Goodbye, Farewell and Amen is a television movie that served as the final episode of the M*A*S*H television series. Closing out the series' 11th season, the 2½-hour episode first aired on CBS on February 28, 1983. Written by a large number of collaborators, including series star Alan Alda, who also directed, the finale surpassed the single-episode ratings record that had been set by the Dallas episode that resolved the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger.
From 1983 until 2010, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" remained the most watched television broadcast in American history, passed in total viewership- but not in ratings or share, in February 2010 by Super Bowl XLIV. The episode drew 121.6 million American viewers, more than both that year's Super Bowl and the famed Roots miniseries, and remains the most watched finale of any television series. While the M*A*S*H series ended with this episode, three of the series' main characters (Sherman Potter, Maxwell Klinger, and Father Mulcahy) would later reunite in the 1983–1985 sequel series AfterMASH.
The episode chronicles the final days of the Korean War at the 4077th MASH and features several story lines intended to show the war's effects on the individual personnel of the unit, and to bring closure to the series. After the cease fire goes into effect, the members of the 4077th throw a farewell party before breaking camp for the last time.
A repeat of GFA on September 19, 1983 was appropriately the last official telecast of M*A*S*H to air on CBS; the finale was rebroadcast again September 16, 1984. The episode was added to the syndication package for the series in 1993.
Plot Synopsis[]
With the Korean war finally coming to an end, nobody is left unaffected by their experiences, particularly Hawkeye.
Full Episode Summary[]
The war is finally nearing an end, and Hawkeye, having had some kind of mental breakdown, is in Seoul being treated by Sidney Freedman. Hawkeye's memories of what led to his breakdown have become repressed or altered, and as he and Sidney draw them out, Hawkeye initially remembers the details inaccurately.
In the first recollection we see, Hawkeye and most of the rest of the camp went to the beach at Incheon to celebrate the Fourth of July. On their merry way back to camp, Hawkeye sarcastically called for a liquor bottle to be passed back to a sullen soldier who “can’t wait”; later, he is able to remember that the soldier who couldn't wait was actually wounded, and that the bottle Hawkeye needed was an IV bottle. When asked where the soldier came from, Hawkeye remembers that on the way back from the beach, the bus stopped to pick up some refugees, and then some wounded soldiers who warned about an enemy patrol nearby. The bus pulled off the road into a grove of bushes, and everyone is told to stay completely quiet to avoid being spotted by the Chinese. One local woman carried a live chicken that began clucking loudly, prompting Hawkeye to angrily admonish her (in a hushed voice) to “keep that damned chicken quiet!”; moments later, the noise abruptly stopped.
With Sidney's prompting, Hawkeye begins to recall what actually happened: It turned out that it was not a clucking chicken, but a crying baby; unable to keep it quiet, the woman made the ad hoc decision to smother her own child to silence it and save the lives of herself and the others on the bus. Hawkeye was so inwardly traumatized by this that he suppressed the truth. After returning to surgery at camp he attempted to operate on a patient without anesthesia, accusing the gas passer of trying to smother the patient with the mask. But it was a later incident - driving a Jeep through the wall of the Officers' Club and uncharacteristically ordering a double bourbon, that caused Hawkeye to be committed to the mental hospital.
When he accurately recalls the horror that happened on the bus, Hawkeye breaks down in anguished sobs, saying, "I didn't mean for her to kill it! I just wanted it to be quiet!" He then rebukes Sidney for making him recall the truth, to which Sidney replies, "You had to get it out in the open. Now we're halfway home." With the true memory of the events on the bus now restored to his consciousness, Hawkeye acknowledges the fact that he has suffered a nervous breakdown, and is writing his father to inform him that he might be coming home soon as he doubts the Army will let a surgeon operate "whose cheese has slipped off his cracker." But Sidney, deciding that he is ready to be released, sends a dubious Hawkeye back to the 4077th, promising to check up on him periodically.
Meanwhile, the camp compound has turned into a refugee camp, with a makeshift POW pen built to house some wounded enemy soldiers, as news reports of a potential truce spark an escalation in the fighting. An out-of-control tank (manned by a badly-wounded soldier) runs over the camp latrine, forcing Charles to go to a nearby ravine to relieve himself. En route, he encounters a ragtag group of five Chinese soldiers on a motorcycle, and is surprised when they “surrender”, and even more surprised when they reveal that they're actually musicians. Playing "Oh Susanna" on the way, the musicians follow a chagrined Charles back to camp. B.J. takes possession of the motorcycle and later annoys Charles by painting it yellow.
