Ten Favorite MASH Episodes: Dear Sigmund (#5)

Tweet

It's time for another episode of M*A*S*H! Well, back when I was a teenager it was Sunday night at 8:30....then Saturday night at 8:30...then Tuesday night at 9:00....then Monday night at 9:00. I'll tell you, I've never been a fan of networks moving TV shows around in the line-up, because it seems like a sure-fire way to kill their ratings (while they're trying for the opposite effect), but M*A*S*H survived all those moves. (I just mentioned in a reply that when it ran on Saturday night that was the definition of "classic TV," with Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and Carol Burnett following it!) Anyway, here's today's episode. #5: Dear Sigmund This is a rarity for me in post-Wayne Rogers M*A*S*Hdom: an episode written and directed by Alan Alda that I happen to love. One of my biggest gripes about M*A*S*H in later seasons was that it became more "The Alan Alda Show" than the great ensemble program it was known for initially. And when Alda wrote or directed an episode, it was all Hawkeye (his character), all the time. This is a refreshing exception to that rule. Army psychiatrist Major Sidney Freedman pays a visit to the 4077th, ostensibly for the weekly poker game ("the conference" as it was labeled in a season two episode), and doesn't leave. Instead, he hangs around and writes a letter....to Sigmund Freud. "Who better than he would understand?" Sidney asks after Hawkeye and BJ find his letter. The practical jokes are great, the drama is not overbearing, and most refreshingly, neither is Alda's normally heavy hand. Dear Sigmund Written and directed by Alan Alda Season 5, episode 7 Potter suffers at the hands of the jokester: