Radar's Report

"Radar's Report"
M*A*S*H episode
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 3 (27th Overall)
Directed by Jackie Cooper
Written by

Sheldon Keller

Laurence Marks
Production code K402
Original air date September 29, 1973
Guest appearance(s)
Episode chronology

"Radar's Report" was the 27th episode of M*A*S*H, and third of season two. The episode aired on September 29, 1973.

Overview

October 17, 1951: This episode is told as a voice-over of Radar reading a report as he is typing it. Comically, it includes where he puts punctuation and how he spaces the report. In each scene of the episode, the viewer hears the actual scene as well as the report that Radar is making.

An enemy prisoner who is being treated in the OR grabs a scalpel and attacks a nurse and a patient of Trapper's before being subdued by Hawkeye. When Trapper's patient subsequently dies, Trapper is furious at the enemy soldier, and considers killing him by removing his IV; however, Hawkeye talks him down.

Hawkeye, meanwhile, has fallen head over heels in love with a new nurse, Lt. Erika Johnson (Joan Van Ark). Although he is temporarily deterred by seeing a wedding ring on her hand, he is happy to discover that the ring is merely a shield against unwanted advances. Hawkeye is prepared to propose to the nurse, but she is not interested in a long-term relationship and is shipped out to Tokyo. During the crucial conversation, in which she reveals to Hawkeye that they can't have the kind of relationship that he desires, the PA system plays "As Time Goes By", and Hawkeye says, "Not their song," thinking of the implicit parallel to Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca.

After Frank mistakes Klinger for Margaret, the two majors decide to get rid of Klinger. They convince Col. Blake to have Klinger undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Dr. Milton Freedman (Allan Arbus), an Army psychiatrist, interviews Klinger, and tells him that although he believes Klinger to be sane, he is willing to grant him a Section 8 discharge if he will sign a report confirming that he is a transvestite and a homosexual (a report which Freedman notes will follow him into civilian life). Insisting that he is neither ("I'm just crazy!"), Klinger refuses to sign, and Freedman files a report saying that Klinger is sane.[1][2][3][4][5]

Production

This was the first episode to feature Allan Arbus as Army psychiatrist Dr. Freedman. In this episode, he is called "Milton Freedman"; in later episodes, the character is renamed "Sidney Freedman".

References

  1. ↑ Wittebols, James H. (2003). Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America: A Social History of the 1972–1983 Television Series. McFarland. pp. 161–166. ISBN 0-7864-1701-3. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Episode Guide". TV Guide. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  3. ↑ "The Classic Sitcoms Guide: M*A*S*H". classicsitcoms.com. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  4. ↑ "M*A*S*H: Season Two (Collector's Edition) (1973)". Digitallyobsessed.com.
  5. ↑ Reiss, David S. (1983). M*A*S*H: the exclusive, inside story of TV's most popular show.
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