Oh, How We Danced (TV series episode) (2024)

Oh, How We Dancedwas the 14th episode of Season 9 of the CBS-TV seriesM*A*S*H,also the 212th overall series episode. Written by Dennis Koenig and directed by Alan Alda, it originally aired on February 23, 1981.

Synopsis[]

When Winchester goes to inspect the sanitary conditions at another camp, the failing mark he gives the commander is met with physical violence. Meanwhile, the gang comes up with a surprise for B.J. on his anniversary.

Full episode summary[]

B.J. is especially depressed, since his wedding anniversary is approaching - his first one away from his wife, Peg. What he doesn't know is that the others are trying to come up with some special way of celebrating it to help lift his spirits.

A wounded Korean boy is brought into the camp, having been hit in a recent attack. His grandfather stays with the boy in Post Op because they have nowhere else to go and no other family. As the child recovers, he asks for his "mouth music" - which B.J. eventually realizes means a harmonica, an instrument lost after the attack. The doctors promise to find a replacement (although Klinger informs them harmonicas are rare and soldiers rarely part with them).

When Winchester gets assigned to inspect a frontline unit and make sure their following Army regulations regarding sanitary conditions, he turns it into a big deal, acting as though he's risking his life just making the trip. He records a pseudo will on his tape recorder, bidding farewell to "Cape Cod, Harvard Yard, and baked scrod." Hawkeye and B.J., overhearing this, mock his dramatics, causing Winchester to storm off. Hawkeye, holding Winchester's microphone, gets an idea. He starts secretly recording his conversations with B.J., peppering him with questions about his life with Peg in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Winchester has a run-in with the commander of the frontline unit he visited, giving it a bad review. The commander of the unit, Major Finch (Arlen Dean Snyder), shows up drunk at the 4077th and tries to get Winchester to reconsider. When he won't, he gets angry and punches Winchester in the mouth, knocking one of his teeth out.

Everyone expects Winchester to press charges against the commander, but he is surprisingly calm about it, wanting only to have his tooth repaired and move on. In private, Winchester confesses that he is ashamed of himself for acting so cowardly and not even trying to fight back when provoked. The visiting grandfather offers to teach Winchester some basic karate moves as a means of self-defense to overcome his fears.

He later has the chance to show off his newfound skills when Finch returns to deliver a harmonica as a bribe arranged by Hawkeye, B.J., and Klinger for the wounded Korean boy. Winchester, not knowing anything about the plan, freaks Finch out by being aggressive and looking for a second round.

Later, on the day of his anniversary, they all trick B.J. into Col. Potter's office, where they have a surprise party waiting. B.J. at first isn't in the mood, but they all have a special gift waiting for him: a home movie, starring Peg (Catherine Bergstrom) and filmed by her father, narrated by her and the audio recordings Hawkeye made of B.J.

They watch shots of Peg doing the things B.J. mentions, like giving their daughter Erin a bath. B.J. is moved to tears, and Margaret offers to dance with him, as the young Korean boy, now out of Post Op, plays "The Anniversary Song" (the first line of which is, "Oh, how we danced on the night we were wed") on his new harmonica.

The next day, the Korean boy and his grandfather take their leave of the 4077th, but the staff are having some trouble opening the door to the truck the family are to leave in. Finally, Col. Potter delivers a swift backwards kick to the door, knocking it loose. When Hawkeye asks if he learned that move from the Korean grandfather, the Colonel says no, he learned it from a mule back home.

Guests stars/Recurring cast[]

• Yuki Shimoda as Key Yong Lu
• Arlen Dean Snyder as Major Finch
• Catherine Bergstrom as Peg Hunnicutt
• Michael Choe as Soon Chi Lu
• Jennifer Davis as Nurse - see Lieutenant Jennifer
• Shari Saba as Nurse - see Nurse Shari
• Uncredited appearance by Kellye Nakahara, Jo Ann Thompson, character of Erin Hunnicutt

Research notes/Fun facts[]

• While imitating Charles in order to procure a harmonica for the injured Korean boy, Hawkeye tells Major Finch that his attack on Winchester was "both lugubrious and sedatious". When queried off to the side by B.J., Hawkeye says he made up the word "sedatious" on the spot. Hawkeye may have wanted to say "seditious", which means "inciting or causing people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch." "Lugubrious", however, actually means "looking or sounding sad and dismal."
• Hawkeye mocks Winchester's will, claiming that he would like to be cremated and have his ashes sprinkled over Robert Taft. Senator Robert A. Taft, Sr., died July 31, 1953.
• Margaret asked B.J. "I know I'm not Peg, but will I do?". Ironically, Peg is a diminutive of Margaret.
• B.J. tells Winchester that the Battle of Pork Chop Hill has been over for a month. Since there were two battles here [16–18 April / 6–11 July 1953], the timeline for this episode is April 1953 (the Korean war armistice came in July 1953). Also, Winchester is shown to be reluctant to go on a front line inspection, yet in another episode, it's claimed he was a front line surgeon at the Battle of Pork Chop Hill-apparently ("The Life You Save") where he is at the front lines-the second Battle of Porkchop Hill [6-11 July 1953].
• This episode introduces an anomaly as to the age of B.J.'s daughter, Erin: He says that at their last wedding anniversary, Peg was 8 months pregnant, which would make Erin less than 1 year old in the movie Peg sends him. However, in the Season 6 episode "Period of Adjustment," after Radar meets Peg and Erin at San Francisco Airport, Peg writes that "When Erin first saw Radar in his uniform, she ran up to him and said, 'Hi, Daddy!'" The baby we see in the video might have been able to say "Hi, Daddy!", but there was no way she was running.