Remember that MASH episode where Colonel Potter becomes ridiculously angry and lashes out at everyone, threatens to retire, and rains hellfire down on the crew? I’m sure you do! But which episode? Angry Potter episodes, as MASH fans call them, are a regular occurrence on the show. It seems the writers were tickled over the notion of having Sherman Potter, usually so gentle, wise, and even-tempered (but don’t take advantage!), become an irrational curmudgeon and overreact over something. In this article, I’ll describe the 7 angry Potter episodes that occurred on MASH.
What is An Angry Potter Episode?
I’ll start by explaining what an angry Potter episode is not. It is not an episode in which Potter becomes angry at some point. Everyone gets angry sometimes. Usually, when Colonel Potter gets mad, it’s only for a little while, even a few minutes. If these are angry Potter episodes, then I also need to write an article featuring about a hundred “Angry Hawkeye” episodes, not to mention Angry Frank, Angry Margaret, Angry Charles, etc.
So, Angry Potter episodes are not ones where Potter simply gets angry; they are when the entire plotline, or almost the entire plotline, involves the Colonel being angry. And, not just angry, but spitting mad angry. He goes on a tirade, lashes out at everyone, and basically makes the camp miserable and concerned for him. Everyone becoming concerned is part of the point: This is not like Potter. It’s everyone else who can’t control their emotions. Colonel Potter was like the father, keeping all the children from each other’s throats. It stands to reason, then, that episodes centered on Potter losing his cool would be a natural go-to. And go to it they did; over and over, in fact.
The extent to which Potter lashes out marks the quality of the individual episodes. In the better examples, the colonel is angry for most of the episode, takes it out on the crew, but is still somewhat in control of himself. He doesn’t act like a petulant child, in other words. Below are the angry Potter episodes, in the order in which they occurred. You can click on the links to skip to the description of each.
- Season 6, Episode 23 – Potter’s Retirement
- Season 7, Episode 11 – Point of View
- Season 8, Episode 1 – Too Many Cooks
- Season 8, Episode 18 – Old Soldiers
- Season 9, Episode 16 – Red/White Blues
- Season 10, Episode 16 – Pressure points
- Season 11, Episode 7 – Settling Debts
7 Angry Potter Episodes
Season 4 and 5: Potter took command at the beginning of Season 4. In that season, there are no episodes that I believe truly fit the definition of an angry Potter episode. The same is true of Season 5. This style of episode began in Season 6.
1. Season 6, Episode 11 – Potter’s Retirement
Season 6, Episode 11, titled Potter’s Retirement, is the first true Angry Potter episode. Colonel Potter is called to Seoul to visit his old friend (Potter has lots of old military friends), General Waldo Kent. The colonel leaves in a happy mood, but it doesn’t last. In this meeting between old friends, the General is clearly hesitant to tell Potter something and beats around the bush. He finally tells Sherman that he has been hearing a lot of negative talk about Potter and the 4077. Potter thinks, at first, that it’s run-of-the-mill stuff, but the general tells him that there have been serious accusations made against Potter’s command, and that someone from within his own camp has been sending negative reports about him. The charges include lack of leadership, lapses of discipline, and bypassing regulations.
Potter is shocked, saddened, and angered to learn that the “beefs” are coming from inside his own unit. He considers the 4077 his family and can’t believe that someone under his command would betray him in such a way. General Kent tells him that if this keeps up, “the Spam could hit the fan.” He reminds Potter that he has one year to retirement and that they could make it an easy year so that Potter does not have to deal with this kind of aggravation. Kent offers to transfer the colonel to any stateside post he wants.
Colonel Potter asks Kent whether he knows who is sending the reports. He tells him that all he knows is that it’s an inside job, saying, “What difference does it make?” “What difference?” responds Potter, “4077 is not just a roster of people. It’s my family! Up until now, my loyal family.”
Potter returns back home and begins snapping at everyone in his path, including Klinger and Father Mulcahy. He then hears singing coming from the Kentucky Derby Party in the mess hall, which has started early. Hurt and betrayed, he angrily disperses the party even though he himself had been looking forward to it (it still takes place at its regularly scheduled time, 1:30 AM). He yells at Hawkeye, B.J., and Margaret, and then, when Radar comes in, he jumps down his throat as well, saying, “Where the hell have you been…well?” He tells Radar to get a duty roster so that he can see where everyone belongs.
Later, Charles comes into Potter’s office, complaining about not being stateside and being unable to perform the first open heart surgery. He says he holds Potter responsible for ruining his entire career and requests a transfer, which Potter immediately denies. Charles tells him he will stop at nothing and will find a way to get out of the unit. Potter responds, “And you’ve been working at it already, haven’t ya?” He clearly thinks Charles has been sending the negative reports. Charles continues to rant, and the colonel, with intense anger, throws him out of the office. Radar then informs the colonel that Kent has warned them to expect a special inspection from I-Corps.
Potter comes into the mess tent during the party and tells everyone that there is a surprise inspection based on the bad reports, and that “his butt is on the block.” He tells the staff that he doesn’t retreat from a fight and will show command “efficiency and pride,” saying, “I’m gonna show them not only the best damn MASH unit in the army, but the best unit period! And, right after that, I’m going home.” The crew is shocked and dismayed.
As Potter gives orders pertaining to making the camp ship-shape for the inspection, Hawkeye and B.J. confront him, demanding an explanation for his angry behavior and his abrupt decision to retire. He informs them that the bad reports are coming from within the unit.
The doctors begin to search out the culprit, suspecting Charles, whose personal trunk they search. Hawkeye finds an unfinished letter, thinking he’s hit the jackpot, only to find that it is a humorous letter from Charles to a woman named Meredith, whom Charles is informing that, although he told her during their rendezvous in Tokyo that the only stars that sparkle for him were in her eyes, that “in the interim I have discovered that the stars could and did sparkle for me, without necessarily being in your eyes.”
Charles catches the Swamp rats reading his letter. They explain that someone has been sending secret reports to the inspector general, and that is why the colonel is retiring. “Someone’s been insisting that you were the informer,” says Hawkeye (it is Hawkey himself). Charles angrily tells them that “there are no informers in my family! Winchesters do not spy!” He then helpfully suggests that it might be a good idea to look in the outgoing mail for such a letter.
With Radar’s help, Hawkeye and B.J. find a letter addressed to the inspector general from Corporal Benson. They confront Benson after a surgery session, and while they are doing so, Potter walks in. They tell him that Benson is the informant. The “corporal” tells Potter that he is actually a lieutenant and that he was a mole sent by the inspector general to work undercover. It turns out that all this happened because of a disgruntled former patient, Colonel Frank Webster.
Potter remembers Webster as having a tiny piece of shrapnel in his rear end. According to Potter, “he got steamed when I told him he’d have to wait till the real casualties were treated.” He orders Benson out of the unit. He then calls Waldo Kent and informs him of what had occurred, asks him to clean up his record, and to call off the surprise inspection. Kent asks Potter whether he is staying or leaving, and he tells him he’ll get back to him.
The colonel still considers leaving, as he hasn’t seen his wife, Mildred, in a while, and he “passed his prime about 10 squares back.” B.J., Radar, and Hawkeye ask him to stay, and he changes his mind and decides to stay at the 4077. After that, things return to normal. The staff has a surprise party for the colonel. They sing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and then eat the second half of the Kentucky Derby Cake. Potter then apologizes for being so surly, telling them, “You people are the best there is. I should have realized that. I’m sorry.”
Episode Notes + My Opinion: This prototype angry Potter episode is among the very best as Potter has an excellent reason for being so angry, and it presents a mystery to be solved. As Potter said in the episode, he tried to make things a little more comfortable, and someone stabbed him in the back. This episode was written by Lawrence Marks, responsible for many classic titles, like The Moose, Henry, Yankee Doodle Doctor, Please Come Home, 5 O’clock Charlie, and many more. The colonel’s reaction is a bit over-the-top, but this would be fine if it were an isolated occurrence.
