After literally falling for B.J.'s latest prank of nailing his boot to the floor, Hawkeye tells his bunkmate off for lack of originality. He goes on to reminisce about how he and Trapper John used to keep the whole camp in stitches with their antics. Another B.J. prank in the mess tent, loosening the top of the salt shaker before Margaret uses it, causes the rest of the main cast to echo Hawkeye's criticisms of B.J. and fond memories of Trapper (except for Margaret, who says he was an immature child). B.J. takes it as a challenge, and bets the whole cast of regulars — six people — that he can pull a prank on each and every one of them in a 24 hour period. Loser of the joke-off has to drop their pants and dance on a table in the mess tent while singing "You're the Top".
Hawkeye is jolted awake the next morning by a screaming Charles, the first prank victim, attacking a snake in his bed with a golf club. The Swampmen are summoned to Col. Potter's tent just in time to hear him become the second prank victim as he tells them his toothpaste tasted soapy and Charles claims someone spiked it with shaving cream. Potter shrugs off the prank and says he needs a volunteer for an exchange with the 8063rd; Charles steps forward to get "out of the line of seltzer fire". Later that morning, in Post Op, it seems Margaret has become the third prank victim when she shows up with her blood on the boil and a hole cut in the backside of her bathrobe. As if this wasn't enough Paranoia Fuel for Hawkeye, the doctor sent over by the 8063rd, Captain Paul Yamato, is an old friend of B.J.'s, causing Hawkeye to treat him with suspicious aggression.
At lunch, Father Mulcahy becomes the fourth prank victim when his food is spiked with hot sauce, and Hawkeye spends the rest of the day convinced everyone is part of B.J.'s plan, including a grateful patient who tries to give him a cigar as a thank you gift (Hawkeye dunks it in water) and a Korean patient who attacks Yamato in anger at the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II (Hawkeye is convinced it's just an act). As he heads back to the Swamp for the night, he finds Klinger has booby trapped his office, but the clerk still becomes the fifth prank victim when his file drawer blows up. Hawkeye spends the night in the compound with barbed wire around his cot and a golf club at the ready to attack anyone who approaches.
The next day, with Charles back from the 8063rd, Hawkeye gloats to B.J. that he only pranked five of six victims... until the others reveal that the pranks were all fake. The snake was neither alive nor in Charles' bed, Potter's toothpaste wasn't spiked, neither was Mulcahy's lunch, Margaret didn't go out in her seatless robe, and Klinger's file drawer didn't explode. Hawkeye was the only intended victim, and the other five loved the idea so much they agreed to join in the scheme. As for Yamato, his visit was just a coincidence, and he thinks Hawkeye is insane... a view that is reinforced when he walks in while Hawkeye is performing his Shameful Strip to "You're the Top" solo.
In The Tag, Hawkeye gets revenge on B.J. by shaving off half of his mustache while he sleeps.
Attention, all personnel! Captain Hunnicutt intends to prank the camp with the following tropes:
- Batman Gambit: The nut of the whole prank. B.J.'s success rode entirely on Hawkeye necessarily doing two things: 1) Never checking up to see if the other pranks were real, and 2) Driving himself insane trying to stay ahead of B.J.'s imaginary antics. It worked flawlessly.
- The Bet: B.J. against Hawkeye, Col. Potter, Margaret, Charles, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy. If he pranks all six of them in 24 hours, they have to strip off while doing a table dance and singing Cole Porter's "You're the Top". If he fails, he has to perform the Shameful Strip and song-and-dance himself.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Father Mulcahy begins grasping at his throat, gasping "HOT! HOT!" and demanding water after taking a single bite of lunch. Hawkeye ignores the pleas for help, and instead castigates B.J. for poisoning a priest.
- Brick Joke: BJ tells Hawkeye he'd better speak to Captain Yamato, because he thinks Hawkeye is nuts. Guess who walks in on Hawkeye warbling "You're the Top" without pants on a table in front of the entire camp in the mess hall, with no context?
- Continuity Nod: The episode opens with the Japanese rendition of "Happy Days Are Here Again" (frequently heard in the early seasons of the show) played over the P.A. system.
- Contrived Coincidence: One of B.J.'s old friends shows up on the day of the joke-off as part of a doctor exchange program. Hawkeye doesn't believe it's happenstance for even a second, and tells the doctor to his face that he's wise to whatever they're scheming.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: He doesn't know it yet, but Hawkeye pointedly rubbing Trapper (and the shared "perversion" they had) in B.J.'s face is what causes the Batman Gambit of the episode.
- Double Entendre: "Top" and "bottom" as sexual slang became mainstream in the '70s, so the writers undoubtedly knew what they were doing with B.J., jealous of Trapper, wanting Hawkeye to strip off singing "You're the Top".
