An Eye For a Tooth was the 14th episode of Season 7 of M*A*S*H, also the 160th overall series episode. The episode, which was written by Ronny Graham, was directed by Charles S. Dubin. The episode originally aired on CBS-TV on December 11, 1978.
Synopsis[]
Charles encourages Hawkeye and B.J. to raise the stakes in their prank war with Margaret (and vice versa). Father Mulcahy is desperate to receive a promotion.
Full episode summary[]
Most of the doctors are hung over from a party the night before - but Margaret is thrilled, because her attorney has gotten her soon-to-be ex-husband to release her half of their joint savings.
Father Mulcahy gets some bad news: he was passed over - again - for promotion. As Hawkeye and B.J. try to cheer him up, Margaret pulls a practical joke by overloading Hawkeye's coffee with sugar, which turns into a mini-food fight. Normally, she'd be mad at the silliness, but she's so happy about her good news that she doesn't care.
Wounded arrive, including a chopper which lands directly onto the compound. The chopper pilot, a Captain Toby Hill, explains that the wounded man he was carrying woke up mid-flight, delirious, and tried to climb off the stretcher. Had Hill stayed in the air a few seconds longer, he would've fallen to his death - hence the quick landing. Hill decides to stay on in camp for a couple of days of rest, and meets Father Mulcahy in the shower. When Hill reluctantly mentions that he has been promoted twice in the past six months (from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain), Mulcahy is inwardly livid and, soaking wet from the shower, tramps to Potter's office in his bathrobe and complains to Potter.
During surgery, Charles stokes the prank war fire, suggesting that Margaret get revenge for the glob of oatmeal Hawkeye flung at her in the Mess Tent. She initially brushes it off, but Charles keeps prodding until she finally agrees and decides to get back at them - sending them gag letters, one filled with powder which gets all over B.J.'s face, and an electrically-charged one, sort of a joy envelope buzzer, for Hawkeye, who declares war.
But it's Charles who takes it upon himself to get revenge for them. He rigs it so it looks like the pilot is asking Margaret out. When the gag is revealed, Margaret is embarrassed. She turns in anger towards Hawkeye and B.J., who are laughing hysterically. Charles, for his part, has snuck out of the tent before the gag's payoff, escaping any blame. Mulcahy gets hit in the face with a lemon meringue pie thrown by Houlihan at Hawkeye and B.J.
Margaret gets them back by stealing their robes and towels out of the showers, causing Hawkeye and B.J. to run home naked, only to be greeted in the Swamp by Margaret and the nurses, waiting with popcorn and magnifying glasses.
Meanwhile, Potter's efforts to secure a promotion for Father Mulcahy fail. He ashamedly tells this to Mulcahy, who is philosophical about it, and a little embarrassed that he wanted something like a promotion so badly.
In the middle of the night, Hawkeye and B.J. (again with Charles' help) get Margaret back by sneaking in Toby's stuffed mascot chopper counterweight, Little Mac, into her locker. It falls on her in bed, causing her to scream in terror.
Hawkeye and B.J. come in to take credit, but Margaret isn't finding any of this funny anymore. In her rage, she rips apart Little Mac, turning him into a pile of stuffing. Charles comes in later, supposedly to comfort her, but really to plan revenge. Margaret refuses, saying she wants this prank war to end, but Charles insists this last attack must be answered.
Father Mulcahy helps out the chopper pilot by serving as his chopper's counterweight to pick up a wounded soldier, now that Little Mac is out of commission. Hill refuses, but Mulcahy insists, and gets to go along.
The next morning, Charles is giggling uncontrollably over the previous night's events. Margaret comes in, and is furious, saying that Hawkeye and B.J.'s stunt was "cruel and inhuman." Her revenge? A letter to Peg, telling her about the "year-long love affair" between her and B.J., and that it was Hawkeye who brought them together.
Everyone is stunned--this has gotten out of hand. B.J. gets so angry that he physically attacks Margaret, leading a panicked Winchester to admit the whole thing--all the jokes--were his idea. He apologizes profusely, but then the three reveal that their whole thing was a practical joke they concocted to get back at Charles; during the night, they compared notes and realized that Charles was setting them all up the whole time.
Later, Hill returns with the wounded man, and a discombobulated Mulcahy. Potter is mad at first, but then says he fully intends to put Mulcahy up for a commendation, and the next time promotions come around, he'll get one.
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- The plot involving the practical jokes was apparently based on a real-life spate of them between David Ogden Stiers, Mike Farrell, and Alan Alda.
- The party everyone participated in the night before is announced over the P.A. celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Officers Club. Since the O Club was introduced in Season Two's "Officers Only", that means only a year has transpired between Season 2 and Season 7.
- Toby Hill had to put down his helicopter in the camp compound next to the barber tent just after the mess tent because he was in a great hurry. However, if you look carefully at his flight path, he had actually overflown the chopper pad before getting to his landing spot, so he could just as easily have used the regular chopper pad--unless, of course, it was already occupied by other choppers. The PA announcement suggests that there were other helicopters arriving. Toby Hill's landing spot is on the track which leads up to the upper chopper pad.
- Margaret gathers the nurses in the Swamp to wait for the captains, who were forced to run from the showers without their clothes. This is a good opportunity to spot for extras who play nurses. Kellye is definitely there, and possibly Jan Jorden by the door.
- Gary Burghoff does not appear in this episode.
- In this episode, Charles touches his nose as a signal to Klinger to begin his prank against Margaret. In an earlier episode, "War of Nerves", Margaret catches Charles touching his nose, and it causes an argument between them after Margaret claims that he is obsessed with his nose. This episode could confirm her claims.
- When Margaret arrives in the Swamp to tell the surgeon she mailed a letter to B.J.'s wife, she mentions the dummy gag as being "cruel and inhuman." It would make sense for her character to legitimately react this way: one of Margaret's greatest fears is of being raped.
- The title of the episode comes from “an eye for an eye”, an expression used in the Bible in the book of Exodus. It is part of a series of commands regarding assault and injury: "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise" (Exodus 21:22-25). The switching of "eye" for "tooth" in the title indicates how the pranks escalate in severity, much like taking an eye in place of a tooth.
- Worth noting is if “Little Mac” was in fact used as ballast for single-patient chopper flights, one would assume that he would weigh about the average weight of a soldier. The way he’s handled throughout the episode (especially when Hawkeye and B.J. are taking him out of Margaret’s tent) would indicate that he only weighs 10 or 20 pounds.
- Father Mulcahy tells Captain Hill there's a badly wounded man on "Hill 503." Usually, the go-to location for battles in the show is "Hill 403," so it's unclear if this was an error on William Christopher's part, or if the script writers wanted to use a different number for a change.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Peter Palmer as Captain Toby Hill
- Uncredited appearances:
- Kellye Nakahara (see Lieutenant Kellye Yamato)--mess tent and swamp
- Jan Jorden--Swamp
- Jennifer Davis--at Toby Hill's chopper
- Roy Goldman
Gallery[]
