Recap / M*A*S*H S3 E15: Bombed

The 4077th is in the process of being bombarded with military shells, but despite the danger, the medical staff and all else stationed there must carry on with their work.

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Troped! We're getting troped, I tell ya! Well if you don't believe me, read 'em yourself!

• Ask a Stupid Question...: Frank asks Henry if the officers' latrine really did get destroyed in the shelling. Henry was in the latrine at the time of the collapse and is now sporting an injured arm from the incident.
  Frank: Colonel, was the officers' latrine really destroyed?
  Henry: Was the officers' latrine really destroyed?
  Hawkeye: Gone with the wind, Frank.
• Blatant Lies: Frank denies his hands are quivering because of the shelling and claims that it's just a sinus condition.
  Henry: Anybody scared, just let yourself be scared.
• Captain Obvious: The PA Announcer is heard telling all personnel to stay clear of the compound, half an hour after the bombing's already started and everyone not in the OR has taken cover.
• Creator Cameo: In a word. Hy Averback is one of the co-hosts on the Bob Hope Show heard on the radio. He is also this episode's director.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Frank Burns complains about the large amount of foreigners taking part in the war.
• Extremely Short Timespan: Possibly the shortest in the series after season eight's "Life Time". The episode opens just before the beginning of a USO show hosted by Bob Hope and ends shortly after the show concludes, suggesting a duration of two or three hours.
• Full-Name Basis: Trapper uses his full name when Margaret lets him know she doesn't trust him.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Frank Burns, after believing Margaret had a romantic interlude with Trapper while the two of them were trapped in the supply room.
• He's Dead, Jim: Late in the episode, Hawkeye is brought a patient who is unresponsive. He tests for vital signs, only to find none at all.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Before Frank is about to give up on his anti-communist rant in the OR and begin treating an enemy patient, the soldier regains consciousness and punches him in the face. The altercation leads Frank refusing to continue the surgery.
• Here We Go Again!: At the conclusion of the episode, there is a Hope Spot where the shelling has gone quiet. Radar uses the newfound peace to replace Seoul City Sue with him reading a letter from his mother. He goes on with this, but the shells start falling again.
  Radar: Uh-oh! Here we go again! Watch out!
  Hawkeye: Oh, dingbust it. I wanted to hear about Cousin Ernie.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Margaret criticizes Frank and his cowardly ways when he suggests that someone of lesser value to the camp should risk their life to dispose of a grenade.
  • Despite their animosity, Trapper still shields Margaret with his body when a shell hits on their way to the supply tent.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While meant to reveal Frank to be a coward (see above), Frank actually had the right idea by suggesting they bring the lower-rank member of the camp - he is the 4077th's demolitions expert. Too bad the guy's already on an OR table.
• Karma Houdini: The American army doesn't see any repercussions for idiotically bombing the 4077th.
• The Main Characters Do Everything:
  • Justified when Hawkeye and Trapper are forced to dispose of a grenade wired to a patient by themselves because the camp's demolitions expert was wounded in the shelling and is currently being operated on.
  • Averted when Col. Blake and Father Mulcahy get caught in the latrine after it's bombed. Among the medical staff, only Hawkeye shows up. The rest of the work is done by Radar, Klinger, and a couple nameless orderlies. Justified in that Blake and Mulcahy may have required on-site medical attention.
  • Played straight when Trapper has to help Margaret get the jammed supply room door open.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": A patient is brought into the OR and it is revealed he has a live grenade wired to blow.
  Margaret: There's a wire across his chest!
  Hawkeye: Don't touch him! That guy's booby-trapped!
  Trapper: There's a grenade under his arm!
  Hawkeye: Now that offends.
• Noodle Incident: The reel of The Yearling that Father Mulcahy ordered was hijacked by Buddhist monks.
