This a personal commentary about the MASH episode "The Light that Failed" that I wrote for Kalina's M*A*S*H FanFiction and Commentary page. Please visit Kalina's site for more writings as such (and her wonderful fanfiction) :).
This is one of my top most favorite episodes. Two scenes in particular stand out for me. For those who know me, one is extremely obvious, I do believe. It's an intense scene between Charles and Margaret, that's very passionate and they don't even touch. And the other is the walk and talk between Hawkeye and Charles. Well, Charles does most of the talking. I think that speaks volumes between these two "rival" surgeons. For instance, the Charles and Frank characters have often been compared with each other. Usually, I abhor that, as they are rather different, with some exceptions (rank; profession; space in Swamp; love (in some way) the same woman (ok, my personal analysis here). Though in the episode, how Charles follows Hawkeye across the compound explaining himself, comparisons could be given with how Frank does the same with Hawkeye and B.J. in "The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan." Though, that's where the similarities end here, mainly of the level of respect that sadly Frank was never able to achieve.
It's nothing for the 4077th to run short of some crucial supply or another. It makes for a good base not only for dramatic effect but comedic as well. Such as the absent hydrocortisone in "To Market, To Market" and thus Hawkeye and Trapper traded Henry's desk for the meds. True, that wasn't a nice thing to do, but necessary as it was beneficial for patients they had and would have in the future, and Henry watching his desk being flown away by chopper is classic. Other times had more drama to them like Father Mulcahy planning to bravely face the black marketeers in "Out of Gas" for sodium pentathol, and he along with Klinger dodging sniper bullets to bring back penicillin in "Tea and Empathy."
In "The Light that Failed," the supply shortage is more severe, for items are coming up scarce one right after the other. It begins with lightbulbs going out, making the opening scene in Operating Room rather dim. Along with the fading light, there's the diminishing medical supplies such as gel foam, sutures, and bandages, plus it is supposed to be freezing cold. Amidst this crisis, Hawkeye and B.J. are in their usual form, making jokes to lighten the situation, but Charles finds little humor in and is quick to voice his displeasure. I reckon this should be attributed to his natural arrogance, but I would rather listen to his complaining over the shortage of medical supplies, the lighting, etc., than the odd complaints he has over the lack of orange juice, and later of Hawkeye reading his diary in "Point of View." I really like that unique episode, but those trifles of Charles' seem slightly out of character. Since when did he write in a diary, but instead use a tape recorder?
There's a conflict between Hawkeye and Charles in this episode that's touched on ever so slight previously in the OR, but really begins building when Klinger comes to take a lightbulb from Post Op, and first chooses the one over Charles' patient. Naturally, Charles objects, so Klinger goes to take the one over Hawkeye's patient who's in the next bed. Hawkeye cunningly eludes that Winchester can't work properly under the "deplorable conditions," that's why he needs the bulb more. Incensed to prove Pierce wrong, Charles instructs Klinger to take "his" lightbulb. Score one in this ongoing battle of doctor-one-upmanship for Hawkeye.
The supply truck arrives with what everyone believes are the proper shipment. Although, it is items for summertime use: salt tablets, ice cream churn, etc. Sent by mistake for the camp is experiencing the dead of winter. At least they're not bothered by that pesky mist you see when you breathe in really cold temperatures. Hehehe. Their bleakness has a bright spot when B.J. receives a package in the form of a murder-mystery book called "The Rooster Crowed at Midnight" by Abigail Porterfield. The whole camp is very excited on getting to read an actual book. Um, what ever happened to the library shown in the Pilot episode, Charles' stock of books, and even the ones seen on the shelves around the Swamp? Maybe they've been read numerous times already, and Charles hasn't been there long enough to accumulate a large library himself.
B.J. leisurely reads the book in the Swamp while Hawkeye is chomping at the bit to get his hands on it. Charles comes in to require what page Hunnicutt is on. Since he asks as soon as he gets in the door, it seems he's requiring on behalf others in the camp as well as himself, but knowing Winchester and with him being new to the 4077th, he is probably just asking for himself at this point. Tired of Hawkeye's pleading, especially after threatening to let Charles read the book before him, B.J. rips out the first chapter that he just finished and gives to Pierce. Seemingly giving a nod to yet another competition, albeit slight and subtle, between the Captain and the Major.
Some time must pass by the time that Charles knocks on Margaret's door, for he brings her chapter three of the book. Also, the sought after supplies still haven't arrived for she is making due with candles all around her tent. Amongst the many debates I have gotten into with my opinions concerning Charles and Margaret, it has been pointed out to me how formal Margaret is with Charles here because she calls him "Major" in response to his greeting. Her usage sounds better because right before that he announces "It's Charles" to her "Who is it?" With him bringing her Chapter 3, evidently they've both read Chapters 1 & 2, and he's finished with this #3, so he knows what it contains - a heavily passionate passage between a man and a woman in the book. Perfect! Winchester is prepared to hand her the section then leave, but when Margaret makes the offhanded remark about the difficulty to read with the dim lighting, he gallantly offers to read the chapter to her. At first, Margaret's reluctant for him to do so, a reluctance not unlike the later instance in "Your Hit Parade" when Charles tries to crash in her tent because there's no place else for him to sleep. But book reading is a bit safer for this pair, especially with her being married, as she still is in "Parade." Margaret acquiesces with Charles' vehement invitation, and after he adjusts the candle on her table between them (has plot significance), they settle in to enjoy the story. I totally believe this third chapter of the book, the characters and situations in it, strongly parallels Charles and Margaret here. Take a look (What Charles is reading from the book is in the quotations):
"As the wind howled through the stately old elms, Jessica's heart ached with longing for the young Randolph.."
