It's Christmas time, and the camp prepares to have a party of a group of Korean orphans. However, the party gets interrupted for B.J., Hawkeye and Margaret when they have to deal with a wounded soldier, and B.J. is determined to make sure he doesn't die on Christmas.
Attention all personnel! Major Winchester would like the following tropes to remain anonymous:
- Berserk Button: Charles is furious when he finds out Choi (Keye Luke), the head of the orphanage, has sold the candy Charles donated to him on the black market, at least until he finds out why. Namely the candy would have brought the children a couple couple days of happiness, but the money from the candy went towards buying food for the orphans to last about a month.
- Christmas Episode: With Col. Potter as the one dressing up as Santa Claus this time.
- The Determinator: B.J. will do anything to keep the wounded soldier alive until midnight so he doesn't die on Christmas day, even to the point of preventing Father Mulcahy from performing last rites, which disturbs the others, even they understand why he feels that way. Eventually, Hawkeye solves the problem by falsifying the time so it seems like the soldier died the day after Christmas.
- Everyone Hates Fruit Cakes: Hawkeye ends up donating a fruitcake he got from home to the Christmas feast.
- Fatal Family Photo: A variation - the soldier is already dying when Margaret discovers a photo of his wife and children, and it's that photo that makes B.J. determined to keep the soldier alive until Christmas Day is over.
- Friendship Moment: When Klinger overhears Charles arguing with Choi, and finds out about Charles' "anonymous" donation of the candy to the orphans, he serves Charles leftover food from the feast, and when Charles asks what the catch is, Klinger tells him that the giver of the food wants to remain anonymous.Charles: Thank you, Max.
Klinger: Merry Christmas, Charles.- Col. Potter has one in The Tag when, while dressed as Santa Claus, he praises B.J., Hawkeye and Margaret for what they did, and a Korean orphan with him gives the three of them a piece of Peg's fudge.
- Hidden Depths: Charles at first seems like the stingiest of the members of the camp - when prompted to donate food for the Christmas dinner, he gives only a tin of oysters, which no one likes - but then we see him dropping the candy off at the orphanage, and explaining to Choi how it was a family tradition for the Winchesters to anonymously drop off food to the needy.
- Honor Before Reason: Played straight and subverted. In their quest to make sure that the wounded soldier's death certificate doesn't reflect him dying on Christmas, BJ, Margaret, and Hawkeye pull out all the stops to try and keep him alive rather than just fudging the date when no one would have been the wiser. However, when they fail to keep him alive past midnight, Hawkeye just lies about the date and time when he pronounces.
- Literary Allusion Title: The episode title comes from the movie Death Takes a Holiday.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Despite all their efforts, B.J., Hawkeye, and Margaret are unable to keep the soldier alive until December 26. The soldier dies right before midnight, so Hawkeye decides to certify the time of death as 12:06 am on December 26. When Margaret puts up a half-hearted objection to falsifying an official record, Hawkeye responds that at least the soldier's family won't have to think of Christmas as the day he died.
- Taking the Fight Outside: When Charles confronts Choi after finding out he sold the donated candy on the black market, Choi suggests they go outside, and Charles, thinking this trope is coming into play, snarls, "You took the words right out of my mouth."
- What the Hell, Hero?: Father Mulcahy, Hawkeye, and Margaret act this way towards B.J. when he's so determined to make sure the soldier they're treating doesn't die he won't even let Father Mulcahy perform last rites (see The Determinator above).Father Francis Mulcahy: - Listen to me, B. J. I try to stay out of the way because what you people do here is so important but, understand, at a time like this, what I have to do is just as important. And no one, not you nor anyone else, is going to stand between me and the performance of my sacred office
