Margaret returns from leave in Tokyo with surprising news—she's getting married! Everyone in the camp is excited for her, but how will Frank take the news?
Attention, all personnel! We congratulate Major Houlihan with the following tropes:
- Attempted Rape: She fights him off easy, but Frank takes too many liberties and corners Margaret in her closet.
- Bait-and-Switch: A three-fer. Hawkeye, B.J., Potter and Radar all expect Frank to flip out when he finds out about Margaret's engagement. When Margaret finally tells him at the mess tent, he's... extremely calm and happy for her, graciously offering her his congrats. That seemingly subverts their expectations. Not long after, he tears the doors off their hinges as he leaves.
- Berserk Button: Colonel Potter warns Frank he's "headed for a Section 8", causing him to snap and draw his rifle.
- Continuity Nod: Hawkeye's still sore about not being left a note by Trapper.
- Dark and Troubled Past: While on the phone with his mother, Frank mentions that he "had this friend" who "just pretended to like me... you know, the way Dad used to."
- Dodgy Toupee: Invoked when Margaret is on the phone with Colonel Potter from Tokyo.Margaret: I'm at the Zen Bar and Grill, sir. General Tumwater is giving a small celebration.Potter: Trevanian Tumwater? Worst toupee in the Asian theater of operations, right?Margaret: [laughing, as Tumwater appears outside the phone booth in said toupee] That's him.
- Everyone Has Standards: Hawkeye takes Margaret to task for gloating about her engagement in front of Frank.Margaret: Since when have you ever given two hoots about Frank Burns?Hawkeye: It's only one hoot. I just started.Margaret: You've given him a few swift kicks yourself.Hawkeye: Yeah. But never when he was down, only when he wasn't looking.
- Gesundheit: When Col. Potter, Hawkeye, B.J., and Radar are listening in on Frank's phone call with his mother:Hawkeye: He's crying.B.J.: Catharsis.Hawkeye: Gesundheit.
- Innocently Insensitive: Margaret is in such a gleeful daze over her engagement that she doesn't realize how much she's rubbing it in Frank's face.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Played straight and then subverted; after the staff meeting in the mess tent ends, knowing Margaret is going to tell Frank about her engagement, Hawkeye says, "Why don't we all go watch television?" Except, instead of leaving the mess tent, he, B.J., Colonel Potter and Radar merely walk to the other side of the mess tent while Margaret breaks the news to Frank.
- I Want My Mommy!: Lampshaded by Radar after he gets Frank's mother on the phone, when he tells Col. Potter, Hawkeye and B.J. that he knows at some point, everyone needs to talk to their mother.
- Malicious Misnaming: At one point Frank "innocently" refers to Margaret's fiancé as "Penobsnot", and she irritatedly corrects him.
- Out-of-Character Alert: The day after getting the news, Frank is almost unnervingly OOC; he laughs at Hawkeye's jokes during surgery and he's nice to Radar, complimenting him for picking up some supplies on the black market and even offering to fix him up with a job after the war is over.
- Pin-Pulling Teeth: After suiting up for his solo commando mission, Frank pulls a grenade from his belt and, seemingly on a whim, pulls the pin this way. Then, he realizes he's holding a live grenade. Cue a desperate scramble to find the pin.
- Sanity Slippage: To say that Frank doesn't take the engagement well would be an understatement. It gets to the point where he runs off to try and be a proto-Rambo and ends up taking a South Korean family that was just eating dinner hostage and marching them back to camp as prisoners of war. All in an attempt to win Margaret back.
- Shout-Out:
- Trying to calm Frank down in his office, Potter tells him, "So you lost the gal. That's happened to all of us. No reason to turn into Sergeant York."
- After Frank collapses into sleep while talking with his mother, Hawkeye and B.J. pick him up to carry him to the Swamp.Frank: [mumbling] Mom, can I have a glass of water?Hawkeye: Sure, Frankie. If you're a good boy, Mom will read you another chapter about Eeyore and Piglet.
- Take That!: Frank fires an epic one at Margaret — so good that, for once, Hawkeye and B.J. have to laugh with him rather than at him.Frank: There's this little redheaded nurse who's had her eye on me. And tonight her wish will come true.Margaret: Do you mean that new girl with the freckles on her nose?Frank: Yes, that's the one.Margaret: She's a little young for you, isn't she, Major Burns?Frank: Oh, I don't know. I thought a little youth might be nice for a change.Hawkeye: [drops his head into his hands to hide his grin]B.J.: I think the convoy just took a direct hit.Margaret: [stiffly] If you'll excuse me, I'll just go finish my letter.Hawkeye: You need any help holding up your pen?Margaret: [gives him a death glare, then leaves the mess tent while Hawkeye and B.J. try to keep straight faces]Frank: I really got her on that one, didn't I?
- What the Hell, Hero?: While patching up Margaret's finger, Hawkeye chews her out for rubbing her engagement in Frank's face.
