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"But let me say this, honestly: when you live in a cruddy situation like this long enough, you get to love a few people and even hate a few. I guess outside of our families we'll never be closer to anybody than we are to each other."
Hawkeye, "Chief Surgeon Who?"

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    Seasons 1– 3 

Season 1

  • Hawkeye's speech in "Chief Surgeon, Who?" as quoted at the top.
  • "Yankee Doodle Doctor" has Trapper authoritatively putting himself in between Bricker (who’s mad at Hawkeye for being “cute” with him and ruining his movie) and Hawkeye.
  • "Cowboy":
    • A throwaway joke has Father Mulcahy pray in Hebrew for a wounded Jewish soldier. It's played for laughs as Mulcahy obviously isn't Jewish, but there's the implication that he learned enough Hebrew that he could accommodate Jewish soldiers.
    • The resolution from the episode wherein the titular Cowboy receives a heartfelt letter from his wife wherein she declares her renewed love for him after being tempted to cheat and resisting.
      Dear John, sometimes when you're away from someone you love, you find yourself tested by being tempted. That's what has happened to me, dear, dear John. I was tempted, and I didn't want to write until I knew whether I'd passed the test. If I say I love you more than ever, will it tell you how I did, and that I'm completely worthy of the most wonderful guy in the world.
  • In "Henry, Please Come Home," Blake finally gets transferred to Tokyo, leaving Burns permanently in charge of the 4077. Hawkeye and Trapper predictably conspire to get Blake to transfer back through various underhanded means, but Blake is perfectly happy and comfortable in his new position and has no desire to return, even when hearing morale is low and how much people miss him. The kicker? Telling him that Radar is deathly ill. Blake immediately drops everything to fly back to the swamp and inspect him himself. Things quickly Go Horribly Right when he is so concerned for Radar's health that he demands to do exploratory surgery, and when Burns tries to throw his weight around, Blake steamrolls him effortlessly. It's a great show that even as early in the show as this, Blake and Radar formed a loving friendship, and makes Blake's eventual fate all the sadder.
  • "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet" - Even when it all ends in pain, Hawkeye and Tommy clearly adore each other, and Hawkeye looks like he has Tears of Joy every time they interact before…
  • "Sticky Wicket" - One for, oddly enough, Frank Burns. Hawkeye spent the early part of the episode haranguing Frank about his skills, or lack thereof, as a surgeon. Then one of Hawkeye's patients takes a turn for the worse. Margaret is unusually sympathetic, as she assisted Hawkeye with the surgery. At the end of the episode, when the problem has been found and fixed, Frank, who could very easily lay into Hawkeye about his mistake (and had been earlier), graciously concedes to Hawkeye, "Anybody could have missed that."
    • Hawkeye, humbled by the experience, simply thanks Frank with no sarcasm or attitude.
  • In “Major Fred C Dobbs”, after seeing Frank insult Ginger and make her cry, Trapper and Hawkeye comfort her and make her laugh. It’s what inspires the cast arm prank and the episode plot.
  • Henry and Radar’s scene in "Ceasefire" about how Henry has been a surrogate father to Radar.
  • "Showtime"
    • Henry's depressed due to not being able to see his newborn son. Near the end of the episode, Radar brings in a Korean woman and her infant son, so Henry could hold the baby for a while. Edges into being a Tear Jerker, as well.
    • One of the storylines involves Father Mulcahy worrying about how useful he's currently being. Hawkeye assures him by saying, "Some people say that God heals the wounded while the doctors collect the fee...I'm able to do a lot of things in surgery that I'm not really good enough to do."
    • The same episode has Trapper trying to save a wounded soldier who only gets worse even after the surgery is successful. The two storylines combine when Father Mulcahy is called in to deliver last rites. He takes the man's hand, makes the sign of the cross, and begins to pray when the soldier opens his eyes. Hawkeye asks, "What was that about not being sure you did any good?" while Mulcahy is in disbelief ("It's not supposed to work that way, you know.") and Trapper wordlessly realizes they've just witnessed a miracle, especially with how close they'd come to losing his patient.

Season 2

  • Hawkeye and Trapper inviting Frank to dinner during the Tag scene of "Five O'Clock Charlie". While he grumbles a bit, Frank ultimately accepts and even has a moment of friendly banter that hints he doesn't hate them as much as he wants to.
    Frank: Why can't I stay mad at you two lunks?
    Trapper: We'll think of something.
    Frank almost smiles.
  • He might be more Tough Love and distractions than B.J., but Trapper is soft with a sleep deprived Hawkeye in "Dr Pierce and Dr Hyde", guiding him out of the OR and sits vigil with him when he’s finally asleep. The whole cast eventually end up being concerned, including Frank and Margaret, and even recurring bit character Goldman gives worried looks when Hawkeye is asking Frank why are they here like a sad child.
  • "Kim"
    • The growing affection between Trapper and the titular Korean boy whom everyone believed was an orphan. After hearing back from his wife and finding out that she agrees with his idea to adopt the boy, the happiness on his face was capable of illuminating the entire camp.
      • Trapper's letter to Louise:
        At first, I thought it was the war and this stinking place that made me ... well, love him, I guess. But now I know it's more than that. The reasons aren't important. We think his parents are dead. Henry Blake wants to send him to an orphanage, and I hate the idea so much I can't stand it. I want us to adopt him, honey. He'd be the son we never had. I know the girls will be out of their little minds to have a brother. This is a decision we both have to make. Think about it carefully; you know my feelings. Now it's really in your hands.
      • And Louise's reply:
        This is to inform you that you're about to become the proud father of a five year old Korean boy! Kathy and Becky are thrilled about having a new brother. Go ahead with the adoption papers and the army red tape as soon as you can. If there's anything I can do to help at this end, just let me know. I'm excited as you are, darling. Everything here is fine. We all miss you. Love, Louise.
    • The montage where everyone takes care of the child: Hawkeye leaves a date, Klinger plays catch, Radar lets him nap with the teddy bear, Henry lies to the orphanage, and Margaret reads "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and translates key words into Korean.
  • Hawkeye showing off the chivalrous side of being a Chivalrous Pervert throughout "LIP", defending Korean women against being automatically considered prostitutes and wanting to get out of poverty.
  • "Dear Dad...Three" sets the stage for how anytime the 4077th get a home movie from their families is both this and a Tear Jerker.
    • In the middle of Henry's home movie, there is a moment when Lorraine gathers the kids at the birthday party together to spell out a message in cardboard letters to Henry. The words are "Miss You".
      Hawkeye: Henry, if you don't give the command to cry, I will.
    • Adding on some levity to the moment, Lorraine has tacked on an additional home movie, possibly with the goal of embarrassing her husband in front of his fellow doctors. If that was the case, then she certainly got it.
      Trapper: Hey, wait a minute. Hold it, Henry!
      Hawkeye: Oh now the dirty movie.
      Henry: Oh, for Pete's sake, why did Lorraine tack that on?
  • "The Sniper":
    • After spending 24hrs under the scope of a panicked kid with a sniper rifle, a Helicopter finally shows up and unloads a Thompson into the Snipers position. After getting bracketed hard by said chopper, the sniper puts up a white flag. Despite having been shot at while also carrying a White Flag, Hawkeye opts to go out and tend to the wounded North Korean, even operating on him personally. More proof that Hawkeye doesn't play sides, and will work on anyone who's wounded.
    • She's panicking, but Margaret sounds genuinely afraid and protective of her nurses potentially getting assaulted.
  • "Carry On, Hawkeye" - Margaret showing concern when Hawkeye tells her he's coming down with the flu that's already laid up every other surgeon in camp, and Hawkeye coaching her through performing operations on her own. It's one of the first times they show appreciation for each other. Hawkeye refers to Margaret as "nurse, friend, and all around good egg", and at the end, when Hawkeye is sick in bed, Margaret tells him, "You were superb".
    • When Radar is assisting Margaret, she goes easy on him when he asks basic questions like "What's a clamp?" since she knows he is completely untrained in the job and only helping out due to the emergency.
    • Frank's, "Nice going, buddy," also appears to be genuinely heartfelt.
  • “Crisis” is the first time Margaret is kind to her nurses (to their faces), giving them a So Proud of You and recommending them for awards.
  • "Officers Only" - Hawkeye hatching a scheme that would allow all of the enlisted men into the titular club for the rest of the series.
  • "Henry in Love" - Radar arranging the phone call between Henry and his wife to break Henry free of his temptation to run away with another woman.
    • The actual phone call too. Lorraine was feeling stressed about not being able to balance the checkbook and he offers to take the burden from her. It's ultimately a conversation about little problems people have, but it's easy to really tell how much Henry still loves his wife.
  • "The Chosen People" - Even though he was not the father of a Korean baby, Radar was still willing to accept the responsibility of parenthood in order to prevent the mother and baby from being ostracized.
  • “Mail Call” early on has Trapper (in their coded joke kind of way) apologize for being boring when he talks about his kids, and Hawkeye tells him that’s the only time he’s not boring. Their affectionate smiles are really endearing.

