Hawkeye

Happen to like a dramatic monologue. Do not get the opportunity to see many anymore. He had some good surprises. Saw this when I was 16 during the series run. (This post was first thought about due to the outrageous fear of falling asleep with a concussion and dying. Kudos Mr. Alda for redirecting that thought process. )

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.

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'm not sure if Alan Alda talked himself into this or if someone else did, but I ended up fast forwarding through this episode because the entire thing is a soliloquy by him. The goal seems to be to show us all how clever this particular character is.

It turns out he's not. Completely boring and without us, the viewer, as the fourth wall nothing like this could ever have taken place.

Kudos to Alan Alda.

To each their own; this episode wasn't for everyone, I guess. I too, enjoy the other characters in the series and missed them in this episode.

But to complain about Mr. Alda's performance is a travesty. He was, in my opinion, brilliant. He delivers his dialogue in a way that is nothing short of believable. Way beyond the simple memorization and repetition of script. And if some of it WAS ad-libbed then even more credit to him! That is much more difficult than memorizing. Try it! Try 'monologue-ing' off the top of your head for even a couple minutes. It's not so easy, it IS a talent, that's why we have professional actors. In T.V. and movie acting you have to do every part of every scene over and over and over again... and the same way every time. It can get old really quickly. Acting is not for everyone.

The writing of this show has always been impressive: rapid, witty, full of intelligent puns and always good for a laugh, and adding in great actors just elevates that. To bring the words on the script pages to life. To take a character like Hawkeye, Trapper, or Radar, who only exist as words on a page, and put on a performance that leaves the audience feeling as though they are real people, somewhere out there in Korea, T.V.land....that is pure talent. Whether you like or hate a character, the fact that words on a page brought out your emotions is thanks to the actors.

According to interviews and records, the character of Hawkeye wasn't intended to be such a focus in the show, but when Mr. Alda was cast and the show began, the response was unmistakable: people loved him. Some of the other actors were unhappy with the fact that so much of the great dialogue was written for his character but that is always the decision of writers, directors, producers etc. NOT the actors themselves.

So try not to confuse Hawkeye with Alan Alda.

I may have given this episode a 6 or a 7 out of 10, for the lack of more than one storyline, but considering the performance Mr. Alda was able to have captured on film, I feel compelled to boost that to as high as I go for any show. 9. Thank you again, M*A*S*H team. And especially Mr. Alda. You really broke a leg.

Of course, that's all just MY opinion.

Scott