During a period of high tension between the members of the camp, Dr. Sidney Freedman arrives with a load of wounded. One by one he visits with some of the personnel and lets them vent their frustrations, all the while dealing with the patient he was treating at the front.
Attention all personnel! Dr. Freedman will now see the following tropes:
- Artistic License – History: Sidney reassures Radar about thinking he's crazy by mentioning that there are people who think I Love Lucy is real. I Love Lucy debuted in October 1951; depending on the year the episode is set in, it's probable that the show wouldn't have been on the air yet and/or seen by anyone serving in Korea.note
- Becoming the Mask: Klinger worries that he's been trying to get a Section 8 by crossdressing for so long that he's actually starting to go crazy.
- Berserk Button: Margaret's accusation against Charles of touching his nose in surgerynote is one for both of them.
- Companion Cube: Radar's teddy bear having this status makes Radar concerned about his own sanity.
- Crowd Song: Towards the end of the bonfire scene and the end of the episode, beginning with Colonel Potter, the camp slowly breaks into singing Ivor Novello’s classic "Keep the Home Fires Burning".
- Dark and Troubled Past: Hinted at with Charles, who testily informs Sidney that "I had my fill of psychiatrists by the age of nine".
- A Day in the Limelight: Sidney is arguably the focus of the episode, much like "Dear Sigmund".
- Foreshadowing:
- Sidney guesses that when Radar goes home, he won't need his teddy bear any longer. Come "Good-Bye Radar Pt 2" and he leaves it behind.
- Also Sidney mentions that when possible they send a wounded solider back into action as quickly as possible, which is the reason he gives Hawkeye when releasing him from inpatient mental health care back to the 4077th to perform surgery in the series finale "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen."
- Gold Digger: Margaret shows hints of being this:Margaret: Money is far down on my list, Major. Money comes second, maybe even third. (Beat) Second.
- I Have This Friend: Father Mulcahy visits Sidney with this story, claiming his friend is feeling low about his struggles with his work. Then he reveals that the friend is Sidney himself.
- It's All About Me: Any time Sidney makes a remark during their session, Margaret assumes he's suggesting that either she's crazy about Charles or vice-versa.
- Kill It with Fire: What began as a small fire to burn the lice-infested uniforms from Chinese POWs quickly turns into a massive camp-wide bonfire to release frustrations with Army life and the war.
- Lethal Chef: One of the items added to the bonfire? The Army cookbook.
- Mood Whiplash:
- Dr. Freedman's patient is all goodness and light with the other doctors. When Freedman shows up, however...
- Margaret's mood changes every time Sidney opens his mouth in response to her rants about Charles.
- Not So Above It All:
- When Potter muses about ordering the camp to square dance as a stress relief, he decides it would be worth having a session with Sidney himself. After the bonfire is lit, he and some corpsmen throw his desk into the flames.
- After seeing the bonfire lit, Sidney strips off his uniform and adds it to the flames. Father Mulcahy lampshades it a few moments earlier by suggesting he have a taste of his own medicine.
- "Not So Different" Remark: During Father Mulcahy's visit to Sidney, it becomes clear that their roles in the war are very similar.Sidney: See, when Pierce or Hunnicutt lose one he's out of his misery. But when I lose one, I've lost a mind.Mulcahy: When I lose one, I've lost a soul.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When Sidney quietly suggests that the bonfire might be a nice way to have a controlled release of energy from the tense camp, Potter goes from telling them to cut it out to having "a regulation bon-type fire".
- Riddle for the Ages: Since it happens offscreen, the audience is never able to confirm if Winchester touched his nose or not.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Winchester insists he is stopping by Sidney's tent only to inform him he isn't stopping by, before going into a rant about Margaret.
