Hawkeye

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

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."

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.

Full cringe from start to finish. This was an obvious overreach for accolades. Its quite obvious that someone wants a bit of attention. The episode has zero story except for the endless usual Hawkeye one-liners, except they have become 2-10 liners. This time Hawkeye welcomes himself into an unsuspecting Korean home under the guise of being injured, and then holds them and us hostage with unending yapping. It's bad.

I've seen word vomit, word soup, words with friends, foreword, backwards, word to your mother-- it gets old. You can only follow the same model and have it be "clever" once or twice. This is just bad writing and worse acting. Egocentric overload.

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.