M*A*S*H (TV Series) Fade Out, Fade In (1977) User Reviews

A Good Transitional Episode

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 26 March 2015]

I remember being really pleased with the arrival of Charles Emerson Winchester. After five years of Frank Burns, the party was over. While he was a great character, he was becoming more bizarre and pathetic. What the guys needed was a worthy adversary. The final scene in this episode shows that things are going to be played on an even playing field. It doesn't mean that the hijinks will stop altogether, but that we have a man of great ego as well as great skill going toe to toe to the sophomoric duo of Hawkeye and B.J. Frank's departure is treated with way too much slapstick, but, of course, Larry Linville doesn't appear in the flesh. There are a series of interesting vignettes involving patients, plus the education of Charles into the world of meatball surgery. Klinger gets a lawyer to progress his case for being sent home and Margaret comes back to the unit from an unhappy honeymoon. A good start to the sixth season.

Exit Frank, Enter Charles

[kellielulu · 9/10 · 26 August 2022]

Excellent episode . Frank goes on a pass thanks to Hawkeye and BJ after Margaret's wedding. He flips out as only Frank can .

Enter Charles first it's temporary then it's permanent. He's more formidable than Frank in and out of the O. R. that quickly becomes clear. It's a needed change and opens up far more possibilities for the show and the remaining characters especially Hawkeye and BJ . The only little criticism I have is that we see in this first episode and for a very limited number of episodes Margaret already starting to flirt with Charles ( after returning from her honeymoon!) It looked like all the slow evolution of her character was being flushed fortunately it was nipped in the bud. Margaret would have been back to square one involved with Charles and it would have hampered his character development. I doubt he would ever be as pathetic as Frank but it would have done him no favors.

A great episode for many reasons.

[gfrost7617 · 9/10 · 21 January 2022]

I never liked the Larry Linville or McClain Stevenson characters. I also didn't like the Loretta Swit character. With this episode, and earlier, they started making the Loretta Swit character less of a floosie and enemy of the Alan Alda and Mike Farrell characters and more of a friend and co-worker/peer/colleague. David Ogden Stiers was a terrific actor. Instead of making him to be a greedy nit wit like Larry Linville's character, they made him into a more than competent surgeon and worthy adversary who wouldn't take the bullying and teasing, etc. From the Alan Alda and Mike Farrell characters. I like this casting and writing so much, that I consider this a seminal and game changing episode.

A seminal episode (and the mystery of Jeff Maxwell's voice)

[safenoe · 10/10 · 17 September 2020]

This double-length episode is a game-changer for M*A*S*H, with the departure of Frank Burns (Larry Linville) after five seasons. Realistically, Frank's character had runs its course, explaining why Larry decided to move on. If Frank didn't leave, it's hard to see how the series could have continued for as long as it did. Winchester breathed new life, as he proved a more than worthy adversary to Hawkeye and BJ, as demonstrated in the final scene. This episode is the start of the Hawkeye/BJ/Winchester/Potter era.

In this episode, Jeff Maxwell appears as Igor, but his voice sounds different. What happened? Then in two more episodes, Peter Riegert (who soon after gained fame in Animal House) played Igor. Why? Well, Jeff Maxwell explained the dramatic circumstances in his podcast (co-hosted with Ryan Patrick) MASH Matters in podcast 28.