Corporal Benson is a character who was brought in just for this episode. This is a good episode for seeing how small the filming area of MASH really is, as when a Helicopter is landing, you can see how close it actually is to the camp, although they usually tried to make the distance seem further and the camp much larger.
2. Season 7, Episode 11 – Point of View
While this episode could easily be dismissed, it is definitely an angry Potter example. Potter is unusually moody and snaps at the staff for the entire episode.
Season 7, Episode 11, titled Point of View, was a groundbreaking television show episode where the entire episode is shown through the point of view of a wounded soldier, Private Billy Rich. He is hit in the neck with shrapnel when his patrol encounters mortar fire. We then see everything he experiences as a patient at the 4077 through his eyes. While this had been tried before on television, it was never successful to this extent.
You can read more about this episode here. I want to focus on the angry Potter element only in this article.
As soon as Billy arrives on the chopper pad, B.J. and Radar are unloading him. Rich is a big guy and heavy to move, especially for Radar. Potter appears and begins angrily snapping at them, asking what’s taking so long and yelling at them to move it. Then, as Rich is lying in receiving (or perhaps pre-op) to be seen by a doctor, he sees Colonel Potter yelling at Klinger, saying, “Klinger, you clown. How many times have I told you not to wear that flowing stuff in here?” Klinger explains that the outfit was a whim, and Potter tells him to “whim it off and get into fatigues. I’m tired of lookin’ at ya!”
Klinger takes Private Rich for an X-ray and as Klinger is talking to the private, being cheery, Potter again yells, this time from another room, saying, “Damn it, Klinger, what’s keeping you? I’ve got doctors here without X-rays!”
Next, in the O.R., Charles complains about never having enough orange juice to get through the endless O.R. sessions, and the colonel snaps at him, saying, “Drop it, you ding-dong!” Afterwards, in post-op, Billy witnesses Margaret telling Hawkeye and Charles that Potter had chewed Radar out in the mess tent about the daily report or something. “Poor Radar just had to sit there and take it,” she finished (as he used to have to do with Margaret).
Soon, as Margaret is finishing up Rich’s sponge bath, Potter shows up to visit the private. Margaret attempts to glad-hand him, telling him he looks like his old self again, etc. He gruffly tells her to “Leave it by the side of the road.” He explains to Rich that he makes a point of meeting everyone who comes through and apologizes that he hasn’t come sooner, as he has a lot on his mind. The visit is interrupted by Klinger informing Potter about a phone call.
When Klinger takes Rich out in a wheelchair, they visit the mess hall where everyone is discussing “what’s the matter with the colonel,” a standard part of most angry Potter episodes.
Back in post-op, Potter comes to continue his visit as Billy is writing a letter home to his parents. A nurse comes over to ask Potter to sign a chart, and he yells at her and shoos her away. Since Billy cannot speak, he uses his pad and pencil to ask the colonel what is wrong. Potter explains to him that it is his and Mildred’s 35th Wedding Anniversary and, although he never fails to call her on their anniversary, this year, he forgot because his mind is filled with thoughts of “this damn war.”
Billy urges Potter to call Mildred. He tells the private that he has tried and had even picked up the phone 20 times, but didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t forgive himself for forgetting their most important day. When Hawkeye arrives to check on his patient, the colonel leaves abruptly. Rich, through pad and pencil, tells Hawkeye about the anniversary problem. Rich then starts choking, and Hawkeye and Charles have to operate again after discovering he had a fractured larynx.
After Billy’s second surgery, he wakes up, and Hawkeye calls over the colonel, who comes over, followed by the arrival of Charles. Hawkeye plugs his tube to check if he can speak, which Billy does, saying, “I don’t know what to say.” Everyone is happy, and Charles is gloating. Then Radar comes up and tells Potter he has a very important phone call.
Potter tells Radar to have them hold on, but Radar tells him that it’s Mrs. Colonel Potter on the phone. He explains that he called Mildred, saying, “It’s okay, sir. She understands. I explained to her this is the first time in a week you had a chance to talk to her. So talk to her.” Hawkeye tells Potter to send a belated happy anniversary message, and Potter tells them, “I appreciate it, boys. Remind me to make it up to everyone.”
Episode Notes + My Opinion: Unlike the first angry Potter episode, I feel that this one is a stretch. Having a seasoned and mature adult like Sherman Potter flying off the handle at everyone because he forgot to call his wife on their anniversary is a bit much. It seems like something a newly married person would do, not someone who’s been married for 35 years. A simple phone call and apology sounds more realistic. T
The angry Potter aspect seems to have been tacked on to this storyline so that there was an actual storyline. Otherwise, there would be no actual plot, only Private Rich experiencing his stay at the 4077. It once again ends with Potter apologizing, etc., although, in the final scene, he already seems to be in a better mood, even before Radar tells him about the phone call to Mildred.
Colonel Potter’s angry mood is sometimes considered a minor plot point of this episode. Unless we consider Private Rich’s point of view experience as a “plot,” I’d argue that Colonel Potter’s anger is the only actual storyline that occurs. Sure, the experience of a wounded soldier moving through the unit is a story, but the behavior of Potter is the main topic of discussion.
The episode was written by Ken Levine and David Issacs, an Emmy award-winning writing team that met and started writing together while in the Army, giving them an advantage while writing scripts for a show set in a military unit. Their scripts tend to be grounded in military reality and situations. However, Potter, flying off the handle over his marriage, is an unfortunate feature of this episode. In defense of the writers, they probably didn’t realize it would be recycled so soon by Koenig.
As in the previous angry Potter episode, Point of View is a good way to see the size of the camp from a more realistic perspective, as the filming style made it hard to make things look more spread out than they actually were at the Fox Ranch, where the outdoor arrival scenes were filmed.
3. Season 8, Episode 1 – Too Many Cooks
Season 8, Episode 1, titled Too Many Cooks guest stars Ed Begley, Jr. as a wounded private named Paul Conway who happens to be an accomplished chef, but an inept and clumsy soldier. He wasn’t wounded in combat. When the signal to move out was received, he fell into a foxhole. Since he only has a sprained ankle, he is ambulatory and ends up cooking meals in the mess tent. Through his exceptional skill, the meager and low-quality ingredients available are turned into a gustatory delight. He makes “Spam Parmesan” that even Charles raves about.
The doctors contrive to keep Conway in the camp longer than necessary so that he can continue cooking, and the mess tent is transformed into a “Five Star” restaurant, which Klinger calls Chez Klinger, complete with reservations and reserved tables.
As the episode begins, with Hawkeye delighted over Conway’s non-military injury in the operating room (although there is no reason at all for him to be in the O.R.), Potter is surly and snaps at Hawkeye, telling him to “can it!”
Later, Klinger is talking to Radar, who is on leave in Tokyo, Potter comes in and yells at Klinger, asking him if he’s reached Mildred. Klinger tells him that he’s really trying, and Potter continues yelling, saying, “I don’t want you trying. I want you to succeed!” Klinger continues talking to Radar on the phone, telling him about his trouble reaching Mrs. Potter. Radar gives him some information about where Mildred might be.
At a particularly busy evening at Chez Klinger, Potter sits down with Hawkeye, B.J. Margaret, and Father Mulcahy, but is not hungry. They encourage him to eat, telling him how delicious Private Conway’s food is. Potter asks why Conway was still there and is angry that he hasn’t been sent on his way. He has a huge, angry outburst, shows them a letter from Mildred that has upset him, etc.
