Colonel Potter has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, so the 4077th has to do everything they can to keep him calm.
At the same time, Klinger, whose pass to Tokyo was cancelled, is complaining about tiredness and pain, but everyone writes it off as him trying to look for sympathy. However, when another corporal mentions the same thing, they realize that Klinger may not be faking and that they have a potential crisis on their hands...
Attention, all hands! Due to Colonel Potter's blood pressure, use caution when discussing the following tropes:
- A Day in the Spotlight: Roy Goldman, an often seen background corpsman/M.P./whatever role is needed that week plays an important role in figuring out the issue, as he and Klinger (the only two personnel of Middle Eastern descent) are the only people being effected by the new malaria medicine.
- Crying Wolf: The staff are too used to Klinger's Section Eight schemes to take his complaints of illness seriously. Specifically, he has often 'suddenly developed' a random condition after hearing the doctors discuss it, i.e. Winchester's fainting nephew.
- Easily Forgiven: After a quick What the Hell, Hero? directed at the doctors, Klinger moves on from blaming them for not believing him.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Klinger claims to be tired when he's supposed to be working, Hawkeye and Margaret think he's just faking it because he's upset his weekend pass to Tokyo was cancelled. Later on, when Goldman says he's tired, a conversation between Margaret and Klinger makes her realize that Klinger isn't faking it and they could be faced with an epidemic:Klinger: Sure, you believe [Goldman]. I've got the same symptoms, and I'm a goldbrick.
Margaret: It's not the same. His back hurts, and he's tired and...(Stops as she realizes those are the same symptoms Klinger claimed he had)
Klinger: Uh-huh. It is the same, only I had it first. - Hair-Trigger Temper: Potter's temper has caused his blood pressure to rise to dangerous levels, leading everyone to try keeping him calm. When he finally has enough of it, he explodes, telling them to back off. Turns out afterwards, he feels a lot better.
- Heel Realization: Hawkeye and Margerie feel bad about the way they treated Klinger when they realize that he was telling the truth about his ailments.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While eventually proven wrong, it's not entirely unfair of the medical staff to assume that Klinger might pull something to avoid doing office paperwork. It's only when his symptoms begin interfering with his duties in the O.R. that they realize he's telling the truth.
- Misblamed: When a shipment of primaquine (the post-exposure treatment for malaria) shows up at the 4077th despite Klinger supposedly ordering chloroquine (the pre-exposure drug they actually needed), the doctors initially assumed Klinger screwed up the paperwork. A note included with the shipment shows he did order the right stuff, but the depot was out, so the primaquine was sent instead.
- No Sympathy: Everyone dismisses Klinger's comments that he's feeling tired and his back aches, believing he's faking it due to his pass being cancelled, even calling him a goldbrick. They change their tunes when they realize that he isn't faking it.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Margaret accuses Klinger of goldbricking, he lets her have it. Yes, he's pulled a lot of scams during his time in the Army to try and get out of it, but he has never let those scams get in the way of doing his job (people would die if he did). This is no scam, there is something wrong with him. When the other doctors admit Klinger is right and he is having an adverse reaction to a malaria vaccine, Klinger gives them all one for not even entertaining the idea there might be something legitimately wrong with him.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The epilogue's epilogue mentions that further research conducted after the Korean War concluded that the enzyme deficiency which caused susceptibility to anemia was present not only in blacks, but in Caucasians of Mediterranean descent if they were administrated primaquine.
