M*A*S*H Rewatch: Season 2

Throughout 2025, I will rewatch M*A*S*H and review each season on the final day of each month. I am rewatching the episodes in broadcast order using the DVDs from the 2000s with the laugh track left on. You can find an archive of these rewatch posts here.

After rewatching season one last month and being pleasantly surprised, I was concerned that my memories of season two would lead me astray. I have said that season two is my favorite overall season of M*A*S*H because it feels cohesive and has the most episodes that I really enjoy. I am happy to say that season two lived up to my expectations, and after watching all 24 episodes, I was sad to see it end. If season one was M*A*S*H finding its footing, then season two was the series breaking into a full stride. You could tell that the show runners were happy that M*A*S*H was renewed after a disappointing showing in the ratings during the first season, and they were took full advantage of the second chance they received. The show began to explore more dramatic topics, wade into social and political issues, and add dimension to the existing characters. Season two had some great guest stars and added two iconic, recurring characters. With all that said, let’s dig in to M*A*S*H season two!

Season 2 Episode List

Episodes are listed in broadcast order. Hyperlinks direct to “Script Spotlight” posts for that episode.

Episode #	Season X Episode	Episode Title
25	02×01	Divided We Stand
26	02×02	5 O’Clock Charlie
27	02×03	Radar’s Report
28	02×04	For the Good of the Outfit
29	02×05	Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde
30	02×06	Kim
31	02×07	L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel)
32	02×08	The Trial of Henry Blake
33	02×09	Dear Dad… Three
34	02×10	The Sniper
35	02×11	Carry On Hawkeye
36	02×12	The Incubator
37	02×13	Deal Me Out
38	02×14	Hot Lips and Empty Arms
39	02×15	Officers Only
40	02×16	Henry in Love
41	02×17	For Want of A Boot
42	02×18	Operation Noselift
43	02×19	The Choson People
44	02×20	As You Were
45	02×21	Crisis
46	02×22	George
47	02×23	Mail Call
48	02×24	A Smattering of Intelligence

Favorite Episodes

These are the top episodes of the season that I believe contribute something important to the series as a whole. The episodes are listed in the order in which they aired.

• “5 O’clock Charlie (02×02) – It is hard not to like this episode. There are so many funny lines and scenes between Hawkeye, Trapper, and Frank are some of the best of the series. The line from General Clayton about putting the ammunition near a medical unit to protect makes sense, but then getting Frank to destroy it is perfect! On a side note, I don’t have a script for this episode, but I did lose an auction for one 10+ years ago. I am not bitter about that still…I am not…really.
• “Radar’s Report” (02×03) – This is one of my favorite episodes of the early seasons! It is a letter home episode disguised as a weekly report. Seeing the 4077th from Radar’s point of view is great, and we get an idea of what Radar’s job is like. The episode offers a great mix of comedy and drama, and the scene with Trapper facing the POW in the VIP tent is tense and well acted. Joan Van Ark is a great guest star, and this episode introduces Major Freedman, even though he is called Milton.
• “Deal Me Out” (02×13) – A poker game with constant interruptions is how I imagine a poker game going in a medical unit. The writing is solid here, and this is a mother episode with great guest stars including John Ritter, Allan Arbus, Pat Morita, and Edward Winter. While the episode is more comedy than drama, it is very well done. Sidney has his correct first name, and the episode is the first to feature Winter, although not as Col. Flagg.
• “Hot Lips and Empty Arms” (02×14) – Margaret’s character had been pretty one dimensional up to this point in the series, and it was great to see her character take center stage. Questioning her life choices is a very normal reaction to seeing friends moving on to different aspects of their lives. Loretta Swit is a great actor, and we begin to see her range here. This is the first episode of M*A*S*H written by women, Linda Bloodworth and Mary Kay Place, who wrote a few more episodes of M*A*S*H before going on to have long careers writing for television.
• “The Choson People” (02×19) – I like this episode for multiple reasons. It’s another episode with Morita’s character Sam Pak, and it is one of the first times we see a storyline focused on the Korean people whose lives were affected by the war. It is also the first episode to hint at the difficulties for women who had relationships with American soldiers and their children. This topic is discussed in more detail in “Yessir, That’s our Baby” (8×15). Alan Alda highlighted the issue in his book, The Last Days of M*A*S*H, and the proceeds from the sale of that book benefited the Pearl S. Buck Foundation, which worked for the benefit of Amerasian children in Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.
• “George” (02×22) – Seeing an openly gay character on television today is not unusual, but in 1974, that was not a topic that was generally discussed in primetime television. In fact, it was usually hinted at in stereotypical ways. M*A*S*H handled the concerns of a gay soldier very well. In season two, M*A*S*H moved up in the ratings, and it was on the same night as other groundbreaking series including All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. That allowed the writers to explore more social and political topics.
• “Mail Call” (02×23) – I have expressed my enjoyment of the letters home episodes several times, but this is the first episode to feature letters received from home by the characters. It’s another great plot device because it offers more insight into each of the characters and the lives they left behind. There are several more episodes that revolve around letters from home in the following seasons, and I enjoy them all because each character typically gets a scene.
• “A Smattering of Intelligence” (02×24) – This is a funny episode, but the main reason this episode makes the list is because it establishes the character of Col. Flagg. We saw Winter in “Deal Me Out,” but he was not credited as Flagg. This is the genesis of the Col. Flagg character, and it quickly establishes the absurdity of the character. And he only gets more crazy as he makes appearances throughout the series. The storyline of playing the two “intelligence” officers against each other is great, and it hints at the future absurdity we will see from Flagg.

