Let's see how many days pass in Season Two!
2.1: Divided We Stand (3 days)
Note: A difficult episode to judge the flow of time in. Here's how I worked it out.
The episode starts with General Clayton explaining to an army psychiatrist, a Captain Hildebrand, why he's sending him from Seoul to the 4077; to evaluate if the 4077 needs to be split up. There are some flashbacks during this sequence that, as usual, I've not counted. Eventually we see Hildebrand arrive at the camp in a jeep. To avoid assumptions about the flow of time between his briefing with Clayton and his arrival at the 4077, I've (ironically) had to make an assumption. I've decided to assume that rather than waiting a day or two to leave Seoul, Hildebrand left that very same day and arrived at the 4077 that very same day. That's Day 1.
There is then a clearly observable night sequence and a scene where the main characters all have breakfast with Hildebrand. Following breakfast, Hildebrand observes more of the characters behavior and attends the O.R during surgery. That's two days. Then, although there is no observable night sequence, toward the end of the episode Clayton shows up to hear Hildebrands report. Hildebrand is drinking in the Swamp with Hawkeye, Trapper and Henry and offers Clayton a drink as well. Clayton remarks that it's only 7 in the morning. This therefore suggests that another night has passed, although we didn't see it. Hence the day count is 3 days.
2.2: 5 O'Clock Charlie (6 weeks, 3 days)
Note: Another difficult episode to judge the flow of time in.
First of all, at least six weeks have passed between this episode and the last episode, due to the fact that the characters actually state that 5 O'Clock Charlie has been trying to bomb the ammunition dump with no success for the past six weeks. Since in this episode it is shown that 5 O'Clock Charlie's daily visit is a major daily event for the 4077 (they bet on how close he'll get to actually hitting the ammo dump and most of the camp actually turns out to watch it) yet no mention was made of him in episode 2.1. So it can be safely said that he wasn't yet flying over the camp in that episode and that yes, at least six weeks have indeed passed between the two episodes.
The second difficulty in the flow of time is the appearance of an AA Gun, requested by Frank. At the start of the episode, 5 O'Clock Charlie is about to appear, fails his bombing run and flies away. That afternoon in Henry's office, Frank demands (over the phone) that Clayton send an AA Gun to defend the camp. Clayton says he will visit the camp the next day to assess the situation. When Clayton shows up in the next scene we can therefore safely say that only two days have passed during the actual episode so far.
5 O'Clock Charlie gets his name because he shows up every day at 5 O'Clock, so when he then bombs Clayton's jeep shortly after his arrival we can still assume that only two days have passed. Clayton says that Frank can have his AA Gun, and then in the very next scene we see the gun has been set up in the camp.
Now, I'm no army engineer. I don't know how long it would have taken to get an AA Gun to the 4077, nor do I know how long it would take for it to be set up once it gets there, so to avoid error I'm simply going to have to guess that the AA Gun is set up by the next day. But this is actually a pretty safe guess to make, given what we know about the characters and what we see on screen. To explain, Hawkeye and Trapper (who were there when Clayton said the gun would be installed) immediately hatch a plan to stop Frank ever getting to shoot the thing at Charlie (they argue if Frank hits Charlie the whole camp will be in danger of being attacked). This therefore implies that between the time Claytons jeep is bombed and the time that we first see the AA Gun, only one day has passed as given what we know of these characters you'd assume Hawkeye and Trapper wouldn't have let Frank shoot the gun at Charlie even once, especially given their firm opposition to his doing so. This means that we can say with some degree of certainty that three days have now passed during the course of this episode.
Frank shoots the gun when Charlie shows up but thanks to Hawkeye and Trapper he misses and hits the ammo dump instead. Charlie thinks he's hit it and it's implied he won't be back anymore. So, despite some difficulties with knowing how long it took to get the AA Gun to the 4077 and set it up, we can safely say that between episode 2.1 and the end of this episode, at least 6 weeks and 3 days has passed.
2.3: Radar's Report (1 week, 1 day).
