Line #5 Recap/MashS1E15Tuttle


1	The episode opens with Hawkeye and Trapper smuggling crates of medical supplies onto a truck driven by orphanage director Sister Theresa. Hawkeye tells her that she has Captain Jonathan S. Tuttle to thank for the donations, though he deflects her offer to have the orphans write him a letter of thanks - because, as he tells Trapper when Sister Theresa departs, Tuttle [[InventedIndividual doesn't really exist]]. He was Hawkeye's ImaginaryFriend when he was growing up, used as a scapegoat in difficult situations, so when Hawkeye was drafted, so was Tuttle.
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3	Radar, who is in on the charade, gets Henry to countersign some supply requisitions from "Tuttle" and persuades his CO that he dined with Tuttle a few days earlier. However, when Henry sees that Frank has volunteered to be Officer of the Day yet again, he decides Tuttle should pull his weight and insists he be named OD instead. Frank is offended at being passed over, so he and Margaret ask to see Tuttle's personnel file; Radar stalls them, then joins Hawkeye and Trapper in forging a file to show the two majors. Still not convinced, Margaret tries calling General Clayton, but Radar has Sparky patch the call back to the 4077th, where Hawkeye impersonates Clayton and claims that Tuttle is engaged to his niece. Frank tries to insist to Henry that Tuttle be moved into his tent, forcing Hawkeye and Trapper to engage in misdirection to prevent Henry, Frank, and Margaret from discovering the truth.
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5	When Hawkeye and Trapper discover that Tuttle is owed fourteen months' back pay, Hawkeye, posing as Tuttle to a representative from the pay corps, asks that the money be donated to Sister Theresa's orphanage. Word works its way back to General Clayton, who tells Henry that he plans to recognise Tuttle's generosity at a commendation ceremony as a PR gesture.
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7	Having well and truly painted himself into a corner, Hawkeye gets out the only way he knows how: by killing Tuttle. At the ceremony, he tells General Clayton and the assembled personnel that the good captain went into the field to perform surgery, only to jump out of a chopper without a parachute, and that he willed his death benefits to Sister Theresa's orphanage. His eulogy, in which he claims that there's a bit of Tuttle in all of them, and that collectively the 4077th "made up" Tuttle, is so moving that Margaret says she'll never forget him and Henry says he was the best OD they ever had.
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9	In TheTag, Radar asks where Hawkeye and Trapper got dog tags and a parachute for Tuttle to present at the "memorial"; Trapper says they're from Tuttle's replacement, Major Murdock, implied to be ''his'' imaginary friend. HereWeGoAgain...
10	----
11	!!Attention, Captain Tuttle! Report to surgery with the following tropes:
12	* AccidentalInnuendo:
13	--> '''Frank''': Oh, Margaret, you're my snug harbor. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you to sail into.
14	* TheAce: Hawkeye builds Captain Tuttle into one.
15	* AlwaysOnDuty: Tired of Frank Burns always being the only person to volunteer for Officer of the Day, Henry insists that Captain Tuttle take it instead, inadvertently pushing Hawkeye's SnowballLie down a hill.
16	* AnonymousBenefactor: For some reason, Hawkeye and Trapper don't want their donations to be acknowledged. That is where Tuttle comes in.
17	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Hawkeye's translation of Berlin Polytechnic as "Berlinisches Polytechnikum" qualifies, not being a precise translation but sounding impressive enough to convince Frank and Margaret.
18	* BaitAndSwitch:
19	** As the episode opens, Hawkeye and Trapper wonder aloud how much the supplies they are smuggling out are worth on the black market. However, we soon learn they're not selling them on the black market – they're donating them to Sister Theresa's orphanage.
20	** On a mission to find the mysterious captain, Frank hears Father Mulcahy call Tuttle's name at mail call, and a man whom we initially see from behind wearing a brown hat yells, "Yo!" It turns out to be Hawkeye, who tells Frank that Tuttle is in Post Op.
21	* TheCameo: Sparky actually appears in this episode.
22	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Henry has no idea why General Clayton is calling him, which leads to an absurd misunderstanding when the general mentions Sister Theresa and Henry thinks she's ''Clayton's'' sister.
23	-->'''Clayton''': Well, I just got a letter from Sister Theresa.\
24	'''Henry''': Oh, I didn't know you had a sister!\
25	'''Clayton''': ''[put upon]'' She's a ''nun''.\
26	'''Henry''': Oh, you must be very proud, sir.
27	* CreditsGag: Captain Tuttle is credited AsHimself.
28	* GreenEyedMonster: As intended by Hawkeye, Margaret acts amorously when she reads Tuttle's description. This gets Frank hot under the collar.
29	--> '''Frank''': Oh, for Pete's sake, Margaret. You're practically drooling.
30	* HereWeGoAgain: At the end, Trapper's imaginary friend comes into the camp.
31	* TheHeroDies: Captain Jonathan S. Tuttle.
32	* ImaginaryFriend: The title character, who Hawkeye originally conceived in his childhood to blame his own misdeeds on.