Least Favorite Episodes

Liking or disliking an episode is subjective, so I have tried to be fair in my criticism of why certain episodes are not my favorites. The episodes are listed in the order in which they aired.

• “Henry in Love” (02×16) – While we had seen Henry’s infidelity many times before, this episode feels…off. Of course, but today’s standards, this episode is very problematic. But even in the early 1970s, this episode would have made some people cringe. The age difference between Henry and Nancy Sue Parker, which is addressed in the episode, is one issue, and the continued infidelity is another. This episode could have been different if he had met someone closer to his own age. We see this with Col. Potter in the episode “Lil” (07×03), and that was tastefully done, although Col. Potter doesn’t cheat on his wife in that episode.
• “For Want of a Boot” (02×17) – I don’t think this episode is that bad, I just thought it was too predictable. With all the favors Hawkeye had to do to get a boot, it was obvious that it was all going to fall apart at the end. The writers reuse the failed series of favors storyline in “The Price of Tomato Juice” (04×15).
• “Operation Noselift” (02×18) – I would argue that this episode is the only outlandish storyline in season two. For me, it rivals “Major Fred C. Dobbs” (01×22) for the insanity of the main storyline. Cosmetic surgery in the middle of a war zone makes no sense, and the prosthetic nose worn by Todd Sussman is terrible. We see Stuart Margolin again, and while he is playing a different character, he is essentially playing the same, womanizing doctor he played in season one. The only positive thing about this episode is getting to see Sussman, who was the voice of the P.A. announcements in the early seasons!

Continuity Errors

There are minor issues in every episode that have been well documented, so I am choosing to focus on ones that really stood out to me.

