Recap / M*A*S*H S11 E3: Foreign Affairs

Major Reddish (Jeffrey Tambor), an Army PR officer, tries to get a captured North Korean pilot to defect so he can sell the war to Americans back home, but the pilot refuses, and his interpreter is actually more interested in the job. Charles falls in love with a French Red Cross nurse, until she reveals something about her past.

Attention all personnel! Major Reddish would like to bribe you with the following tropes:

• Everyone Has Standards: Major Reddish might be pulling off a questionable stunt in his attempts to get Lt. Chong to defect, but when Joon-Sung, the interpreter, volunteers to go in his place, Major Reddish refuses because, as he puts it, he won't lie.
  B.J.: And you call yourself a P.R. man!
• Manchild: When Martine calmly but firmly rebuffs Hawkeye's advances, she later calls him this when talking with Charles. When she finds out why Charles is acting coldly towards her all of a sudden - after he finds out she lived with another man without marrying him - she accuses Charles of being this as well.
• Meaningful Echo: When Joon-Sung is telling Hawkeye and B.J. how he thinks Lt. Chong is making a mistake in not going along with Major Reddish's offer, he says, "Sometimes, a man can have an awfully good thing staring him right in the face and not even know it." When Col. Potter sees how coldly Charles is acting towards Martine, he says the same thing.
  Hawkeye: You know, you're the second person who's said that to me today.
  • This gives Hawkeye a "Eureka!" Moment on how to foil Major Reddish.
• My Girl Is Not a Slut: A variation - Charles would have had no problem with Martine being a widow, but does have a problem with the fact Martine lived with another man even though she wasn't married to him.
• Not So Above It All: When Martine teases Charles there must be something he likes that isn't highbrow, Charles admits to enjoying Tom and Jerry cartoons.
• Shout-Out: When Hawkeye is lying to Major Reddish over the phone that Lt. Chong has agreed to defect, he claims the picture of Rita Hayworth helped convince him.
• The Tag: As Hawkeye and B.J. wave goodbye to Lt. Chong, we see he's wearing the suit Major Reddish attempted to bribe him with.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The army did have a contest offering money to North Korean pilots who wanted to defect to the U.S., along with their planes, called "Operation Moolah." However, the contest was a failure, the "winner" was never going to be going to the U.S., and the Eisenhower administration did not sign off on it.