Some 38th Parallels was the 92nd episode of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H, and also the 20th episode of the fourth season of the series. Written by John W. Reiger and Gary Markowitz, and directed by Burt Metcalfe, it first aired on January 20, 1976.
Synopsis[]
Hawkeye has impotency problems, Frank auctions off the 4077th's garbage, and Radar becomes distraught after a patient he has taken special interest in dies.
Full episode summary[]
The 4077th is busy with wounded, all from Col. Coner's unit. Coner is willing to risk the lives of his soldiers in an attempt to retrieve the bodies of the fallen, causing even more casualties.
There are other things going on - Frank gets excited over the idea of selling the 4077th's garbage to local contractors, Radar helps save a patient when he alerts a busy B.J. to a "funny look" on the patient's face, and Hawkeye suffers his first bout of impotence with Nurse Able.
More wounded arrive, along with their commander, the aforementioned Col. Coner (Kevin Hagen). Hawkeye and B.J. try and talk him out of his determination to risk so many lives, but he dismisses them. Hawkeye turns to B.J. for advice about his "problem", then Col. Potter. They both give him the same advice - his nerves are so brittle from being at the 4077th, no wonder this is happening. Hawkeye seems unsure.
While passing by one of B.J.'s patients, a Private Phelan, Radar notices something and notifies B.J., who comes to the patient's aid and tells Radar that he may have just saved Phelan's life, which delights Radar. Later, Radar visits Phelan in Post-Op and gets to be friends with him. Private Phelan develops complications, and B.J. has to operate again. Phelan seems to be recovering, but passes away suddenly, and Radar is devastated.
Frank holds his first garbage auction, but Hawkeye ends up buying all of the trash. Later, Hawkeye, B.J., and Col. Potter are in the Mess Tent, when Col. Coner announces he's leaving. He is indifferent to another one of his men (Pvt. Phelan) dying the night before, rattling off his "kill ratio" as a defense.
As Col. Coner prepares to leave, Hawkeye instructs them all to follow him outside. A chopper flies by, dumping the bundle of garbage right onto Col. Coner, covering him in filth. B.J., Hawkeye, Klinger, and even Potter laugh. Frank is mad, and Potter, while smiling, insists he hasn't seen a thing. This "letting go of the reins" (as Potter put it earlier) invigorates Hawkeye. He searches out Nurse Able, seemingly ready to resume their romance.
Later that evening during a movie, B.J. asks Hawkeye how it went with Nurse Able; Hawkeye says it was "terrific." Frank pesters Col. Potter about charging the locals $1 each for helicopter rides, but the Colonel isn't hearing it. He offers some popcorn to Radar, but Radar is still deeply upset about the death of Pvt. Phalen.
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- Actor Kevin Hagen would return to M*A*S*H in Season 7, playing a different, and much more agreeable, character.
- Loretta Swit receives billing but does not appear in this episode. Her character of Major Houlihan is mentioned. though, and is apparently nearby but off-screen - she removed some of the more suggestive pieces in Radar's jigsaw puzzle.
- Lynette Mettey played a different nurse during each of the first four seasons of M*A*S*H. She played Lt. Nancy Griffin in several Season 1 episodes; then she made an appearance as Lt. Sheila Anderson in Season 2, as Nurse Baker in Season 3, and finally as Nurse Able in this episode. (Note that all these character names were used in dialogue as well as in the credits.) This is Mettey's final appearance on M*A*S*H.
- George O'Hanlon, Jr. (who plays Private Phelan) is the son of George O'Hanlon, best known as the voice of cartoon character George Jetson.
- Col. Coner's math is significantly off. He boasts that his kill ratio on his last mission is "8 and half to 1, maybe 9 and a half." But he says that his unit knocked off 15 or 20 of the enemy. With Pvt. Phelan's death, he lost 3 men on that mission - which makes Col. Coner's kill ratio between 5 and 6.5 to 1.
- When the trash is dumped on Col. Coner at the end of the episodes, B.J. praises the act, calling it "A Tintoretto in barf!" Tintoretto was a 16th Century Italian painter.
- Although "trashing" the overzealous gung-ho Colonel is amusing to Hawkeye and the entire staff, this action will not prevent future excess casualties arriving at the M*A*S*H as happened 4 episodes later in Deluge (TV series episode). In at least at two other episodes ("The Ringbanger" and "Preventative Medicine"), Hawkeye takes specific actions against commanders that are designed to result in fewer casualties.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- William Christopher as Father Mulcahy
- Kevin Hagen as Colonel Coner
- George O'Hanlon Jr. as Private Gerald Phelan
- Lynette Mettey as Nurse Able
Uncredited appearances by:
- Richard Lee-Sung as Auction Bidder
- Kellye Nakahara as Nurse Kellye (who has a line, and appears to be going on a date with Klinger)