Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde

It's no secret that Alan Alda more or less "took over" the show in the later seasons, but you can see hints of whats to come in episodes like this.

Everyone is putting in long hours in the O. R. but only Hawkeye, like always seems to suffer ill effects. He wanders around the camp. Babbling semi coherently, & being a general nuisance, while an entire hospital staff seems to be unable to sedate him.

This episode almost seems like a precursor to the much maligned "Hawkeye" in season 4, with Alda's stream of conciousness blathering & scenery chewing. As we'll find out in the next few episodes, MASH is at it's best as an ensemble show.

This is one of those far fetched episodes that could never happen. The premise is that Pierce has been pulling so many shifts in the OR that he becomes a kind of zombie. He talks irrationally and continues to walk around in a stupor. Nothing anyone does has any affect. When the operating starts he becomes completely rational. The fact he is allowed to do any of this pushes the limits of even sitcom reality. He keeps going around asking how he war started as if he were a three-year-old. If you like to watch Alan Alda do almost anything, this is a chance to watch him. For me, not worth the time. On numerous occasions he has challenged his authority. In this one he is basically unconscious, but so cute.