Frustrated that he is about to miss his chance to win a coveted position at a hospital in Boston, Charles consoles himself by conducting the Chinese musicians in rehearsals of one of his favorite Mozart pieces (the first movement of the Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581). On the surface, he is irritated with them over their inability to play the piece correctly, but inwardly he is bonding with and growing quite fond of them. Margaret learns of Charles' situation back home and puts in a good word with the Boston hospital's board, resulting in him getting his cherished position, but her efforts only elicit Charles' wrath when he finds out.
B.J. receives his discharge papers and joyously runs through the camp. Showing the papers to Colonel Potter in the Mess Tent, he is taken aback as he had no prior knowledge of the orders, but he is also put off by the fact that B.J.'s departure will leave the 4077th badly understaffed with only two available surgeons. B.J. begs Potter to call in for a replacement, which Potter reluctantly agrees to, and B.J. is well on his way home. He visits Hawkeye in the hospital, but when he sees the shape he's still in, he reluctantly decides not to tell him he's going home. Later, after he says his speedy goodbyes and the chopper takes off, Klinger informs Potter that B.J.'s travel orders have been rescinded, but Potter cannot (by choice) hear Klinger over the chopper.
With the crashed tank still in the middle of camp and Potter under orders to leave it be for the time being, enemy forces begin sporadic mortar assaults against the 4077th; they fire off three shells before quickly moving to another position. During one barrage, Father Mulcahy runs to the compound to open the POW pen when a mortar round explodes nearby knocking him unconscious; B.J. later examines him and finds his hearing is damaged, but Mulcahy swears him to secrecy, as it would likely result in his being sent home, unable to help the local orphans.
The short-handed OR staff are soon swamped with wounded, and Potter, while in surgery, again calls I-Corps to angrily demand they expedite a replacement. Hawkeye, returning just after B.J.'s departure, is upset that he left without saying goodbye, pointing out to Margaret that Trapper John left the same way. Shortly afterward, during another barrage of enemy shelling, Hawkeye decides to take matters in his own hands and drives the crashed tank through the newly-built latrine and into the camp's remote garbage dump, far enough from the camp where the shelling won't hurt anyone. Most of the camp is relieved that they are now out of harm's way, but when Mulcahy wonders aloud if Hawkeye might have been released too early, Potter agrees and puts in a call to Sidney.
Meanwhile, Soon-Lee is still trying to find her missing family, and Klinger becomes concerned when he learns that she has gone off on her own to find them; when he catches up with her, they both realize that they have feelings for one another. Later, Klinger proposes to her, and she accepts; he regales her with stories about Toledo, but much to his frustration, Soon-Lee refuses to leave Korea until she finds her family. He later shares his troubles with Potter who says, "When you're in love you're always in trouble", and advises Klinger that there's only two things he can do: "either stop lovin' em, or love 'em a whole lot more".
A salvo of incendiary bombs has ignited a major fire in a nearby forest, and the 4077th is forced to bug out. As soon as the camp is set up in its new location, the new replacement surgeon arrives, and it turns out to be B.J. himself, who only got as far as Guam before finding out about his rescinded travel orders. Reuniting with Hawkeye, B.J. apologetically explains that everything happened so fast that he had no time to leave a note. Longing to be home in time for his daughter Erin's second birthday, B.J. discusses with Father Mulcahy about inviting the orphanage to a big party, during which Potter, Mulcahy, and Margaret decide to have a "birthday by proxy", finding an orphan girl close to Erin's age and declaring the day to be her birthday as well, causing a touched B.J. to remark, "What better birthday present to get than your own birthday."
Seeing all the children at the party, an uneasy Hawkeye becomes withdrawn and tries to slip away, but Sidney, who shows up during the festivities, catches up with him. Hawkeye tells him about moving the tank out of the camp, which Sidney believes was the right thing to do. Hawkeye then opens up about the thought of losing a patient under his care, which never bothered him so much before; Sidney says it may make him an even better doctor than he already is.
Charles eventually has to part ways with the Chinese musicians, as they are to be used in a POW exchange. As they are driven away, they finally play the Mozart piece correctly for him. At that moment, the PA announces the news that the armistice has finally been signed, and a ceasefire will go into effect at 2200 hours that night, officially ending the war. A loud cheer goes up in the camp, but the celebration is very short-lived as more wounded arrive, and Potter announces to everyone that I-Corps wants them back in Uijeongbu right away, so only the patients that cannot wait get first priority before they return.
Back at their old site, everyone takes a long and sobering look at all the fire damage before they go back to work; much of the equipment left behind was destroyed, but somehow the hospital building remained undamaged. The camp again sets up shop and gets to work on the remaining wounded they brought back.
With less than six hours left before the ceasefire takes effect, Hawkeye and B.J. take a break in the Mess Tent and talk about many of the things they're not going to miss, but then their discussion comes around to what they will miss: each other. B.J. tries to reassure Hawkeye that they will still get to see one another back home, but with each of them living on an opposite coast, Hawkeye doesn't see how and becomes convinced that once they go home they'll never see one another again, but B.J. refuses to accept that finality.