--The weather is a factor in this episode, being cold and windy. And with Margaret and Charles participating in the reading, their names are to be substituted for Jessica and Randolph.
"She could best be described as a prize thoroughbred, swift, hot-blooded, and highly responsive to the whip..."
--Margaret gives a little laugh here, which Charles laughs with her. I'm not sure if it'd be going too far as to say that it might be she's remembering the whip Donald had sent her in an earlier episode.
"And yet, Randolph was her equal, a raging stallion to call merely virile would to damn with faint praise..."
--There's a strong parallel here with C&M. Both are Majors, both can hold their own, wits-wise with the other, enjoy some of the same interests, and so forth. The looks Margaret gives Charles here are priceless, and begin when he reads "her equal."
"Jessica remembered the interlude in his garden.. wench! you make my blood boil, he whispered, he whispered passionately... I vowed to make you mine.."
--The mutual attraction between them has been in evidence from "Fade Out/Fade In." Also, adding more to this point, I have been told more than once by non-C&M 'shippers (and I believe this myself) that it's obvious that Charles would like, (how it was told to me), 'to get into her knickers.' Interestingly too, earlier in the Swamp when B.J. had given Hawkeye the first chapter, Pierce made the comment "Reading! This just might be better than sex." Whereas Charles replies, "Certainly takes longer around here." And thus B.J. retorts "How would you know?" Now, the next time we see Charles is with Margaret. Nice.
"Jessica knew in her woman's heart, that if it weren't for Lord Cheevers' murder, she'd be standing before the panting Randolph, her flimsy black negligee in tatters.."
--So simple here, if it weren't for Margaret's marriage to Donald...
"...Illuminated only by flickering candlelight.."
--The candle comes into play as it flickers perfectly on cue with that line. There's a heavy pause with C&M as they look at the candle then slowly to a deep mutual gaze. Charles remarks of the heat that the candles exudes, Margaret agrees, putting hand to face. He goes back into the story, while absent-mindedly loosening his scarf and unzipping just the collar of his coat.
"Rendering under this towering Caesar of the maiden's boudoir, that which is rightfully Caesar's (remember, they're in her tent). In her mind's eye, Jessica saw him aflame with passion, unable to bridle his all-consuming lust he moved toward here nearer.. nearer.."
--Charles' reading builds with intensity, as he gets more and more into the story. Margaret sees this, as she's already unnerved with his earlier clothing adjustment, the reading is punctuated with her cautioning him to stop, resulting in her having to yell to bring him to a halt. He doesn't understand why she wants him to quit, indicates that it's coming to a climatic part, signifying, "But he's unbridled!!" Or when she suggests he get dressed and leave. When he questions this, she points out for him to do back up his scarf. He'd never even fully removed it, just taken an end from one shoulder. She must have been quite concerned that what was apparently about to take place in the book is going to happen between them, thus she has to get him out quick. She tells him, "Goodnight, Charles," and he easily reciprocates with "Goodnight, Jessica." His stunned expression at the Freudian slip when he gets up to leave, and especially Margaret's one of stern indignance are wonderful, and it says how much Winchester also incorporated them into what was being read.
Meanwhile the book reading goes on with the rest of the camp also. By now it's in many sections, allowing personnel to read at the same time. B.J., of course is the first to finish, but to everyone's horror, the last page is missing and the previous page stops right at the crucial part where the murderer will be revealed. B.J. makes his own deduction of who the murderer is, and I like that it's given to him to continually come up with the solutions, instead of Hawkeye. Watching all of them read a book like this, I'm reminded how the personnel work together in many factions of the unit. Not only with their main purpose, tending the wounded who come into camp, but in the lighter moments such as in "The Colonel's Horse" when everyone worked to fill the water tank with warm water to save Sophie, and then seemingly much of the camp rallied to get the stateside family reunion going in "The Party," even though only the main characters' families were the ones included.
A little later on, the gang is back in the mess tent discussing the book, and after he's given time to think of it, B.J. changes his mind about the murderer's identity, others throw in their two cents, including Nurse Bigelow who offers a woman's opinion. Again, it's Hunnicutt that takes the lead in trying to deduce who the culprit in the story is. Enjoyably, Potter goes so far as when Hawkeye playfully echoes everyone's opinions, tells him "would you shut up!" This is so they could hear what B.J. has to say on the subject.
