Ceasefire was episode 23 of the first season of the TV series M*A*S*H, also the 23rd overall episode of the series. Written by Larry Gelbart and Robert Klane, and directed by Earl Bellamy, it originally aired on CBS-TV on March 18, 1973.
Synopsis[]
Rumors of a ceasefire reach the 4077th. Everyone is jubilant and says their goodbyes, except for Trapper, who is skeptical about it. Celebrations are in full swing when news arrives that the rumor is unfounded.
Full episode summary[]
Upon the news of a ceasefire, everyone in camp celebrates and says their goodbyes, except for Trapper John, who remains skeptical. Everyone prepares for the end of the war in their own way. Ho-Jon asks for a token to remember the surgeons by, and Hawkeye encourages him to take whatever he wants from throughout the camp. Klinger mounts a "ceasefire-sale" of his Klinger Collection, which is snapped up enthusiastically by the nurses. Radar collects autographs from all his friends. Margaret and Frank say tearful farewells to each other.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye has to wriggle his way out of commitments to three different nurses, so he tells each of them that he is married. The first nurse, Nancy Griffin, leaves him for good. The next, Margie Cutler, hits him on the head with a bedpan. The third nurse, Barbara Bannerman, tells him to check his sleeping bag for a landmine.
The camp gathers enthusiastically in the mess tent for a ceasefire party, featuring guest of honor Brigadier General Crandell Clayton, who gave Henry the news. Hawkeye launches the festivities by announcing that he is forgiving $1,500 worth of poker debts; later, he shows several embarrassing pictures of the General, but before the celebrations go much further, Radar brings news that the ceasefire did not actually happen. To make things worse, wounded begin to arrive. Afterward, Hawkeye thinks of the gambling debts he forgave, the nurses who now hate him, and being on Clayton's hate list.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Jamie Farr as Klinger
- William Christopher as Father Mulcahy
- Patrick Adiarte as Ho-Jon
- Lynette Mettey as Nancy
- Marcia Strassman as Margie
- Bonnie Jones as Barbara
- Odessa Cleveland as Ginger
- Bruce Kimmel as Private Gilbert
- Herb Voland as General Clayton
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- Apparently, an alternative ending was written for this script in which the war actually did end. This was just in case the network decided not to renew M*A*S*H for another season, in which case the alternative ending would have been used, and "Ceasefire" would have been the last episode.[1]
- At the end of the episode, Hawkeye and Trapper are sitting in the frame of their tent; a similar scene is in "Bug Out", when Hawkeye goes back to the Swamp after it has been taken down (the only difference is, in this episode, Trapper was smart enough not to give away any of his things, so only his corner of the Swamp is still populated - including the still).
- This episode marks the last appearances of several recurring characters. Hawkeye pre-emptively breaks up with three of the nurses he's been causally seeing over the course of the season, all of whom believe their relationship with Hawkeye to be significantly more than casual: Lt. Margie Cutler (Marcia Strassman), Lt. Barbara Bannerman (Bonnie Jones), and Lt. Nancy Griffin (Lynette Mettey). Hawkeye breaks up with each of them by lying about being married (and having five kids), and each of them leave angry at having been deceived by a "married" man. None are ever seen again, although Mettey would return as three different nurses in Seasons 2-4.
- After an absence of 12 episodes in which he wasn't seen, heard, or referred to, Patrick Adiarte returns briefly (and rather jarringly) as Ho-Jon for this episode. No mention is made of his planned trip to America, and the character disappears without explanation or comment after this final appearance.
- This episode misuses the term "ceasefire" to an egregious extent: A ceasefire is only a temporary ceasing of hostilities between two warring factions for the purpose of furthering peace negotiations. It is not meant to be an indication of the complete cessation of all conflict. (In Season 8, the ceasefire is more accurately portrayed in "Dear Uncle Abdul".)
- In a scene usually cut from syndicated airings, Frank and Margaret get drunk in her tent while they share a farewell bottle of champagne. She says she can't live without him and proceeds to try to stick her head in her stove. Frank drags her away, and she pleads with him to take her with him back to the States, and that she could be his nurse. Frank says that his wife is his nurse, so Margaret says she'll be his patient.