Out of Gas was the 13th episode of Season 7 of M*A*S*H, also the 160th overall series episode. The episode, which was written by Tom Reeder, was directed by Mel Damski. The episode originally aired on CBS-TV on December 4, 1978.
Synopsis[]
When the camp copes with a critical shortage of sodium pentothal, a vital anesthetic, Father Mulcahy must use his black market contacts to get some.
Full episode summary[]
The 4077th is suffering through another cold snap, and the poker game is being played for winter gear instead of money.
Potter breaks the game up by telling them they can expect a huge load of wounded, and soon. A big problem arises when they learn they are out of sodium pentothal, which was traded away with the 8063rd by Sgt. Zale for other supplies. They ask Zale if they can get it back, but the pentothal has been traded so many times, it's irretrievable.
Without it, surgery slows to a crawl, since it takes so much longer to put wounded to sleep using liquid ether. To make matters worse, some of the nurses have never given ether so directly, which causes some of the patients to choke. And on top of that, the fumes from the ether are so strong, they make some of the staff groggy; it puts Margaret on the floor.
Father Mulcahy decides he might be able to trade with the Black Market for some pentothal, and he collects items from everyone in exchange. Mulcahy asks Charles for a case of vintage wine and some gourmet food, which he agrees to (after B.J. threatens to steal it from him anyway), but only if he comes along for the ride to make sure they get the best possible deal.
They meet with the Black Marketers, who are of course not impressed with Charles' haggling. Consequently, they take his wine, his food, even their uniforms (including Charles' prized polar suit that he flaunted just three episodes earlier in "Baby, It’s Cold Outside") at gunpoint, leaving Mulcahy without his coat and helmet and Charles in his long underwear, and without the pentothal.
As they drive off, Mulcahy realizes that the thieves are probably getting drunk on the wine and gorging on the food. They sneak back, grabbing the truck loaded with the pentothal. Initially, they can't get the truck started, so they begin to roll it away. The Marketers open fire on them, but they barely escape by the skin of their teeth when the truck finally starts, and Mulcahy drives them away with Charles hanging out the passenger door gloatingly shouting at them, "Remember the Boston Tea Party!"
They arrive back at camp with the pentothal, saving the day. Later in OR, everyone is relieved that they're back operating at full speed...except for Charles, who is still lamenting the loss of his precious wine.
Research notes/Fun facts[]
- There's an uncredited nurse, whom Margaret calls "Carson", who has a speaking part in the OR. She is assisting Winchester when he tells her she is applying too much ether. She tells him she has never done it before.
- There's another uncredited nurse whom Margaret addresses as "Caldman".
- This is quite similar to an earlier MASH episode where Mulcahy and Klinger retrieved some stolen drugs for MASH 4077, except Klinger has to sacrifice his skirt after they are shot at by snipers ("Tea and Empathy").
- Anomaly: During the poker game at the start of the episode, Klinger (who is sitting on the far left) is the only one smoking (a cigar), but when the shot cuts to anyone else, the smoke is moving towards Klinger, not away from him.
- During the poker game, you can see the sweater Hawkeye's sister knitted for him among his various layers (he received it in Season 2 ["Mail Call"] when his sister was still canon - she ceased to exist by Season 4).
- When Margaret recovers from passing out from the ether, she says she's more embarrassed than anything. Hawkeye says that he covered for her by claiming that she had morning sickness. This is kind of an off-hand comment for him to make, considering what Margaret went through in "What's Up, Doc?".
- This episode marks the fourth time an officer (Charles Emerson Winchester III) leaves camp without the CO's permission. Major Frank Burns left in Welcome to Korea (TV series episode), Captain B.J. Hunnicutt left for Battalion Aid (without acting CO Pierce's permission) in Commander Pierce (TV series episode), and Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy left in Mulcahy's War (TV series episode). In all cases the officers could have been put on report for either Unauthorized Absence or AWOL (Absent Without Leave, if more than 24 hours), although Mulcahy would have probably reluctantly vouched for Winchester despite the fact he almost got them both killed.
Recurring cast/Guest stars[]
- Johnny Haymer as Sergeant Zelmo Zale
- Justin Lord as Private Harkness
- Byron Chung as Myung
- George Claiborne as Private Phelan
- Uncredited appearances:
- Gwen Farrell
- Shari Saba - see Nurse Shari, final triage scene