Funny / Major Dad

• Polly's first impression of Major McGillis is certainly a memorable one:
  Secretary: I like Marines. They're polite, respectful, and very friendly.
  [Major McGillis knocks down the screen door as he walks through it, with Lieutenant Holowachuk in tow]
  Polly: They're strong, too!
• The Major is giving the LT a dressing down for a recent screw-up: In preparing for an artillery demonstration for some foreign dignitaries, he forgot to make sure they had ammo for the guns. Then tried to explain the situation using what turns out to be an inadequate amount of Spanish.
  Holowachuk: Mucho pardone, no boom boom.
• Pretty much any time the Major needs to deal with the LT is going to be some kind of comedy gold as the experienced veteran has to deal with the highly motivated but poorly experienced young officer.
• The Major agrees to give an interview to a local reporter, Polly, who is concerned about the increased training activity at the base. When he explains that this is part of a "Peace Offensive," she's confused. When he asks her to attack him, she refuses, on the grounds that he's too well-trained for that to be a good idea, after which she concedes the point.
  • Then she makes to sit down before pivoting to take a swing at him anyways, which he counters by grabbing her and dipping her like they were dancing.
• After the interview, Major Smiley, the Public Affairs officer, ends up knocking the same door down, right after the Marines boasted about fixing it. He's not angry though, he's just really excited to do his job.
  • When Major McGillis and Polly leave to go on a driving tour of the base, Major Smiley remarks that a Marine hanging out with a pretty reporter is, to a Public Affairs officer, a "Battle Stations" situation.
• The Marines read Polly's front-page story about the base, and realize it was not the flattering presentation they were hoping for. The secretary is particularly offended, with the benefit of hindsight, that Polly drank their coffee!
• A few days after meeting Polly, and having already had at least one fight with her, the Major decides the next course of action is to propose to her. Part of the problem, beyond the fact that they've basically just met, is that he keeps describing her using nautical or tactical terms, variously referring to her as his favorite port or a hill to be taken.
  John Usually works on the hills.
• The pilot ends with John taking a knee to propose while Polly is stunned into silence. The next episode begins with them in the same position, and John asking Polly if she's still thinking about it. The thing is, his foot has fallen asleep by now.
• Polly is very interested in marrying John, but wants her daughters to agree to it first. John spends the day with them, showing them around the HQ. The oldest daughter isn't particularly interested in seeing the Major's office, but she's very interested in seeing Holowachuk's office. The Major warns the LT that he's watching. It's not even clear if Holowachuk understands the implications or if he's just really excited to show off his office to someone.
• John and the daughters agree to having them write a list of any questions they have and have him write answers. They produce fifteen pages, front-and-back, of questions for him. One of them, as he shows Polly later, is whether he was attracted to their mother for her brains or for her body. In response, Polly strikes a pose and asks "...well?"
• Sergeant James ends up filling the HQ with cases of beer for a SNCO's Hail and Farewell ceremony. Major McGillis is initially upset about the office being turned into a warehouse, but is distracted when he notices the brand that James managed to get a hold of. He quickly decides not to ask how the Sergeant pulled that off. When the phone in his office starts ringing, he realizes the only way to get to it is to vault over the secretary's desk, leaving the young woman diving for cover.
• The Major misses the phone call, but when the phone starts ringing again, the Secretary dives back under her desk again.
• The next thing John needs to do before he marries Polly is to meet her parents. Contrary to sitcom expectations, they adore him on the spot, with Polly's mom commenting on how cute he was (from both front and back), and her dad being amused by his spit-shine politeness. John and Polly's dad bond over their shared military experience, but while John loves it, Polly's dad is happy to have moved on. One thing he will grant is that it was fun to "run around in the woods dressed like a bush."
• In the episode "Wetting Down," when Holowachuk's fellow Marines are calling him a wuss for refusing to drink, one of them says "Wait a minute. Some guys can't drink. Are you an alcoholic, buddy?" "No." "Then drink up, you wuss!" All this eventually leads to a moment of awesome, when the Major defends Holowachuk's position, and the group then indulges in the same idiotic traditions albeit while they're stone cold sober. They remark that this is the first "Wetting Down" that any of them will actually remember.