After what sounds like quite a wild medical convention, Hawkeye, B.J., Frank, Potter and Radar all head back to the 4077th aboard a rickety old bus. They bump along a dirt road in the middle of the woods, seemingly a long way from civilization. Potter has Radar pull over so they can assess the situation. He sends the officers 100 yards in each direction to find any forms of life. Naturally, timid Radar is stuck with Burns, handgun at the ready. They all find nothing and meet back at the bus, their next order of business being to head back where they came from and try again. Unfortunately, now the bus won't start, and Radar can't seem to fix it. Frank Burns is also no help, as usual. Eventually night falls and the gang camps out inside the bus, wondering what to do, how they'll get rescued, and then start pointing fingers. Frank, meanwhile, has found a walkie talkie and tries unsuccessfully to reach anybody. Despite Potter telling him the second walkie talkie is broken and "twenty miles from here"...exactly how Potter knew they were only 20 miles from camp is a mystery, Frank tries to reach out and touch somebody. When Hawkeye indirectly suggests it was Radar's fault they're lost, the corporal feels guilty and decides to "go to the latrine." When he leaves, the group decides to pass the time by telling stories of their first love. Frank talks about jilting a Jewish woman because he wanted to save himself for Miss Right, but when it got to be Hawkeye's turn, instead of regaling the group of the numerous love'em-and-leave'em escapades in his love life, he opted out and called out the bus for Radar. He'd been gone a long time.
Pierce suggests going out to look for him, but Potter nixes that, saying it's too dangerous. They might be in enemy territory, after all. Ever the pessimist, Frank figures Radar for dead. Speaking of which, they hear a strange noise outside. It's a North Korean soldier. When the doctors and Frank notice he's wounded, they bring him aboard the bus, despite Major Burns' protests. However, Potter grants the trigger-happy major the first watch over their "visitor" while the rest of them get some shuteye. Frank patrols around the NK, going all Dirty Harry on him, which put the man to sleep. A few hours later, Radar sneaks back aboard the bus and scares Frank awake, noticing the major has been secretly hoarding chocolate bars from the rest. What a guy. When they hear Radar is back, Hawkeye, B.J. and Potter wake up to welcome him back. Next morning, Radar admits he'd gone off to look for help, but came up empty. Frank nearly blows a gasket when he sees the North Korean fixing the bus. At that point, Potter decides they should just proceed on foot, when miraculously, the bus roars to life. The NK is a technical wizard. So they hop aboard the bus, with Radar at the wheel, and they proceed back to the 4077th. But not before, they somehow locate the second walkie talkie on board the bus and have the North Korean call Burns who, thinking he's reached enemy HQ, taunts them and says the U.S. has never lost a war, and everybody has a good laugh.
This is one of my all-time favorite episodes of M*A*S*H. It's written and directed very well. It's funny, witty and a little intense at the same time. The locations are lovely, being out of their element, out of the 4077th and lost in the woods was a great set up, and the absence of that obnoxious laugh track added to its charm. Made it look more realistic. When I first started watching M*A*S*H, I was watching the later episodes, so I was used to B.J. and Potter by this time, and not so much Frank Burns, who is a real buffoon. Also, the POW is played by Soon Tek-Oh, who has turned up on the show MANY times. He'll play a surrendered NK again in Season 8's "Yalu Brick Road" where Hawk and Beej get lost in the middle of nowhere again. Also a good episode. So anyway, any new M*A*S*H fans, I definitely recommend The Bus. Old fans, check it out again. Everything works. It's one of the series' best episodes. By the way, if Potter, Burns and the captains were away from the 4077th, who was tending to the wounded?
Pierce suggests going out to look for him, but Potter nixes that, saying it's too dangerous. They might be in enemy territory, after all. Ever the pessimist, Frank figures Radar for dead. Speaking of which, they hear a strange noise outside. It's a North Korean soldier. When the doctors and Frank notice he's wounded, they bring him aboard the bus, despite Major Burns' protests. However, Potter grants the trigger-happy major the first watch over their "visitor" while the rest of them get some shuteye. Frank patrols around the NK, going all Dirty Harry on him, which put the man to sleep. A few hours later, Radar sneaks back aboard the bus and scares Frank awake, noticing the major has been secretly hoarding chocolate bars from the rest. What a guy. When they hear Radar is back, Hawkeye, B.J. and Potter wake up to welcome him back. Next morning, Radar admits he'd gone off to look for help, but came up empty. Frank nearly blows a gasket when he sees the North Korean fixing the bus. At that point, Potter decides they should just proceed on foot, when miraculously, the bus roars to life. The NK is a technical wizard. So they hop aboard the bus, with Radar at the wheel, and they proceed back to the 4077th. But not before, they somehow locate the second walkie talkie on board the bus and have the North Korean call Burns who, thinking he's reached enemy HQ, taunts them and says the U.S. has never lost a war, and everybody has a good laugh.
This is one of my all-time favorite episodes of M*A*S*H. It's written and directed very well. It's funny, witty and a little intense at the same time. The locations are lovely, being out of their element, out of the 4077th and lost in the woods was a great set up, and the absence of that obnoxious laugh track added to its charm. Made it look more realistic. When I first started watching M*A*S*H, I was watching the later episodes, so I was used to B.J. and Potter by this time, and not so much Frank Burns, who is a real buffoon. Also, the POW is played by Soon Tek-Oh, who has turned up on the show MANY times. He'll play a surrendered NK again in Season 8's "Yalu Brick Road" where Hawk and Beej get lost in the middle of nowhere again. Also a good episode. So anyway, any new M*A*S*H fans, I definitely recommend The Bus. Old fans, check it out again. Everything works. It's one of the series' best episodes. By the way, if Potter, Burns and the captains were away from the 4077th, who was tending to the wounded?
