Though the story is credited to series star McLean Stevenson, this is isn't one of the best episodes from the first season. Far from it. The biggest issue I had with it is that everyone is getting into the spirit of the big Army versus Navy game, listening to it on the radio and commenting about it...and cheering their team on to victory. That in itself is not the problem. The problem is that they'd feel any sense of pride in the army winning, since this show is written by liberals who go out of their way to depict doctors like Hawkeye and Trapper NOT taking pride in the army.
For guys like Hawkeye and Trapper, they are in Korea because they have to be, not because they want to be. They are defending free western nations against the threat of communism because they have been drafted to do that, not because they want to do that. So to have them all getting excited about a big football game against the navy seems out of the character and far-fetched. We even have Radar running round wearing football sports gear, which seems equally unlikely since he's never been portrayed as a sports aficionado.
While the game is taking place on radio, there is a more pressing concern. The camp is being attacked by enemy fire with a series of bombs exploding around them. Some of the special effects are decent enough, but the fact that none of them get harmed by enemy fire seems unrealistic.
There is an unexploded bomb that lands in the middle of the 4077th. After drawing straws, Frank is supposed to go out and see if it is ticking. But he faints from the sheer terror of such a task. So of course, Hawkeye must be the brave soul to go out and check the bomb. In the end, we are told that it's not a North Korean bomb, but a CIA bomb sent here for propaganda purposes.
For guys like Hawkeye and Trapper, they are in Korea because they have to be, not because they want to be. They are defending free western nations against the threat of communism because they have been drafted to do that, not because they want to do that. So to have them all getting excited about a big football game against the navy seems out of the character and far-fetched. We even have Radar running round wearing football sports gear, which seems equally unlikely since he's never been portrayed as a sports aficionado.
While the game is taking place on radio, there is a more pressing concern. The camp is being attacked by enemy fire with a series of bombs exploding around them. Some of the special effects are decent enough, but the fact that none of them get harmed by enemy fire seems unrealistic.
There is an unexploded bomb that lands in the middle of the 4077th. After drawing straws, Frank is supposed to go out and see if it is ticking. But he faints from the sheer terror of such a task. So of course, Hawkeye must be the brave soul to go out and check the bomb. In the end, we are told that it's not a North Korean bomb, but a CIA bomb sent here for propaganda purposes.