M*A*S*H (TV Series) Identity Crisis (1981) User Reviews

Guest starring Joey Pants

[safenoe · 7/10 · 8 December 2020]

Joe Pantoliano guest stars as a soldier who swaps dog-tags in order to get an early discharge. William Christopher plays his role sensitively in putting the guilt trip on.

This was the first of David Ogden Stiers's directorial efforts in M*A*S*H, and he's not bad at all. He should have directed more episodes.

However I think the scripwriters should have considered the identity crisis perpetuated in a couple of lines. One was where Charles sneeringly referred to Kellye (played by Kellye Nakahara) as sitting on a bed of "rice", sort of a a racial double-meaning with reference also to Cpl. Alvin Rice. If it was Nurse Abel, would Charles have blurted a bed of "bagels"? The second line was where Father Mulcahy reads a touching letter from Levin's family referring to the kimono and Anna May Wong. I guess white Americans think the Japanese and Chinese are alike:(

I Don't Know if Mulcahy Had the Goods

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 26 April 2015]

Three soldiers are in the hospital. One is Dirk Blocker (Dan Blocker's Kid perhaps?) who plays a big Teddy Bear type guy who has a tattoo with his girlfriend's name on it. He is fighting depression over a Dear John letter. The girl has married money and wants her picture back. The second is an obnoxious insurance man who is driving everyone crazy with his fast talking sales pitch. A reality would have been to tell the guy to knock it off or there is big trouble ahead, but then he wouldn't be able to sell as much as did. The final, most interesting case is a young man who was in an ambush. He was the sole survivor and managed to fool the North Koreans by pretending to be dead. When they left, he took the dog tags off his friend, a Jewish man, who had orders to come home. He is now living a false life. He is filled with guilt but scared to death. He confesses to Mulcahy who deals in bromides and guilt instead of counseling the guy. There is probably PTSD here and the Father ignores that. Obviously, the guy is going down a slippery slope, but he has only been in the hospital for a couple days. And, of course, there is the sanctity of the confessional. Not the greatest episode.

hypocritical and flaccid

[robrosenberger · 5/10 · 26 May 2012]

One of two episodes David Ogden Stiers would direct. Joey Pantoliano (RISKY BUSINESS, THE MATRIX) is a soldier who has switched dog tags with a dying comrade who was due to be shipped home. He is counseled by Father Mulcahy. The presence of a priest on the greatest television half-hour of all time has never heretofore been irksome. But as the soldier tells Mulcahy he just doesn't want to kill any more, Mulcahy pushes him to resume his "duty". The offensive hypocrisy of anyone who wears that collar has never felt more noxious. M*A*S*H dropped the ball by never devoting an episode to the obvious conflict of interest inherent in the phrase "soldier priest". Turn the other cheek, indeed. The B plot is pretty flaccid as well, with a wounded soldier trying to get everyone to invest in trust funds.