MAS*H

Ain't Love Grand

Season 7, Episode 24, Aired 3/5/79

Episode Summary

The impossible happens for the snobbish Charles when he shares an emotional experience with Klinger, who discovers a U.S. nurse, Debbie, finds him and his bizarre attire attractive, while Charles succumbs to the exotic charms of a Korean girl, called Sooni, who he meets at Rosie's Bar.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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William Christopher

Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy
Mike Farrell

Captain BJ Hunnicut (Season 4-11)
Loretta Swit

Major Margaret J. "Hot Lips" Houlihan

Fan Episode Reviews (1)

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Mike Farrell takes the director's chair for the first time in this yarn near the end of Season 7.

7.8

"Good"

By Ummagnumma, May 22, 2006 Report Abuse

In "Ain't Love Grand", Charles and Max both find a girl. And they are both utterly incompatible. At first, it seems that Max has found a winner. Both seem to be in love and are certainly crazy about each other. Meanwhile, Winchester finds a working girl who he tries unsuccessfully to make a "sophisticated, high-class" working girl by exposing her to classical music, literature, etc.

The truth is -- both just seek the company of a woman to get their minds off the ever-present war. And for a while, it works. Klinger is glowing like he never has before. Winchester has a smile on his face, which I thought was impossible.

However, I did not have a smile on my face. Not at all. I found the episode unfunny -- and unsuccessful at any attempt at any emotion. I don't why, but the episode felt clumsy and drawn out. It all seemed to repeat the same themes/motifs we had been inundated with all season -- a war that never ends, people at their wit's end about it, people not getting along, etc. It works most of the time -- but often it only works in small doses. By this point in the season, I become burned out with this theme.

So when B.J. and Hawkeye argue with each other -- just for the sake of arguing with each other -- it seems just as aggravating to me.

Chalk this episode up to bad acting from Alan Alda, too. While I'm sure the "overbearing" factor was in part intentional, he was a little too successful at it. And when he receives a call from doctors in Tokyo updating the 4077th on the condition of one of B.J.'s more troublesome patients, his reaction to me did not seem at all realistic. Exaggerated seemed more like it.

I'm not sure where the blame should lie with this one. Farrell seems the logical first choice since he's the director (and first time at that), but I think part of the blame should lie with the writers (Ken Levine and David Isaacs, who are capable of much more than this). This storyline was overdone on the show by this point -- and there are many more seasons to go.

And while Alda had an off night, I can't say the same about David Ogden Stiers, who was exceptional as usual. Jamie Farr had a good performance as well. It's just, well, same old, same old -- and that's not a good thing 24 episodes into Season 7 of a TV series.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- Radar does not appear in this episode. This was the first of 4 episodes directed by Mike Farrell. He also wrote or co-wrote five episodes. Edit
Quotes
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- (Hawkeye is sleeping in Radar's office and the phone wakes him up) Hawkeye: Hello, M*A*S*H 4-0 something something, and you've got a lot of nerve calling in the middle of the night! Edit
- Colonel Potter (about Klinger): Is he wearing a Class A uniform? Hawkeye: Let's see. Ugly color, forty years out of style, fits like a tent? It's a Class A uniform all right. Edit
- Hawkeye: My body is so tired it's suing me for running a sweatshop. Edit
Allusions
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- Charles says, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have, oh give me a drink." The first part of that is from Alfred Lord Tennyson's epic poem In Memoriam. The actual lines are, "I hold it true whate'er befall, I feel it when I sorrow most, tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Edit