M*A*S*H: Hot Lips and Empty Arms

M*A*S*H: Hot Lips and Empty Arms
CBS
December 15, 1973
Dramedy
DVD
B+

As the title indicates, this episode focuses on Margaret, but I honestly wasn't prepared for what a breath of fresh air it would be.  Seeing Linda Bloodworth and Mary Kay Place's names as the writers did give me hope, because not only is a female perspective welcome after a season and a half of boys will be boys, but Bloodworth would go on to create Designing Women.  The episode may not meet every definition of feminism, but it is wonderful to have Hot Lips tell everyone off, get drunk, and tell them all off again.  It's easy to tell that Swit had a great time doing this, and I bet female viewers at the time got a kick out of it, too.  Bloodworth wrote more four scripts for the show, and I'm curious to see what they're like.  Note, Margaret confesses to a crush on Trapper, and Hawkeye agrees.

Odessa Cleveland (Bayliss), Roy Goldman (this time the Man in Jeep), Sheila Lauritsen (this time Nurse Watson), Kellye Nakahara (for a change actually credited as Yamato), and Dennis Troy (this time the Soldier Standing Next to the Pole) all return.