Father Mulcahy, writing a letter to his sister (the Sister) around Christmas time, admits he isn't sure he's being any help at the 4077th. Nobody's attending his weekly services, no one comes to confession, and the best he can do is to serve as a bartender at the Officers' Club. Worse, when a load of wounded come in, a patient, impatient to have a doctor look at him, slugs the good padre across the face – and Mulcahy returns the favor. When Mulcahy tries to visit him later to apologize, the guy isn't having any of it. Hawkeye tries to tell Mulcahy not to be so hard on himself, but it just doesn't help him feel any less useless.
Meanwhile, Charles is depressed at the prospect of spending Christmas at the 4077th rather than in Tokyo (or, better yet, Boston). He's unwilling to join in the festivities at the company Christmas party, until he opens the Christmas present Radar gives him: his childhood knit tobogganing hat. Overjoyed, he thanks Radar, who informs him that Father Mulcahy gave him the idea of calling Charles's mother, and Charles – showing genuine emotion for one of the first times in the series – thanks Mulcahy for rescuing him from despair. Hawkeye then calls for a toast, saying that while Father Mulcahy may not feel useful, just by being in camp he's helping everyone there. Everyone sings "Dona Nobis Pacem", at least until the ambulances roll in and they have to return to work. Mulcahy concludes his letter by observing that maybe it doesn't matter whether he feels useful when moving from one disaster to the next – he's just gotta keep moving.
Attention, all personnel! Father Mulcahy has punched the following tropes:
- Christmas Episode: Set (and originally aired) during Christmas time, the first such episode since Season 1's "Dear Dad".
- Crappy Holidays: Everyone is naturally unhappy to be spending Christmas in a war zone half a world away from home. At one point Hawkeye, B.J. and Margaret share their holiday sorrows over a drink in Potter's office.Mulcahy: [narrating his letter] Here it's the week before Christmas. It's a time of anticipation and hope. Unfortunately, it's also the time when both sides get in as much destruction as they can before the Christmas truce.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: While struggling with an ornery patient, Father Mulcahy gets socked in the face. Without thinking, his boxing training kicks in and he slugs the patient right back. He immediately regrets it and tries to apologize in post-op. Hawkeye has to comfort him afterwards.
- Dreaming of a White Christmas: Seasonally appropriate snow arrives in the final scene.Potter: All of a sudden, this place is pretty.
- Gallows Humor: Hawkeye conjures up a very dark version while trying to persuade Mulcahy to give himself a break:Hawkeye: Look, this place has made us all nuts. Why should you be any different? We don't sleep. We don't eat. And every day a truck comes in and lays a bunch of bleeding bodies on the ground. Okay, so you hit someone. We have to stand here and watch so much misery, we're lucky we don't all join hands and walk into a chopper blade.
- Hollywood Giftwrap: Radar's gift to Charles is wrapped this way – in a nicely-decorated box with a removable lid.
- Hollywood New England: Charles paints a lovely picture of Christmas in Boston with his family.
- Home by Christmas: Referenced:Potter: Well, here's to the Christmas we were supposed to be home by.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After trying to cheer up the others in his office, Potter reaches for his liquor bottle.Potter: Now they got me depressed.
- Innocently Insensitive: Hawkeye notes that the while camp acts this way towards Mulcahy's church services: it's not out of lack of respect for him that they rarely attend, but because of the heavy flow of wounded, the camp spends their little downtime either sleeping or otherwise resting.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After learning that Mulcahy was responsible for Radar's gift package containing Winchester's old toboggan cap, Winchester empties his pockets to support the orphan appeal he'd earlier rebuffed.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The angered patient shoves Margaret and punches Mulcahy – and gets a punch to the face in return.
- Lethal Chef: In the mess tent, the staff is served a "traditional Christmas dinner": turkey on shingles with cranberry sausage.
- Mood Whiplash: The camp sings "Dona Nobis Pacem" to Father Mulcahy as the camp is blanketed in a picturesque snowfall... and then the ambulance pulls in bearing wounded.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Father Mulcahy's reaction when, in a heated moment, he socks a patient during triage.
- Pet the Dog:
- Rejected Apology: Mulcahy goes back to apologize to the patient for punching him, but he just turns him away. In this case the though, the patient comes off as a Jerkass, refusing to own up to the fact that he even hit him first, and Mulcahy was acting reflexively.
- Stepford Smiler: Hawkeye describes Margaret as a rock, which she claims she has to be – all while fighting tears.
- Voiceover Letter: Mulcahy narrates a letter to his sister.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Mulcahy feels a bit of pride for having talked down a scared patient in the OR, only for Margaret to tell him that she'd upped the dose of his anaesthetic while Mulcahy had him distracted.
- You Are a Credit to Your Race:Charles: I never had much use for men of the cloth – they're so religious, especially that Irish crowd in Boston – but you're different, Father. You are a credit to, uh, your kind of person.
Mulcahy: Thank you, Major, I'll take that as a compliment.
Charles: Of course you will. That's how I meant it. - You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Hawkeye takes a moment during the camp's Christmas party to recognize Mulcahy's efforts to bring decency and empathy to the camp.
