YMMV / M*A*S*H S3 E24: Abyssinia, Henry

• Fridge Horror: Henry was only one of an entire transport plane full of service personnel who died. Presumably at least a few of them were, like Henry, headed back home to their loved ones.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Henry Blake's departure and death, as well as being the first of the main characters to leave the show, will hurt you even more once you realize that his actor, McLean Stevenson, was the first of the main cast to pass away in real life.
  • Also, although unknown at the time, this would also be Trapper John's final episode. His discharge would take place offscreen in the Season 4 debut.
  • The episode as a whole is very hard to rewatch, in part due to Henry's celebrations and plans for meeting his family, and in part because in hindsight the foreshadowing is extremely obvious. On his family's reaction to his return home, Henry says the following, smiling:
    "Lorraine and the kids are going to die."
• It Was His Sled: Henry dies en route to the U.S. after leaving the 4077th. It was originally a twist, but now it's one of the most famous moments in the show.
• Vindicated by History: When the episode aired, it received mixed reviews. The backlash, however, was fierce. The producers received a flood of angry letters concerning Henry's death, so many of which that they couldn't answer them all and had to put out a statement. There was a skit on Cher (not Carol Burnett) lampooning the fiasco, featuring McLean Stevenson himself in-character as Henry. CBS executives were so angry, they moved the show to the Friday Night Death Slot for most of Season 4 (the show returned to its original slot after the holidays). Today the episode is regarded as not only one of the show's best episodes, but one of the greatest TV episodes of all time. It's the series' top-rated episode on IMDb. The scene where Radar delivered the news of Henry's death became one of the most iconic moments in television history and one of the most beloved scenes in the series for how gut-wrenching it is.

---