Hawkeye

A long , dramatic in some measure monologue of Hawkeye Pearce after a very ambiguous jeep accident. A Koreean family as public for confessions, jokes, fight for not asleep, memories, advices and the food of poor people front avalanche of words in not know by them language.

No doubts, Hawkeye deserves an episode only for himself.

The bad problem - you expect more. More specific, something.

The explanation for car accident, a Koreean patrol, a mate from hospital, the father or a child knowing, in the end, English and creating a twist.

But, except Sol and Sol, the geometry teacher, the walk in and out, the words about films to cow and the grateful gifts, nothing. Including, no revelations .

It's intriguing to me that there are a lot of people who disliked the character of Hawkeye and Alan Alda specifically. His character, as I have mentioned in the past, can be quite trying, spoiled and abrasive. In this one, he is given an opportunity to speak for 25 minutes, non-stop to an audience of non-English speaking people. He expounds on everything. The reason is that he has been involved in a jeep accident and is suffering a concussion. He feels he must stay awake and alert to avoid complications. Meanwhile, the family goes about their business, seeing him as a lunatic that has just dropped in. It's that Asian patience I've run across as I've travelled all over the world. I was astonished by his effort and can't understand what all the criticism is about.

This episode was a waste of time, brain cells, and money. I like Hawkeye...most of the time. He's as irritating as sand in my shoe when he won't shut up or let someone else talk. When there is something serious going on, he jumps in and hijacks it with his mouth. I know he is just a character but this episode was just plain stupid. He gave me so much anxiety the first ten minutes that I forwarded all the way to the end. If the rumors are true and this was an demand from him then Alan Alda must be as egocentric as Hawkeye in real life, then I'm inclined to think he was a jerk and all about himself all the time. A new better title of this episode would be "Word Vomit."

This is Hawkeye's episode, and it's a tour de force in acting. I think here M*A*S*H hit the turning point. Really, could you imagine Trapper or Frank giving the monologue in this episode? Maybe Hunnicutt but still.

From this point on, M*A*S*H became mature.

I watched MASH when it came out in the seventies. Recently we decided to watch a few episodes, just to see if it held up. We're hooked. And watch a few episodes every evening. Some tv-shows are either very dated or completely different than I remembered when I saw them first. Dressed to kill was a huge disappointment; kept me awake back then and the incredible slowness of movement put me to sleep now.

But MASH is just well written, good pacing, and well acted. Season 4 is different from the previous 3. Yes some people left. But the writing is different. More texture as in variation of drama, tragedy, comedy, mindless fun versus commenting on society and the human condition, less formulaic.

I love that. This episode was, I think, a bottle episode (the ones that are low in production value because the lack of funding or other reasons). Alan Alda delivers a wonderful monologue to prevent falling asleep with a concussion. It's not for everyone but if you like actor driven tv, this one is great.