When a postal office error stops normal delivery of newspapers from the U.S., Charles gets newspapers sent directly from home. He refuses to share them, and so incurs the wrath of the camp. Charles also is enraged when he believes one went missing. A new North Korean patient and one of the South Korean soldiers guarding him are brothers. Hawkeye schemes to get them some time together.
Attention, all hands! All we have are the following tropes until Maj. Winchester is done reading his papers:
- Berserk Button: Charles blows up at the whole camp after believing someone had gone behind his back and stolen one of his newspapers after making the deal to share them with the camp when he was finished. For Charles, someone breaking their word is Serious Business.
- Bilingual Bonus: Played against Charles when Nurse Kelly tells him, in Japanese, that he looks ridiculous using his sister's kimono as a makeshift bathrobe.
- Civil War: The episode's B-Plot brings home the "brother against brother" aspect of the Korean War that is sometimes overlooked: A North Korean soldier is brought in with a chest wound. One of the South Korean MPs seems overly concerned for his welfare, but surreptitiously so. It later comes out that he's the North Korean's brother, but can't say that out loud for fear that his comrades will take him for a Northern spy. In the end, Hawkeye engineers a fake need for a transfusion so that he can get the brothers together so they can talk without fear of reprisals.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: As Potter points out to Winchester at the end of the episode, if he'd "just gotten off your high horse and gone on to your next day's paper, you could have saved us all a lot of aggravation!"
- Death Glare: Col. Potter gives Charles an epic one to 1. Stop him from pulling the mess tent down on everyone, and 2. To explain to him why one of his papers was missing.
- Escalating Prank War: The entire camp vs. Charles. Col. Potter stops it short.
- Failed a Spot Check: Charles doesn't notice the missing paper at any time before making the deal with the camp, leading to the conflict behind the episode.
- Igor not noticing that the jeep is still tied to the chow hall results in the tent being brought down on top of Winchester.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Charles ends up getting the mess tent pulled down on top of him after forgetting to move the jeep with the rope attached to it. Klinger finds it and drives off, not noticing the rope.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Charles is entirely correct to be angry at someone stealing a paper, especially since he not only didn't want to share them in the first place, but was forced to by Potter in order to keep peace in the camp.
- Poor Communication Kills: A written version. If Charles had simply continued to read each newspaper in turn without checking to see if they were all there, he would have learned why one was missing ahead of time. His family didn't bother to include a note explaining the missing paper either.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: As Col. Potter reads Li'l Abner to the rest of the camp, he pauses to tell Winchester to close his robe.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Of all people to start the drama, it's Father Mulcahy who goes into the Swamp uninvited and helps himself to Charles's newspaper without permission.