The others try to explain to Potter that perhaps the army has made a mistake in assigning Conway, who should be a cook, rather than a foot soldier. B.J. says, “Trouble is, Colonel, we send him down to Seoul, they send him back to combat.” “Well, what’s wrong with that?” replies Potter, angrily. “You’ve had your fun. You’ve stuffed your faces. The game’s over.”
The staff continues trying to convince Potter that Conway is a menace in combat and should be assigned as a cook. “When you’re wearing a green tuxedo, you dance where they tell you,” says Potter.
Margaret tries once more to convince him, and the colonel flies off the handle, yelling, “Dammit, nobody said this was easy! None of us are where we wanna be! See this? [pulls out a letter] It’s from my wife! I’m breaking my bunions over here, and she’s nagging me via airmail to come home! My whole marriage might be fading into the sunset! But, I’m still doing my job. So, Conway can just suck it in and do his! Now get that man’s tail back on the line pronto!”
When Klinger manages to get the operator in Hanover, Missouri, but still fails to reach Mildred, Potter yells at the operator, too. Later, Hawkeye comes into the colonel’s office and tries to get him to talk, but Potter refuses. When they walk out into the radio room, he finds Charles on the phone with headquarters, along with Margaret and B.J. standing by. They are trying to get Conway transferred to the 4077 as a cook.
Potter yells some more and takes the phone, asking to be connected to General Haggerty. While waiting, he accuses Hawkeye of trying to keep him occupied while the others try to do an end-run around him. Margaret tells him that Hawkeye did not know what they were doing. He angrily tells General Budd Haggerty, his old friend, that the general doesn’t have time to be playing musical chairs with soldiers and that “if anyone is going to be transferring out of here, it’s going to be yours truly! I’ve had it with this hellhole, and I just as soon check the whole kit-n-caboodle…”
After slamming down the phone, Potter tells the others that the Conway thing is over and for them to stick to medicine and get back to work. He orders Klinger to get his wife on the phone, or he’ll be bunking in the latrine permanently.
Everyone wonders what’s wrong with him. Charles determines to go and demand an explanation for his behavior, but Margaret intervenes and tells them Colonel Potter is a sensible and mature man, saying, “He can work it out. Himself. Leave him alone if he doesn’t want to talk.” She then goes to talk to him.
Margaret explains to Potter that he doesn’t need to be so worried and tells him what it’s like for a woman to be away from the man she loves. She talks about writing terrible, hateful letters to her ex-husband, Donald, and then writing again the next day again and telling him how much she loved him. “Both letters were saying exactly the same thing: That I needed him…All I’m saying is it takes a lot of care and understanding to pull a marriage through the tough times. Even one that’s lasted 40 years.”
General Haggerty, puzzled over Potter’s outburst, comes to visit the unit. He pulls up to the mess hall and Klinger, wearing a tuxedo as the matre d. He directs the general to the “Potter party” at table seven. By this time, after his talk with Margaret, Potter has clearly calmed down and is eating with Hawkeye and B.J. He enthusiastically greets his friend and makes a joke about Klinger, saying, “I see you’ve met private enterprise.” The colonel seems to have transitioned from angry to simply down in the dumps.
Realizing that this is the adjutant general and has the power to transfer soldiers, they quickly have Klinger get a plate of food for him. The general gets Potter to talk, telling him, “We go back to basic training days. I know you. You’re not like this!” The general’s food is brought out, including a nice basket of rolls, and Potter suggests they go over to his tent and open a bottle. The general agrees, but is clearly enjoying the food. He has them bring Conway out to meet him.
Upon learning Conway’s story, the general calls it ridiculous that a man who cooks like this is a rifleman. He determines to re-assign Conway immediately. He tells Conway that he is now officially an Army cook and that he will bring him to Seoul to be the general’s personal cook. Hawkeye and B.J. are disappointed that Conway will not be staying on as the 4077’s cook. But Conway says, “Sir, I’m grateful, but with all due respect, I’d like to go back and cook for my old unit up on the line.” He wants to make up for the trouble he caused his old unit, and the general reluctantly agrees when Potter reminds him, “You always said the boys on the line deserve the best.”
In the final scene, the crew is drowning their sorrows in the Officers’ Club, missing Conway’s food. Potter comes in in a good mood and buys a round of drinks. He had received a letter from his wife, Mildred, explaining that she was in Pensacola, Florida, visiting her cousin Porcsha, whom she always visits when she needs cheering up. Mildred had met a soldier back home who told her about how a MASH unit saved his life. Her loving letter of explanation for her anger and frustration is easily understood since Margaret had explained things to Potter. Now, all is well.
Episode Notes + My Opinion: While it is extremely unlikely that any of these episodes were thought of as Angry Potter episodes or even considered to be of a type, script writer Dennis Koenig forgot, or didn’t realize, that the last such episode was Potter worrying about his marriage. Why Colonel Potter would repeat this pattern once again is anybody’s guess. Having him worry about his marriage is one thing, but having him take it out on the staff once again, this time even worse, is another. Would Potter so easily have forgotten his apology for the very same behavior? This is a re-cook of the previous angry Potter episode, pardon the pun.
Margaret’s impassioned speech about her marriage seems out of place when streaming the episodes or watching on DVD, as her marriage only lasted a short time, and she was continually unhappy with her husband, Donald Penobscott, who treated her like a third shoe and also tried to control all of her money. She was hardly in a position to counsel anyone about marriages. During the original broadcast, this curious disparity was not as noticeable.
Although this has nothing to do with the angry Potter sub-plot, Hawkeye, a surgeon, wrapping a sprained ankle in the O.R. in full surgical garb, has always bugged me. This is a contrivance designed to have the entire staff in the scene, and it allows us to witness Potter’s moodiness right off the bat while still introducing Conway and his storyline.
Even if a surgeon was treating a sprained ankle (which is not historically accurate except in times of severe shortages of medical personnel), he would not do so while taking up a stretcher in the O.R. In this case, however, the decision to have yet another angry Potter subplot is probably what made this scene necessary. In other episodes, wrapping ankles or applying casts is done elsewhere. Regardless, despite this episode stretching the leisurely comedy aspect so far past anything resembling reality, I enjoy the character that Ed Begley played in this episode, and it’s overall a fun one.
Note that this is one of the few episodes that Gary Burghoff agreed to make for this season before departing, and he only appears as Radar on leave, talking on the phone to Klinger. I did NOT enjoy the moody and surly Radar during these episodes. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who noticed the sudden and drastic mood swing. The way Burghoff portrayed Radar in these final appearances seemed like another character altogether.
4. Season 8, Episode 18 – Old Soldiers
Season 8, Episode 18, titled Old Soldiers is, perhaps, easy to overlook as an angry Potter episode since Colonel Potter isn’t in an absolute rage. This is a testament to the higher quality of the episode, since the level of anger isn’t disproportionate. We see an aloof and angry Potter, not a completely irrational and out-of-control Potter.
The episode begins with Klinger awakening the colonel at 3 AM for an important phone call. Potter, angry to receive a call at such an hour, becomes somber and says something about test results not lying. He tells Klinger that he is leaving for Tokyo immediately.
A Red Cross worker named Betty Halpern arrives at the camp with a group of South Korean children. They need tetanus shots after hiding out in thorny bushes to avoid North Korean patrols. As one of the children shows signs of an allergic reaction, the children are kept overnight at the camp for medical supervision.
Meanwhile, Potter calls Klinger from Tokyo to make sure he has finished the weekly reports and to ask him whether a package has arrived for the colonel. The package has not arrived yet, so the colonel tells Klinger that when the package comes in, he should “guard it with his very life.”