More wounded arrive in camp, and Charles goes to do triage. But to his horror, one of the casualties is one of the musicians, mortally wounded after the truck carrying the POWs was hit by shellfire. After he is informed that none of the others survived, a deeply shaken Charles takes a break and goes to the Swamp where he plays a record of the Mozart piece they were rehearsing. This only intensifies his pain, however, and he angrily yanks the record from the turntable and smashes it to pieces.
In the OR, Hawkeye's next patient is brought in: an eight-year-old girl. Hawkeye is hesitant at first, but when Potter offers to switch patients with him, he declines and goes to work, indicating that his recovery is complete. Sidney, his work now finished, leaves the 4077th with the same parting line he used during one of his earliest visits: “Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice: pull down your pants and slide on the ice.”
The staff continues operating throughout the evening, stopping just briefly to take note when 2200 hours comes, and they hear the guns fall silent during a radio newscast piped over the loudspeaker, with reporter Robert Pierpoint accenting the ceasefire with the words:
"There it is...That's the sound of peace."
Once the last of the wounded have been cared for, the entire camp throws a farewell party in the Mess Tent, with many members commenting on their future plans:
- Colonel Potter looks forward to rejoining his wife Mildred back in Missouri and becoming a “semi-retired country doctor”, but even more so becoming "Mrs. Potter's Mister Potter".
- After several overseas offers, Margaret, after taking a furlough, plans to work at a hospital in the United States.
- Father Mulcahy decides to leave parish work and begin working with the deaf, and while admitting he will miss hearing confession, he feels that "after listening to you people for so long, I think I've just about heard it all!"
- Kellye has put in to be assigned to Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu to be with her family.
- Rizzo is going back home to Louisiana to breed frogs for French restaurants.
- Hawkeye wants to "take it easy for awhile", going into private practice back home in Crabapple Cove, where he can get to know his patients better.
- Igor is going to be a pig farmer (which earns a remark from Rizzo: "Whaddaya mean, gonna be??").
- B.J. jokes about running off with a woman he met in Guam during his travel delay, but then admits he was only kidding.
- Charles, having gotten the position he sought at Boston Mercy, says, "My life will go on as expected... with one exception: For me, music has always been a refuge from this miserable experience. And now it will always be a... reminder".
- The biggest surprise of all comes from Klinger who, after announcing he and Soon-Lee are getting married, reveals that he is staying in Korea to help her find her family. He then asks Potter to be his best man, which he humbly accepts and then proposes a toast to Klinger and Soon-Lee.
The next morning, Klinger and Soon-Lee are married by Father Mulcahy, with Potter as best man, and Margaret as matron of honor. After the ceremony, Klinger is the first to say his goodbyes, especially to Potter, and then boards an ox cart with Soon-Lee; as the newlyweds ride away, the nurses shout at Soon-Lee to throw her bouquet, which she does, and Margaret catches it. As camp is being permanently dismantled, Rizzo gives a boarding call for the 8063rd, and as they make their way to the bus, Kellye decides she wants the 'Honolulu' sign off of the fingerpost for a keepsake, and everyone else grabs most of the rest of the signs. Most of the staff, including all of the nurses, board the bus and ride out from camp for the last time.
Charles and Margaret planned to ride together to the 8063rd on the way back home, but her belongings take up too much space in the jeep, so Charles sends Rizzo to find another "mode". Charles then makes peace with Margaret and allows her to keep a treasured book she borrowed from him (Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning). Just before leaving the camp, Margaret receives hugs from various members of the unit and then engages in a long, passionate goodbye kiss with Hawkeye. After Margaret leaves, the Swamp is dismantled as its former occupants sarcastically mourn its demise. The last available vehicle Rizzo has is a garbage truck, which is all too appropriate for Charles who remarks, "What better way to leave a garbage dump"; after thanking Hawkeye and B.J., for helping him "realize what going home is all about", Charles gives his colleagues one last acknowledgment ("Gentleme-e-en...") before riding out for Boston.
Potter plans to take one final ride on his beloved horse Sophie before he donates her to the local orphanage, and take a Jeep from there. He tells Hawkeye and B.J. "It would be hard to call what we've been through 'fun,' but I'm sure glad we went through it together." He reflects on how Hawkeye and B.J. always managed to give him a good laugh when he needed it most, recalling when they dropped Charles' pants in the OR, admitting that he was only pretending to be angry while inwardly "laughing to beat all hell." As Potter mounts, Hawkeye and B.J. offer him a small token gift from the heart: a formal military salute, which Potter emotionally returns before he rides off.
Hawkeye sees B.J.'s final message.