Note: Radar actually mentions the date in this episode, saying that his report (which is essentially another 'letter-to-home' style episode set-up) is for the dates October 17 to October 24, 1951, inclusive. He is writing this report at night, and the next day he gets Henry to sign it.So we can now safely say that the date, as of the end of this episode is at least October 25, 1951. The day count will work from this date going forward from this episode. UPDATE: Later episode analysis has shown that chronology is something the writers didn't really care very much about so while this episode obviously takes places between these dates, it's not actually safe to say that the next episode takes place after October 24 1951.
2.1: Divided We Stand (3 days)
Note: A difficult episode to judge the flow of time in. Here's how I worked it out.
The episode starts with General Clayton explaining to an army psychiatrist, a Captain Hildebrand, why he's sending him from Seoul to the 4077; to evaluate if the 4077 needs to be split up. There are some flashbacks during this sequence that, as usual, I've not counted. Eventually we see Hildebrand arrive at the camp in a jeep. To avoid assumptions about the flow of time between his briefing with Clayton and his arrival at the 4077, I've (ironically) had to make an assumption. I've decided to assume that rather than waiting a day or two to leave Seoul, Hildebrand left that very same day and arrived at the 4077 that very same day. That's Day 1.
There is then a clearly observable night sequence and a scene where the main characters all have breakfast with Hildebrand. Following breakfast, Hildebrand observes more of the characters behavior and attends the O.R during surgery. That's two days. Then, although there is no observable night sequence, toward the end of the episode Clayton shows up to hear Hildebrands report. Hildebrand is drinking in the Swamp with Hawkeye, Trapper and Henry and offers Clayton a drink as well. Clayton remarks that it's only 7 in the morning. This therefore suggests that another night has passed, although we didn't see it. Hence the day count is 3 days.
2.2: 5 O'Clock Charlie (6 weeks, 3 days)
Note: Another difficult episode to judge the flow of time in.
First of all, at least six weeks have passed between this episode and the last episode, due to the fact that the characters actually state that 5 O'Clock Charlie has been trying to bomb the ammunition dump with no success for the past six weeks. Since in this episode it is shown that 5 O'Clock Charlie's daily visit is a major daily event for the 4077 (they bet on how close he'll get to actually hitting the ammo dump and most of the camp actually turns out to watch it) yet no mention was made of him in episode 2.1. So it can be safely said that he wasn't yet flying over the camp in that episode and that yes, at least six weeks have indeed passed between the two episodes.
The second difficulty in the flow of time is the appearance of an AA Gun, requested by Frank. At the start of the episode, 5 O'Clock Charlie is about to appear, fails his bombing run and flies away. That afternoon in Henry's office, Frank demands (over the phone) that Clayton send an AA Gun to defend the camp. Clayton says he will visit the camp the next day to assess the situation. When Clayton shows up in the next scene we can therefore safely say that only two days have passed during the actual episode so far.
5 O'Clock Charlie gets his name because he shows up every day at 5 O'Clock, so when he then bombs Clayton's jeep shortly after his arrival we can still assume that only two days have passed. Clayton says that Frank can have his AA Gun, and then in the very next scene we see the gun has been set up in the camp.
Now, I'm no army engineer. I don't know how long it would have taken to get an AA Gun to the 4077, nor do I know how long it would take for it to be set up once it gets there, so to avoid error I'm simply going to have to guess that the AA Gun is set up by the next day. But this is actually a pretty safe guess to make, given what we know about the characters and what we see on screen. To explain, Hawkeye and Trapper (who were there when Clayton said the gun would be installed) immediately hatch a plan to stop Frank ever getting to shoot the thing at Charlie (they argue if Frank hits Charlie the whole camp will be in danger of being attacked). This therefore implies that between the time Claytons jeep is bombed and the time that we first see the AA Gun, only one day has passed as given what we know of these characters you'd assume Hawkeye and Trapper wouldn't have let Frank shoot the gun at Charlie even once, especially given their firm opposition to his doing so. This means that we can say with some degree of certainty that three days have now passed during the course of this episode.
