The Moose Season One ~ Episode 5

In this fifth episode of MASH

we find an absolutely fascinating dramedy circling around the issues of human trafficking and slavery being commented on by the only African American surgeon the show ever had. And that for only six episodes. Dropping a black surgeon from the newly minted television show was unpopular due to the many fresh racial wounds from the not too distant 60’s. Wounds still felt in the early 70’s. As we know, racial tensions remain to this day.

“I read someplace the U.N. was here to liberate these people. Must’ve been a misprint.” Oliver Harmon “Spearchucker” Jones ~ Surgeon MASH 4077

But in this episode

we are actually focusing on human trafficking and the customary practice of the ultra poor using any means to survive, including selling their children.

Synopsis

“Hawkeye Pierce wins a young Korean servant girl, Young Hi, off a visiting sergeant in a card game with the intention of freeing her. However, Young Hi thinks she now belongs to Hawkeye. He and the other doctors attempt to show her that she is free.”Source

The journey on this episode focuses on liberating Young Hi from Baker and teaching her to think differently about many ingrained beliefs like her family obligations, and her willingness to accept being sold for life to a man for $500 cash.

Facing an uphill battle

to ‘red pill’ Young Hi, Hawkeye and Trapper find themselves fighting against Baker who is completely unwilling to relinquish control of Young Hi even for his original purchase price. He tells them he can get twice that amount by reselling her due to all the tasks he has taught her such as shining boots to mil spec and many more.

The true distaste of this episode

can be seen clearly by Hawkeye donning his Captain’s uniform to attempt to bully Baker into releasing Young Hi. Hawkeye hates being in uniform as much as the war itself it seems at times.

But Baker is unmoved, knowing that Hawkeye has limited authority over him and tells Hawkeye straight up that he’s been in the army a long time and “no meat cutter with a temporary commission is gonna work me over.”

Out of options, Hawkeye and Trapper

lay a plan to cheat Baker out of all of his money in a game of poker with a plan to offer Baker all of his money back in exchange for releasing Young Hi. Baker has no real choice because he has a thousand dollars of his cash sitting in front of Hawkeye as well as a $1200 IOU he can’t pay.

It just wouldn't be an episode of MASH without Radar spying on Baker with a telescope from the Men's latrine and relaying the information to Hawkeye's earpiece. And it just wouldn't be MASH if there wasn't some gratuitous sexism.

To be honest, this episode barely passes the bar for being comedic and focuses on some very tough issues on and off the show. Having a black surgeon released from the show after only six episodes was one thing. Having the word ‘Spearchucker’ as part of his cast name was unbelievable even by 70’s standards.

Claiming there were no black surgeons attached to any MASH units in Korea as part of the rationale for dropping him was also unconscionable. It was not far fetched enough to drop him and there were in fact two black surgeons attached to MASH units during the Korean war. Alvin Vincent Blount Jr. of the MASH 8225th, and Captain Miles attached to the MASH 8055th.

NB Information and records were not easy to obtain at the time of airing and all military records and inquiries had to be conducted manually without the aid of computers or the internet.

A happy ending was definitely required for this episode and Young Hi goes against her family’s traditional Korean values and frees herself from a life of slavery by returning to the MASH with intentions to further herself as an independent individual.

A very interesting episode watching western values being applied to traditional eastern values. I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did!

Virginia Ann Lee (born October 22, 1946) is credited in two episodes of the CBS-TV series MASH: first, as houseservant Young Hi in the Season 1 episode "The Moose"(credited as Virginia Lee) and as Kyong Ja, a daughter of a elderly Korean local man Phillip Ahn, who gets injured after stepping in front of the 4077th EVAC bus in trying to ward off "evil spirits" in the Season 5 episode "Exorcism". In addition she has also made several uncredited appearances. In Season 1 "Henry Please Come Home" she appears as a Geisha singer. In Season 3 "Abyssinia, Henry", she appears as one of the singers at Henry's farewell party at Rosie's Bar (where she appears to be pregnant). Some internet resources list a third uncredited appearance as a Korean daughter in Season 4 "Welcome to Korea" but this is not confirmed.Mash Wikia Source

Life and Career

Virginia began her working career at the tender age of 5 as an actress and dancer. She worked with Yul Brynner in the original The King and I, was a mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club, and worked on stage in Las Vegas. From the mid 1960's through the mid-late 1970's, Virginia made numerous guest TV series appearances on Police Story, Get Smart, The Odd Couple, Adam-12, Marcus Welby, M.D., as well as the ABC daytime soap General Hospital. Her film credits include The Hawaiians (1970) and Lost Horizon (1973). Her last MAS*H appearance, which was in the episode "Exorcism" in Season 5 in 1976, also marked her last Hollywood appearance, as she, a Los Angeles native, has since dropped out of the public eye and off the entertainment radar. She reportedly gave up her acting career after having her third child and moved with her family to many parts of California including Fort Bragg where she taught dance to children as a hobby. She later worked in the banking industry before settling in Simi Valley, working as a bank manager until retiring in 2009. Source Credit

Thanks for reading and feel free to stop by the MASH anytime, especially if you are feeling down and out. I try to make myself available to chat daily with anyone in need. You are not alone in this world and in this life.

MASH4077

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Bug

Images Screen Captured from episode.