M*A*S*H: The Late Captain Pierce

M*A*S*H: The Late Captain Pierce
CBS
October 3, 1975
Dramedy
DVD
B+

The Charles brothers, years before Cheers, co-wrote this episode, which was directed by Alda.   It manages to blend the absurdity of Hawkeye being declared dead, as he's informed by Lt. "Digger" Detweiler (Richard Masur, who was then Ann Romano's younger boyfriend on One Day at a Time), with the genuine pain of him not being able to get word to his grieving father.  (No mention is made here, as on other episodes, of his mother or sister.)  It's clear that Hawkeye is himself still mourning the different losses of Henry and Trapper.  And I like BJ in this episode, where his understated style is used to better effect than before, his concern for Hawkeye and for the patients very clear.

Eldon Quick is renamed Capt. Pratt rather than Sloan this once, but is as bureaucratic as ever.  Odessa Cleveland (the last appearance of Lt. Ginger Bayliss, whose role has definitely dwindled since the first season), Jeff Maxwell (Straminsky), and Kellye Nakahara (Yamato) return.  Both Burghoff and Swit are absent, but only he with explanation.