Frank shoots the gun when Charlie shows up but thanks to Hawkeye and Trapper he misses and hits the ammo dump instead. Charlie thinks he's hit it and it's implied he won't be back anymore. So, despite some difficulties with knowing how long it took to get the AA Gun to the 4077 and set it up, we can safely say that between episode 2.1 and the end of this episode, at least 6 weeks and 3 days has passed.
2.3: Radar's Report (1 week, 1 day).
Note: Radar actually mentions the date in this episode, saying that his report (which is essentially another 'letter-to-home' style episode set-up) is for the dates October 17 to October 24, 1951, inclusive. He is writing this report at night, and the next day he gets Henry to sign it.
It's fun to speculate. My guess is the writers/producers never thought M*A*S*H would run 11 years and decided that it would probably only go for three, so why not make each season depict one year of the war? At any rate, it'll be interesting to see whether or not this relatively big jump in time blows out the length of the fake war when compared to the length of the real war.
2.4: For The Good of the Outfit (1 week, 6 days)
Note: An interesting contradiction occurs in this episode. In the last episode, 'Radar's Report,' we were able to pin down a date for this season's happenings thanks to Radar telling us it was October 1951. But in this episode, right at the end, Radar appears to contradict himself by reading a letter to Hawkeye (one which just arrived in camp as a result of the events of this episode, so no mail delivery delays can be blamed) which is dated May 24th, 1951.
Given this, it has become apparent that trying to work out the exact date that an episode of M*A*S*H is set on is not only counter-productive to the aims of this blog but nigh on impossible as well. Clearly the writers decided to throw continuity and chronology to the wind whenever it suited them. Instead, we're simply going to go forward from this episode counting the days that we can witness (or are told by characters to have passed) and compare that tally to the length of the real war. Dates and idle (albeit fun) speculation be damned!
Also for those playing at home, this was another hard episode to work out the passage of time for. It's almost as if the writers knew I'd be starting this project one day and wanted to make it as difficult as possible for me. So, let me explain how I worked out the length of time on this one.
First, on the day that the doctors discover U.S shrapnel in the Korean villagers they're operating on, they go to Henry to file a report. In the next scene Henry is asleep, telling Radar he doesn't start until 9. Thus, clearly we are into Day 2 of this episode's proceedings.
The officer assigned to investigate Hawkeye and Trapper's claims (a Major Stoner... can you tell this episode first aired in the 70s?) leaves the camp with their evidence, and we later find out that "after a week and a half of calls" the doctors haven't heard back from Stoner. We're now at 1 week, 5 days.
Hawkeye writes a letter to his Dad (thankfully not in the cliched 'flashbacky' way he and other 4077'ers have done a few times so far) asking for his assistance to thwart what is obviously an attempt at a military cover-up. This is likely done on the same day as his statement that he's not heard from Stoner for over a week. He is then told in a later scene by Henry that his letter was stopped by the censor and he's now "restricted" (under arrest) to the boundaries of the camp. Although it would be safe to assume that the process of sending the letter and having it stopped by the war censor would eat up another three days minimum, we're in the business of avoiding assumptions at this blog. But clearly it would take at least one day for this to happen, so we are going to ring up the tally to 1 week, 6 days.
General Clayton shows up on the same day as Hawkeye finds out he's under arrest. During a discussion Clayton is having with Hawkeye, Henry and Trapper, Frank and Hot Lips intervene and Clayton is forced to reveal the truth. This then leads to the scene where Hawkeye gets an uncensored letter from his Dad (the one where Radar says the date is May 24th, 1951). Now, although we could conservatively assume that the length of time it took Clayton to file his report, for Hawkeye's Dad to write a letter and for it to make it all the way from the US to the 4077 would take at least a week, our mission statement here is to avoid assumptions. But like before it's more than safe to say that this scene takes place on a day other than the one during which Clayton discussed the matter with Hawkeye, so we'll tally up just one more day. And so we arrive at a total count of one week, six days.