Season 3

  • The end of the "Rainbow Bridge" episode, where Radar comes to help Hawkeye and Trapper pack for their well-deserved (and much-delayed) R&R in Tokyo. As he works, he turns his back on them and expresses how impressed he is with the work they do, offhandedly adding, "If you ask me, you guys are like supermen." Turning around, he finds them collapsed in exhaustion into their cots... so he quietly covers them up with blankets and leaves them to sleep.
    Radar: (whispering) Goodnight, supermen.
  • In “Iron Guts Kelly”, Hawkeye and Trapper protecting Margaret and not implicating her in the general’s death, when probably in season one they would have mocked her no matter how panicky she was.
  • In "O.R.":
    • Hawkeye operates on a wounded Ethiopian soldier. Awhile after the patient wakes up, Klinger brings him to Hawkeye on a stretcher and says the Ethiopian wants to say something to the doctor. He says a few words in his native language while smiling widely and Klinger says he thinks the patient is thanking Hawkeye. As he's about to be taken to Post-Op, he grabs Hawkeye's hand and kisses it. A visibly moved (extra heartwarming as his face went from slight fear, to recognition, to appreciation in about five seconds) Hawkeye says to Henry, "That's got to be the nicest fee I ever got."
    • After Hawkeye's exhausted from open heart massaging a patient, Trapper, Mulcahy and Margaret all give him reassuring pats on the shoulder.
      Trapper: (proudly) That's my bunkie. Taught him everything he knows.
    • As Trapper and Frank talk during a break about his crummy childhood, Franks opens up and asks if Trapper really hates him. Trapper responds that he doesn't hate Frank, even with all the pranks and remarks towards him, there's no real dislike towards Frank who smiles gratefully
  • "Aid Station": One early one for Margaret is when she and Hawkeye are sent to help out at a front-line aid station during an attack. How she reassures one patient is one of the first times she showcases her respect for Hawkeye's skill:
    Margaret: You'll be okay. He's the best.
    • Anytime Margaret and Hawkeye have a Friendship Moment. It's really heartwarming to watch them move from deep dislike mingled with grudging respect in the early episodes to a genuinely warm friendship by the end of the show.
    • Klinger and Radar’s Friendship Moment, with Radar giggling (not meanly) at Klinger talking about his dresses, and reassuring him that he’ll come back.
    • Trapper and Hawkeye’s scene where Hawkeye gets serious and tells Trapper he has his will in his locker. A moment of Not So Stoic upset and then he makes Trapper laugh endearingly hard by saying he’s left everything to the Hawkeye Pierce Memorial Brothel. Also a tearjerker, as that’s the only way they can share their feelings, and Trapper does his usual thing of reassuring Hawkeye and then looking afraid himself when Hawk leaves.
    • Radar is so upset and worried about his friends and how they're getting on that he has to come and sleep in the Swamp in Hawkeye's bunk. Pretty soon Henry has stopped by as well.
  • For Trapper, there's his exchange with Hawkeye when they think he's going home, in "Check-Up" It's a great pity Hawkeye won't be able to do it for real when Trapper actually does leave the show later.
    Hawkeye: Thanks, Trap.
    Trapper: What?
    Hawkeye: You made it bearable. I was lucky. You were honest, and open... and you let me lean on you.
    Trapper: [moved to tears] No charge. And if I'm ever back this way...
    Hawkeye: I'll keep a light burning for you in a bedpan.
  • From "A Full Rich Day", Henri Batiste LeClerq, a Luxembourg lieutenant, goes missing while en route for treatment at the 4077 and is presumed dead. Once LeClerq's commanding officer arrives and this is revealed to him, Henry Blake offers to hold a memorial service at the hospital. During the memorial service, the national anthem of Luxembourg is played. The scene then cuts to the post-op room where a recovering soldier gets up upon hearing the anthem, smiles and salutes in respect, and staggers his way outside to the service. The commanding officer turns to the man and cries out in joy. It is Henri LeClerq, alive and well.
  • From "Mad Dogs and Servicemen", during Radar's recovery from having a rabies vaccine, Margaret helps him to answer a letter from a young lady back in the States. Radar eventually falls asleep due to his fever on the last bit and Margaret finishes it for him with a sincere smile.
  • As bizarre as it is, especially post retcon that she died, Hawkeye literally nuzzling Trapper in "House Arrest" when Trapper says he promised Hawkeye's mom that he'd protect him.
  • "White Gold" gives a small, but rare one for Col. Flagg. When he tells a soldier caught trying to steal penicillin to run off, and promises him sincerely that he won't shoot him in the back. Granted, Flagg needs him to disappear in order to steal the penicillin himself, but later seasons would have just had Flagg contemplate shooting the guy anyway and hiding the body. That Flagg was sincere in his promise here is a rare moment for him.
  • Henry's goodbyes to everyone in "Abyssinia, Henry"... before that last O.R. scene shifts everything into full-on Tear Jerker territory.
    • While cleaning out his office, Henry and Radar reminisce about old times, then Radar thanks him for saving his life (by taking his appendix out) and for acting as a surrogate father to him in Korea, and surprises him with a going-away present — a keychain with an inscribed fob made from a gun cartridge. Henry then gives Radar a souvenir of his own — a (non-oral) thermometer given him by his own father. They then exchange an awkward handshake while trying to keep their emotions in check:
      Radar: Well, uh... thank you for everything, sir.
      Henry: Thank you, Radar.
    • As Henry is heading to the chopper, having said his goodbyes, he notices Radar standing there, giving him a salute. He hesitates, then runs over to Radar, tells him he'd better be good, returns the salute, and then hugs him. Considering the fact that he had been trying to avoid getting mushy with Radar (Radar had essentially told Henry that he considered Henry his father, given the fact that his real father had died when Radar was an infant), it shows just how much Radar really meant to Henry.
    • Blake's last words to Radar before he leaves. "You behave yourself or I'm gonna come back here and kick your butt". Doubles as a Tear Jerker when you find out Henry won't be coming back.

