On his way to Seoul, Hawkeye is captured by a North Korean (Mako) who forces him to save his comrade. Meanwhile, Potter and Charles compete to find out who is better at bridge.

The camp answers letters from fourth-graders in Hawkeye's hometown, and Hawkeye struggles to respond to a boy who holds doctors accountable for the death of his soldier brother.

Klinger supervises the creation of a cement floor in the OR, while Margaret is wooed by an amorous patient (Joel Brooks) from Italy.

Margaret tries to whip the camp into shape before her father "Howitzer Al" Houlihan (Andrew Duggan) comes for a visit, but Potter discovers a disturbing side to the father Margaret all but worships.

The spirit of Christmas is felt at the 4077th during a truce as they throw a potluck party for the orphans, which reveals a surprising side of Charles. But when Hawkeye, B.J. and Margaret receive a mortally wounded soldier, they attempt to keep him alive until the day after Christmas for the sake of his wife and kids.

A survey of life at the 4077th during the year 1951, including the doctors' efforts to build an artificial kidney and camp-wide bets on whether the Brooklyn Dodgers will win the year's National League championship.
Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford received a Writers Guild Award nomination for this episode.

Note – Timeline is from December 1950 to December 1951. This episode contradicts Colonel Potter's arrival at M*A*S*H which occurred September 19, 1952, and also B.J. Hunnicutt's which occurred roughly at the same time when Potter became C.O. and Major Winchester's which occurred after Potter became C.O.

A retention officer (Barry Corbin) persuades a depressed Klinger to reenlist; a male nurse chafes over his low rank.

With Charles temporarily in command, Hawkeye fights for the cause of a soon-to-be-discharged Dutch immigrant marine whose mother is about to be deported.

Hawkeye uses a bottle of wine as bait for a date with a nurse, while Potter is mad at the Army for banning the use of curare as a surgical anesthetic.

Charles looks after Klinger in gratitude for saving his life during an autoclave explosion, while a specialist (Tim O'Connor) is brought in to treat B.J. for a compartment hemorrhage injury to his right wrist.

The 4077th deals with a sudden heat wave in their own personal ways: Klinger disassembles the P.A. system, Charles goes through all of his tax returns and bonds, B.J. stresses over a letter from Peg, Margaret develops a severe case of prickly heat, and Colonel Potter can't get a good night's sleep.
John Rappaport received a Writers Guild Award nomination for this episode.

Klinger finds the perfect story to start his unit newspaper: Hawkeye's new craft project, inspired by a mistaken delivery of 500,000 tongue depressors. In one scene, Alan Alda can be seen still wearing his blue, 1980's-style sneakers.

B.J. challenges Hawkeye to go through one day without making any jokes, while Charles confronts the colonel who sent him to Korea. Robert Symonds reprises his role as Horace Baldwin, after playing it in the season 6 episode "Fade Out, Fade In". Note, Seymonds' character (Horace Baldwin) is now a lieutenant colonel. A possible writer's error or an off-screen demotion.

Hawkeye plans a surprise for B.J.'s wedding anniversary, while Charles offends a hot-tempered frontline officer. Catherine Bergstrom plays B.J.'s wife Peg.

Margaret is worried that her friend and colleague (Gail Strickland) has been drinking, while Hawkeye is a social pariah for embarrassing Charles too much during surgery.

Potter is given too much kindness when word gets around about his blood pressure, while Klinger is accused of laziness when he is actually having an adverse reaction to primaquine.^[1][2]

Potter calls Sidney for help when Hawkeye keeps sneezing nonstop.
Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford received a Writers Guild Award nomination for this episode.

Hawkeye discovers troubling news regarding a patient's (Patrick Swayze) blood test, while Father Mulcahy works his heart out to prepare the camp for a visiting Cardinal.
Harry Morgan received a Directors Guild Award for this episode.

Potter's feeling down when his eyeglasses break, while a letter from Radar and fresh vegetables make everyone else happy.

Charles becomes obsessed with death after surviving a near-fatal sniper attack.