2.5: Dr. Pierce & Mr Hyde (3 days)
2.6: Kim (4 days)
2.7: L.I.P (Local Indigenous Personnel) (2 days)
2.8: The Trial of Henry Blake (2 days)
2.9: Dear Dad... Three (3 days)
Note: Another 'flashback' episode as Hawkeye writes a letter to home. Although I normally don't include the events of flashbacks in the day count, it seems OK to do so in this instance since the events of the flashback are directly tied up in the events of the end of the episode, just as Hawkeye finishes writing his letter.
Interesting historical note here; Hawkeye writes (on Day 2) that they just heard Eisenower had announced he was running for President. Depending on how you look at it, this likely dates this episode on either January 6, 1952 or March 12, 1952, according to Wikipedia.
2.10: The Sniper (2 days)
2.11: Carry On, Hawkeye (5 days)
Note: At least 2 days have passed unseen before the start of the episode, as Hawkeye says near the start of the episode that Trapper has been sick with the flu for three days.
2.12: The Incubator (2 days)
2.13: Deal Me Out (2 days)
Note: The episode starts in the late afternoon and ends at 3am in the morning, so although we don't see daylight again in the episode once night falls, 2 days have still clearly passed.
2.14: Hot Lips & Empty Arms (2 days)
2.15: Officers Only (6 days)
2.16: Henry in Love (1 week, 5 days)
2.17: For Want of a Boot (2 days)
2.18: Operation Noselift (1 day)
2.19: The Chosen People (1 day)
2.20: As You Were (2 weeks, 2 days)
Note: The lull in the action has gone on for at least two weeks before this episode, as Henry laments how they didn't use that time to get more blood donations.
2.21: Crisis (3 days)
2.22: George (2 days)
2.23: Mail Call (1 days)
Note: It's hard to tell if the final scene in the OR takes place at night or at day, so it's difficult to tell if this episode is 1 or 2 days long. To be safe, I've said just 1 day.
2.24: A Smattering of Intelligence (2 days)
TOTAL DAY COUNT: Season One accounted for 56 days. Including the assumed one month before Season One, that means around 3 months had passed by the end of the first season.
Season Two accounted for 11 weeks and 63 days worth of time.
So by the end of Season 2, a total of 196 days worth of time appear to have passed on screen.
And although we have as of this season determined that working out the exact date that an episode or season takes place in is useless given that the episodes clearly do not take place chronologically, just for fun we'll say that this means in the real war, the date would be January 6th, 1951.
2.4: For The Good of the Outfit (1 week, 6 days)
Note: An interesting contradiction occurs in this episode. In the last episode, 'Radar's Report,' we were able to pin down a date for this season's happenings thanks to Radar telling us it was October 1951. But in this episode, right at the end, Radar appears to contradict himself by reading a letter to Hawkeye (one which just arrived in camp as a result of the events of this episode, so no mail delivery delays can be blamed) which is dated May 24th, 1951.
Given this, it has become apparent that trying to work out the exact date that an episode of M*A*S*H is set on is not only counter-productive to the aims of this blog but nigh on impossible as well. Clearly the writers decided to throw continuity and chronology to the wind whenever it suited them. Instead, we're simply going to go forward from this episode counting the days that we can witness (or are told by characters to have passed) and compare that tally to the length of the real war. Dates and idle (albeit fun) speculation be damned!
Also for those playing at home, this was another hard episode to work out the passage of time for. It's almost as if the writers knew I'd be starting this project one day and wanted to make it as difficult as possible for me. So, let me explain how I worked out the length of time on this one.
First, on the day that the doctors discover U.S shrapnel in the Korean villagers they're operating on, they go to Henry to file a report. In the next scene Henry is asleep, telling Radar he doesn't start until 9. Thus, clearly we are into Day 2 of this episode's proceedings.
The officer assigned to investigate Hawkeye and Trapper's claims (a Major Stoner... can you tell this episode first aired in the 70s?) leaves the camp with their evidence, and we later find out that "after a week and a half of calls" the doctors haven't heard back from Stoner. We're now at 1 week, 5 days.