With everyone else now gone, Hawkeye and B.J. are finding it all the more difficult to part. As they reminisce over their time together, Hawkeye tries to agree with B.J. that they might see one another again, but in case they don't, Hawkeye tells B.J. how much he has meant to him, to which B.J. responds, "I can't imagine what this place would have been like if I hadn't found you here." The two exchange a long embrace before Hawkeye boards a chopper. Right before B.J. leaves on his motorcycle, he shouts to Hawkeye a promise that they will see each other back home, but he left Hawkeye a note just in case. Hawkeye couldn't hear what B.J. said, but as his chopper lifts off, a smile grows on Hawkeye's face as he finally sees B.J.'s note- the word "GOODBYE", spelled out in stones on the ground.
Taking one last look at the now permanently abandoned 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital as the chopper rises and flies off into the distance, Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce contentedly sits back in his seat as he begins his own long-awaited journey home...
Recurring cast/Guest stars[]
- Rosalind Chao as Soon-Lee
- Allan Arbus as Major Sidney Freedman
- Kellye Nakahara as Lieutenant Kellye Yamoto
- John Otrin as Ambulance Driver
- Jeff Maxwell as Igor Straminsky
- Roy Goldman as Private Roy Goldman
- Jim Lau as Chinese Musician
- Jan Jorden as Lieutenant Baker
- Jo Ann Thompson as Nurse Jo Ann
- Enid Kent as Nurse Bigelow
- Judy Farrell as Nurse Able
- Gwen Farrell as Nurse Gwen
- G.W. Bailey as Sgt. Luthor Rizzo
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- The night "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" first aired, it followed a re-airing of the pilot episode from 1972. The episode was sponsored by Chevrolet.
- This is the only episode of the series to feature the episode title superimposed on-screen.
- As the nurses and others leave camp for the final time, Kellye suddenly gets the urge to grab the 'Honolulu' sign off of the fingerpost near the Swamp as a souvenir. Most of the others take the rest of the signs, including B.J., who naturally takes the 'San Francisco' sign. Fittingly, the only signs left on the post are for Tokyo and Seoul. Strangely, the 'Boston' sign, hung at the top of the post by Charles soon after his arrival in camp, is missing, and apparently does not go home with him.
- For the third time in the whole series, the 4077th bugs out. In fact, the footage of the camp bugging out was taken from the Season 5 episode "Bug Out." It was wisely edited to not show Hawkeye, Radar, Frank and especially Klinger in drag, since by that point he had stopped. New music was also added, along with some new dubbed voices to make it seem fresh. The only problem with this is: immediately before the bug out, Klinger comments to Potter about what he thinks is a "beautiful sunset" (which is really the oncoming fire) - that means they would have had to move out in the dark, but all the previous bug-out footage takes place in daylight.
- Hawkeye and Margaret's goodbye kiss lasts 33 seconds.
- Alan Alda and Loretta Swit are the only regulars to appear in both the 1972 pilot episode and 1983 series finale. However, Alda is the only series regular to be in each and every episode of the series (251 episodes spanning 11 years). Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of the series.
- Klinger mentions he has an Uncle Jameel, referencing Jamie Farr's birth name: Jameel Joseph Farah.
- The idea to have Klinger voluntarily stay in Korea in the final episode was suggested by Jamie Farr himself.
- This has the most writers credited for a single episode in the entire series' run: eight.
- This is the only time opening theme song "Suicide is Painless" is then played in its entirety throughout the closing credit sequence instead of the standard closing theme.
- The wildfire story line was written into the show after an actual wildfire destroyed most of the outdoor set in October 1982. The scene was filmed less than 12 hours after the fire had ravaged the set. In November 2018, the Woolsey Fire again swept through the area, now a State Park.
- David Ogden Stiers, who played Charles, was always a little detached from the rest of the cast. Unlike the others, nobody on the cast or crew had his direct phone number, so if and when he had to be reached, it was through a message with his agent. In one of the key scenes of Charles' farewell, he gives Margaret the book of poetry they argued about earlier, and he has signed it - the inscription is actually to his co-star Loretta Swit, and it includes his phone number. Her reaction is genuine.
- Margaret's line, "Does this look like peace to you??", is an actual quote from a M*A*S*H nurse when the end of the Korean war was announced and the nurse was interviewed by the press about it.
- There is an episode of the Japanese TV series, Monkey, called "Mothers" from 1980 that has a similar storyline where a mother smothers her child (in this case, accidentally) to save herself and several others who are hiding.
- During one of the final OR sessions, when BJ, Potter, Hawkeye, and Margaret mention the food they will enjoy when they get back home, Potter mentions that he'll have fresh corn on the cob. Since the Korean War truce was signed in July 1953, it is highly unlikely he'd find corn in a field grown enough to pick at this time of year
External links[]
Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen (TV series episode) article at Wikipedia