M*A*S*H: Dear Dad

M*A*S*H: Dear Dad
CBS
December 17, 1972
Dramedy
DVD
C+

If I recall correctly, this would be the first of many episodes where Hawkeye writes a letter to his father back in Vermont.  It is also the first of I don't know how many Christmas episodes.  There was a recent episode where it was 1951, but I guess we can pretend that this happened before then and make this still 1950.  Continuity is not yet an issue.  Looking at this episode by itself, the letter device allows for a lot of moments that have no consequences, like Hawkeye making three dates in one night.  (Doesn't he think the nurses compare notes?  It's not like this is a city.)  And I have to admit that, yes, this is where Hawkeye/Hot Lips shipping really begins, since he not only compliments her bottom but gives her a big Christmas kiss (sans mistletoe), which she happily returns.  Of course, this is after he and Trapper sabotage her date with Frank, for no reason except to be jerks.  But we're supposed to see this as harmless fun, and after all Hawkeye performs surgery in the field while dressed as Santa, and Trapper vaccinates the local children.  The real hero of the episode is Father Mulcahy, who talks Klinger (not in drag but wearing a lucky scarf from his mother) out of throwing a grenade at Burns.  Oh, and Blake's "sex lecture" is a cute scene, with the first hint that Radar is a virgin.


Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss) and Bonnie Jones (Bannerman) return.  Buck Young has his first of three M*A*S*H roles, as the M.P.