With the kids still in camp, Potter arrives back in a bad mood, wondering why there are so many children running around. Klinger tells him he told him about the kids on the phone, but Potter is obviously too distracted to remember. He asks Klinger if his package arrived, but the mail has not come in yet.
The colonel joins the staff in the mess tent, and they tell him about the kids having allergic reactions to the tetanus shots. He explains to them that the only meat the kids ever get is horse meat, and since the tetanus shots are “horse serum,” they are all allergic.
Charles claims that given time, he would have deduced this, and Hawkeye says, “I kind of doubt that, Charles. You have absolutely no horse sense.” More horse jokes follow, and Potter angrily objects, saying it’s nothing to joke about:
“It’s a tragedy people have to eat horses. They’re beautiful animals. You ever take a peak at a cow or a pig? They’re ugly. We’re doing them a favor by eating ’em. Saves ’em the agony of looking at their reflections in the trough every morning. But a horse, that’s a noble beast! Why, in the cavalry, a man’s steed was his best friend; a companion. Where do people get off making pork chops out of ’em? Too much killing in this world. Too much death. No respect for people. For tradition! For life! The whole world’s spinning down the tubes and nobody even seems to notice! I don’t know, I…”
The colonel becomes more and more emotional during this irrational outburst and then catches himself, realizing, perhaps, that everyone has been stunned into silence by his strange behavior. He excuses himself quietly, intending to go check on the mail again.
Potter, still in a terrible mood, finally receives the package he was expecting. It turns out the packages was sent by a law firm. He gives Klinger a stack of letters to deliver to the staff. The letters are invitations to join the Colonel in his tent: “You are invited to my tent tomorrow night at 1900 hours. Cordially, Sherman Potter. P.S.: That’s an order.”
Upon hearing from Klinger that Potter was antsy about getting a package, and that the package came from some lawyers, the staff is concerned and starts wondering what could be going on. Charles suggests that it could be a will and that the “sick friend with a bad lab report” is, in fact, Colonel Potter himself.
Everyone is on edge, waiting for the meeting with the colonel, who wants to be left alone. Potter sits in his office listening to a record (“Roses Of Picardy”). A Korean boy wanders in, and the colonel lets the boy sit in his lap and gives him some fudge while showing the child a picture of his younger himself with his WWI Army buddies.
Colonel Potter’s Famous Toast to Friendship
After Betty and the refugees have departed and the appointed time has come, the nervous staff gather at Colonel Potter’s tent. They hesitate at his door, not knowing whether to knock or just walk on in. Margaret expresses what the group is feeling, saying, “I want to know, but I don’t want to know.” Charles reminds them they can’t put this off forever, and someone must knock on the door, so Father Mulcahy does so. They find Colonel Potter inside, dressed in his old WWI Cavalry uniform.
Potter greets everyone individually and begins to speak. He tells them that he knows he’s been acting a little goofy, but that there is a good reason for it. Margaret, still fearing the worst, interrupts him with an embrace. Potter wonders “what’s with her?”
The group tells Potter that they are worried about him but that he has their total support. He thanks them that he appreciates that, but if they’d all “put the tear ducts on simmer” he would lay out the whole story.
He tells him a story about his youth, when, during World War I in 1917, he and his four closest friends were caught under a heavy German artillery barrage in France and took cover in a deserted château. There, one of them discovered a hidden trove of fine brandy. Potter and his best friends spent the rest of the night singing and drinking in celebration of their bond. Finally, they reached the very last bottle. Instead of drinking the brandy, they made a solemn agreement, a “tontine”: this final bottle would be saved, and the last surviving member would drink a solo toast to his fallen comrades. This final bottle was in the package sent to Potter by the law firm.
Potter then explained that their fears for his future were unfounded. He had just become the final survivor of the group when his friend Gresky passed away in Tokyo. Gresky had ensured the bottle was shipped to him at the 4077th. While he grieved the loss of his old friends, Potter found solace in the new friends he’d made at the MASH unit. He asked them to join him in sharing the brandy.
Honored by the request, Hawkeye, Margaret, B.J., Charles, Father Mulcahy, and Klinger each poured a glass. Before joining them, Potter raised his glass alone for a final tribute to his four departed buddies from his youth:
- Ryan (killed in WWI)
- Giannelli (lost in WWII)
- Stein (the group’s resident joker), and
- Gresky (his best friend, who had recently passed in Tokyo)
Looking at his new, cherished friends, whom he now valued even more, Potter offered his second, collective toast: “To love and friendship.” Together, they shared a drink from the final special bottle of Brandy.
Episode notes + My Opinion: The scene in Potter’s tent is one of the most well-liked and discussed scenes of the entire series. Like the first angry Potter episode, in this one, the colonel’s anger is justified. It is also less exaggerated and irrational, making this perhaps the best such example of them all, although not the funniest.
Many times, angry Potter episodes are only considered to be those where the colonel is in a rage. Except for the very first example, these are the lowest quality examples, not the best examples! This episode, where Potter is clearly moody, somewhat angry, and aloof, shows a more balanced response to the loss of his friend, one more in keeping with a mature and seasoned professional soldier and experienced leader. Writer Dennis Koenig not only redeemed himself with this, but his script generated one of the touching scenes and speeches of the entire show, where Colonel Potter toasts his new MASH family.
5. Season 9, Episode 16 Red/White Blues
Season 9, Episode 15, titled Red/White Blues starts with Colonel Potter getting a physical from Hawkeye. The colonel is in a good mood. Hawkeye checks his blood pressure, however, and finds it to be 165 over 93. Since his blood pressure should be under 120/80 mmHg, this is quite high. Potter is frustrated: “If my diastolic is over 90, the chief surgeon is going to yank me right out of here and stick me in some weeny job…Sittin’ in a state-side hospital, rubber-stamping bed pan inventories.”
Hawkeye tells the colonel that he can’t be sure of this, but Potter insists that the Army is “always trying to 86 an old sawbones. They love bringing in young bucks who haven’t even unwrapped their scalpels yet.”
Potter asks Hawkeye to knock enough off the numbers to get him passing results, but Hawkeye, for once, agrees with the Army, saying there’s a good reason they don’t fool with those high numbers. He refuses to fudge when it comes to the cardiovascular system. Potter angrily responds, “Dammit, this is my last physical! Nobody’s gonna yank me out of the rat race until I’ve crossed the finish line!
Remembering that the physical doesn’t have to be in for two more weeks, Potter asks Hawkeye to at least wait before submitting the report to buy him some time, since he knows he can reduce his blood pressure quickly. Hawkeye agrees but reminds the colonel that this means no salt, no caffeine, no cigars, which the colonel thinks will be easy. Then Hawkeye tells him that most importantly, he can’t let himself get aggravated: “There’s a lot of pressure in running this place. You’re gonna have to roll with the punches.”
Potter responds: “Don’t worry, Pierce. I’m gonna take a two-week vacation in the state of tranquility. Now, you can help by keeping this under your hat. I don’t want everyone in camp treating me like some doddering old fogey.”
After this, Potter immediately gets aggravated with Klinger, who wants a pass to Tokyo despite having to redo a mountain of reports that require a new form. Hawkeye reminds him not to get aggravated, and he then pretends not to be, with a smile on his face as he tells Klinger, “You’ve got 3 days to make a mole hill out of that mountain.”
Hawkeye, because he believes it is a necessity, fails to keep the colonel’s blood pressure problem under wraps and tells Klinger about it so that the corporal will not further aggravate him out of anger over losing his 3-day pass. By breakfast, everyone seems to know about it and starts treating the colonel like “a doddering old fogey.” Margaret makes sure he’s not going to drink the coffee that he put on his tray, and B.J. tries to hide the salt shaker when the colonel complains about how bland the eggs are. He asks Pierce why everyone is suddenly so concerned about his eating and sleeping habits. Despite the precautions, Potter is now angry and quite annoyed.
