Movies - Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

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	Movies - Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" was the final episode of M*A*S*H
. The episode aired on February 28, 1983 and was 2½ hours long. It was viewed by nearly 125 million Americans (77% of viewership that night) which established it as the most watched episode in USA's television history, a record which still stands today.

Detailed story

The finale starts in the waning days of the war with Hawkeye in a mental hospital, finally driven over the edge by a bus ride gone terribly wrong.

Returning from a trip to a beach, a wounded soldier is brought onto the bus. This is the first memory Hawkeye represses, and it's originally played off as a drunk and jovial Hawkeye wanting a bottle of whiskey to be passed to the back of the bus for someone he says "can't wait." The memory comes back again, and the person is revealed to be a soldier, and then the real situation rears its ugly head, as a frustrated Hawkeye, who cannot believe that the atmosphere on the bus is so jovial in the wake of this soldier's injury, calling for a bottle of plasma.

The bus then picked up a group of Koreans who were refugees. Later, more wounded soldiers were picked up, and soon every person on the bus was in danger of being discovered and executed by a North Korean patrol. Hawkeye scolds the refugees to be quiet but a chicken begins to cluck and its owner responds by smothering it. Hawkeye breaks down crying as he remembers that the chicken was actually a baby, and he didn't want to remember it.

Meanwhile, a tank is driven into the 4077th and crushes the latrine. Dr. Winchester, going to use the "ravine latrine," befriends a rag-tag bunch of Chinese musicians and teaches them to play Mozart's "Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581". Colonel Potter gets orders not to move the tank.

Charles also was bemoaning the fact that a competitor for an administrative position at Mercy Hospital back in Boston was pulling strings trying to get the job. Hot Lips tried to help him get the job, and succeeded in doing so, but when Winchester found out what she did, he was not too pleased.

Also, B.J. got his discharge papers, and the tank caused the North Koreans to begin bombing the unit. During the initial bombing, Father Mulcahy went out to try to save a group of prisoners of war who had been placed in the camp. While he was doing so, he was knocked cold by a bomb that exploded very near to him, and when he woke up, his hearing began to deteriorate. He made B.J. promise not to tell anyone about his hearing problem, because it could get him sent home where he couldn't help the orphans.

B.J. left before Hawkeye returned to the camp, with a fresh batch of wounded waiting for him. With the bombing of the camp continuing, Hawkeye took some initiative and drove the tank out of the camp.

Soon after, a wildfire started in the hills, and the camp was forced to bug out. Almost as soon as the new camp was set up, B.J. returned, his journey home stopped after word that his discharge was rescinded got back to him in Guam.

Winchester eventually had to say goodbye to his students, due to a POW trade with the Koreans. However, one of the musicians was brought back to the camp, barely clinging to life, and Winchester, after hearing he was the only one who made it, couldn't believe it. As a result classical music, his number one solace during the war, became unpalatable to him.

Klinger, known for constantly seeking a Section 8 discharge, decided to stay in Korea to be with his new wife, Soon Lee, and assist her in her search for her missing parents—even though he, like most of the soldiers, finally had his release papers.

All the soldiers and officers pack up to go. Hawkeye and Margaret kiss for a very long time.

The final scene is between B.J. Hunnicutt and Hawkeye. Hunnicutt is unable to say goodbye and Hawkeye mocks him for this failure. Both men lament that they will be on opposite sides of the country after they go home and conclude that they will probably never see each other again. They tearfully embrace for the last time and Hawkeye boards a helicopter and lifts off. Hunnicutt rides off on a motorcycle and as the helicopter ascends Hawkeye sees a final message from his long-time friend spelled out with stones on the sandy soil, "GOODBYE." The message, of course, served a dual purpose: it was also a message from the creators of the series to its fans, saying "goodbye" after 11 years. As such, it is the last image shown on the screen before the final credits.

The credits run longer, with a longer version of the show theme played instead of the usual short closing theme that had been used for the previous two seasons' worth of episodes.

Triva

Alda reportedly had a different idea for what to do for the finale: he wanted it to be a typical half-hour episode, at the end of which a director would be heard saying "cut!" during a surgery scene, and crewmen would walk on the set and do what they normally did. Alda would then say to the camera "Well, for the last 12 years we tried to show you what war was like, but it's not as much fun."

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