    Seasons 4– 7 

Season 4

  • The fast, easy friendship that develops between Hawkeye and B.J. in "Welcome to Korea." Examples:
    • B.J. seeing Hawkeye is upset and offering to help, even though he has no idea what's going on and is himself kind of dazed from the long flight and his first experiences in Korea.
    • After being caught in some enemy fire for the first time with a unit of soldiers, B.J. is doing his best to help the wounded, but it's finally too much for him when he sees a soldier with (presumably, though it's not shown to the audience) most of his front missing, and he has to crawl into the weeds to throw up. Hawkeye goes over to him and rubs his back and holds his head until he's done.
  • "Change of Command":
    • Hawkeye and B.J. decide to install a bar in the area of the Swamp where Frank used to reside. As they are setting it up, they think of names for it and while doing that, Hawkeye reminisces about Henry Blake.
      B.J.: What do we call it?
      Hawkeye: It's in the corner. Let's call it The Corner Bar.
      B.J.: Haha. It's been used.
      Hawkeye: I got it, I got it. Frank's Bed. Now doing business as Joe's Bar and Grill. If my wife calls, I'm not here. [...] Henry would have loved this.
      B.J.: Fair man with a bottle?
      Hawkeye: Henry? He could have been a comparison drinker. The man was born with a spare tank. [...] I really miss him.
    • After this, B.J. comes up with the crowner of the moment with another suggestion for the bar's name.
      B.J.: How about the Henry Blake Memorial Bar?
      Hawkeye: [smiles] I'll buy that.
    • Upon seeing him a skilled surgeon, Hawkeye and B.J. decide invite Potter to their still for an after-surgery drink. They both begin to bond over their experience in the Army, with Potter regaling them about the time he had his own still. Needless to say, it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship....
  • In "The Late Captain Pierce", B.J. kindly but firmly telling Hawkeye he’s not getting off the bus. If "Welcome to Korea" introduced him to Hawkeye being a fun if heartbroken lunatic, it's here he realizes Hawkeye needs taking care of, especially since Henry and Trapper (who looked after him in seasons 1-3) are both gone, and they're a Living Emotional Crutch to each other from here until the finale.
    • Even though B.J. has only been there four episodes, Hawkeye has clearly talked highly enough about him that Mr Pierce calls him when he thinks his son has been killed.
  • In "It Happened One Night", Margaret and Hawkeye’s cute Friendship Moment when a can of beans explodes all over them. After a moment, he uses his finger to eat some off her face while she giggles.
  • In the same episode, they need blood for a surgery, and are out of the type they need. They ask Margaret to scour the camp and ask for volunteers. Klinger tells them not to wake anyone, as he is that particular blood type.
  • "Dear Mildred":
    • Frank and Margaret spend their scenes in the episode getting an anniversary present for Colonel Potter.
    • The B plot focuses on Radar's attempts to help an injured horse - and hide the horse from Potter. In the end he decides to give the horse to Potter as an anniversary gift. Not only does this ensure that the horse will stay in camp and Radar will get to take care of it, but it also helps Radar to become more at ease around his new commanding officer. Potter is moved to tears.
      [Potter slips on freshly made horse manure in his office]
      Burns: That's disgusting!
      Potter: [grinning] Son, to me that's a tiptoe through the tulips!
    • When Radar talks about how much he misses Henry and can’t get comfortable around Potter, Hawkeye gets sweet and parental and softly says he knows.
    • A brief scene involves Father Mulcahy singing a brief duet with "Lt. O'Conner" who happens to be played by William Christopher's real-life wife. Needless to say the cast's smiles, especially Hawkeye and BJ's joyful, beaming grins, are 100% genuine.
    • The Tag shows just how much Potter has taken to his new horse when the two ride out alongside the Jeeps and ambulances as wounded are brought in for treatment.
  • "The Kids":
    • The moment when the orphans arrive. All but Frank come out to greet the children with warm smiles, open arms and friendly words. One particular bit is when a young boy waves to someone offscreen with the next shot revealing that it's Radar.
      Radar: Hi. I remember you.
    • The scene following that where the MASHers feed the children and give them a medical examination. Highlights include Hawkeye copying a child curling his tongue, Klinger spoonfeeding soup to a little girl, and Margaret lovingly hoisting a child up on her shoulder.
    • Klinger playing a fatherly (or motherly) role towards the Korean children.
    • Overcome with Tears of Joy after hearing the baby's first cries, Father Mulcahy leads the others standing in the scrubroom to bow their heads in prayer for the baby's mother. Once he finishes, he is surprised to notice Klinger joined in. Klinger's response moves Mulcahy even further.
      Father Mulcahy: Klinger, I thought you were an atheist.
      Klinger: I gave it up for Lent.
    • After Sung Lee's baby is born, Klinger tells Nurse Cratty he'd like to give Sung Lee a bed jacket as a gift, going on to describe it in detail.
      Klinger: It's quilted. Aquamarine, with off-white brocade. And right here there are violet sequins arranged in a stunning fleur-de-lis.
    • This moment is topped off with Colonel Potter's quiet acknowledgement of it to the nurse assisting him in surgery.
      Colonel Potter: I gotta get him that discharge.
    • Margaret does not give Hawkeye up for stealing Frank's Purple Heart medal and having it given to Sung Lee's baby by Colonel Potter. The two share a smile about it afterwards.
    • The MASHers giving an emotional farewell to Nurse Cratty and the orphans in the final scene. Cratty returns thanks to everyone for their help and the kids all wave and say "bye" as they drive off.
      • When Radar recovers his stolen teddy bear, he gives the kid a replacement doll and a kiss on the cheek after ensuring that the kid is ok with the swap.
  • In “Dear Peggy”:
    • Everyone boosting Mulcahy when Hollister is around (except Frank and Margaret, who are too busy sucking up to Hollister). They're ridiculously obvious about it, but it's sweet they're trying.
    • While writing a letter to Peg, B.J. tells her that it's two pages later than the last time he said he loved her, and now he loves her even more.
  • In "Of Moose and Men", Margaret seeing Hawkeye sleep in the bed next to the general, trying to be a Comforting Comforter, congratulating him for such a good job and still telling him off gently for a martyr.
  • In "The Price of Tomato Juice":
    • The lengths that Radar — and by extension Hawkeye and B.J. — go through in order to procure tomato juice for Colonel Potter. It goes to show how much respect and affection he commands after having been there even a short time.
    • While she feels like she has to (and likes the high flying brass), it's endearing that Potter feels terrible for feeling like he has to prostitute Margaret out to General Barker.
    • Hawkeye and B.J. actually having some empathy for Margaret and Frank, in that they're terrible people, but can be Lonely Together.
  • From "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler":
    Chandler: Bless you, Walter.
    • This is not only after Radar had asked Chandler (who believes himself to be Jesus Christ) to bless his teddy bear, but also the first time we learn Radar's given name, courtesy of him telling it to Chandler.
    • When Sidney Freedman arrives in camp, he talks with pride about how his son got his first tooth. He and B.J. (to whom he's just been introduced) immediately swap pictures of their children. It's a small moment typically cut from TV screenings, but it's touching.
    • When Flagg disrespects Henry Blake (something that not even Frank does), Potter immediately reads him the riot act, not letting his predecessor be talked about in that way.
  • Potter tucking Radar in during “The Gun”, not forgetting to give him his teddy bear to hold.
  • In "Hawkeye", despite bleeding, having his jeep turned over and collapsing, Hawkeye still worries more for the kids who were playing out in the road. He spends the rest of the episode trying to entertain them.
  • In "Deluge":
    • While telling Colonel Potter that she can take care of herself and the other nurses, Margaret refers to them as "my girls", showing that even if she's rough on them, she's still their Mama Bear.
    • It's a low bar when Frank decides to do something decent, but when the lightbulb explodes over B.J. and his patient, he immediately rushes over to help.
  • In "The Interview", after being told he's been spoken of as a father figure by others in camp and asked if he hopes to maintain friendships with those under his command after the war ends, Colonel Potter states that he hopes so, adding (after a brief, visibly emotional throat-clearing) that he's grown "very, very close to some of these young men, and very honored to be associated with them."