- Even the Guys Want Him: Played for Laughs, but Hawkeye gets an appreciative audience of both men and women who want to see the Hawkeye Pierce Striptease Show.
- Foreshadowing:
- It's easy for Hawkeye to drive himself insane, though this time played for laughs, because he's heading for a big breakdown in the finale.
- Pay close attention and you'll see The Reveal coming by halfway through the episode. Hawkeye doesn't actually see the supposedly live snake in Charles' bed, Margaret inadvertently mooning the compound through a hole in her bathrobe (nor does anyone else mention what would have certainly been the spectacle of the day), or Klinger's file drawer exploding, and he takes Charles and Father Mulcahy at their word when they claim Potter's toothpaste and Mulcahy's own lunch were spiked.
- Homoerotic Subtext: No other way of explaining how B.J., after again being made jealous of Trapper, organizing a prank on Hawkeye that'll get him to give a public striptease singing "You're the Top".
- Insult Backfire: After Hawkeye and Father Mulcahy relate a couple of Trapper's pranks to the others over breakfast in the mess tent:Hawkeye: Trapper was a man ahead of his time. Right, Margaret?Margaret: He was a ridiculous, juvenile child.Hawkeye: (to B.J.) See?
- Large Ham: How Hawkeye copes with the humiliation of having to pay off the bet.
- Medication Tampering: A panicked shout from Col. Potter sends Hawkeye, B.J., and Charles running to Potter's tent. He says that he was going through his usual morning routine, but his toothpaste tasted bad, and suddenly he was foaming bubbles out his nose. Charles sniffs a couple of nearby tubes, and says that someone put shaving cream in the toothpaste tube.
- Naked People Are Funny: Margaret accosts B.J. in Post-Op, yelling that someone cut a large hole in the... gluteal area of her bathrobe. She claims a normal walk to the shower involved first feeling a draft, and then receiving a cacophony of whistles, catcalls, and one marriage proposal. B.J. then produces the missing part of the robe for Hawkeye to see.
- Paranoia Gambit: The real prank, played entirely on Hawkeye.
- Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo: Igor talks up the peas and carrots at lunch, saying they're surprisingly good, and also that the beans are terrible. Hawkeye starts taking some of the peas and carrots, then sees B.J. watching him, and suddenly refuses them, insisting on a serving of beans instead, saying he's wise to Igor being in cahoots with B.J. and that they're trying to trick him. Seeing B.J. still watching him, Hawkeye ultimately refuses all of Igor's offerings, instead resolving his dilemma by walking his empty tray over to B.J.'s table and stealing B.J.'s lunch.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Hawkeye wakes up the morning of the joke-off to Charles shouting and holding a dead snake at the end of a golf club, which he accuses B.J. of having placed in his cot.Hawkeye: (repulsed) You put a dead snake in his bed?Charles: No, no. It was only dead after I killed it!
- The Reveal: B.J.'s actual plan was to pretend to prank everybody other than Hawkeye, so that Hawkeye would devolve into a paranoid mess by the end of the day. The others were so impressed by the idea that they got on board immediately, and acted out their parts to the hilt. The snake was never alive in the bed, the toothpaste was never switched, the lunch wasn't spiked with hot sauce, Margaret wasn't exposed on the way to the shower, and Klinger's files didn't actually explode. Even the Contrived Coincidence was actually just a coincidence. Every single aspect of the joke-off was a Subverted Trope designed to fuel and accelerate Hawkeye's Sanity Slippage.B.J.: Truth be told, Hawk, the only one who got got was you.
- Sanity Slippage: Hawkeye grows increasingly paranoid as the day wears on and he sees colleague after colleague fall victim to B.J. He eventually spends the whole night outdoors in the middle of the compound, not sleeping, surrounded by barbed wire, and wielding a golf club as a defensive weapon.Charles: I was only gone a day, why do you look a year older?
- Shameful Strip: The stakes of the bet, as a mild and humorous punishment for the loser, who has to perform a tabletop striptease dance in the mess hall while serenading the winner with "You're the Top".
- Stuff Blowing Up: Hawkeye goes to Klinger's office, which is rigged with all manner of noisemakers to prevent someone from coming into it unnoticed. Hawkeye and Klinger discuss avoiding B.J.'s reign of terror, and Hawkeye slinks away... only to hear an explosion in Klinger's office. He runs back in and sees a file cabinet on fire. Klinger shouts at Hawkeye to go away — that he's now a walking time bomb as the sole remaining target.
- Tempting Fate: Everyone, including Hawkeye, has got used to his frequent Sanity Slippage and can affectionately tease him about it.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: The day after the joke-off, Hawkeye comes to breakfast and revels at length in his victory, all the while taunting his comrades that he was the only one smart enough to avoid B.J. the whole day. Unfortunately for Hawkeye, he doesn't notice that everybody is smirking back at him the whole time, and he's about to hear The Reveal.