• Multiple Episodes – In later seasons, Margaret wears a black turtleneck sweater, but as I watched this season, I noticed that her turtleneck changes colors. She had turtlenecks in black, blue, maroon, and white. Maybe she got a deal on them from Sears, Roebuck and Co.
• “5 O’Clock Charlie” (02×02) – When the bomb is dropped on the Jeep, in the frames before the explosion, you can tell the Jeep is already burnt.
• “Radar’s Report” (02×03) – In Radar’s report, he notes Klinger’s claim for the bra that was cut by POW in the O.R. But the POW didn’t cut his bra; he cut the strap of his dress.
• “Radar’s Report” (02×03) – Major Freedman’s name is “Milton,” and not Sidney (it was originally going to be “Robert”).
• “Dear Dad…Three” (02×09) – They are not wearing masks when they are removing the grenade from the wounded soldier.
• “Dear Dad…Three” (02×09) – Eisenhower running for president would make this 1952, but the M*A*S*H timeline is crazy!
• “Dear Dad…Three” (02×09) – Dr. Charles Drew’s death was not caused by segregation in the south but as a result of a car accident. I have previously written about the death of Dr. Drew in more detail.
• “The Sniper” (02×10) – This is not really a mistake, but you can see Radar’s butt after his towel drops while running back into the shower tent.
• “The Incubator” (02×12) – Hawkeye mentions that the war has been running for two years, which would make this 1952. Again, the M*A*S*H timeline is not a straight line, but more of a “Jeremy Bearimy!”
• “Hot Lips and Empty Arms” (02×14) – Margaret says that her dad is dead, but he visits the 4077th in “Father’s Day” (09×04).
• “As You Were” (02×20) – How did Hawkeye and Trapper get the crate into the Swamp? It wouldn’t fit through the door, and they couldn’t have built it around Frank because it would wake him up.
• “Crisis” (02×21) – Where did the center post go that was in Margaret’s tent? Also, does she not have a stove for heat like the other tents?
• “Mail Call” (02×23) – Hawkeye has a sister? She is never mentioned again after this episode. I guess she sent the sweater and disappeared.

Season 2 Wrap-Up

Season two of M*A*S*H feels like a refresh of the show. There are elements leftover from season one, but after watching the first and second seasons back to back, there was a new energy in season two. The season takes off with “Divided We Stand” (02×01), which plays out like a second pilot episode. The writers and show runners used what they learned in season one, and used it to everyone’s advantage, especially the audience. The second season of M*A*S*H has it all: drama, comedy, social commentary, and above all, a voice. A clearer voice that never shied away from the darker aspects of war. And while M*A*S*H got more dramatic as the series progressed and the cast changed, they never forgot the core message that humans are affected by every war. They are fighting, they are being displaced, they are dying, and they are doing whatever they can to survive. We see a lot of the “downtime” of the doctors and nurses of the 4077th in this season, and that gives insight into how they fought against the war. They weren’t just trying to survive the bombs and bullets, but they had to survive facing the reality of what was brought before them on stretchers. Whether that was through poker games, drinking, dressing up in ape costumes, or any of the other antics we saw in this season, we know they are doing what they can to survive.

The second season of M*A*S*H sets up the series in several ways. We met two recurring characters who will each impact the episodes in which they appear. Major Sidney Freedman is my favorite character of the series, and whether he was “Sidney” or “Milton,” you felt like he was a caring psychiatrist. We also met Col. Sam Flagg, our friendly CID man. When she shows up at the 4077th, you know something outlandish and funny is about to go down. Captain Sam Pak was a great addition to the ensemble, and I wish he was in more than two episodes. There were several major guest stars too, and each of them contributed to the storylines. The chemistry among the primary cast is there, and we also see a lot of familiar faces in the background including Kellye Nakahara, Jeff Maxwell, Roy Goldman, and Dennis Troy. Behind the camera, Jackie Cooper directed ten of the 24 episodes, and they are some of the best episodes of the season. Despite the difficulties between Cooper and the cast, they produced results (including an Emmy for Cooper directing “Carry On, Hawkeye” (02×11)). That speaks to the professionalism of the cast and crew to push through the differences and make a great product for the audience.

Season two has been my favorite season for as long as I remember, and I doubt that is going to change after this rewatch. This season of M*A*S*H has so much energy, comedy, and caring. The show had a way of making subtle points about the effects of war while making the audience laugh at the absurdities of it. I truly believe that season two lives up to that from episode one through episode twenty four. As I get ready to watch season three in March, I can’t help but wonder whether that energy will continue. I believe it does. There is also the fact that I, as we all do, know what happens at the end of season three. Losing two characters is going to be hard because when I watch the series in order, from start to finish, I get emotionally connected to it again. And those losses hit hard. I am both looking forward to and dreading season three because I know the same brilliant writing that gave us season two continues. But that brilliant writing has consequences at the end of next season. Choosing 2025 to rewatch M*A*S*H was a great decision on my part, and I am glad I am taking my time (11 months!) to enjoy it!