Season 5

  • In the "Bug Out" episode, the 4077th is forced to relocate in response to rumors of the encroaching Chinese advance. As part of that, they find an abandoned schoolhouse that they believe is perfect for setting up their army hospital... except that it's already occupied by several Chinese women who are using it as a brothel. After some heated back and forth between the madam and Colonel Potter, the ladies take an intense interest in Klinger... 's rack of fall gowns. Klinger, for the good of the unit, forfeits the entire rack of gowns, and 'buys' the schoolhouse for them. As Potter commented, "Corporal Klinger, that's the finest act of bravery I've ever witnessed."
    • It's played off for laughter, but the real heartwarming part is that while Klinger expresses skepticism at "doing it for his country," he warms up considerably and finally agrees when Col. Potter asks him to do it for Toledo. Klinger really loves his hometown.
    • While the show makes a lot of rape jokes and despite Hawkeye having been shitty to Margaret before about it, he’s also scared of it too (here and “Rainbow Bridge”) and tries to reassure her when she panics.
    • It's questionable how much practical use Radar could actually be, but he still opts to stay behind with Hawkeye and Margaret, saying only, "You might need me."
    • The usual “you were nice to me so I have to flirt” banter out of the way, Hawkeye is grateful to Margaret for staying, and at the end, kisses her on the cheek and helps her get on Potter’s horse for a ride.
  • "Margaret's Engagement" - In a small gesture towards his nemesis, Hawkeye's reaction to Margaret bragging about her engagement around a clearly depressed Frank Burns. Hawkeye has no reason to do it, but even he believes that Frank should be cut some slack. Further punctuated at the end of the episode, where he and B.J. join Frank in genuine, honest laughter after he finally gets a jab at Houlihan.
    • Even though the red flags are there from the beginning, and it all ends badly, Margaret is delighted about her engagement and is so excited she calls Hawkeye and B.J. by their nicknames for once.
  • The end "The Nurses" is the beginning of Margaret's Character Development and any scene during Margaret's transition from antagonist to sympathetic character where she tries to make friends is a heartwarming moment. There are moments where she seems less like a formidable, confident major and head nurse and more like the unpopular kid from middle school. One example is when she awkwardly asks the doctors if she can have coffee with them, then gets really excited when they say yes.
  • “The Colonel’s Horse” is a soft episode for Margaret’s development, trusting Hawkeye’s skills as a surgeon far more than she does Frank’s, even if they’re not completely friends yet.
    Margaret: I’m sorry I had to wake you.
    Hawkeye: Forget it, I’ve been asleep fifteen minutes.
  • "Ping Pong" - The 4077th coming together to put on a wedding for a South Korean ping-pong champion, including Col. Potter giving the bride away and Margaret helping to sew (or at least alter) the bride's wedding outfit.
    • Col. Potter is exasperated as to hearing that the champion (a patient at the hospital after getting "drafted" and wounded in combat) hasn't been transferred to an evac hospital because he wants to get married, but immediately reverses when he finds out he's going to be giving the bride away.
      Potter: I am? Well why didn't you say so! [gives Radar instructions to have his dress uniform cleaned and pressed]
    • Father Mulcahy also explains the ceremony to the other members of the 4077th, showing just how much he respects the Korean people and their traditions.
    • Even Frank, for all his griping beforehand, is quiet and respectful during the service.
  • A small Parental Substitute moment in “Hawkeye Get Your Gun”, as Hawkeye sends himself to sleep, looking at peace for the first time in a while, and Potter gently leaves him to it, turning off the lamp light.
  • B.J. isn’t in “Hawk’s Nightmare” much, but when he is, he’s pulling the blanket over an exhausted Hawkeye, or holding Hawk’s arms when he wakes up terrified. The next episode showcases their co-dependent dysfunction, so it’s extra good to get some tenderness in before then.
    • Hawkeye calling his dad the greatest man he ever knew. Turns into a Tear Jerker when he admits it feels like a lifetime since he saw him.
    • Margaret has no idea that Hawkeye is sleepwalking, but still defends him anyway when Frank assumes Hawkeye is just wandering around being promiscuous.
    • Before Radar and Potter talk about Hawkeye fighting against the war, Hawkeye clings to Radar’s teddy. When Radar goes home, more of an adult, he leaves Hawkeye the bear.
    • Sidney can’t really help Hawkeye this time, tells him there’s too much suffering, but what he can do is reassure him that he’s okay (even if they both know that’s a lie) and there’s reason to feel hurt. They end with a nice rousing game of fake basketball.
  • In “38 Across”, Hawkeye’s adoring look when B.J, feeds a baby milk.
  • "Hepatitis":
    • They’d been becoming friends before this, but Margaret’s speech to Hawkeye is taken to heart, and he treats her a lot better from here on, them commiserating about their terrible love lives later on and mutual teasing for being ethical sluts.
    • Hawkeye and Radar’s conversation, which is about as close as it gets to Hawkeye being Radar’s explicitly queer older brother giving him advice (as Radar is worried something is “wrong” with him when he doesn’t want to be with business girls). The general sentiment gets ruined in “Fallen Idol'' when Hawkeye’s hypersexuality gets the best of him, but it’s still a lovely scene.
    • A delighted B.J. just managed a successful risky operation, so is getting drunk in the O Club, and immediately gives Hawkeye a big hug.
  • "Movie Tonight" is an episode full of heartwarming. To start with the entire camp are at each others throats, getting angry over everything. When a movie Potter ordered arrives, he gets the entire camp (minus the nurses, who are going to dinner at I-Corps) to meet in the mess tent for the screening. The projector keeps breaking during the movie, and the camp start getting angry again. To stay calm they all sing "Gee, Mom, I Want to Go Home", during which the nurses decided to stay at the camp instead of going to dinner, watch Radar do impressions of famous people, and play the game no one has been waiting for: the Father Mulcahy sound alike contest! When the movie starts playing again, there's a shoot out scene, during which the camp play along and pretend they've been shot and are lying on the ground. An ambulance driver pulls into the camp with wounded and finds them pretending to be dead, and during surgery everyone is singing a song from the movie.
    • With a bit of Mood Whiplash as Frank tries his own verse of the song, which falls completely flat as he does it several minutes late and it's basically an angry threat to Hawkeye and B.J. And even then, even after being threatened, Hawkeye takes it in stride and quickly changes the subject to prevent Frank’s further humiliation.
    • And Real Life Writes the Plot as well. The Mulcahy sound alike contest was based on one the cast did frequently behind the scenes.
    • The shoot-out starts with just Hawkeye clowning around, and in a testament to character growth Margaret, Major born-with-a-stick-up-the-ass Margaret Houlihan, is the first to grab an invisible shotgun and join in.
  • A patient in “Post-Op” is miserable because he got a face wound and the doctors had to shave his moustache, but Klinger makes him one out of his own hair, and the guy is delighted.
  • In "Margaret's Marriage", the bridal shower, showing how far Margaret and her nurses have come since being at each other’s throats, and Klinger being lovely, giving a wedding dress meant for a daughter to Margaret.
    • When going off to leave in the chopper, Margaret takes a look at her Family of Choice and hugs all of them in turn, including Frank.
    • The Tag has Hawkeye, B.J., and Potter keeping Frank company in the Swamp, making sure he's feeling all right after Margaret's departure.

Season 6

  • In "Fallen Idol", Hawkeye hands Radar his Purple Heart medal, and then gives him one of the very few genuine salutes the good captain ever did.
    • B.J. stays at Hawkeye’s side throughout, not enabling his drinking and self pity but telling him he doesn’t have to hate himself as much as he does.
    • Klinger comes to visit Radar, Radar tells him he looks nice and Klinger gives him pretty fake flowers he got off his hat.
  • "Images" - Hawkeye being the one to comfort Margaret when she breaks down and grieves for the dog she had befriended.
  • Sidney telling Klinger very kindly in "War of Nerves" that it’s fine if he crossdresses, and it doesn’t mean that he’s crazy. For a "man in a dress" joke, Klinger is always accepted by characters on the decent side, and anyone cruel to him is usually a jerkass.
  • A side-plot in "The Grim Reaper" has a wounded man from Toledo arrive at the camp. After being told that Klinger's also from Toledo, he gives Klinger a matchbook from a pool hall that the two grew up at, which reduces Klinger to tears. At the end of the episode, he's sent Klinger a care-package of food from Paco's Hungarian Hot Dogs.
    • Another plot has Hawkeye in a personal conflict with Colonel Bloodworth, a man whose job is to calculate in advance how many casualties will be coming out of a battle, and it's a job he excels at. Hawk shoves him during an argument at the Officer's Club, which has Bloodworth threatening to press charges against Hawkeye. But, after Bloodworth is wounded, he spends 48 hours watching Hawkeye work. He calls him over to talk, discussing Hawk's tendency to Gallows Humor. It's a talk that has Bloodworth tell Hawkeye that having witnessed it all, he can't see his way to pressing the assault charges. Hawkeye quietly, and honestly, tells Bloodworth he's too tired to fight him on it.
  • B.J. is aggressive about it, but when Hawkeye and Margaret are lost behind enemy lines in "Comrades in Arms", it's sweet that he's so angry and protective of both of them.
  • Showing that they weren't going to ignore "Comrades in Arms", and while she still has a while to go, Margaret being considered One of the Boys in "The Merchant of Korea".
  • "Patent 4077" - Margaret is furious when she realizes her engagement ring is a Replacement Goldfish, after she'd lost her ring and the guys "found" it for her. (It says, "Over hill, over dale, our love will ever (not "never") fail".) She's ready to explode when Klinger gently tells her that she's being unfair, and they only had the replacement ring made to make her feel better. She later lets Hawkeye know she knows it's a replacement, then tells him she likes the replacement better. (It becomes Harsher in Hindsight when Margaret and Donald's love failed.)
  • "What's Up, Doc?" - When Margaret tells Hawkeye she thinks she might be pregnant he is genuinely overjoyed for her and later a bit sorry for her when it turns out she's not. Potter is equally happy for her until he finds out that Margaret and Donald are having trouble and Babies Make Everything Better will not apply.
    • Potter is such a Father to His Men that he instantly recognizes the pictures of the children in Klinger's scheme as being the children of the soldiers in the unit.
  • "Potter's Retirement" has the colonel planning to hang it up after receiving the news that negative reports about his leadership are coming from inside the 4077th. The party in question turns out to be a corpsman acting as mole for a general who holds a grudge against the camp. After things have been sorted out, we get a scene in Potter's office where Hawkeye, B.J., and Radar let him know how much his leadership is valued and beg him to stay, Hawkeye even addressing him as "Sherman".
    • The absolute disgust Potter has in his voice when he confronts the mole shows just how protective he is of his men. He's in full Papa Wolf mode there.
    • The ending, with all the regulars (including Winchester!) singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to Potter. What they lack in talent they make up for in affection.

