A War for All Seasons

One of the most bizarre episodes of mash. it is supposed to be new Year's eve 1950, despite the fact that M.A.S.H. By this time had been going on for over 8 years - more than twice as long as the Korean WAr lasted, and had already shown two Christmas episodes, which would mean we should by now be in 1952 at least. but still we get shown a whole year going rapidly by, meaning by the end of that episode it is new year's eve 1951, with nearly 2 years of war still to go. they were clearly getting desperate for ideas by the time they made this peculiar episode, but slogged on relentlessly for another two series. i really wish they had called it a day before they reached this desperate stage.

This is the episode that convinced me that the entire series tells the story of a group of people who have died and are in Purgatory. The series as a whole always played loose with timelines. They all are their to either gain enlightenment, overcome personal challenges, or finish finding purpose. The 4077th is even in the middle... between a hell (north korea) and a more peaceful place (South Korea) the character age beyond their intended time. There are numerous references to angels, lifetimes, hell and heaven. In fact, it's Father Mulcahey said it best at the end of the series "when we reach the pearly gates, and they tell us we have to serve time in Purfatory, we can say No Thanks. I've already done mine."

I really don't have a problem with this episode or the idea of showing a calendar year . It doesn't mean we don't see the in between moments in other episodes but it doesn't add up due to the character changes. Hawkeye made the point to Frank that for a year or over a year Trapper kept Hawkeye from killing Frank. Trapper and Blake had to have been there for a year. Charles came later . I understand they wanted to cover how long they had been there how at the end of each year and hoped it would be over by the next year but they should have made some timeline adjustments and told it another way .

When Radar was still there, there was more than one mention of the current year. I could swear it was 1952, or at the latest 1951, in at least one episode, yet in this episode they are bidding adieu to 1950. Hawkeye has to have been there for at least 3 years, yet it has been referenced he hadn't seen his father in a year. (In a previous episode from several seasons before this one.) So many inconsistencies that I wouldn't have caught had I not been binge watching on Hulu. I loved this show the first time it aired, and have loved rewatching it. Just driving me nuts that the timelines are skewed.

A mature M*A*S*H episode that takes place in a year, with some retro-scripting required in the days when you could get away with retro-scripting. Sort of a dramatic episode with slight touches of comedy.