33	--> '''Hawkeye''': If anybody said, "Who knocked over the garbage?" I said, "Tuttle." "Who broke that window?" "Tuttle." "Who wet the bed?"\
34	'''Trapper''': Tuttle.\
35	'''Hawkeye''': He had no control at all.\
36	'''Trapper''': So, when you got drafted...\
37	'''Hawkeye''': ''He'' got drafted.\
38	'''Trapper''': Just in case you wet your cot.\
39	'''Hawkeye''': Precisely.
40	** Which conversation prompts Radar to bring up his ''own'' imaginary childhood friend.
41	---> '''Radar''': Her name was Shirley.\
42	''[Hawkeye and Trapper stare at him]''\
43	'''Hawkeye''': Your imaginary friend was a girl?\
44	'''Radar''': Mm-hmm.\
45	'''Trapper''': What'd she look like?\
46	'''Radar''': Like me. ''[beat]'' Only with tiny little breasts.\
47	'''Hawkeye''': [[GetOut Out! OUT!]]
48	* InventedIndividual: Tuttle, who was the original TropeNamer.
49	* KillAndReplace:
50	** A variation. A paranoid Frank believes that the Army is against him and has sent Captain Tuttle to replace him at the 4077.
51	** After Captain Tuttle "dies", he is promptly replaced by Major Murdock.
52	* LamePunReaction: Hawkeye decides to make Tuttle a {{Druid}}, explaining to Trapper and Radar that they worship trees. "Ah, tree surgeon," Radar says; Hawkeye gives him an unamused look.
53	* LampshadeHanging: Frank's reply to Radar telling him that Colonel Blake shouldn't be woken up because he might be dreaming of some new medicine that could help all mankind.
54	--> '''Frank''': Henry Blake? That launderette?
55	* {{Malaproper}}: A nervous Henry gets his and Crandall Clayton's ranks mixed up when the general calls.
56	--> '''Henry''': Colonel Clayton, General Blake here, sir.\
57	'''Clayton''': Steady, Henry.
58	* MathematiciansAnswer: When Hawkeye, Trapper, and Radar are filling out Tuttle's personnel file, Trapper decides to have some fun with the questions about his parents.
59	--> '''Hawkeye''': Okay. Mother?\
60	'''Trapper''': Mm... yes!\
61	'''Hawkeye''': ''[writes]'' Father?\
62	'''Trapper''': One.
63	* MrFanservice: Hawkeye wrote Tuttle's physical description specifically to be this for Margaret.
64	-->'''Hawkeye''': ''[writing]'' 6'4... 195 pounds... auburn hair... hazel eyes...\
65	'''Trapper''': ''[dreamily]'' Hawkeye... I think I'm in love.
66	* NoodleIncident: Hawkeye and Trapper glued Frank's Bible together and drew fangs on his picture of Senator [=McCarthy=].
67	* OhCrap:
68	** Hawkeye and Trapper when Henry wants to see Tuttle in his office.
69	---> '''Hawkeye''': Should we go back inside and build one?
70	** Just when Hawkeye seems to have the whole affair about Tuttle resolved, Henry tells him to deliver the eulogy.
71	* ReflexiveResponse: Hawkeye has just come off of another shift in the O.R. and is hoping for a good martini and sleep. Then Radar comes in.
72	--> '''Hawkeye''': Anybody coming in to tell me about more wounded is sucking around for a lobotomy!
73	* RunningGag:
74	** Radar continues to tell Henry how to sign the paperwork.
75	---> '''Henry''': Radar, you really understand all this army stuff?\
76	'''Radar''': It helps not to be too bright, sir.
77	** There is a particular one just for this episode where people are thinking Henry is more focused on doing his laundry than running the camp.
78	** Henry having had a meal with Captain Tuttle.
79	** Everybody in the camp except Frank and Margaret know their relationship is not a secret.
80	---> '''Henry''': Radar, there's something going on with Major Burns.\
81	'''Radar''': Yes sir, with Major Houlihan. I know one guy who got pictures.
82	* SnowballLie: At first Captain Tuttle was simply a signature on a form, and might've stayed that way if Henry Blake and Frank hadn't decided to appropriate him into a war of one-upmanship with each other, eventually leading to things getting too out of hand.
83	* SpannerInTheWorks: Henry likely wouldn't have noticed "Tuttle's" signature on the supply form at all if Radar hadn't pointed it out to him.
84	* TakeThat: Hawkeye doesn't believe in atheism.
85	* {{Tearjerker}}: In-universe, Hawkeye's eulogy for Tuttle gets both Margaret and Henry misty-eyed.
86	* ThatCameOutWrong: When General Clayton explains to a confused Henry that Sister Theresa runs an orphanage in his part of Korea, Henry says he doesn't know every nun in the area, as it's not his [[{{Pun}} habit]]. He then stops and adds, "That's not what I mean..."
87	* TooDumbToLive: For all his (supposed) skill, Tuttle was so eager to help some soldiers in the field that he jumped from a plane without his parachute.
88	* TooMuchInformation: Radar's description about his imaginary friend from childhood has Hawkeye telling the corporal to get out of the tent.
89	* YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood: Trapper thinks Hawkeye should write fiction as he is writing up Tuttle's personnel file.
90	--> '''Hawkeye''': You should read ''my'' file.
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Context Recap / MashS1E15Tuttle