The earlier scene where Charles had Klinger remove the bulb from the light over his patient has come back to play significantly when Charles is again in Post Op, tending to another patient. Driven by what he believes is a nurse's insubordination (she was busy with another patient and didn't immediately snap to his orders) and his own arrogance that he believes that he's brilliant enough in his skills that he doesn't pay the proper attention when retrieving what he assumes is morphine for his patient suffering pain. When that patient reacts badly to the medicine, Hawkeye and B.J. arrive to find that it's the dangerous curare, a form of muscle relaxant, and not morphine Charles assumed he'd administered. Of course, they jump in and revive the stricken man, and admonish Winchester for not checking more carefully and being more concerned on how it'd effect himself, had the man perished. I got to admit, I do sometimes tire of watching Hawkeye Pierce always being the one to "save the day" in the show. Although, I really adore the way this story is structured when Hawkeye sees to the recovering patient and the soldier thanks him for saving his life, and how it leads to the near-to-explosive confrontation when Charles comes into Post Op where Pierce is.
If I had not seen the episode, or this particular scene, I would have imagined that at most, Charles would have given a slight, offhanded acknowledge that he'd somewhat been in the wrong and leave it at that. He wouldn't be too worried what others thought of him at this time. Instead, when Hawkeye approaches, Charles attempts to break the icy tension between them with light repartee, "Well, Pierce, not one witticism about the criminal returning to the scene of the crime?" A nod to the mystery book plotline perhaps?
Hawkeye walks on by without a word, out of Post Op, and Winchester looks genuinely disappointed at the nonresponse, but follows Pierce out anyhow. He tries to briefly explain what could have lead him to make such a mistake, like the dimness in Post Op and that he'd just come off 14 hours in OR, but isn't going to justify himself in that manner. Hawkeye responds with barely a murmur of "uh-huh," remaining out of sorts with Winchester's inconsiderate bravado. I think this is a little arrogance on Hawkeye's part as well. Charles isn't alone in that department. He is still unwilling to leave it there, and as Pierce walks away, Charles again follows. Going so far as to repeat, "Is that any excuse for misreading a label?" when Hawkeye ignores him the first time. Still there's no response from Pierce, but Winchester doesn't give up, he goes with him all the way to the Swamp's door. When he finally, in almost desperation says, "You might say that it takes a courageous man to admit when he's wrong. You might at least say something!" Only then does Hawkeye vehemently reply with "What do you want from me?!" Charles snaps back with "At the moment, simple acknowledgment!" Thus bringing things to a head between them, and no punches are pulled as both sound off: Hawkeye with Winchester's superior, self-centered attitude and Charles comes back what he believes is Pierce's envy of his surgical skills.
I have read more than one instance where someone has mentioned that Hawkeye and Charles never really liked or got along with the other. After watching this scene, especially with the episode being soon after Charles' arrival, how can one not see the big measure of respect and building camaraderie between these two men, even if it may be in the subconscious state at this time?
It is further evidenced in the brief, next scene where Hawkeye's still disgruntled with Charles' behavior, I believe showing that the rift between them affects him close to as much as it does Winchester. B.J. plots to get Pierce's mind off that crisis by getting him interested in the discovering the murderer in the story they'd all been reading. B.J. suggests they go to the source, 97 year-old author, Abigail Porterfield. It takes some time to get through to Ms. Porterfield as to why they are calling, but she eventually reveals the murderer in the book, and all are happy.
They are even more thrilled when the camp's proper supplies finally arrive, but in the midst of the celebration, Colonel Potter announces over the PA that the murderer couldn't be who Ms. Porterfield had told them, for he'd been elsewhere when another character was killed. Again, the folks are left to figure out who it could be. So, the bonafide culprit is never revealed. In discussions I've been in with this, it has been concluded that it's the rooster who is the actual criminal (thanks mfw!). I go with that theory :). Also was mentioned how the camp could have phoned someone in the states and had them go into a bookstore for another copy of the book, one with the last page intact. But I still think the rooster rules!
It ends with Charles in Post Op, bandaging up a patient, assuring the nurse that he can do the chore when she offers to take over. Hawkeye strolls into the room and immediately Charles approaches him. Turning his attention from his patient to Pierce is played for comedic effect as he unwittingly takes the bandage roll with him, thus trailing a long strip of the gauze back to the patient. Winchester admits to Hawkeye that he had been more concerned with his own problems, than his patients', but be assured that from then on, they will be taking priority. Hawkeye has a good laugh, as he tells Charles that he believes that Winchester is truly attached to his patients, indicating the bandage line. The Hawkeye/Charles confrontation has come full circle, at least for this episode. It began with a dispute over lightbulbs, with Winchester signifying to Pierce, "If that is a gauntlet, you have just thrown down, I take it up!" And lead to a collision of two strong egos. Climaxing in a mutual understanding and great, albeit grudging, respect. I must point out, being the Charles and Margaret advocate that I am, and sheepishly recalling the many Hawkeye vs. Charles over Margaret battles I've been in, that C&M has such a deep scene in this episode. In fact, it is the only scene in "The Light that Failed" in which Margaret/Loretta Swit appears. Leading me to believe it's another competition where Charles one-upped Hawkeye. Score one for Charles, this time! Figuratively, not literally.. yet.