The colonel then blows his fuse because he thinks Klinger has ordered the wrong medicine. Everyone needs to start taking chloroquine in anticipation of malaria season (the mosquitoes are coming), but they have received primaquine, which is just a suppressant, not a cure, like chloroquine. Hawkeye comes in and lays into Klinger as well, but says they can make do with primaquine. Klinger asks, “If it’s the same medicine, why is everybody yelling at me?”
Hawkeye tells Klinger that it’s not the same medicine, and Potter explains, angrily, that it’s just a suppressant, while chloroquine is the cure. When he finds that Klinger did not make a mistake and that HQ was out of chloroquine, he apologizes to Klinger for yelling at him, but is worried because African Americans can experience negative side effects from primaquine.
While the camp continues to aggravate Potter by treating him with kid gloves or bringing up his blood pressure, Hawkeye visits Klinger’s office and finds the place in complete disarray. Paperwork is piled everywhere and covers the floor. He confronts a woozy Klinger who is slowly pecking at the typewriter. He tells Klinger to get to work lest Potter finds the mess and blows his stack, telling him to “stop sulking around like a little kid.” Klinger tells the captain that he’s not sulking but is just so tired. “I can’t seem to get going.” Hawkeye ignores him and gives him a direct order to fix the reports and clean the room.
After Hawkeye leaves, an exhausted Klinger begins to experience back pain and makes his way to his bunk to lie down. He passes out as soon as he hits the bunk. Meanwhile, B.J. and Hawkeye take the colonel to the Officers’ Club to keep him occupied and away from the mess in the office. Igor offers him a prime Havana cigar, which is confiscated by B.J. and given back to Igor. Then the colonel has to order lemonade instead of alcohol. Everyone follows suit, including Charles, who initially asks for another cognac.
Margaret goes to check on Klinger’s progress and finds him asleep in his bunk, the mess in the office untouched. Incensed, she wakes Klinger and says, “How dare you! You miserable, selfish, malingering louse!”
She tries to get Klinger up by pulling on his arm, but he protests in pain, telling her she’s hurting his back. She tells him, “It’s probably just overloaded from the weight of all those goldbricks.” Klinger tells her he really feels rotten, thinking that he perhaps has malaria. “I never had it as a kid,” he says. Margaret dismisses his symptoms, since they don’t indicate malaria, and besides, he’s taken his primaquine. She accuses him of being mad about not getting his pass and taking it out on “the sweetest man who ever lived.” At this moment, choppers approach.
During the resulting O.R. session, Margaret tells Hawkeye about finding Klinger asleep and then goes looking for Goldman, who was supposed to bring new gloves. She finds Goldman in pre-op, sitting wearily on a bench. He apologizes to the major, telling her that he doesn’t know what it is, “I’m just so tired, and my back is killing me.” She tells him to go rest in the changing room and that a doctor will see him as soon as one is available. Klinger, meanwhile, has overheard the entire conversation.
As Margaret walks past Klinger to leave the room, he confronts her, saying, “Sure, you believe him. I got the same symptoms, and I’m a goldbrick.” She tries to say it’s not the same, but quickly realizes it is exactly the same. “Uh-huh,” says Klinger, it is the same, only I had it first.”
Margaret responds, “Well, I never know when to believe you with all the stunts you’ve pulled.”
Klinger replies, “I never pulled anything on the job, and I never would ever pull anything on the colonel.”
The major apologizes to Klinger and tells him to go on and rest in the changing room. It turns out that both Goldman and Klinger are anemic. They are sent to rest in the VIP tent. Margaret then enlists Charles to help clean up the mess in the office and finish the reports, while Father Mulcahy is told to keep Potter away at all costs. After Hawkeye and B.J. decide that the only thing that makes sense is that Goldman and Klinger are having a reaction to the primaquine, they decide to take them off the med and then go to the office, where Margaret puts them to work helping to clear up the paperwork.
No sooner do they join in than Father Mulcahy shows up at the door, trying to keep Potter away by blocking the door and asking him silly questions. Potter is fed up and tells him, “Let me in my blessed office! I’ve never wrassled a priest before, but God knows you’re giving me good reason!”
Colonel Potter enters the office, sees the utter shambles it has become, and starts yelling. The Father offers to bring him a nice glass of warm milk to soothe his nerves, and the colonel blows a circuit, throws a stack of papers in the air, saying, “I can’t stand it anymore. Next person who’s nice to me is gonna die with boots on. Mine! I’ll have no more of this from any of you. Understood!”
After this tirade, Potter grins, like a load has been lifted, and says, “Boy, that sure felt good.” He walks to his office in a much happier mood.
Two weeks pass and Klinger (and presumably Goldman) has recovered from the primaquine reaction. In the presence of Hawkeye, Margaret, Charles, and Father Mulcahy, Potter has his blood pressure checked and is happy to find it’s 137 over 88. Hawkeye says, “You made it with two points to spare.” This is in reference to the lower diastolic number, which the colonel was most concerned with. Technically, 137/88 is still a hypertensive state, but presumably not high enough to make the Army send him home. After this hurdle is overcome, the colonel immediately pours himself a drink and lights a cigar, and everyone is happy.
Episode Notes + My Opinion: This is thus far my favorite example since not only is the colonel’s anger controlled and measured, it’s also funny. I’ve said before in these pages that it is difficult to make “rage” funny. It’s much better to stick with mere anger, which is difficult enough. But this is how you do it. The episode was written by David Pollack and Elias Davis. This experienced team wrote 18 episodes of MASH, while Pollack served as story consultant for 24 episodes.
Like the previous angry Potter episode, this is a much-improved example of the craft. Potter’s anger is more aggravation than out-of-control rage. His reactions are vintage Potterisms, resulting in many humorous remarks. The scene in the Officer’s Club is particularly comical, and Charles is also a treat! In fact, while it does have a dramatic element, it is purely a “situation” comedy.
The episode is also an example of what I will call a “Mistreating Klinger” episode. These are episodes in which Klinger is ganged up on, picked on, subjected to double standards, and/or accused of not doing his duty. While Klinger constantly cooks up ways to get out of the Army, except for the very late seasons, as he says in this episode, “he never pulled anything on the job.” So, mistreating Klinger is a natural go-to in the MASH universe, especially after he becomes the company clerk and his responsibilities increase.
We find out, through pre-credit text on the screen, that by the late 1950s, research on primaquine concluded that the enzyme deficiency which causes susceptibility to anemia was present not only in blacks, but in Caucasians of Mediterranean descent.
This episode clearly benefited greatly from a medical consultant, not only in regards to the primaquine, but in the depiction of the colonel’s blood pressure problems. His blood pressure did improve, but he still had “high blood pressure,” making it more realistic than a miraculous, perfect result.
6. Season 10, Episode 16 – Pressure Points
In Pressure Points (Season 10, Episode 16) we have another Angry Potter example from the crackerjack team of David Pollack and Elias Davis. The colonel deals with the reality of his advancing age and the fear of losing his skills and sharpness that comes with it. Unfortunately, it repeats the same beginning. Potter is away from the camp, and once he returns, he’s angry. Maybe he shouldn’t leave the camp? This time, his troubles come from the fact that a patient of his developed complications while he was away, and Hawkeye had to go back in and do “mop-up work.”
While Colonel is visiting the 8063, Margaret calls in Hawkeye to check on Potter’s patient, who has high blood pressure and a distended abdomen. Hawkeye determines that some touch-up surgery is needed. Pierce does the surgery and thinks nothing of it.
Back in the Swamp, Colonel Potter arrives and asks Hawkeye about having to do mop-up work on his patient, Corporal Fisher. “Just had to play hide and seek with a little shrapnel,” Hawkeye explains. He tells the colonel he thinks the patient is going to be fine.
