108. Exorcism

December 14, 1976 (U-815)

Written by: Jay Folb; story by Gene Reynolds and Jay Folb.
Directed by: Alan Alda
Guest Stars: Philip Ahn as Mr Yee. Virginia Ann Lee as Kyong Ja. James Canning as Corporal Marsh. The Korean translator from the first scene is not credited, but I think it’s Jon Yune (from 102. The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan), and neither is the priestess, which is a shame because she was bloody good.

Plot: A local Korean trader, Mr Yee, is ordered to move off. A Korean spirit post is apparently in the way of ambulances, but when Potter orders Radar to move it, things mysteriously start to go wrong. Firstly, Mr Yee’s cart collapses. The Colonel’s new lighter refuses to light. Burns’s mirror gets broken. A light bulb keeps blowing. A sphygmomanometer breaks. Klinger drops a light on Burns’s head. Hot Lips squirts saline all over Burns. The PA system breaks. Meanwhile, one of BJ’s patients, Corporal Marsh, has come back three times for the same leg, and isn’t very pleased about it. An ambulance turns up with Mr Yee in it, who has stepped in front of a jeep to try to get rid of his evil spirits. He refuses medical treatment till the spirits in the camp have been exorcised. His granddaughter arranges a local priestess to exorcise the spirits. She turns up with a flurry of bells, fans and feathers and performs her ritual. All the things which were buggered start to get better. Radar replaces the spirit post and all is well.

Great Lines: BJ: ‘Frank, those ‘savages’ were printing with movable type in 1403!’ Hawkeye: ‘He’s right. I was in 1402 and the noise kept me awake all night.’

The Klinger Collection: He wears a lemon sweater with a lovely blue print skirt - quite a good combo. Later, a white organdie dress with a violet print on it, and white gloves, all topped off with a white pillbox hat with a veil. Later, a powder blue dress.

Continuity is for Wimps: The portrait of Hawkeye which the Colonel was painting in Episode 106. Hawkeye Get Your Gun is now on the wall in his office, but is gone in later episodes. Maybe he sent it home to Mildred.

They All Look the Same to Me: Phillip Ahn with yet another of his celebrated ‘elderly Korean man’ roles.

Comments: Burns’s attitude to the locals and their religion is in very interesting contrast to Father Mulcahy’s. The poor bugger, Corporal Marsh, seems to get the worst of it, but still manages to keep a smile and leaves BJ with a joke. I’m quite curious to find out if the ritual the priestess performed was a genuine exorcism, or if it was just a lot of farting about for the benefit of the cameras. Not such a bad episode. Slightly contrived, but pretty rewarding nonetheless.

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