Hawkeye writes a letter to his Dad (thankfully not in the cliched 'flashbacky' way he and other 4077'ers have done a few times so far) asking for his assistance to thwart what is obviously an attempt at a military cover-up. This is likely done on the same day as his statement that he's not heard from Stoner for over a week. He is then told in a later scene by Henry that his letter was stopped by the censor and he's now "restricted" (under arrest) to the boundaries of the camp. Although it would be safe to assume that the process of sending the letter and having it stopped by the war censor would eat up another three days minimum, we're in the business of avoiding assumptions at this blog. But clearly it would take at least one day for this to happen, so we are going to ring up the tally to 1 week, 6 days.
General Clayton shows up on the same day as Hawkeye finds out he's under arrest. During a discussion Clayton is having with Hawkeye, Henry and Trapper, Frank and Hot Lips intervene and Clayton is forced to reveal the truth. This then leads to the scene where Hawkeye gets an uncensored letter from his Dad (the one where Radar says the date is May 24th, 1951). Now, although we could conservatively assume that the length of time it took Clayton to file his report, for Hawkeye's Dad to write a letter and for it to make it all the way from the US to the 4077 would take at least a week, our mission statement here is to avoid assumptions. But like before it's more than safe to say that this scene takes place on a day other than the one during which Clayton discussed the matter with Hawkeye, so we'll tally up just one more day. And so we arrive at a total count of one week, six days.
2.5: Dr. Pierce & Mr Hyde (3 days)
2.6: Kim (4 days)
2.7: L.I.P (Local Indigenous Personnel) (2 days)
2.8: The Trial of Henry Blake (2 days)
2.9: Dear Dad... Three (3 days)
Note: Another 'flashback' episode as Hawkeye writes a letter to home. Although I normally don't include the events of flashbacks in the day count, it seems OK to do so in this instance since the events of the flashback are directly tied up in the events of the end of the episode, just as Hawkeye finishes writing his letter.
Interesting historical note here; Hawkeye writes (on Day 2) that they just heard Eisenower had announced he was running for President. Depending on how you look at it, this likely dates this episode on either January 6, 1952 or March 12, 1952, according to Wikipedia.
2.10: The Sniper (2 days)
2.11: Carry On, Hawkeye (5 days)
Note: At least 2 days have passed unseen before the start of the episode, as Hawkeye says near the start of the episode that Trapper has been sick with the flu for three days.
2.12: The Incubator (2 days)
2.13: Deal Me Out (2 days)
Note: The episode starts in the late afternoon and ends at 3am in the morning, so although we don't see daylight again in the episode once night falls, 2 days have still clearly passed.
2.14: Hot Lips & Empty Arms (2 days)
2.15: Officers Only (6 days)
2.16: Henry in Love (1 week, 5 days)
2.17: For Want of a Boot (2 days)
2.18: Operation Noselift (1 day)
2.19: The Chosen People (1 day)
2.20: As You Were (2 weeks, 2 days)
Note: The lull in the action has gone on for at least two weeks before this episode, as Henry laments how they didn't use that time to get more blood donations.
2.21: Crisis (3 days)
2.22: George (2 days)
2.23: Mail Call (1 days)
Note: It's hard to tell if the final scene in the OR takes place at night or at day, so it's difficult to tell if this episode is 1 or 2 days long. To be safe, I've said just 1 day.
2.24: A Smattering of Intelligence (2 days)
TOTAL DAY COUNT: Season One accounted for 56 days. Including the assumed one month before Season One, that means around 3 months had passed by the end of the first season.
Season Two accounted for 11 weeks and 63 days worth of time.
So by the end of Season 2, a total of 196 days worth of time appear to have passed on screen.
And although we have as of this season determined that working out the exact date that an episode or season takes place in is useless given that the episodes clearly do not take place chronologically, just for fun we'll say that this means in the real war, the date would be January 6th, 1951.
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