Potter is concerned and says, “I could have sworn I picked him clean.” Hawkeye tells him that the piece of shrapnel wasn’t easy to spot, as it was under the liver. He thinks the piece must have dislodged when Fisher started coughing, therefore nicking the hepatic artery. Potter is visibly upset: “He could have died.” B.J. pipes in, “Hey, once in a while we all miss a nail in the tire.” At that moment, an announcement comes over the PA: The Chinese have begun a new offensive, and casualties are expected within the next 24 hours.
Example of MASH Historical inaccuracy: After Potter visits his patient Fisher, who is feeling much better, Margaret tells the colonel that “We have to make room for the new wounded [shows Potter a list]. I think we should transfer as many of these men as possible.” Potter then names some of the patients who can be transferred. This is a grossly inaccurate portrayal of the operation of a MASH unit in Korea. It would not have been necessary or practical for the commanding officer to authorize the transfer of patients to make way for new wounded. Patients would have been evacuated on a continual basis. In fact, it’s doubtful Corporal Fisher would have been in the post op ward long enough to develop his complication from the missed shrapnel, as he would have already been evacuated to a larger hospital further from the front.
Potter is further troubled when Fisher’s buddy wonders why he is being transferred, but Fisher is not: “We have the same wounds, don’t we?” Margaret explains that they had to perform another surgery on Fisher.
Later, a Captain Schnelker from tech intelligence gives a briefing in Potter’s office about a new and dangerous weapon, white phosphorus ammunition, which is burning when it hits the soldier and continues burning. The captain explains the complicated procedure for putting out the fire and removing phosphorus fragments. The usual wisecracking and complaints occur, and Colonel Potter angrily orders the crew to pipe down, saying, “Would you people knock off the chatter. I’m gonna be operating on men who’ve been hit by this white phosphorus. I’d like to know what I’m doing!” The captain continues, but Potter interrupts him:
“Every month, there’s a new procedure we have to learn because somebody’s come up with an even better way to mutilate the human body! Tell me this, Captain. How the hell am I supposed to keep up with it?! If they can invent better ways to kill each other, why can’t they invent a way to end this stupid war?!”
This is another historical inaccuracy and a continuity error. B.J. and Hawkeye had already treated a soldier with phosphorus fragments in his leg during Season 4 (Episode 23, Deluge), as discussed here, in my article, The Most Common Surgery at a MASH Unit. In addition to this error, the idea that white phosphorus was a new type of ammunition is historically inaccurate, as it had been used since WWI.
After the briefing, Sidney Freedman shows up, saying he was sent to find out how the unit handles stress when hit with a load of casualties. This is just a smokescreen, as he was actually called in to see a “top secret patient.” He visits the colonel in his tent and finds out, to his surprise, that the patient is Potter.
The colonel tells Freedman about his outburst in the briefing and how he “reared up and bit his head off in front of my own people.” Sidney reminds him that “everybody flies off the handle once in a while. Potter replies, “Well, there’s more, Sidney. I bungled an operation.” He explains what happened and how Hawkeye operated on a boy with the “exact same wounds” that “came through with flying colors.” [This makes no sense].
Sidney tries to reason with Potter. Potter says that he knows that nobody is perfect, but “lately, I seem to be a lot than I can accept. I think maybe I…” His voice trails off. Sidney presses him to continue. “Maybe I just need some sleep.” He tells Sidney that he’s tired, that’s all. Sidney uses the excuse of getting up a poker game to stick around another day.
The next day Potter is gruff and irritable. He barks at the private serving his food in the mess hall and then immediately acts like everything is hunky dory to Sidney while the two are getting coffee. He continues to cover up his stress but when Klinger comes in to tell him that the extra blood has arrived for the new wounded, but the refrigerators are all full up, Potter loses control for a moment. He regains his composure and tells Klinger about how they used to put the beer in the creek back home at the Kiwanis picnic. He then loses his temper when Klinger asks him to sign the release for Corporal Fisher, wanting to know who authorized his release:
“Fisher? Fisher is my patient! Who authorized his release?! It was Captain Pierce, Klinger informs him [historically inaccurate: signed releases were not necessary to transfer patients].
Potter walks over to Pierce in the chow line and chews him out. Sidney is standing in line behind Hawkeye, and as Potter walks away, the two exchange a look of concern.
At that point, Potter’s voice trails off, and he insists that nothing’s really wrong; he just needed to vent a little. Sidney is dubious, but Potter says that all he needed was to talk. Sidney goes back to the Swamp.
When Charles’ attempt to teach Hawkeye and B.J. a lesson by being as slovenly as possible escalates into an all-out “destroy the Swamp” battle, Klinger calls on Potter, who, once again, is back in control and reacts with nonchalance at the destruction. Walking away from the Swamp, he asks Sidney to come with him to his tent. At this point, an interesting exchange takes place that seems to be part of the evolution of the Angry Potter episodes:
Sidney: You’ve been flying off the handle at everybody else. Why not the wrecking crew?
Col. Potter: They were just blowing off steam. In a few hours, the Wounded Express is due in. The longer the waiting, the worse the wait.
Sidney: But when you blow off steam, you don’t like it.
Col. Potter: Depends on what’s boiling the water. If there’s a good enough reason, you can bet I’ll go off. But when I blow without good reason, I start getting worried.
Sidney: Are you worried that you blew up at Hawkeye back in the mess tent?
Col. Potter: I don’t know why I did that. Pierce is okay. Just young, that’s all. Sometimes I’ve got to sit on him.
Sidney presses a little and gets the colonel to tell him what’s really one his mind:
Col. Potter: I’ve been in a cold sweat.
Sidney: Why?
Col. Potter: I told you my mistake. I almost cost a boy his life. Next thing I heard, we were getting casualties in. That’s when something snapped.
Potter tells Sidney that after the report of more casualties arrived, he broke out in a cold sweat. He felt like he was going to fall apart and “wouldn’t be able to hit the bullseye again.” He tells Sidney the story of how, as a boy, his veterinarian uncle would bring him along on his rounds. He watched as his uncle operated on a colicky horse and removed an enterolith from the animal’s gut. “My uncle showed me the beauty; the ‘glory,’ he called it, of what’s inside living creatures. From that minute, my dream was to be a surgeon. And it came true.”
Potter thinks that the dream of that “wide-eyed little boy” is now over. “Over? Because of one piece of shrapnel?” asks Sidney. “Maybe that one piece of shrapnel was trying to tell me something,” replies the colonel, concerned that if he “strikes out” it could cost a life: “Sidney, [pointing toward the hospital] I’m afraid to go in there.”
Sidney comforts the colonel, telling him that he cannot tell him whether he’s lost his touch. Potter is the only one who has the answer, but he must not let the fear make the decision for him. As they are talking, the sound of approaching choppers can be heard. As Sidney concludes, the announcement comes. Wounded have begun arriving.
In the operating room, Potter looks in through the glass. He takes a deep breath, walks in and tells everyone, “Let’s get to work.”
Later, a raffle is held for the orphanage. The winner gets to shave Winchester, who has been on a mission to prove a point to his messy tent-mates by letting himself go. In the Officers’ Club, B.J. applies shaving soap to Winchester’s face, and Klinger announces the winner, Colonel Potter. Preparing to shave Charles, the colonel tells him, “Don’t worry, Major. Your face is in good hands. I’m steady as a rock. After all, I’m a surgeon.”