Season 7

  • "Peace on Us" - What is the final straw that inspires Hawkeye to take on the peace talks? Seeing the pain on Margaret's face when she decides to get divorced and just how much her failed marriage, a result of the war, and the war itself have taken their toll on her.
    • Later on, Margaret goes to Potter to talk, and he makes it clear he was already planning to talk to her, softening his tone despite how frustrated he was with the Hawkeye situation just seconds ago.
      Potter: Major, I heard, and I want to have a long talk with you about your problem...
    • B.J. throwing a party full of Hawkeye’s favourite colour to make him happier. And he wears that red shirt (even though it fades to pink and then beige) throughout the rest of the series.
    • Blink and you'll miss it: Margaret gives the returning Hawkeye a little shake by the scruff of the neck, a gesture of affection that would have been unthinkable just two seasons prior.
  • In "They Call the Wind Korea", Margaret's guilt over one of her nurses getting hurt, Winchester actually admitting he's scared to Klinger, and Hawkeye bringing back his early season Groucho Marx routine to make a Korean kid laugh.
  • There is the classic episode "Point of View", where we see all the action through the eyes of a soldier and Col. Potter confesses that he feels terrible that he forgot to telephone his wife, Mildred, on their anniversary because he was so busy with a rush of wounded. The soldier tells Hawkeye, and the doctor and Radar contact Mildred to explain the situation and she agrees to wait on the line for Sherman, with the instruction that he is to be told that she understands the weight of his duties.
    • In the same episode, Private Rich wakes up from surgery and Hawkeye blocks off his tracheotomy tube to see if he has regained the ability to speak. After he's said a few words, the doctors are about to leave and let him rest, but he gestures for Hawkeye to block off the tube again so he can say, "Thank you."
  • In "Dear Comrade", the episode is told from the perspective of a North Korean spy posing as Winchester's houseboy, trying to find out how the unit had such a high success rate. The group is so unorthodox and loose he finds it impossible for his faction to replicate it. He does, however, fabricate that he has to stay a little longer, because he'd grown so friendly with the gang, even Winchester—after the spy tells him off for his snobbery and mild racism, Charles just laughs and shows he's Not So Above It All.
  • In the Christmas Episode "Dear Sis", when Fr. Mulcahy feels that he's useless to the unit. At the end, Hawkeye and the rest of the 4077 let him know just how important he is to them, and sing "Dona Nobis Pacem." Also in the same episode, the look on Major Winchester's face when he opens his Christmas present to see the tobogganing cap he wore as a child—a little piece of home thoughtfully sent for by Radar, at Mulcahy's suggestion.note  Then Charles gives Mulcahy money for the orphans, telling him to "Buy them whatever they need." Beginning to leave, he turns and hands him another wad of bills, telling him in an emotion-choked voice to "Buy them whatever they don't need."
    Mulcahy: Major, are you all right?
    Winchester: [putting his hands on Mulcahy's shoulders] You saved me, Father. You lowered a bucket into the well of my despair, and you raised me up to the light of day. I thank you for that.
    • As part of a conscious effort by the writers to distance the character of Charles Winchester from that of Frank Burns, Winchester was a part of numerous heartwarming moments over the course of the series, if usually in the episodes' B plots. They began to happen regularly after this episode.
  • "The Price" - Potter's horse Sophie goes missing. Potter is understandably angry, until he learns that the guy who stole her was an old Korean cavalry officer who just wanted one last ride before dying. Potter gives Sophie to him as a gift, at which the man tears up and bows to Potter in respect. He dies the next morning, but his granddaughter says that it was the happiest he had been for a long time.
    • After the Korean and his daughter walk off with Sophie, Radar approaches Potter and tells him with real admiration in his voice, "That's the best thing I ever saw anybody do ever."
  • It's a bit twisted, but in "Rally Round the Flagg, Boys," a GI is disgruntled that Hawkeye took a wounded North Korean officer ahead of his friend. Throughout the episode, the GI is giving Hawkeye trouble, and a few jokes are made at Hawkeye's expense about how he's short-tempered. The GI finally confronts Hawkeye in his tent, who is reluctant to hurt him for a number of reasons. He's got Hawkeye backed into a corner, attacking him with a cane, when an absolutely furious B.J. bursts in and grabs the GI by the shirt, shaking him and saying he '"ought to break [his] neck" before Hawkeye pulls him away and gets him to cool off. Shows just how protective B.J. can get of his friends.
    • And the soldier in question's anger was all because he wanted to make sure his buddy would be okay. His rage is very misplaced and he takes it way too far, but it's clear those two have been through a lot.
  • "Preventive Medicine" is one of the darker episodes of the show, with B.J. and Hawkeye having a screaming fight over whether or not to perform a medically unnecessary operation to get a reckless colonel off the line. Hawkeye does it, compromising his morals as a surgeon, and then it turns out to be all for nothing. Then, at the end, as Hawkeye is sitting alone on his cot in despair, his face in his hands, B.J. walks over and places a hand on his friend's shoulder. For a few silent seconds, they grip each other hard before getting up and walking away together. The Heterosexual Life-Partners may scream, may crack, may vehemently disagree with each other, but they still love and stand by one another when needed. And it goes deeper still, as the views Hawkeye and B.J. held were the ones that Alan Alda and Mike Farrell held. That moment they take before they head out to surgery was a bit of a reconciliation between the actors, not just their characters.
  • After having a fight in "Aint Love Grand", Hawkeye gets a call about B.J.'s patient and they excitedly hug for about five minutes. Extra points for them being the only relationship that lasts in an episode with that title, with both Klinger's and Winchester's failing.

