The camp falls into chaos when Colonel Potter rotates the duty roster and no one can do their new jobs right. Winchester is nearly killed, reviving memories of his brother who died in childhood.
Attention all personnel! Colonel Potter has the following trope assignments for the camp officers:
- Artistic License – Military: In order to avoid the exact situation that develops with the trays, change of responsibility for military equipment is accompanied by a layout, where all inventoried items are laid out in the open for inspection and accountability. While Hawkeye might have fallen for Klinger's trick of getting him to sign without checking, Margaret as a career military person should have known better.
- Death Seeker: Winchester becomes one in hopes of better understanding what comes after one dies. This is a unique example in that he does not seek to die, but is putting himself in danger without thinking about the consequences so as to gain insight into the afterlife.
- Mood Whiplash: The episode's tone pingpongs between the grim solemnity of Winchester's A-plot, and the much wackier and lighthearted B-plot (where the rest of the cast is trying to cope with being saddled with extra duties, particularly Hawkeye dealing with being rooked by Klinger into signing for the responsibility of 50 missing mess hall trays unawares).
