When a guy named "Cowboy," is wounded, he becomes paranoid about what is going on with his wife back home. He requests a leave. The guy is a heroic rescue helicopter pilot with an incredible record. Henry, normally a pushover, denies the leave. At that point, bad things start to happen to Henry. He is shot at while playing golf, a jeep runs through his tent while he is sleeping, and a bomb goes off when he is in the latrine. He suspects Hawkeye and Trapper, but even though they are upset with him, they truly have nothing to do with it. Suddenly, the camp begins to move away from Henry. When he sits down to lunch, all the people at the table leave. Radar sends memos from an outer office, using fishing line and a reel. I don't know if the perpetrator is ever a mystery here, but this is pretty good episode.
4 Reviews
Billy Green Bush guest stars as John 'Cowboy' Hodges
safenoe8 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Billy Green Bush guest stars as John 'Cowboy' Hodges, and this is quite a serious episode dealing with infidelities, wives back home, a helicopter and all. It ain't Little House on the Prairie, but talking of which, Billy is the father of twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush, who alternately starred as Carrie Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie. Anyway, I think I've watched every episode of M*A*S*H, some more than once, and I'm reflecting on M*A*S*H now that I'm also a big fan of the M*A*S*H Matters podcast hosted by superfan Ryan Patrick and Jeff Maxwell, famous for playing Igor in this fine series.
Ridem Cowboy
DKosty1234 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
The Cowboy here is a chopper pilot who wants to go home because he is worried that his beloved is cheating with another man at the home front after he receives a letter from her hinting that is happening. He gets wounded and tries to get the unit to send him home. Enter Henry Blake (Mc Stevenson) who makes one of his rare decisions that Cowboy is not hurt seriously enough to home.
All of a sudden, Blake has a target painted on him. He starts having serious accidents and close encounters with serious injury. The high light of the show is when he goes to the latrine and it blows up around him leaving him with a toilet seat hanging around his neck.
Overall this is a funny episode with Stevenson for once getting more work than Alda and doing very well at being funny. This episode illustrates the reason that the early episodes of the series are sometimes better than the later one, because the support cast around Alda is better while Trapper & Blake are there. Alda's main scene in this one is finding Cowboys booby trap materials in his foot locker & calling Blake on the radio when he is in mortal danger on Cowboys Chopper.
All of a sudden, Blake has a target painted on him. He starts having serious accidents and close encounters with serious injury. The high light of the show is when he goes to the latrine and it blows up around him leaving him with a toilet seat hanging around his neck.
Overall this is a funny episode with Stevenson for once getting more work than Alda and doing very well at being funny. This episode illustrates the reason that the early episodes of the series are sometimes better than the later one, because the support cast around Alda is better while Trapper & Blake are there. Alda's main scene in this one is finding Cowboys booby trap materials in his foot locker & calling Blake on the radio when he is in mortal danger on Cowboys Chopper.
The one where Henry's life is in danger
jarrodmcdonald-19 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Perhaps the best episode of season 1, this tale is a combination of war drama and mystery. In the beginning of the story, a chopper pilot named Cowboy (Billy Green Bush) arrives at the camp with a wounded soldier. He has been wounded, too. Hawkeye patches him and the other fellow up. There is some slight comedy with Father Mulcahy on hand, saying a prayer in Hebrew for the soldier whose surname is Jewish.
Cowboy's only had a shoulder injury. After looking at the X-ray and being informed that Cowboy is healing nicely, Henry refuses to allow him any sort of leave. Cowboy is anxious to return home for a few weeks, since he fears his wife is cheating on him.
The next part of the story involves Henry trying to relax, though we are not told at first why Henry needs relaxation. He goes out for a round of golf with Hawkeye and Ho-Jon, where he is shot at...apparently, by sniper fire. That evening, a runaway jeeps rolls through his tent, and then the latrine is blown up. All of these times, Henry has narrowly escaped death. Finally, Henry decides to take some time off.
Cowboy offers to fly Henry to Tokyo to save time. While they're in the air, Henry learns Cowboy has been behind the deadly incidents which nearly claimed his life. And now, Cowboy is ordering him out of the helicopter without a parachute to break his fall. Yes, Cowboy wants Henry dead for not granting him a leave of absence.
Meanwhile, a letter arrives back at the camp which Radar shows to Hawkeye and Trapper, while Frank is in charge. Hawkeye and Trapper radio the chopper and read the letter to Cowboy. It's a 'dear John' letter from Reno. Only, Cowboy's real name is John and he's actually from Reno! I thought this was an amusing bit.
Cowboy learns his wife hasn't strayed from the marriage, and he spares Henry's life. In the end, Henry agrees to give Cowboy time off. I felt this was a bit far-fetched to facilitate a happy ending. I am sure that in reality, Cowboy would probably have been ordered to undergo psychiatric testing and all would not have been forgiven or forgotten so easily.
I did like the mystery of who might be behind Henry's near-death experiences. Though it would have played better if we had seen him having a few other enemies at the top of the episode. Loretta Swit does not appear in this one, and Margaret's absence is not explained.
It occurred to me watching the episode that this story foreshadows 'Abyssinia Henry' at the end of season 3, when Henry leaves the 4077th on a chopper and does actually die while traveling by air. Knowing that Henry will not leave Korea alive, it gives the proceedings in this episode where he comes close to death several times, a grim tone.
Cowboy's only had a shoulder injury. After looking at the X-ray and being informed that Cowboy is healing nicely, Henry refuses to allow him any sort of leave. Cowboy is anxious to return home for a few weeks, since he fears his wife is cheating on him.
The next part of the story involves Henry trying to relax, though we are not told at first why Henry needs relaxation. He goes out for a round of golf with Hawkeye and Ho-Jon, where he is shot at...apparently, by sniper fire. That evening, a runaway jeeps rolls through his tent, and then the latrine is blown up. All of these times, Henry has narrowly escaped death. Finally, Henry decides to take some time off.
Cowboy offers to fly Henry to Tokyo to save time. While they're in the air, Henry learns Cowboy has been behind the deadly incidents which nearly claimed his life. And now, Cowboy is ordering him out of the helicopter without a parachute to break his fall. Yes, Cowboy wants Henry dead for not granting him a leave of absence.
Meanwhile, a letter arrives back at the camp which Radar shows to Hawkeye and Trapper, while Frank is in charge. Hawkeye and Trapper radio the chopper and read the letter to Cowboy. It's a 'dear John' letter from Reno. Only, Cowboy's real name is John and he's actually from Reno! I thought this was an amusing bit.
Cowboy learns his wife hasn't strayed from the marriage, and he spares Henry's life. In the end, Henry agrees to give Cowboy time off. I felt this was a bit far-fetched to facilitate a happy ending. I am sure that in reality, Cowboy would probably have been ordered to undergo psychiatric testing and all would not have been forgiven or forgotten so easily.
I did like the mystery of who might be behind Henry's near-death experiences. Though it would have played better if we had seen him having a few other enemies at the top of the episode. Loretta Swit does not appear in this one, and Margaret's absence is not explained.
It occurred to me watching the episode that this story foreshadows 'Abyssinia Henry' at the end of season 3, when Henry leaves the 4077th on a chopper and does actually die while traveling by air. Knowing that Henry will not leave Korea alive, it gives the proceedings in this episode where he comes close to death several times, a grim tone.
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