Episode Notes + My Opinion: Some folks may quibble with me about this being an Angry Potter episode. My answer is that it follows all the patterns of such an episode but, like the two episodes before it, is an improvement of the genre. We see Potter as he should be. He is not an irate and out-of-control old man who is blindly lashing out at everyone around him. He is a troubled leader who fears he is losing his touch and is also concerned about flying off the handle at his people. Potter “loses it” and quickly regains control. This doesn’t mean he’s not angry (and upset, concerned, fearful, etc.), only that he is not walking around in an irrational rage the entire episode. He is trying to maintain his composure.
Once again, this example was written by David Pollock and Elias Davis. I would venture to say that this writing team realized the problems with earlier such episodes and sought to iron out the bugs, although this may be a pie-in-the-sky notion. I like the previous episode better, where Potter battles with his blood pressure, because Potter himself is funnier, but this is still one of the best of such shows. The comedy in this episode is left to the subplot, where Charles lets himself go and creates a stinkfest in the swamp, not showering and eating sardines and onions in an effort to get back at his messy tentmates, whom he is always cleaning up after.
7. Season 11, Episode 7 – Settling Debts
In Season 11, Episode 7, titled Settling Debts, the over-the-top angry Potter is back, this time with a big dose of paranoia, once again involving the colonel’s wife.
Klinger brings the mail into the mess hall, where Father Mulchahy has just finished telling Col. Potter a bad joke. The padre has received his Joe Miller jokebook from Marvin’s House of Mirth, and runs off happily, promising some “snappy comebacks.” Potter recognizes another letter as being from his wife, Mildred. It has her handwriting and she has used “that old fountain pen that makes everything look like it was written by a monk.” It even has a Hannibal, Missouri postmark. The letter, however, is addressed to Hawkeye, so Klinger refuses to give it to the colonel.
In the Swamp, Hawkeye reads the letter and finds out that Mildred had “scrimped and saved and paid off the mortgage on their home six months early.”
“I’ve been setting aside my egg money each month,” wrote Mildred. “One day I checked the bankbook, and lo and behold, I had enough to buy the whole henhouse.”
Mildred had enclosed the mortgage so that everyone close to Sherman could have a mortgage burning party with him. Since she couldn’t be there, she would be burning the free calendar the bank had sent. Just as Hawkeye finishes reading and he and B.J. are discussing the party, Potter comes in in a huff and asks Pierce if he had received a letter from the colonel’s wife. “Well, uh, I don’t know. I got a letter from a Mildred Potter,” replies Hawkeye.
Potter demands to know whether something is wrong and what it is. B.J. tells him there is nothing wrong and, in fact, he is going to like it. Potter angrily replies, “Really? Now there’s two total strangers sharing secrets with my wife. And I’m supposed to be tickled pink?”
Hawkeye: All right. All right. I’ll tell you what she said. She said, “Don’t tell Sherman.”
B.J.: And she outranks us by marriage.
Col. Potter: Okay, okay. I can see I’m not gonna get anywhere here without truth serum. If you fellas don’t want to tell me, there’s nothing I can do. So I’ll be shoving off [walks out the door].
Hawkeye: We better have this party today before it kills him.
Hawkeye, B.J., Margaret, Charles, and Klinger meet with Father Mulcahy in his tent to discuss the coming mortgage burning party. They all pitch in money to buy presents and come up with a plan for the party. Margaret and Klinger are to distract the colonel while B.J. and Charles decorate the colonel’s tent. The Father volunteers to be a go-between. As they are preparing to leave, Hawkeye hands Mulcahy the letter for safekeeping because he has seen that Potter is rifling through Hawkeye’s papers in the swamp.
When Hawkeye and B.J. get to the Swamp, Potter tries to cover up what he was doing, claiming that he was looking for the toenail clippers he lent them, although he had refused to do so. B.J. tells him that it’s not in there (meaning the letter), and Potter gets angry, wondering how B.J. would feel if Hawkeye got a letter from Peggy. They tell him it’s a great surprise, and the colonel angrily concludes that Mildred has “gone ahead and bought the damn houseboat.” “I told her, I don’t wanna move to Florida,” continues Potter. “Six months in that sun, and I’ll be a walking liver spot!”
Hawkeye tries to tell the colonel that it’s not a houseboat, but he doesn’t listen, yelling, “We’ll just see about that,” before storming out.
Back in the office, Potter waits for a reply to a telegram he sent. When the reply finally arrives, he becomes even more apoplectic, convinced that Mildred has “bought the damn boat.” He starts throwing things around and almost throws Mildred’s picture, but Klinger stops him, saying, “Don’t do that, sir! You’ll never forgive yourself.”
Klinger tells the colonel he’s blowing things out of proportion, but Potter says, “The hell I am.” He had learned from the telegram that Mildred had withdrawn $800. In this mind, this money could not have been for anything else but a houseboat. Klinger tries to calm him down, but Potter is in a rage and is determined to go to his tent to write his “ex-wife” a letter.
Klinger has no success stopping him, but Margaret comes in just in time and manages to distract him by discussing a convoluted nursing schedule.
With the party preparations well in hand, Margaret continues to keep Potter in his office, redoubling her efforts when Mulcahy appears at the office door, signaling her that they need more time. Margaret suggests they review the entire nurse rotation plan again, but Potter, who has hardly been listening, calmly says there is no need, as he likes her plan, much to her surprise. He gets up to go to his tent and “get out his poison pen.” Margaret fails to distract him with another run at the plan. As she leaves, Klinger comes in and implements “Plan B.” He tells the colonel that he had somehow managed to get through to the operator in Hannibal, despite ongoing trouble with the phone lines. “Oh, goody,” replies Potter. “Mildred’s gonna get it now.”
Potter speaks to the operator, who is actually Margaret in the other room using a crumpled piece of carbon paper to simulate the static of a badly connected long-distance call. She affects a nasally “operator” voice and stalls for as long as possible, speaking slowly and over-enunciating every word. When Plan B falls apart, and Potter is about to go to his tent once again, Margaret once again distracts him, telling him that he needs to blow off some steam.
Hawkeye and B.J. need time to tend to some patients, one of whom may be paralyzed (I’ve left out the subplot that is responsible for much of the extra time needed before the party). Margaret manages to redirect Potter by getting him to go a few rounds with the speed bag in the father’s tent to release some stress. This only serves to irritate the colonel even more, who is now both angry and sweaty. Reaching the end of his rope, Potter goes to his tent, rebuffing Margaret’s and Klinger’s efforts to stop him. He walks in and finds everyone there waiting for him.
Hawkeye shows Col. Potter the mortgage, and the crew explains to him how Mildred paid it off early. He notices the decorations in his tent:
Col. Potter: Look at what you folks did.
Charles [inebriated]: Yeah.
Col. Potter: Almost like the real thing.
B.J.: We wanted it to look just like the Potter house.
Col. Potter: Well, to tell the truth, it doesn’t [everyone laughs]. Mildred’s been after me for years to build one of them. But I like a fence that you can sit on without getting a perforated carcass. [clicks tongue] If you don’t beat all.
Hawkeye: Colonel, on behalf of those of us assembled [Charles leans drunkenly on his shoulder and Hawkeye pushes him off]…and those of us who are falling apart, we’d like to present you with a little something to keep the home fires burning [opens a box and gives Potter a gold-plated lighter].
B.J.: It’s also suitable for cigars, cigarettes, and tax returns.
Col. Potter [admiring the lighter, clearly touched] Oh, gosh. Thanks. It’s lovely.
Margaret: It was all Mildred’s idea.
Col. Potter: That sweet petunia. You know, she was the one who wanted to buy a home in the first place. I said, “What for? There’s some fine housing for rent right here on the base. But she said she was tired of livin’ like a gypsy. Wanted a place where she could put a nail in a wall anywhere she damn well liked. Well…it took 20 years…but we got it. Thanks, Mildred. If anyone says there’s a sweeter woman in the world, I wouldn’t believe ’em for a minute.
