Deal Me Out
"Deal Me Out" was the 37th episode of the M*A*S*H television series and the thirteenth of season two. The episode aired on December 8, 1973.
| "Deal Me Out" | |
|---|---|
| M*A*S*H episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 13 |
| Directed by | Gene Reynolds |
| Written by | Larry Gelbart Laurence Marks |
| Production code | K413 |
| Original air date | December 8, 1973 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Plot
Captain Sam Pak (Pat Morita) and Dr. Sidney Freedman (Allan Arbus) arrive at the 4077th for a "conference" that is actually a marathon poker game in the Swamp, with Henry Blake, Hawkeye, Trapper, and Klinger. The game is subject to several interruptions.
A wounded soldier is brought into the hospital, but Frank Burns refuses to operate on him as he is an intelligence officer; protocol dictates that a second such officer must be present before he can be anesthetized. Hawkeye and Trapper decide to operate immediately due to the serious nature of the man's injuries. CID officer Captain Halloran (Edward Winter) eventually arrives from headquarters, some time after surgery is over, and joins the game once Hawkeye assures him that the patient did not give away any classified information.
Meanwhile, Radar hits an elderly local man while driving a jeep. The man is a con artist who fakes being hit by military vehicles in order to extort money from the drivers; the poker players contribute from their winnings to pay him off, over Halloran's objection. Private Carter (John Ritter) grows increasingly agitated and antagonistic toward the doctors while recovering in Post-Op, resenting Frank's gung-ho patriotism most of all. Carter eventually snaps, grabs a pistol, and holds Frank hostage in the shower tent until Trapper sneaks in and disarms him.
Notes
Generally considered one of the best episodes of the series, "Deal Me Out" marks the first of Edward Winter's eight appearances on M*A*S*H. In all subsequent appearances, he portrayed Intelligence Officer Colonel Flagg. This first appearance—as Captain Halloran—is often cited by fans as the same character, with Halloran being one of Flagg's many aliases. In the fourth-season episode "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?", Flagg's and Dr. Freedman's conversation refers to a previous poker game that the two had attended.
In "What's Up, Doc?" it is Major Winchester who is taken hostage by an unstable patient, although Klinger soon trades places with Winchester.