• Not What It Looks Like: Margaret tries to deflect any suspicions relating to her and Trapper's closeness once they are found and rescued from the supply room.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: The unnamed military officer Radar contacts for help informs him that the 4077 could not possibly be getting shelled as the current intelligence reports say the enemy is nowhere near that area.
  Radar: I'm telling you, we're being shelled! You hear me?! It's been going on for half an hour!
  Officer: Impossible. My latest intelligence map shows there are no enemy units in your sector. You are not being shelled, young man.
  • This is subverted later when the officer gets an updated map and calls Radar to apologize. He's still of little help though.
    Officer: Reluctantly, I have to admit the latest intelligence tells me you are being shelled. But there's nothing to be worried about. You're being hit by your own artillery.
    Radar: Well, isn't there anything you can do about it? We're being wiped out!
    Officer: I tried to phone the observation post directing the fire but they're all at The Bob Hope Show.
• Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: Hawkeye Pierce and Frank Burns teamed up to search for a missing Margaret and Trapper.
• Once for Yes, Twice for No: Invoked by Klinger when Henry is buried by the now-destroyed latrine:
  Klinger: Colonel, if you can hear me, knock three times! If you can't, knock twice!
  [Knock. Knock. Silence]
  Klinger: Oh, Lord, he's dead.
• Pet the Dog: When Frank starts to worry about the possibility of Margaret leaving him so much that it's affecting his confidence in his surgical ability, Hawkeye lets up on rattling him and tells him that nothing happened between Trapper and Marget while they were stuck in the supply room.
• Primal Fear: Nurse Sanchez panics during the Bomb Disposal scene.
• Red Scare: Frank refuses to operate on a wounded North Korean soldier because of this.
  Frank: Oh my God, this man's a North Korean. I'm not operating on any commie.
  Henry: Oh, come on, Frank. Come on.
  Frank: Well, what did they ever do for me?
• R-Rated Opening: The episode starts with scenes of the 4077 getting bombed and people all around the compound taking cover. For a comedy episode, these scenes look horrifyingly realistic.
• Running Gag: The 4077th's telephone gets broken twice because of Radar.
• Ship Tease: Trapper and Margaret are forced to spend some time in the supply room after the shockwave from an explosion jams the door shut.
• Shout-Out:
  • Henry compares his own teeth to that of Turhan Bey.
  • Father Mulcahy tried to get The Yearling in for Movie Night as a way to get the camp's mind off the shelling. He was delivered a war movie instead.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • When Henry's left arm is broken during the chaos, he is more concerned about if affecting his golfing backswing than about his surgical proficiency.
    • After the officer's latrine is destroyed, Frank is more concerned with the lack of facilities than with Henry and Mulcahey being injured in the blast.
  • During Margaret's breakdown in the supply tent, she's more upset that she's acting that way in front of someone she outranks. Justofoed in that officers are trained to appear to be in control of a situation, even if they aren't, so as to keep the lower ranking personnel from losing cohesion.
• Tempting Fate: Just as Frank is about to storm out of the Swamp, Hawkeye snarks that the next shell isn't due for three minutes. More like three seconds.
  Hawkeye: Can't trust these PX clocks for anything.
• Too Dumb to Live: The American army, they bombed their own side.
• Trash the Set:
  • The location footage features the camp getting blown to hell, first with an overhead shot and then a point-of-view shot from the mess tent.
  • The windows of Henry Blake's office are shattered by a nearby explosion.
  • The explosion also destroys the windows of the OR, leading to a Mass "Oh, Crap!" for the surgical staff now that the threat of contamination is involved.
  • The latrine is destroyed.
  • Henry's tent is mentioned to have been flattened by the barrage.
• Wham Line:
  • Radar bursts into the OR at one point with the report that the latrine was hit by a shell and Colonel Henry Blake is trapped inside.
  • After he is rescued from the ruined latrine, Henry Blake reveals he is not the only person that was trapped.
    Henry: Mulcahy's still down there.
  • Frank proposes marriage to Margaret. He ends up taking those words back immediately.
• What Does She See in Him?: Frank is oblivious as to why any woman would be attracted to Trapper.