M*A*S*H (TV Series) Love Story (1973) User Reviews

Aaaaah.......Bach!

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 22 February 2015]

Radar is cast as a man who had a fiancée back in Otumwa who has sent him a drugstore Dear John recording. Later, I believe, Radar's past is restructured and made different, but for now, he lapses into depression. Trapper and Hawkeye decide to find him a girlfriend, but as is usually the case, the women on the post will not even look at him. One day a pretty young nurse come and Radar is totally taken, but he is far from her intellectual equal. She reads classic literature, philosophy, and loves classical music. The guys try to get Radar up to speed enough so they can at least talk a bit. Once Margaret and Frank get wind of this, Houlihan pulls the plug on the "affair." It is strictly vindictive. The boys then launch a full frontal assault on the rendezvous between Frank and Margaret. It is funny, but in the final evaluation, is there any future for Radar and Lieutenant Anderson.

They should have kept her

[kellielulu · 8/10 · 13 February 2023]

Radar gets a Dear John record and his girlfriend and friend are practically making out during it ! Ugh . He's almost catatonic over it. Feeling bad for him and very protective Hawkeye and Trapper try to find one of the nurses to spend time with him but to no avail. When a young nurse arrives Lt . Louise Anderson ( played perfectly by Kelly Jean Peters) he's smitten. She likes him and doesn't automatically ignore or reject him. She is quite the intellectual . She is interested in literature, classical music and poetry. Trapper and Hawkeye give him a rough course in how to appear more knowledgeable than he is about her interests. She seems fond enough of as he is and it's not clear that him not knowing it is a problem. I think just respecting her interests and trying to understand it a little may have touched her enough but there is another problem. Margaret and Frank disapprove and want to put an end to the budding relationship even if means going over the head of Blake again. Anderson is ranked higher than Radar so it's not exactly allowed but then Margaret and Frank's relationship isn't either . Once again the hypocrisy is disgusting Hawkeye and Trapper keep Frank and Margaret apart ( Blake doesn't want to know the details but approves) . They finally wear down Boris and Natasha and Radar and Louise can spend time together. They really look cute at the end . I wish they had kept her around as a regular or recurring. I know they played around with Radar's background in this way he would later seem more naive about relationships but I think it's like most " romances " during war time they don't necessarily last and the show could have used another female character around other than Margaret and a few others like Nurse Kellye.

There is no real B plot in this one which didn't happen that often.

Guest starring Stefanianna Christopherson

[safenoe · 7/10 · 9 March 2024]

Stefanianna Christopherson is the probably the only Icelandic actress to appear in M*A*S*H. Stefanianna Christopherson plays Lt. O'Brien (imdb reliable informs us Stefanianna Christopherson was credited as as Indira Danks). Anyway, Radar has hit heart broken big time because he got a Dear John recording, and it's quite sad, and the Scooby Gang work overtime to help him out. A darker twist of this was in the episode where Hawkeye sends Radar on a ill-fated journey to Seoul to be a man. Anyway, I'd love for the hosts of the M*A*S*H Matters podcast, Ryan Patrick and Jeff Maxwell (who played Igor) to have Stefanianna Christopherson as a guest star.

The one where Radar gets jilted

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 18 March 2023]

Radar is acting out of character in this episode, at least for him. He's become withdrawn, won't talk to anyone and is reluctant to open up to the others about what's bothering him. It turns out his troubles involve a girl back home in Iowa who did not send him a 'Dear John' letter but rather a 'Dear John' record. On the vinyl recording, Linda Sue tells ol' Radar that she's going to marry someone else named Elroy and hopes that they'll all still be friends. These names sound like they are out of Petticoat Junction. I've never met anyone named Linda Sue or Elroy from Iowa.

To get him out of his funk, Hawkeye and Trapper devise what you might call 'Operation Radar.' This is where they will set him up on a date with some pretty young girl in camp to help him move on. Only thing is a lot of the nurses in camp are not interested in Radar. In some ways, this plot is the male version of 'Edwina,' the previous episode's offering. But instead of a klutzy nurse, the loser at love is a man child from the midwest.

Fortunately for everyone, a visiting female lieutenant (Kelly Jean Peters) sparks Radar's fancy, and she becomes taken with him. Part of the humor springs from the fact that she's into literature and classical music, and Radar is not exactly well-versed on these cultural subjects. The lady lieutenant seems like a precursor to Winchester, David Ogden Stiers' character who won't be introduced yet for a few more seasons.

The main conflict is presented in the form of Margaret and Frank who object to Radar, who is enlisted personnel, dating an officer. Margaret tries to bully Henry into putting the kibosh on the budding relationship. However, Hawkeye and Trapper are quick to point out that Margaret's own relationship with Frank is against army regulations. So they pull a stunt to get Margaret and Frank to back down.

Some gay humor occurs in Laurence Marks' script. First, during the showing of a movie, Frank accidentally grabs Hawkeye's hand, thinking it's Margaret's. And later, Hawkeye and Trapper snuggle up in Margaret's bed, waiting for Margaret to return to her tent.