Col. Potter and Hawkeye volunteer for duty at a Korean field hospital, putting them up against two of their demons: Potter's age and Hawkeye's aversion to guns. Klinger tries to get out of the army by claiming to be king of a gypsy tribe, and therefore not an American citizen and eligible for the draft.
Attention all personnel! Hawkeye refuses to carry the following tropes:
- Dented Iron: Potter repeatedly faces insinuations from Frank that he is past his prime. His posturing in front of Frank in The Tag suggests there may be something to it.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Although he defends Potter when Frank calls him old, Hawkeye later has to agree when Potter mentions Clara Bow, an actress whose career had ended 20 years prior to the start of the war.
- Firing in the Air a Lot: What Potter proposes when Hawkeye refuses to shoot back at the enemy during the ambush. This is the only use of a gun Hawkeye agrees to.
- Famed In-Story: Frank Burns, who even the commander of the Korean hospital knows as "Ol' Ferret Face".
- Fortune Teller: Klinger makes two attempts at fortune telling by palm reading and drawing cards. He breaks character during the latter attempt after accidentally dealing a straight.
- I Was Having Such a Nice Dream: Potter awakens Hawkeye from a dream about a lady at a bar.
- Magic Misfire: Of a kind. Hawkeye claims that he can make Potter sleep by repeating it over and over. He falls asleep instead.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: From Annie Get Your Gun.
- Roguish Romani: Inverted; as part of his latest discharge ploy, Klinger tells Potter that he was stolen from a Roma family by his Lebanese parents.
- Shout-Out: To Mrs. Miniver.
- Spoonerism: Potter as he and Hawkeye drunkenly walk back to camp (this following being holed up in a foxhole during enemy fire):Potter: You didn't hit a thing, sharpshooter!
Hawkeye: Well, you fired as many shots as I did and you were the one who claimed to shoot an apple off the Kaiser's head.
Potter: Frankly, Hawkeye...I couldn't shoot a bullet with the side of a barn! - Two Decades Behind: Hawkeye cites apple pie and Betty Grable to prove to the arriving US soldiers that they're friendlies. Potter cites Clara Bow.Hawkeye: Clara Bow? Frank's right, you are old.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The Korean head of hospital calls Hawkeye out on his self-righteousness about the cleanliness or lack thereof of the place, saying they manage with what they have.