After this, everyone drinks their fill, and they leave one by one, toasty and happy. Colonel Potter starts to get ready for bed and realizes not everyone has left. Charles, who was tired of waiting, had begun drinking earlier than everyone else and is now passed out on the colonel’s bed.
Episode Notes + My Opinion: This episode borrows elements from several earlier episodes: Potter upset about his wife/marriage and being a horse’s patoot about it; Potter not trusting the staff; the staff desperately trying to distract Potter; a touching moment in Potter’s tent at the end. It is clearly a step back from the improvements seen in the previous few episodes.
Potter is not raging and out of control as in some of the poorest such episodes. But the colonel once again not trusting his crew, who’ve proven themselves to him time and again, and also flying into a rage about Mildred buying a houseboat, seems a bit out of the blue. This is especially apparent given the heartfelt speech the colonel gives about his wife at the end, being the sweetest woman in the world. Clearly, the sweetest woman in the world wouldn’t buy a houseboat that she well knew Sherman didn’t want. In my opinion, writers Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford phoned this one in, and such unlikely contrivances are often found in their episodes, such as Margaret being accused of being a communist by a congressman, a nurse studying to be a doctor in a war zone, Potter being cited for reckless driving and forced to take driving lessons, etc.
Their episode, Bless You, Hawkeye, is one of my least favorite episodes of the entire series and is one of a set of “Hawkeye cracks up” episodes I believe most fans could do without.
As a standalone MASH episode, this is not without its charms, but when viewed against other such episodes, it’s a fail, in my opinion.
Not Angry Potter Episodes
Keeping in mind that this is my opinion, here are some episodes that might be construed as angry Potter episodes. In my opinion, they are not.
I initially listed Strange Bedfellows (Season 11, Episode 11) as a possible Angry Potter example. In this episode, the colonel is upset when he finds out his visiting son-in-law, Bobby, had an affair. While Col. Potter is angry and upset with his son-in-law, he does not take it out on the entire camp and seems well in control of his emotions. While he confides in Father Mulchahy about the problem, it is almost entirely a personal problem. He does not make it everyone’s problem. Therefore, I dismissed this as an example.
Another episode on my list that didn’t make the cut is Friends and Enemies (Season 11, Episode 13). In this episode, an old friend of Potter, Colonel Woody Cooke, shows up along with a group of wounded. His leg has been hit by shrapnel. Cooke, as far as Potter knew, was in an I-Corps position, making it strange that he should show up at the unit wounded. Woody tells Potter that he works in oil and lubricants and took it upon himself to visit the front to “straighten out a fuel supply snafu.
It turns out, according to the sergeant who was the platoon leader, that Woody just showed up at the front, and when fighting broke out, he took command and started barking bizarre and dangerous orders. He ordered the men to take a ridge that the sergeant’s CO had told them to keep clear of. Woody’s driver says he wanted to get out of there, but Cooke insisted on staying.
The sergeant wants to tell Colonel Potter, but sees him chatting with Woody, so he ends up telling Hawkeye instead. When Hawkeye tries to tell Potter, he becomes quite angry and snaps at Hawkeye, telling him that Hawkeye and the other men are “a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears brats with chips on their shoulders” who don’t know what they are talking about. However, the next day, the colonel investigates for himself, talks to the platoon leader, and realizes the truth. He apologizes to Hawkeye and is now faced with confronting his friend with his irresponsible actions.
Faced with the idea that his trusted longtime friend would put so many in danger, Potter is understandably resistant and becomes angry and defensive of his friend. However, he does not lash out blindly at everyone, and he quickly investigates the matter and finds out the truth. Potter gets angry in this episode, but it is not an Angry Potter example.
Here are two other episodes that I dismissed without further consideration:
- Season 9, Episode 1 – Best of Enemies
- Season 9, Episode 9 – Taking the Fifth
Colonel Potter becomes angry in both these episodes, but this is not the entire point of the plot.
Is This Out of Character For Potter?
Many fans feel that Angry Potter episodes are not the best! Some feel that such irrational anger and lashing out is out of character for good old Sherman. While I agree that this tactic was overused and sometimes nonsensical, I do not agree that it is absolutely out of character. At least not necessarily. The burdens of command in such a situation are one thing. Taking command over a bunch of civilians while trying to save countless lives and also run an outfit is quite another.
While the Colonel could have been much more gruff and no-nonsense with an actual military outfit, he can’t expect these doctors, plucked out of residency and sent to a war zone, to function like military doctors. He is surrounded by people who, at the best of times, are acting like children. He has to remain calm, reasonable, and steady. When he does finally fly off the handle, it is often for an understandable reason. And, who wouldn’t have to let off a head of steam in such a circumstance, now and again?
The first angry Potter episode provides some the best justification for Potter’s anger and behavior. He felt betrayed that someone under his command, those he considered family, would betray him.
That being said, this trope, if we can call it that, was recycled too many times, and sometimes used quite sloppily. In the second two angry Potter episodes (Point of View, Too Many Cooks), Potter was quite irrational in his outbursts and taking out his marriage problems, perceived or real, on those under his command does seem out of character for a seasoned officer and leader like Potter. I think the premise was that Potter is at the end of his career and so, at times, is resentful about having to be in yet another war. However, he can retire or get transferred if he likes, so having made decisions to stay in Korea, he is certainly mature and reasonable enough to own that decision and not give in to irrational anger.
In fact, in the very first angry Potter episode, Potter’s Retirement, the Colonel makes a conscious decision to remain in command of the 4077, knowing full well that he could be transferred stateside at any time he wished. Therefore, in Too Many Cooks, his once again becoming resentful about being stuck in another war, away from his wife, and taking this problem out on the staff, if not a continuity error, is at least a character error. Regardless, his behavior in the “Mildred problems” episodes is indeed ridiculous and out of character.
After this, we see a much more reasonable type of angry, moody, or sullen behavior from the colonel, not to mention a man who can control himself, as would be expected of any old soldier seasoned by experience. We also see Potter worried about being sent home, in stark contrast to the person who was ready to pack it in over a marriage glitch or two. We must keep in mind that there were many writers, and they couldn’t just consult the internet to find out what had been done in the previous iterations.
There is one other aspect of this that we can’t ignore. MASH fans, like any other group, often divide into factions. There are team Henry fans, who simply didn’t like Colonel Potter as much (not me). There are “Team Gelbart” fans who think the series fell apart after Larry Gelbart left. There are those fans who generally don’t like the direction the series took in the later seasons. I could go on listing such factions for another page, I suppose. But, suffice it to say that certain fans will dislike anything to do with the post-Trapper or post-Henry Blake period.
To me, it’s downright silly as both characters were on the show very a very short time while the show continued its amazing success for many years. Original fans, like myself, often have no such allegiances.
My main gripe about angry Potter episodes is not that they made no sense, although they often didn’t. It’s when they ended up with the same, neat and tidy resolution. Potter makes a speech and apologizes, explaining everything. This is not realistic, and it’s extremely “tropish.” However, MASH was mostly episodic TV. There was a need to tie things up in a neat package and be done with them. My other gripe is the over-reliance on Potter’s marriage to manufacture over-reactions to minor problems. Repeating the same elements, such as “distract Potter” was also an unfortunate occurrence.
I feel compelled to point out one other thing: You should take my opinions with a grain of salt. There is a danger in becoming over-familiar with your content, especially when it comes to analysis and critique. In taking such a deep dive into Angry Potter episodes, I’ve become much to familiar with them to be sure that I am being rational and fair in my analysis. I have to be sure I’m wearing my viewer hat and not my critic hat. If anything, I may have overcompensated by being too understanding of some of the failures and problems with these episodes. Watching too much of anything washes off the shine pretty quickly!
