This episode brings a couple of complex issues. In our own history we had slaves, those that could be bought and sold. In the wake of emancipation, many of those were put into servitude, they continued to work for "masters" even though they were free by law. The problem was that they were victims of their economic reality. In this episode a sergeant comes to the camp with a young Korean woman who does everything for him: washing, cooking, cleaning, etc. She gets nothing out of this other than her keep. He actually "owns" her because she was bought from her impoverished parents, who live day to day in an oppressive environment. Since she sees dishonor in just quitting, they must find a way to "own" her buy winning her in a crooked card game. Hawkeye finds out that things aren't always easy to solve.
6 Reviews
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
chibibarako4 February 2019
I missed this episode the first time around -- I came in about 1974 or so. It would have been neat if they could have written Young Hi into some sort of recurring role (in fact, when I looked this up on IMDb I was thinking she might be the local that runs the officers' mess) -- but at least we did see the actress again in two other roles.
Very complex question, as Hitchcoc points out; the fact that Hawkeye did what he did changed very little for Young Hi -- or did it?
Early Moral Message
DKosty1234 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Many years after our own Civil War, this episode directed by vet sitcom director Hy Averback (F-Troop among his credits), what is addressed here is a visiting Sargent who owns a "moose" (Korean woman) & she is the equivalent of his slave. Hawkeye & Trapper do not care for the Sarge's attitude towards his moose.
They not too bluntly decide to make a point by getting him into a rigged poker game and Hawkeye getting ownership of his moose. Then Hawkeye has a problem as he now owns a slave he wants desperately to free but has trouble doing so.
It is interesting how the attitude towards the moose is different from the Korean House Boy Hawkeye & Trapper have serving them during the early episodes of the series. Of course they sent one of them to college in the US so I guess that explains their indignation with the moose as the sarge has no intention of sending his moose to college.
They not too bluntly decide to make a point by getting him into a rigged poker game and Hawkeye getting ownership of his moose. Then Hawkeye has a problem as he now owns a slave he wants desperately to free but has trouble doing so.
It is interesting how the attitude towards the moose is different from the Korean House Boy Hawkeye & Trapper have serving them during the early episodes of the series. Of course they sent one of them to college in the US so I guess that explains their indignation with the moose as the sarge has no intention of sending his moose to college.
An almost good episode
Filmreader25 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Hawkeye after what Young-Hi learned as nurse there could send her directly to a nursing school and not to her family.
Then she could work as a nurse and earn money and become independent.
I admit that somebody should also teach her in her language what mean freedom.
The last time we saw her was in MASH - Exorcism (1976) as Kyong Ja.
That was her last verified job as actress.
Also marked her last Hollywood appearance.
Almost a good episode. I admired Hawkeye for his behavior against slavery and racisms. And that he didn't stay just with words but he took action about it.
At least he tried.
Then she could work as a nurse and earn money and become independent.
I admit that somebody should also teach her in her language what mean freedom.
The last time we saw her was in MASH - Exorcism (1976) as Kyong Ja.
That was her last verified job as actress.
Also marked her last Hollywood appearance.
Almost a good episode. I admired Hawkeye for his behavior against slavery and racisms. And that he didn't stay just with words but he took action about it.
At least he tried.
The one where Hawkeye & Trapper help a Korean girl gain freedom
jarrodmcdonald-15 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Shades of My Fair Lady in this offering of M*A*S*H. Hawkeye and Trapper learn that visiting Sergeant Baker (Paul Jenkins) has bought a teenage Korean girl for $500 from her family. Objecting to this form of slavery, though it is apparently okay to have wives wait on them hand and foot, the guys try to buy Young-Hi (Virginia Ann Lee) from Baker. However, the price he's asking is too steep.
This leads to an amusing poker game where Hawkeye cheats with help from Radar to beat Baker. The idea is to win Young-Hi in exchange for canceling Baker's debt, then set Young-Hi free. But this doesn't exactly turn out the way Hawkeye, Trapper and Jones figured since the girl now thinks Hawkeye is her owner and she belongs to him. They try to send her away to Seoul on a truck driven by Ho-Jon, but she jumps off and comes back. It is at this point that the guys decide to give her lessons, like Eliza Doolittle, on how to become her own person.
Gradually Young-Hi does evolve into a more independent woman, and she declines an offer from her younger brother to sell her to another man. Though I think the story is overly simplistic in spots, it's commendable that scriptwriter Laurence Marks (who would go on to write a total of 28 episodes of the series) chose to address something that undoubtedly happened with servicemen and local women in Korea.
There's a humorous, yet sobering line where Henry tells Hawkeye and Trapper that he can't really get Baker in trouble with his superiors, since the superior is also a "master" to a young Korean girl. While network censors probably required Marks to put in a line that these arrangements are not for purposes of sex, that is still the basic idea. Henry has an American nurse with him inside his quarters, who seems to help with his own domestic chores, further underscoring the hypocrisy of the situation.
This the first episode that doesn't feature Margaret or Frank. Frank is said to be in Tokyo, and Margaret's absence is not addressed. Virginia Ann Lee would appear several more times on the show, usually in uncredited roles.
This leads to an amusing poker game where Hawkeye cheats with help from Radar to beat Baker. The idea is to win Young-Hi in exchange for canceling Baker's debt, then set Young-Hi free. But this doesn't exactly turn out the way Hawkeye, Trapper and Jones figured since the girl now thinks Hawkeye is her owner and she belongs to him. They try to send her away to Seoul on a truck driven by Ho-Jon, but she jumps off and comes back. It is at this point that the guys decide to give her lessons, like Eliza Doolittle, on how to become her own person.
Gradually Young-Hi does evolve into a more independent woman, and she declines an offer from her younger brother to sell her to another man. Though I think the story is overly simplistic in spots, it's commendable that scriptwriter Laurence Marks (who would go on to write a total of 28 episodes of the series) chose to address something that undoubtedly happened with servicemen and local women in Korea.
There's a humorous, yet sobering line where Henry tells Hawkeye and Trapper that he can't really get Baker in trouble with his superiors, since the superior is also a "master" to a young Korean girl. While network censors probably required Marks to put in a line that these arrangements are not for purposes of sex, that is still the basic idea. Henry has an American nurse with him inside his quarters, who seems to help with his own domestic chores, further underscoring the hypocrisy of the situation.
This the first episode that doesn't feature Margaret or Frank. Frank is said to be in Tokyo, and Margaret's absence is not addressed. Virginia Ann Lee would appear several more times on the show, usually in uncredited roles.
Free or freedom
safenoe7 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Virginia Ann Lee played Young Hi in this thought provoking episode of M*A*S*H, from the first season. The Moose does raise moral issues about locals and their ability to earn an income, even if it comes across as slavery in a way. It reminds me of for example the local residents in Bali, Indonesia, who do lots of menial (but essential) work for white foreign tourists from Australia and New Zealand. Anyway, Patrick Adiarte appears Ho-Jon (played by Kim Atwood in the over-rated Robert Altman movie)
Anyway, I would love for Patrick Adiarte to be a guest on the M*A*S*H Matters podcast hosted by superfan Ryan Patrick and Jeff Maxwell, who played Igor.
Anyway, I would love for Patrick Adiarte to be a guest on the M*A*S*H Matters podcast hosted by superfan Ryan Patrick and Jeff Maxwell, who played Igor.
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