From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!hou5f!hou5b!hou5c!hou5e!jjm Newsgroups: net.tv Title: Re: Last M*A*S*H Letdown Article-I.D.: hou5e.264 Posted: Thu Mar 3 09:18:18 1983 Received: Tue Mar 8 06:01:02 1983 References: philabs.26884 Well, I felt I had to post a rebuttal to the item about the final episode of M*A*S*H being a letdown. I loved it. I felt that it did sum up the important aspects of the program quite nicely. BJ leaves without saying goodbye to Hawkeye - yes, it was cruel. But real. BJ has consistently valued his wife and family throughout the show. He mentioned them in almost every episode. Given the chance to go home (on 10 minutes notice, no less) how could he write a note that would say anything important? Also, I found the lack of a laugh track refreshing. I felt that it brought to me some more insight into Hawkeye's personality. For instance, in the scene where he move the tank to the dump, there was no canned laughter when he said "Why do I always have to take out the trash?". Many of the enlisted men laughed and cheered, but his friends were concerned about his sanity. Who was right? I think it pointed out that despite all the laughter he has gotten throughout the series, Hawkeye is rather crazy. Certainly his behavior would be considered unacceptable back home; why should we allow different standards for him? I feel that the main point of M*A*S*H throughout the years is that in war, there are no winners. Occasionally the characters would win their minor victories over the chaos that surrounded them, but they were MINOR victories. Helping to save the life of a man that has stepped on a land mine is good, but it does nothing to correct the situation that caused that land mine to be used. Or to help a man deal with the trauma of stepping on that land mine. The final episode shows that there are no winners when this war ends. There are only survivors. It's hard to make that message funny. Jim McParland American Bell - Holmdel hou5e!jjm