Radar is on leave. The generator at the 4077th explodes and the camp is at standstill without power. The auxiliary generator is missing. Radar returns, but attempts to get a new generator fail. Radar also finds out his Uncle Ed has died, making things difficult on the family farm. Colonel Potter has him file for hardship discharge.
Attention all personnel, the following tropes could overwhelm you:
- Armor-Piercing Response: Potter telling Radar he's granting him a hardship discharge.
- Get Out!: Radar to Klinger, after seeing the current condition of his workplace.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: Everyone in camp is jumping for joy over Radar's return to camp.
- Men Don't Cry: Radar acknowledges how he is not okay about Uncle Ed's death, but he says being the man of the family now means he has to be strong.
- Resigned to the Call: Radar really wants to just take a shower and get some food, but the others keep insisting he do something about the generator.
- Tempting Fate: Radar says that securing a new generator is actually a simple matter (three calls making deals tops). This time, though, he can't work his magic no matter what he's offering.
- To Be Continued: Radar is granted a hardship discharge, but with the 4077 still lacking a generator, he's not sure if he will actually be accepting it.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Between all the hassles he suffered getting back to camp and what Klinger did to his office, Radar gets very short with others (especially Klinger).Klinger: Boy, you sure don't act as sweet as you smell.
Radar: OUT! - Trauma Conga Line: Poor Radar gets put through the ringer in this episode. First, he gets kicked off his scheduled flight due to some asinine general taking up his spot on the plane with a cardboard cutout of himself. While stuck at the airport he bonds with a nurse that lives not far from his hometown, but their time together is cut short when he's forced to board an earlier flight back to his unit. He gets driven back on a jeep but then has to give up his seat to some stranded GI's and the perfume he intended to give to the nurses gets sprayed all over him. He finally returns to his unit on an ox-drawn cart, tired, hungry and in need of a shower, but has to put that on hold to find a generator (which he can't find). And then to top it all off at the end of the episode he finds out his uncle Ed has died.
- Wham Line: Potter enters the swamp asking where Radar is, saying he's got bad news.B.J.: Why? What's wrong?
Potter: Plenty. I just got a wire from the boy's mother in Iowa. Radar's uncle Ed passed away.