    Seasons 8– 11 

Season 8

  • "Good-Bye, Radar" - When Radar is sent home, he leaves behind his beloved teddy bear, indicating both that he is now a man and that he will always be with the unit in spirit. Also the Continuity Nod to "Hawk’s Nightmare", as Radar has seen Hawkeye regress in breakdowns numerous times, and saw him cuddle his teddy for security in that episode, so it’s an act of kindness towards Hawkeye too.
    • Kind of a subtle one, but when all the staff are saying their goodbyes to him, Charles addresses him as "Walter", for the first and only time on the show.
    • Hawkeye's final goodbye to Radar is a salute, which Radar returns. Hawkeye only salutes anyone four times over the course of the entire series (and Radar is the recipient twice).
  • "Period of Adjustment" - After B.J. rages at Hawkeye that he's jealous of Trapper because he built the still with him, the closing moment has them rebuilding the destroyed still together.
  • In "Nurse Doctor," an outcast nurse who was going to resign her commission and go to medical school has decided to give it up after an unfortunate Hot for Preacher incident with Mulcahy. Her being Margaret's responsibility, it's Margaret who tells her that she's not going to get transferred, nor will she be allowed to quit on herself. The next seven weeks (before she gets discharged) will not be fun for her.
    Nurse Harris: I'm sure you'll satisfied with my nursing.
    Margaret: Your nursing duties will only be part of it. The rest of your time will be spent under the supervision of Captain Pierce and myself in intensive study for your medical aptitude tests.
    Nurse Harris: What?
    Margaret: I know how hard it is for a woman to become a doctor, and the Army is no help. But with your background and talent, you've got a real chance! [smiles faintly] And as long as I'm your commanding officer, I'm not going to let you back out.
  • A casualty in "Life Time" is basically brain-dead and B.J. waits for him to fully pass away in order to use his Aorta to save the life of another patient. Roberts, a friend of the brain-dead soldier, berates the doctors for "using him as meat" and wants nothing to do with them. Father Mulcahy helps him see the bigger picture.
    Mulcahy: Was Harold the kind of man who would jump onto a live grenade to protect someone?
    Roberts: Yeah. Of course he was.
    Mulcahy: Even if it was someone he didn't know?
    Roberts: Y-yeah... I'm sure of it.
    Mulcahy: That's exactly what he's doing now.
    • After talking to Mulcahy, Roberts tells B.J. that he wants to tell the transplant recipient about Harold.
  • "Dear Uncle Abdul" has the story of Eddie and Hank. Eddie considered himself dumb, but Hank befriended and helped him out. When Hank was wounded, Eddie was the one to save his life and get him to the aid station before following him to the 4077. When Hank is sent home, he assures Eddie that he's a great soldier and won't be alone as Dave, another member of their unit, offers to help support Eddie from then on.
  • "Yessir, That's Our Baby" - When an infant is left on the Swamp's doorstep, her crying wakes the Swamprats, who are understandably confused and irritated. Charles is the most irritated of the three by far and storms out to find the source of the crying and have a stop put to it. His demeanor softens immediately when he steps out and finds the baby and he shushes and coos at her as he picks her up. Later, he becomes violently enraged at a bureaucrat's blase attitude toward the child's fate.
  • Charles dictating a telegram to his sister in "Bottle Fatigue" containing a heartfelt apology for his angry letters. After spending the entire episode angry that she was engaged to an Italian, a combination of finding out that his family called off the wedding over religious differences and almost being killed by a grenade in the OR, he quickly began to change his mindset.
  • "Heal Thyself" - It's cut from syndication, but a scene between Charles and Colonel Potter is actually rather sweet. Both of them have come down with the mumps, which can result in a loss of fertility in adults. Charles is freaking out over not being able to father a child, and is practically in tears. Potter talks him down.
    Charles: The dread thought that Charles Winchester the Third would all be Charles Winchester the last ...
    Potter: Look, you've got a mild infection, you're getting plenty of sack time, you've gotten a butt-full of gamma globulin. The odds are you'll wind up in a house filled with little Roman numerals.
  • "Morale Victory":
    • Charles operates on Private Sheridan, who had been a pianist until he was wounded in the right hand, resulting a permanent loss of dexterity in several fingers. Charles, badly shaken by the soldier's despair at his aborted career, confides in Father Mulcahy in perhaps the characters' most sincere exchange in the series:
      Mulcahy: You know, you're being much too harsh on yourself - you mustn't think that you have failed.
      Charles: But I have... the boy's a graduate of Juilliard, he just embarked on a promising career. I reach out to him, but... [sighs] no matter what I do, I cannot get through.
      Mulcahy: That's not your fault.
      Charles: [scoffs] Oh, isn't it? We both know that there are other doctors here who are more able to... show compassion, provide... comfort... I... [stands up] have no... magic words. [sighs] I work my wonders on flesh and bone, I perform no... miracle surgery on the soul, that's, that's your department!
      Mulcahy: Major... I know how difficult it was for you to come here. It's obvious... that you care a great deal.
      Charles: Of course I care.
      Mulcahy: Then you must not give up! There's no-one here with a greater love or, or knowledge of music! And that's the key! You must show him that his musical career is not over. You can't let him waste that precious talent that God has given him.
      Charles: Thank you, Father.
    • Charles remembers that the composer Maurice Ravel created music which could be played with only one hand, and urges the former pianist not to give up on music. The scene ends with the music being played, one handed.
      Charles: Don't you see? Your hand may be stilled, but your gift cannot be silenced if you refuse to let it be.
      David: Gift? You keep talking about this damn gift. I had a gift, and I exchanged it for some mortar fragments, remember?
      Charles: Wrong. Because the gift does not lie in your hands. I have hands, David, hands that can make a scalpel sing. More than anything in my life, I wanted to play, but I do not have the gift. I can play the notes, but I cannot make the music. You've performed Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Chopin. Even if you never do so again, you've already known a joy that I will never know as long as I live. Because the true gift...is in your head...and in your heart and in your soul. Now, you can shut it off forever, or you can find new ways to share your gift with the world, through the baton, the classroom, the pen. As to these works...they're for you. Because you and the piano will always be as one.
    • Afterwards, Hawkeye and B.J. track down Winchester and make sure that he's enjoying himself after noticing he wasn't at the camp luah, for which he sincerely thanks them for their concern.

Season 9

  • Season 9's first episode, "The Best of Enemies", sees Hawkeye—on his way to some well-deserved R&R—captured by a North Korean soldier who forces the doctor to work on a fellow soldier who has been wounded. Hawkeye does his best to save the wounded soldier, but the attempt ultimately fails and the soldier dies (to the frustration and anger of both the other soldier and Hawkeye). The living soldier lets Hawkeye go free, but Pierce stays behind for a moment to watch the soldier start digging a grave for his fallen comrade. At which point Hawkeye comes back, shares a glance with the soldier that says more than any words ever could, and helps dig the grave.
    • It's worth noting that Hawkeye thought he was about to be shot after the soldier died. However, his genuine effort to save the man had come through, despite the language barrier, so the friend lets him go, presumably realizing that Hawkeye really did do everything he could and as such is not to blame for the soldier's death.
    • There's a pointed moment while he's trying to save the man that the North Korean shows him a picture of himself and the wounded man, and Hawkeye shows him a picture he just received of his father and cousin.
  • Several of the characters' reactions to the children's letters in "Letters", most especially the one Charles gets from a girl named Virginia. She writes him a letter about how beautiful Maine looks in fall, sending along a fallen leaf from a birch tree. Charles, who has so far written two letters: one angry and one sarcastic, gets a look on his face of absolute joy at this small reminder of New England and writes a truly thankful letter.
    • Also, Charles hadn't even written his previous letters; instead he'd dictated his replies in a recorder for Klinger to transcribe later. But when replying to Virginia's letter, he first picks up his recorder, but after a moment's hesitation, he puts it down and instead takes out a pen and paper to write back to her himself.
      Charles: [dreamily] Autumn in New England... [he begins writing] Dear Virginia: It is with indescribable joy that I accept your gift. It is indeed testimony to the beauty that exists in all creation, but perhaps nowhere more than in a young girl's heart.
    • After beating himself up for “being a cog in a war machine”, Hawkeye gets thrown a bone by helping a little girl who hit her head. He tells the letter writer to “look for the good wherever you can find it”, and B.J. immediately enters the scene, the implication (and confirmed by the finale) that he’s one of the only good things Hawkeye has found.
  • "Death Takes a Holiday" - Winchester earns the contempt of the rest of the camp by not donating to the Christmas charity drive... because, unbeknownst to them, he is instead following a family tradition of donating a large consignment of confectionery from an upmarket Boston supplier to a local orphanage. He is surprised in the act by the orphanage director, who invites him in to meet the orphans; Winchester declines, saying that for it to be a true act of charity, the gift must be given anonymously. He later discovers at the camp Christmas party, to which the orphans are also invited, that the director immediately sold the chocolates on the black market. Charles confronts the director, believing that he pocketed the money, only to learn that the money was used to purchase enough rice and cabbage to feed the orphans for a month. He is immediately humbled by the revelation, and returns to the Swamp. Klinger overhears the conversation and follows Winchester to give him a plate of leftover food from the Christmas party... on condition that the gift must be given anonymously. They exchange a "Merry Christmas", addressing each other not as "Klinger" and "Major" but as "Max" and "Charles". Charles' initial confrontation with the orphanage director also counts. Charles, who's usually pretty aloof, looks about two seconds from ripping the man's arm off and beating him with it — and sounds about three seconds into the act.
    Mr. Choi: I have failed to carry out your family tradition. I am very sorry.
    Charles: On the contrary; it is I who should be sorry. It is sadly inappropriate to give dessert to a child who has had no meal.
    • The other part of the plot is both Heartwarming and Tearjerker. Earlier in the day, a badly wounded soldier is brought in. Despite their best efforts, it soon becomes obvious that his wounds are too severe and there's nothing they can do to save him. Then they find a letter in the soldier's pocket from his children, and after a brief moment, B.J. begins treating the soldier again. Hawkeye and Margaret tell him there's no point, but B.J. counters that if they can keep him alive for just long enough, those kids won't have to remember Christmas as the day their daddy died. Hawkeye and Margaret share a look, then move to assist him. The three of them do everything they can, maintaining a vigil for hours on end without rest, but despite their best efforts, the soldier finally dies with less than an hour left to go. B.J. slumps in defeat, then Hawkeye climbs up on a table and turns the hand of the clock on the wall ahead just past midnight.
      Hawkeye: Look, he made it.
  • The home movie B.J. gets from Peg in "Oh, How We Danced" is particularly heartwarming. First, that Hawkeye would go to the trouble of setting B.J. up so he could record how the day might go. Then getting it to Peg in time for her to make the movie and send it back. Then the surprise party. The look of absolute joy and pride on his face when he sees Erin in the movie will have you ready to cry as well. Everyone else in the room cooing over Erin is great too.

