M*A*S*H: The Life You Save

A nice detail, telling us without words
that the bullet just missed Charles.

M*A*S*H: The Life You Save
CBS
May 4, 1981
Dramedy
DVD
B

Alda directed and co-wrote with John Rappaport this which is one of the better episodes of the season it closes.  Winchester ponders the mystery of death and it's both understandable and "ghoulish," as BJ points out when he sees Charles trying to get a patient to talk about a near-death experience.  Meanwhile, the comedy portion of the dramedy is funnier than it's been in awhile, with everyone adjusting to their new duties, e.g. Hawkeye in the kitchen advising the cook, and Margaret snapping at Charles when she's morale officer.

Wayne Morton was a Doctor on Mork & Mindy but he's an Enlisted Man here.  Jim Boeke has his first of two M*A*S*H roles as Sgt. Chiaverini.  Val Bisoglio makes his first of three appearances, this time as the nameless Cook.  G.W. Bailey (Rizzo), Gwen Farrell (Nurse Gwen), Roy Goldman (as Roy Goldman), Kellye Nakahara (Yamato), Shari Saba (Nurse Shari), and Dennis Troy (again as Dennis) return.  And, yes, that's Designing Women's Mesach Taylor as an Orderly.

Of the twenty episodes in Season Nine, 2 got C's, 7 C+s, 9 B-s, and now 2 B's.  That means that it's straddling the C+/B- border, just barely on the B- side.  It also means that the days of my having strong reactions, either positive or negative, to the series seem to be past.  That may change, but I imagine that Season Ten will be more of the same.