After another marathon session in OR, B.J. relates a story from Peg's latest letter about burning a batch of jam and ruining the stove; Radar says his mother has a secret to stop jam from burning, while Col. Potter says Mildred is also an expert jam maker, and B.J. is encouraged to ask Peg to write to Mrs. O'Reilly and Mildred directly. This gives him the idea to organise a gathering of their Stateside families. His bunkmates are sceptical; Charles insists that his parents are just as snobbish about associating with the lower classes as he is, while Hawkeye says his father hasn't left Crabapple Cove in forty years.
Radar interrupts their discussion with news that the Chinese have broken through the front lines, and they have to bug out immediately. As they pack essential supplies and load the wounded into ambulances, B.J. discusses the idea with the other main characters. Father Mulcahy is sure his sister Angelica can get out of her convent for a few days, complete with saxophone; Margaret is dubious, as her parents have been estranged for over a year; Klinger is also uncertain, as his parents don't speak English; and Col. Potter says Mildred will be delighted to go. Among the wounded is a patient of B.J.'s; the bumpy ride to their temporary location leaves him with no leg reflexes and suspected spinal cord damage, leaving B.J. in a Heroic BSoD. Col. Potter sets the ball rolling for the patient to be evacuated to a Tokyo hospital the next day, while Hawkeye decides to lift B.J.'s spirits by encouraging the others to write to their families about the party.
The replies arrive just as the Chinese are forced to retreat and the 4077th decamps back to their old location. The letters are universally enthusiastic about the party; Margaret's parents say they can set aside their differences for her sake and attend together, Hawkeye's father says his son is more important than his patients and he'll "be there with bells on", and Charles' parents are bored with their usual winter in Palm Beach and love the idea of meeting the families of those closest to him (a thought that horrifies Charles). This news, coupled with word that his spinal patient's operation in Tokyo was a success, restores B.J. to happiness.
After several sessions of deliberation, they are finally able to pin down the last weekend in March. However, Klinger balks at the idea of taking a group photo in front of the camp signpost, as he hasn't told his mother he was posted to Korea; as far as she knows, he's at Fort Dix (which is in New Jersey). So the group photo is taken in front of a fake Fort Dix sign, and the reunion goes ahead as planned. A few days later, Radar enters OR with eight letters on the stationery of the New York hotel where the reunion took place; he reads Peg's letter aloud, revealing that the Winchesters were the life of the party and got on like a house on fire with Radar's mother and uncle Ed (to Charles' disgust), the Houlihans danced together all evening, as did the elder Dr. Pierce and Mildred Potter (to Col. Potter's pretend concern), all accompanied by Sister Angelica Mulcahy on the saxophone... and Mrs. Klinger revealed (through her bilingual brother, Abdul) that she knew all along that her son was in Korea.
In The Tag, Radar, who has been given an open invitation to join the Winchesters at their summer residence on Cape Cod when he returns to the States, asks Charles for recommendations for what to bring. Charles snarks he can bring whatever he likes, as he won't be there - he's turning himself in to the Chinese.
Attention all personnel! The following tropes are invited to B.J.'s party:
- Amicable Exes: Peg writes in her letter that Margaret's parents danced together all evening despite having been separated for over a year, reinforcing their sentiments that she matters more to them than the differences that have led to the decline of their marriage.
- Continuity Snarl: Despite Hawkeye saying that his father only ever calls him Hawkeye, the letter from him opens, "Dear Ben."
- Don't Tell Mama: The reason why everyone agrees to take a fake photo to act as if they're in a camp in New Jersey, rather than in Korea; Klinger doesn't want his family to know. Of course, it turned out they knew already.
- A Friend in Need: This is Hawkeye's way of getting the others to write their family members to get them to come to the party B.J.'s planning for their parents, by pointing out how much the party means to B.J., especially because of his spinal patient.
- Grammar Correction Gag: One of the trucks in the convoy returning to the 4077th has Radar at the wheel and Charles in the passenger seat. Charles reads Radar's mother's letter expressing her enthusiasm about the party... and has a field day with her poor grammar:Charles: [reading] "Dear Walter..." [scoffs] "Your uncle Ed and me were real excited about the get-together. We love the whole idear."
Radar: [beaming] Hey, that's great!
Charles: Lord, this grammar is atrocious. First of all, it should be "Your uncle Ed and I", are "very excited" or "terribly excited", we won't even discuss "idear".
Radar: Look, Major, you don't have to translate for me, that's how she talks when she writes! - Heroic BSoD: B.J. is having one about his patient, at least until he hears all of the parents the others have written are enthusiastic about the party.
- Interspecies Romance: As Charles continues to read Mrs. O'Reilly's letter to Radar, he says there has been an incident involving their goat, Ranty. Radar laughs it off until Charles explains that Ranty tried to kiss a turkey, whereupon he tells Charles to put the letter in his pocket so he can read it in private.
- Like Father, Like Son: Or, like son, like father - at least, that's what Col. Potter is afraid of when he hears Hawkeye's father and Mildred danced all night at the party.Col. Potter: Pierce, if your father is anything like you, we need to have a long, long talk about this.
- Odd Friendship: According to Peg's letter, the Winchesters instantly befriended the O'Reillys at the party, even though Charles' family are intellectual Boston Blue Bloods and Radar's family are down-to-earth Iowa farmers, and they got on so well that the Winchesters invited Radar to join them on Cape Cod during his first summer back from Korea. Radar is delighted; Charles emphatically is not.
- Right Now Montage: The way we see each of the characters reacting to the letter they receive from home from their parents (Charles, Hawkeye, Klinger, Margaret, Radar) or relatives (Col. Potter to his wife, Father Mulcahy to his sister); they read the letters while in the jeep going back to camp, then the driver of the jeep has to swerve to avoid something in the road, and then we go to the next jeep of characters.
- Saying Too Much: Radar, reading from Peg's letter, gets so into her recounting of the party that he reveals to Klinger his mother already knew he was in Korea, but let him think she didn't know so he wouldn't worry about her worrying about him. He quickly apologizes, but Klinger brushes it off.Radar: Oh geez, I guess I shouldn't have read that.Klinger: That's okay, kid. Boy, I never could get anything past her.
- Skewed Priorities: B.J. has trouble convincing people that his party is a good idea - mainly because he's asking them as they're packing up the camp to bug out.
- Tempting Fate: An interesting version. Charles, Hawkeye and Margaret are all convinced their parents won't be coming to the party; Charles because he assumes his parents are like him (snobs), Hawkeye because he thinks his father is Married to the Job, and Margaret because her parents are estranged, and she doesn't think they'll want to be in the same room together. All of them are proven wrong.
- Time Skip: There is a three-part scene when the characters are trying to find a weekend that will work for the party. At the first meeting, Charles says the original plan for Valentine's Day weekend is out since his father has a meeting of the Harvard Board of Overseers that weekend, while Radar says his mother and uncle Ed are entering a baby calf in a livestock fair in Davenport the following week. They agree on March 1, but we then skip ahead to a second meeting at which Father Mulcahy says they have to re-schedule, as his sister's basketball team are in their league's playoffs that weekend, and Col. Potter nixes the next weekend as it's his grandson's birthday, and Margaret says the week after that is her father's Army regiment reunion. So they agree on March 21... and we skip ahead to a third meeting at which B.J. says they have to re-schedule again as Peg is taking her real estate broker's exam that weekend. (Fortunately, the next weekend is free for all of them.)