Season 10

  • "That's Showbiz" has a couple for members of the USO troupe:
    • Sarah lost her brother in combat and was looking for a pair of ballet slippers given to him by his fiance so they would have a shared memento. Despite the odds of them being lost or stolen, Margaret, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy bust their butts to get them recovered. When they are found, Sarah asks Father Mulcahy how it happened, and he simply points to the heavens (which doubles as a Funny moment as they arrived by helicopter).
    • Marina was brought in to the 4077 for an appendectomy and took note of another soldier brought in at the same time who was very shell-shocked and didn't say a word. She's able to get through to him just by talking, and the moment hits when he first speaks up to talk to B.J.
      Marina: Hey, doc? Will you tell her I like apples too?
  • When B.J. is having a breakdown in "Wheelers and Dealers", he lashes out at Hawkeye first, telling him essentially he’s going to go home and fuck all of Maine. Margaret explicitly looks at Hawkeye taking it lying down, and calls B.J. out for both her and him.
  • "Communication Breakdown" - A North Korean POW is brought into camp and a South Korean MP is tasked with guarding him. The MP secretly reveals to Hawkeye that the two of them are brothers; not knowing which side would win, their father sent one son (the MP) to the south in the hopes that at least one of them would survive and carry on the family name. The brothers can't speak to each other for risk of being marked as spies by their respective sides and killed for it. So Hawkeye, Margaret and B.J. fake an emergency that requires them to rush the POW and the MP to the OR where, under the cover of a phony blood transfusion, the two brothers are able to speak freely in private.
  • "Snappier Judgment":
    • Winchester eagerly stepping up to defend Klinger in court, even though he supposedly dislikes Klinger. Downplayed as he claims he's mainly interested in the thrill of being a lawyer, and subsequently botches Klinger's defence.
  • In "Where There's a Will, There's a War", Hawkeye writes out his last will and testament in the event that he is killed while serving in an aid station under heavy fire. While writing it, he reminisces about his friends and writes out something about each one of them that he loves. The one person he can't seem to find the right words for is B.J., until he has an epiphany and leaves to Erin Hunnicutt a list of all the people her father has operated on during the war.
    • In a flashback scene from this episode, Hawkeye notices a copy of Life magazine on Klinger's desk, which happens to contain a photo spread of coastal Maine. Hawkeye is excited to see pictures of his home state, including some that were taken in the immediate vicinity of Crabapple Cove, and Klinger somewhat absently tells Hawkeye to keep it, it was just left there randomly anyway. After leaving Klinger's office, Hawkeye notices a soldier eating a large salami. The soldier tells Hawkeye that Klinger traded the salami for his Life magazine.
    • Another flashback scene has Margaret and Hawkeye taking stock of the supply room late at night. They're both tired and want to finish the job, but Margaret suddenly makes a joke, and Hawkeye is so surprised he can't stop laughing. The two of them then trade a series of puns until they're both falling over each other in hysterical laughter. It really shows how far they've come from their early antagonism toward each other.
    • Another, subtler, one is the flashback scene with Potter, where he sees Hawkeye sitting outside the OR looking discouraged, so he sits with him for a minute and talks about fishing, allowing a bit of normalcy to return in the midst of all the craziness.
  • "Sons and Bowlers":
    • Hawkeye's father goes in for surgery stateside to remove a pheochromocytoma,note  and his survival is not guaranteed. Winchester overhears Hawkeye trying to get through to the hospital where his father is being treated on the camp phone, and proceeds to spend the night keeping vigil with him until they can get word that the elder Dr. Pierce has made it through. They discuss their respective relationships with their fathers, a discussion in which we learn that although Charles Winchester II wanted only the best for his son, he was nevertheless a typical emotionally-distant upper-class patriarch, and he envies the close relationship Hawkeye has with his dad.
      Charles: Pierce, there is no sense in projecting the worst in this thing.
      Hawkeye: The worst is a distinct possibility. Dad and I are too close to... let this all suddenly end with... silence, 12,000 miles apart.
      Charles: Pierce, you should be grateful that... only distance is separating you. My father and I have been 12,000 miles apart in the same room.
      Hawkeye: Yeah?
      Charles: The most intimate and personal communication at the Winchester household took place at the evening meal. Every night, promptly at 7:15, we would gather at the dinner table. The soup would be served, and my father would begin with, "Tell us what you did today, Charles." As the elder of the two children, I was given the privilege of speaking first. I would then have until the salad to report the highlights of my day. Even now, the sight of lettuce makes me talk faster... I assumed that's how it was in every family. But when I see the... warmth, closeness, the fun... of your relationship. I mean, my father's a good man. He always wanted the best for me. But... where I have a father... you have a dad.
      Hawkeye: Charles, you've never told me anything like this before.
      Charles: Actually... Hawkeye... I've never told you anything before.note 
    • Fortunately, the surgery is successful, and Hawkeye has a brief but heartfelt conversation with his dad, during which we see the warmth, closeness, and fun that Charles mentioned as they share laughs and memories, punctuated by a sincere "I love you" from Hawkeye.
    • In The Tag of the episode, while the rest of the unit is celebrating (regarding the bowling contest in the episode's other plot) in the Officer's Club, Hawkeye calls Charles over to a table, where the men share a quiet toast over two glasses of cognac.
      Hawkeye: This one's on me, Charles.
      Charles: [surprised] Thanks.
      Hawkeye: Thank you.
      Charles: [raising his glass] To our fathers.
      Hawkeye: [raising his] And their sons.
    • A minor one occurs between the MASH unit and a group of Marines with whom they have a rivalry, particularly between Potter and the Marines' CO. As soon as the announcement of choppers bearing wounded hits the P.A., Potter asks the Marines for assistance with the wounded, and they do not hesitate to lend a hand.

