'M*A*S*H' - 'I Hate a Mystery' Quiz

Answer: Houlihan

"It so happens that Major HoulihanD and I are studying the treatment of cardiac arrests," says Frank, in response to the taunting of Pierce. Notice the added 'D' at the end of Margaret's last name? I would venture to guess that this was the first time it had been said by Larry Linville and he was not familiar with the proper way to say her name. This makes sense, after all, it was only the 10th episode of the first season!

Answer: His mother

Upon discovering that his frame is missing, Frank immediately blames the other doctors and calls them 'fiends'. Then, he goes over to Margaret's tent to 'tell on' them.

Answer: Brushes

These brushes were gifts from her father, and Margaret overreacts nicely when they are discovered missing. It seems that her father is dead in these earlier episodes, only to come back to life several years down the road when we actually get to see Howitzer Houlihan in the flesh in a later episode! One strange line must be noted from this scene.

When Margaret asks Frank to get her brushes, he says, "Well Margaret, I don't think spanking them will do any good." (The 'them' is refering to the other doctors here.) I was surprised that that line got through the censors...and it seems so misplaced anyway!

Answer: A jeweled fishing reel and a stuffed fish

The stuffed fish was the first one caught by Leslie, the week before...a spotted trout, apparently. Henry describes the reel as a 'Sato-Tanaka double-cammed reel with jeweled escarpment', what I've always wanted! The reel becomes the third item missing. I think it's odd that Henry didn't notice that the box containing the reel was empty, wouldn't it have felt rather light?

Answer: True

The swizzle stick that Hawkeye uses to mix his martinis comes up missing. Ho-Jon calls it a Stizzle Swick...to which Hawkeye replies, 'Who stole my stizzle swick?!' Trapper is also missing an item, his watch.

Answer: A spoon

Why would anyone want to steal a spoon? To enhance the comedy I suppose. Like I said, not one of my favorite episodes, but my favorite scene is coming up!

Answer: Radar's teddy bear

We don't know what Radar's teddy bear's name was, but we do see it quite often over the years...it makes its debut in 'I Hate a Mystery' and makes its final appearance in the second to last episode of the last season, going into the time capsule that the M*A*S*H-ites leave buried at the campsite. The other three items mentioned here have already appeared in previous episodes.

Answer: Soot

The beauty of the scene does not simply rely on the physical humor, but rather on the acting. First, we have Henry who plays it so serious and cool...he's on a mission to find the culprit. Second, we have an obviously annoyed Trapper, who simply wants to be left alone. Finally, we have the great laughing reaction when the soot falls in Henry's face. Looking at the stovepipe, Henry asks, "Macintyre, what's in here?" "Soot, sir", replies Trapper in a droll tone. "Soot?" Henry asks again, serious but clueless. "Yep", replies Macintyre again, shocked but unmoved by the inane question. "I'll be the judge of that," remarks Henry, and he proceeds to discover, to his chagrin, that Trapper is right...soot falls in his face. Hilarity ensues!

Answer: Father Mulcahy's tent

While in the Father's tent, Mulcahy feels pity on Hawkeye and reaches for a book, suggesting that all the answers could be found there. Unfortunately, he grabs the dictionary!

Answer: Spearchucker

Hawkeye, dressed in his Sam Spade uniform, very cleverly discovers the true culprit by claiming that he placed a chemical on the stolen items that would turn the thief's fingerprints blue. He was bluffing, of course, but Ho-Jon did not know this. It is discovered that Ho-Jon was the true thief, he needed to sell these items in order to bribe the border guards so his family could come down from the north. Huh?! I thought he was heading to the U.S. with a couple thousand dollars from the raffle in episode 1 (the pilot). I guess consistency wasn't the first item on the agenda in these early episodes...ah well! Thanks for taking the quiz...