BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) “ABYSSINA, HENRY”
Shows on TV don’t have half the balls as MASH did. The third season finale ended with a huge shocker. The awesome Lt. Col Henry Blake is discharged and sent home. Him leaving was an emotional situation enough. Then the producers and show runners pulled some magic. They didn’t let the cast know the ending until it was time to shoot. They passed out the last page of the script to reveal Radar delivering the news that Blake’s plane was shot down and there was no survivors. It was crazy. It was the first time in TV that a main character was killed off in such a tragic way. I don’t care what kind of mood I’m in, if I see that episode on I’ll stop and freeze for a few minutes. I HAVE to watch the last few minutes. I just can’t turn away. Even after seeing it a million times I feel like I’m missing something if I do.
(THREE) “POINT OF VIEW”
Seven season in and again, balls. This episode doesn’t just cover the 4077 like any other. It’s all done from the point of view of a wounded soldier. It’s a throat injury so the narrator/view can’t speak. Instead we get the cast pouring their heart out to him, looking out for him, and tending to him. It’s pretty awesome. It’s one of Alan Alda’s favorite episodes and it’s hard to argue with that. The stuff with Potter and his wife is great.
(TWO) “DREAMS”
I can’t stress enough how amazing MASH is. It was on for a million and a half episodes and I think it’s become so engraved into the history of Americana that we take it for granted. This show took chances and tried things no other show would attempt. This episode was a surreal one. They took things really far with it. It’s trippy and a mind fuck for sure. The plot is that they were in surgery for waaay too long. They’re all over worked and all sneak in some sleep. The result is dream sequences galore! I won’t get into the specific dreams because they’re all cool and weird in their own way. If you’ve not seen this episode, see it!
(ONE) “GOODBYE, FAREWELL, AND AMEN”
This isn’t fair. This was not a typical episode. The running time here was two hours and fifteen minutes WITHOUT COMMERCIALS. That’s 135 minutes, folks. This episode is the most watched television show of all time. Nothing in US history came close until the 2010 Superbowl. That’s a huge feat and rightfully so. This episode is the one of the best finales of all time to one of the best television shows of all time. The show was so awesome that ending it with due justice would be almost impossible. They did it. If you grew up with this show in your home like I did then you’ll always remember the last episode. I didn’t see it live because I wasn’t born yet, but I’m seen it more times than I can think of. We got closure on everything we needed closure on. Klinger’s marriage, Potter’s tears, Father’s hearing, Hawkeye’s breakdown, everything! The last thing we see is the rocks spelling out “Goodbye”. It’s amazing.
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