Colonel Potter's remedy for a tense camp is a screening of My Darling Clementine. Naturally, things don't quite go as planned, forcing everyone to make up their own fun.
Attention, all personnel! See below for the examples you can expect to see at tonight's movie:
- Actually Pretty Funny: All the nurses laugh at Hawkeye’s hammy reaction to Bigelow turning him down for a date at the movie.
- Artistic License – History: The John Wayne quote Radar uses is from Mclintock, which wouldn't be released until 1963—ten years after the Korean War ended.
- Brick Joke: Hawkeye claims that one of the cowboys during the opening scenes of the film is using Margaret's whip.
- Call-Forward: Potter's impression of Father Mulcahy drunkenly saying "Jocularity! Jocularity!" is one to his behaviour in the bachelor party in "Margaret's Marriage". (Also a Call-Back; "Margaret's Marriage" was four episodes earlier in production order.)
- Crowd Song: "I'm Sick of the Army" is this on the chorus. Also, in The Tag, everyone joins in on "My Darling Clementine" in the O.R..
- Defrosting Ice Queen: When the camp starts taking fake shots at each other as if part of the movie's gunfight, even Margaret and Frank join in - Margaret even being one of the first to grab an invisible gun and start firing rounds.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Col. Potter states that My Darling Clementine has the three things that make a movie great: Horses, cowboys, and horses.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Frank mentions how great it will be to see a good movie for a change, Hawkeye brushes it off, telling the major it’s just a simple movie. A moment later, Hawkeye bursts into a fit of excitement about the movie.
- Late to the Punchline: Frank doesn't come up with lyrics for his round of "I'm Sick of the Army" until several minutes after the song is over. What makes it even more awkward for him is that it wasn't even related to the song, and is more a very thinly-veiled threat towards Hawkeye and B.J. His verse rapidly peters out when he sees that no one is laughing.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: Hawkeye, B.J., Frank, Margaret and Klinger all take part in the cleanup detail of the OR.
- MST: The characters throw out a few riffs during the movie.
- The Neidermeyer: Frank and Margaret are in fine form with this in the beginning of the episode, when both of them yell at Klinger to not talk back to them just because they're officers when they're continually walking on the floor he's attempting to mop, both of them making the situation worse by repeatedly yelling at him to keep mopping.
- Noodle Incident: Prior to the events of the episode, the mail had not been getting delivered to the 4077 properly and Father Mulcahy left to find out why. He is shown bringing a shipment of mail during his first appearance.
- Produce Pelting:
- The moviegoers throw their popcorn and snacks at Margaret when she won't stop singing after the movie comes back on. She finishes anyway.
- Klinger gets this whenever the film breaks.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of the opening scene, Colonel Potter grows tired of the rest of the camp being at each other’s throats and storms out of the room.
- Shout-Out:
- Frank references Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck when insulting Margaret and her fiancé Donald Penobscot after Margaret rejects his advances.
- Radar impersonates John Wayne and Jack Benny, with Klinger joining as Rochester and Father Mulcahy as Dennis Day for the latter.
- Stealth Insult: Frank complains to Colonel Potter that Radar is wasting the food on his serving tray. As usual, the colonel finds his own time being wasted.Frank: Sir, I am the garbage officer.Colonel Potter: We all know that.
- Take That!: The nurses' verse of "I'm Sick of the Army"The surgeons in the army, they think they are profund.We'll take chopper pilots; they'll get you off the ground!
- Whip of Dominance: Margaret pulls a whip out of her closet and threatens Frank with it if he doesn't leave her tent.
