Poll of the Day > Abyssinia, Henry

(+) Yeah! (+)

I watched the season 3 finale, of MASH again today. It's a 46 year old episode and I still feel the same as when I first saw it. I can't help but cry. I wasn't even born when it first aired, but have spent decades watching it in syndication.

For those who don't know the episode, Lt. Col. Henry Blake receives his discharge papers and is set to return home, so Trapper, Hawkeye and Radar throw a party at Rosie's Bar in his honour. In the final scene, Radar enters the OR without a mask (where he is chided by Trapper for not wearing one) and says "I have a message. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake's plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors."

It marked a tonal shift for the show.

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I've seen a lot of parts of it because my mother watched it when I was little, but tbh, I don't remember it very well. I do remember the iconic ending, though, and some of the humor and social commentary.

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What a twist!

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