Season 11

  • Margaret's Pet the Dog moment in "Hey, Look Me Over." She's facing a grueling inspection from a senior nurse who seems to have the opinion that good is never good enough, and when one of her nurses comes up and asks what else she has to do, Margaret tells her to take the night off and have some fun.
  • "Who Knew?" - Hawkeye volunteering to deliver the eulogy for a nurse nobody really knew and using his experience in reading her diary to stop hiding his true feelings behind jokes and open up to everyone a bit more for a nice bit of Character Development.
  • The crew throwing a mortgage-burning party for Col. Potter in "Settling Debts". It was Mildred's idea.
  • In "The Moon Is Not Blue," Hawkeye giving a horribly socially awkward soldier a placebo so he could talk to women. Then telling him that it was a placebo, and he had the guts to talk to women all along.
  • "Run for the Money" - A wounded private is teased by the other men in his unit and his commanding officer for his stutter, and has been called a dummy for so long that he believes it. (The fact that the actor has a slight Southern accent gives him an even worse impression.) Major Winchester rips into the men who make fun of him and tells the private that he's seen his IQ score and that he's very intelligent, but needs to believe in himself. He then recites a list of famous people who stuttered and sends the Private off with a copy of Moby-Dick, saying that it's fit for a man of his intelligence. When the Private explains he knows the story, having read the comic book version, far from being affronted Charles actually laughs and explains he might get something more out of the original. An original he gives to the man for all the fact it's a precious, leather-bound copy. He then retires to his tent and listens to a recorded letter from his sister back home...who stutters.
  • In "U.N., the Night, and the Music," a rather good-looking Swedish doctor arrives, and Margaret almost immediately falls for him. Unfortunately, he's had an injury in the past (nerve damage after his jeep hit a mine) that prevents him from having any sort of sexual relationship with Margaret. Hawkeye agrees to run interference for the man, increasingly frustrating Margaret. Eventually, the doctor comes clean with her and tries to leave gracefully. She immediately stops him and asks if he wouldn't just like to stay and talk for a while. He practically falls over himself agreeing, implying this is the first time anyone's accepted his condition. Then, the next day, Margaret confronts Hawkeye.
    Margaret: [angrily] And you! [smiles] Thanks for trying to be a jerk.
  • "Say No More" - Margaret is eagerly anticipating a lecture by Dr. Steven Chesler, a hero of hers whom Charles dismisses as a charlatan. However, she develops laryngitis with only days before the lecture, and Charles tells her that she will only regain her voice in time for the lecture if she doesn't speak at all before then - an impossibility for a nurse. She has Charles act as her voice for correspondence with Dr. Chesler as their respective plans change, but she finally decides that since meeting Chesler would delay her recovery by several days, she will have to scrap her plans to meet him before he returns to the United States. The morning after she asks Charles to send Chesler a telegram to this effect, she gets a massive surprise:
    [Margaret is rubbing ointment on her throat; there is a knock at her door]
    Margaret: [almost inaudible] Coming... coming... [she heads over to the door and opens it, then gasps in shock - it's Dr. Chesler]
    Charles: Margaret, I don't believe you've met Dr. Chesler.
    Margaret: Ohh!...
    Chesler: [extending his hand] This is indeed a pleasure! [Margaret is about to shake his hand, but first wipes off the ointment, then sniffs her hand and grimaces]
    Charles: I believe that Major Houlihan is inviting you to come in. [Margaret nods enthusiastically] Well, get acquainted, you two! [Chesler enters Margaret's tent; Charles closes the door behind him]
    Chesler: Now, please don't strain your voice!
    Margaret: [still reeling from the shock of Chesler's unexpected visit] Why are you here?
    Chesler: Under the circumstances, I could hardly refuse your invitation!
    Margaret: I... invited you?
    Chesler: Well, I realise that Dr. Winchester's voice was on the telephone this morning, but... you were standing there next to him, telling him all those nice things to say.
    [Margaret is stunned - she wasn't there at all, and she realises this means Charles arranged this meeting especially for her despite his dislike for Chesler]
    Margaret: ... yes! [nods] Yes! That was me! Yes!
    Chesler: You know, I don't know whether it's your dedication to your job or all those lovely things you said about me, but... I wanted to meet you before I left.
    Margaret: I'm... speechless!
    [at the end of the episode, in the mess tent, as Charles gets his lunch, Margaret walks up to him]
    Charles: Hello, Margaret, how did it go with you and the quack?
    Margaret: [smiling ear to ear] Oh... he... I... we... [shocks Charles by grabbing his face and kissing him on the lips]
  • "As Time Goes By" - When Hawkeye donates the bear Radar left behind to the 4077th time capsule to stand for all those who came to war as boys as went home as men. And moments later, B.J. donates a lure that belonged to Henry Blake, standing for all the men who never made it home. It may have been several seasons later, but they never forgot Henry.
    • Especially considering that Henry was already dead by the time B.J. came to the 4077th, and yet he still takes the time to honor a man he never got to meet.
    • The B plot results in another nice moment. At the beginning of the episode, the camp learns of a chopper that was supposed to arrive with a critical casualty, but is now overdue. In an almost throwaway scene, the chopper arrives the next morning and delivers the casualty. The pilot casually says he had engine and radio trouble and had to land overnight, requests a replacement fan belt for his chopper, and leaves. The patient he delivered wakes up and tells their real story: shortly after takeoff, their chopper was shot down behind enemy lines, destroying the fan belt and radio. Without the fan belt, the engine would overheat, so they could only fly a hundred yards at a time. Knowing that the patient's life depended on getting to the 4077th, the pilot set off on foot in the dark to find a clear landing spot and then came back. By then the engine had cooled, and they flew the hundred yards until the engine overheated again. The pilot repeated the process through the night, even though he could have been captured or killed, scouting ahead then returning to fly to the hospital, a hundred yards at a time. This story in part is what inspires Hawkeye to help Margaret with her time capsule project instead of ridicule it, and he submits the broken fan belt as his contribution to the time capsule as an olive branch to her in the end.
  • "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" - As the show's Grand Finale, the episode naturally has many of these:
    • Charles taking the Chinese musicians under his wing. After they surrendered to him and believed they were entertaining him with American folk songs played over his records, he yells that he wants to listen to Mozart. One of the musicians recognizes the name and begins playing a Mozart piece, which Charles then spends a large portion of the episode trying to improve with them. (Doubles as a Funny Moment when they play the piece perfectly on the way out of camp, suggesting they were just messing with him the whole time.)
    • Klinger loving Soon-Li enough to stay in Korea (go back to the early episodes and you'll realize what a surprise that must have been) to help her find her family. Doubles as a Funny Moment:
      Klinger: I can't believe I'm saying this...I'm staying in Korea!
    • Potter giving Margaret a kiss on the forehead and hoping that her personal life will be just as good as her professional life.
    • Charles saying goodbye to Margaret. Previously, he had taken back a book of poetry he had given her, much to her disappointment. When it comes time to leave camp, he returns the book to her, now with a written message inside the cover, and kisses her hand, a true Officer and a Gentleman.
    • Charles and Colonel Potter's goodbyes to each other, with both acknowledging each other's skills as a surgeon and Charles stating, that as Chief of Surgery in his next job, he hopes to be guided by Potter's wisdom and good humor as a leader.
    • Winchester's departure from the 4077, remaining as dignified as ever, even though he is riding in a garbage truck. He comments that it's quite appropriate, considering he's leaving a dump. His final line:
      Gentlemen.
      • It's a bit of a Call-Back to Hawkeye's Last Will and Testament, when he commented that Charles never lost his dignity, even in the most undignified situations.
    • Potter saying goodbye to Sophie. (Doubles as a Tear Jerker.)
    • Hawkeye and B.J. giving Potter a respectful, silent salute. Twice as heartwarming, because you can literally count the number of serious salutes that Hawkeye has given anyone throughout the series on one hand. The gesture isn't lost on Potter either, as he can barely hold back tears as he returns the salute.
    • Hawkeye telling B.J. "I'll never be able to shake you" and the deep, desperate hug between the two of them right afterwards. It Book Ends Hawkeye's speech to the camp way back in "Chief Surgeon Who?", as it's clear the two of them would never have become such close friends if not for the cruddy situation they shared.
    • The "goodbye" stones are a two-fold Heartwarming Moment: not only from B.J. to Hawkeye (giving him the goodbye that he wanted from B.J. and — it's implied — from Trapper), but also from the show to the viewers.
    • The supporting cast has always gotten more love than most shows will give, to the point that the extras remained almost static in the later years of the show. The supporting cast was given special attention, including one episode showing Kellye being the backbone of the nurses and another where Goldman getting sick was a major plotpoint. Thus, it was especially touching in the finale when various supporting characters got to stand up and announce where they were going after the war. Gave a real sense of family and realism to the moment, as many shows would have focused exclusively on the main cast.


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