34. The Sniper

November 17, 1973 (K-410)

Written by: Richard M Powell
Directed by: Jackie Cooper
Guest Stars: Teri Garr as Suzanne.
Teri Garr has been making her mark on US TV for decades. She's probably most familiar as Phoebe Sr from Friends or Gary Seven's offsider from the original Star Trek episode Assignment: Earth. Film-wise, she turned up in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Semi-regulars: Dennis Troy as an ambulance driver, Marcia Gelman as a nurse.

Plot: While on a picnic with Nurse Suzanne, Hawkeye discovers that a sniper has targeted the 4077th. Radar and Henry are trapped in the shower. With a push on, no-one else can get to the camp until the following day at noon. Hawkeye thinks that surrendering is their best chance to help what wounded they have. Hot Lips cajoles Burns into going out and dealing with the sniper. When Hawkeye goes after him, they think they've got the guy in the mess tent, but it's the ever-hungry Radar. Turns out the poor sniper thinks he's firing on McArthur's headquarters, and a chopper finally comes by and wounds him with gunfire from above, ending the siege.

Glitches: As usual, Hawkeye's shaving doesn't seem to make much of a difference to how much hair is on his face.
I know he's panicking, but why is it that every time there's a shot when Radar's trying to cross camp, he runs towards it? Does he think it's lightning?
Maybe he hadn't turned it on, but there wasn't much water on Henry from his shower.
Trapper shouts down the phone that he doesn't know how many snipers there might be, but seconds later shuts Hot Lips down with a crack about 'a horde of one'.
Hawkeye says his patient can't be more than sixteen, but he looks at least eighteen to me. (The American one, not the Korean.)
Maybe she's acting, but Hot Lips seems surprised to realise that Burns has gone after the sniper. Well, maybe if his mistress hadn't just been telling him what a big man he would be if he went and did that?

Great Lines: Trapper: 'You're shaving in the middle of the week. Anyone I know?'
Henry: 'That's against the Geneva Convention!' Radar: 'I'm not for it either, sir.'
Henry: 'I can't surrender without orders. They emphasised that to me particularly. I'm not sure why.'
Suzanne: 'Why do I feel safe here with you?' Hawkeye: 'Search me, I don't.'

Je ne parle Korean...do I? Hawkeye speaks English to the sniper, and we can only guess he can speak it back, if Hawkeye learnt about the MacArthur thing.

Notes: It took Burns twice as long as usual to become a doctor. He even thought about becoming a nurse, but says he couldn't make hospital corners.
Radar says he has a very intense metabolism, and that if he doesn't eat regularly, anything solid in his body turns to liquid.

Comments: Hot Lips turning into a schoolgirl over Burns' gun is only too cute. Burns turning into one over the sniper a few seconds later is equally funny.
This episode packs a lot into its twenty-something minutes. Action, drama, comedy and a good 'under siege' story all go well together. Once again, we see that Burns can be got along with when the situation calls for it. The creators did well, also, not to try to pump every single regular or recurring character into it (no Mulcahy, no Klinger, only one other nurse), meaning everyone we did see balanced out nicely. Well done.

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