The doctors conspire to keep Private Conway (Ed Begley Jr.), an injured soldier who happens to be an excellent chef, at the hospital, while Col. Potter is upset over a letter he received from Mildred wanting a divorce.
Attention all personnel! Private Conway has prepared for you the following tropes on the menu:
- Amusing Injuries: The doctors are quite amused to learn that Conway had injured himself by falling in a foxhole. Margaret initially chides them for laughing, but loses it when Klinger subsequently brings in another patient... a guy who "was in a foxhole when some clown fell on him".
- And Starring: Gary Burghoff is billed this way for this episode, as well as the rest of the episodes he appears in this season, as this was his last season.
- Blatant Lies: When Klinger calls Radar in Tokyo, desperate for help in trying to reach Mildred, he hears noises in the background, and Radar claims he's at a party trying to enjoy himself. When Radar hangs up the phone, we find out the party is next door, and part of the reason why he's irritated is he's trying to read a comic book.
- Call-Back: Margaret reminds Col. Potter of all the times she was upset with her ex-husband, Donald, because he was away and wasn't with her.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Averted with Private Conway: he's a talented and trained chef, who is able to do remarkable things with Army food, including Spam Parmesan.Hawkeye: Spam Parmesan? In Italy, you can get the death penalty for that!
- Gilligan Cut: When Hawkeye and Winchester argue about who should go into Col. Potter's tent to get him to open up, Margaret will have none of it, and tells them, "Leave him alone if he doesn't want to talk." Naturally, the next scene is Col. Potter telling Margaret, "Leave me alone, I don't wanna talk", and she tells him, "Sir, you have to talk to me."
- Hidden Depths: Even is Charles is moved by Mildred's letter, and tells Col. Potter to order a dozen roses to be sent to her at once.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Klinger hears General Haggerty wants Conway to be his personal chef, Klinger assumes they'll be going along together, and calls them "partners to the end." When Conway turns the general down, saying he'd rather cook for the others in his unit, Klinger immediately responds, "I never met this man before in my life!"
- While patching up Conway, everyone has a laugh at his expense that he tripped and fell into his foxhole. He takes it in stride, but Margaret is incensed that they are making light of his injuries, no matter how they occurred. She then laughs her ass off when Klinger brings in a patient with broken ribs from when Conway landed on him.
- I Have This Friend: Hawkeye tries to use this trope to get Col. Potter to talk about what's bothering him, but Potter sees right through it, and tells him politely but firmly to mind his own business.
- It's All About Me: After Potter's blowup at him, accusing him of being a distraction while the others reach out to the Adjutant General, Hawkeye's first reaction is to be outraged that Potter thought he was pulling a con.
- The Klutz: Private Conway fell into a foxhole and tore his ligaments; not only that, but he fell on another soldier, causing cracked ribs in that other soldier.
- Mystery Meat: Lampshaded when Charles walks into the mess tent while Klinger, Hawkeye, and BJ are enjoying Conway's first meal.Charles: ...Parmesan. The... (*sniff*) meat is a mystery, but that is definitely parmesan!
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Though this isn't the first time this has happened, Col. Potter snapping at everybody still surprises and alarms the camp.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: General Haggerty; he's able to talk Col. Potter down from his mood, and while he wanted Private Conway to be his own personal chef, when he's reminded the men come first, he approves having Conway be chef to his company instead.
- Potter to the 4077, so his anger and snippishness towards the others is an indicator that something is bothering him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Col. Potter is so upset, not just at what's going with his wife, but also as what he sees as the underhanded tactics of the doctors (see What the Hell, Hero? below), he gets on the phone with Gen. Haggerty and tells him he wants to be transferred out of the unit. It doesn't work.
- Shout-Out: After hearing Mildred's letter to Col. Potter, reconciling with him, Hawkeye offers to marry her if Potter won't, and B.J. points out if he did, she'd be Mildred Pierce.
- Supreme Chef: Conway turns out to be this, which lifts the mood of everyone in camp (except Col. Potter), who are overjoyed at getting to eat real food for a change.Charles: Sir! If ours were a truly civilized nation, you would be...king!
- The Tag: As the staff prepares for the usual bad food, Klinger surprises them with a dish he prepared from one of Conway's recipes, which they're enthusiastic about at first, even when he says he improvised most of it. Then they hear what it is - goat a la king - and immediately push it away.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Col. Potter brushes off Hawkeye's attempts to help, he leaves his office, only to find Winchester (with B.J., Klinger and Margaret's encouragement) trying to plead to the Adjutant General's office to let them keep Conway at the camp. Potter is not only incensed they're going against his direct orders, he also thinks Hawkeye only pretended to be concerned about him so the others could make the phone call.
