Hawkeye and B.J., tired of using the wrong instrument to perform arterial transplants, decide to design one themselves. Klinger accidentally throws out Margaret's engagement ring, earning her ceaseless wrath. The solution to both their worries turns out to be a local jeweler.
Attention, all personnel! Over hill, over dale, the following tropes will never fail!
- Continuity Nod: The clamp made in this episode is referred to in "Comrades In Arms Pt. 2", when Margaret mentions using a clamp invented at the camp. On Netflix the episode order is reversed, so that this episode appears before "Comrades in Arms".
- Continuity Snarl: On the DVD, this episode appears after "Comrades In Arms Pt. 2", meaning that Margaret is telling the 8063rd about a clamp that is 3 episodes away from its own creation when she goes there.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Klinger's response to Margaret accusing him, Hawkeye, and B.J. of playing a prank on her with the replacement ring.Klinger: You don't have to be grateful. But would it hurt to at least appreciate the effort?
- Hawk and BJ commission Zale to make the vascular clamp. His prototype doesn't work properly (it clamps but doesn't release) and Hawk and BJ berate him for his failure and offer no thanks for the effort. They later heap praise on Mr. Shin for fixing it, again not recognizing Zale for his contribution of the initial design.
- Even Mr. Shin misses out to an extent; for improving on Zale's design and building a successful prototype for a clamp, he only gets ten dollars, rather than a lifetime of royalties.
- Foreshadowing: Mr. Shin makes a mistake with the inscription on Margaret's replacement wedding ring: "Over hill, over dale, our love will ever fail". It did.
- Jerkass:
- Charles' constant gloating when their attempts to get the clamp made fail.
- When Margaret forces the nurses to redo their inventory, she smiles.
- Even Hawk and BJ come down a lot harder on Zale than he deserves when his prototype fails.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Hawkeye expresses instant regret over his offer of nurses for the Engineers' unit party.Hawkeye: Oh, what I did.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Charles warns them that nobody in the army will be able to modify their vascular clamp. He ends up being right; they get it built by a Korean jeweler.
- Sex for Services: Hawkeye offers the company of some nurses at the Army Corps of Engineers' unit party in exchange for the latter making their clamp.
- Uncertified Expert: Mr. Shin, a local peddler who Hawkeye and B.J. initially think just sells cheap jewelery, turns out to be an expert metalworker with decades of experience, and ends up being more than capable of perfecting their clamp design.B.J.: You say you made all that stuff yourself?Mr. Shin: Since before you were born, sonny boy.
- We ARE Struggling Together: The local unit of engineers has their entire force building a dam and won't even spare one man to redesign a clamp.Col. Potter: Thanks a bunch, and I'll try to remember you're on our side!
