. An indelible performance by Alan.
-Some 38th Parallels
Frank auctions garbage, Radar is shaken by the sudden death of a patient whose life he'd saved, and Hawkeye delivers a messy present to a colonel (Kevin Hagen, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE) who delivers too many dead soldiers. Hawk has a bout of impotence with Lynette Mettey (in the last of her six unforgettable appearances as various nurses...a great actor and the sexiest jaw in television history). The resolve is a bit unsatisfying, but what do you want from twenty-four minutes?
-The More I See You
The woman Hawkeye could never get over (the wonderful Blythe Danner) is assigned to the 4077th. She's married now. Their feelings return. He proposes himself into a corner, literally...and she knows he'll always be married to his work first. She transfers out, leaving him hollow and alone.
-Deluge
It's hard to describe why this episode is four-star. It's missing the "unforgettable" factor that is the most pertinent requirement. Heck, it's even missing a plot. But this unrelenting unspooling of the worst conditions the camp has ever dealt with taps into the idea of M*A*S*H at its purest. Unending casualties as supplies disappear...fire, explosions, blood in the eye, surgery without gloves, and the announcement that China has entered the war sending 300,000 soldiers...all of it interspersed with B&W newsreels.
-The Interview
Real-life Korean correspondent Clete Roberts stars as himself, interviewing camp personnel for a newsreel. Filmed in black & white without a laugh track, the network was very nervous, but this episode is an essential part of any conversation invoking the words "greatest M*A*S*H ever". Written and directed by series creator Larry Gelbart, his swan song after four seasons. Words can never express our thanks, Larry.
NOTEWORTHY
-Hey, Doc ***
An airtight lil' gem focusing on "under the table" treatments for visiting officers who don't want indiscretions on their records. Frank drives a tank over two tents and a jeep. Plus the delightful Ted Hamilton (THE PIRATE MOVIE).
-The Bus ***
The surgeons and Radar get stranded on a broken-down bus in the middle of nowhere. Frank hoards chocolate, and a surrendering North Korean (the endlessly delovely Soon-Tek Oh) fixes their ride.
-The Kids ***
A gem of a look into O.R. life on the day orphans stay in camp. Frank loses his dubious purple heart to a newborn.
-Of Moose and Men ***
B.J. helps an outraged Zale write a letter to his straying wife. Zale, of course, has a moose in town. A bristly colonel (Tim O'Connor, BUCK ROGERS) is outraged at Hawkeye's lack of discipline.
-Soldier of the Month ***
Frank, delirious from fever, says "The only one who ever liked me as a kid was the school janitor...he showed me pictures of the heavyweight champs." Where i come from, we call that "slidin' a live one past the censors".
-The Gun ***
The lovely Warren Stevens (http://nakedmeadow.blogspot.com/2011/08/warren-stevens.html) plays a wounded colonel whose fancy gun is stolen.