The first episode of season three of Mash, "The General Flipped At Dawn",
isn't one of the great episodes of the show's run. But it does have a
critical bit of historical value: Harry Morgan appears in the episode as
General Bartford Hamilton Steele ("That's three Es, not all in a row."), a
general who is a taco short of a combo platter. This episode effectively
opens the door to Morgan getting the gig as Sherman Potter the next season,
and the rest is history.
One of Steele's eccentricities is that he likes to make up absurd quotes
about legendary members of history. He's also not the most enlightened
person on the planet (as might be expected by a 59-year-old (Morgan's age
at the time of airing) general during the Korean War). In one scene, he's
walking with Henry Blake when he comes across a discarded tongue depressor
on the ground. He inexplicably declares that waste like this is why
Hannibal lost at Zama. Offhanded, he adds "He was a darkie, you know."
The problem exacerbates later in the episode. And it's here that things
start to unfold. Without getting too deep, Steele brings Hawkeye Pierce
(our protagonist) up on charges. As part of the preliminary hearing in the
climactic scene, Steele wants to interview Martin Williams, a chopper
pilot. Williams is Black (everyone else is White). Steele sets Williams at
ease before asking him to recount the incident that led to the filing of
charges. "But first," Steele adds, "a number."
Williams looks confused. "Sir?"
"You know, a musical number."
Williams, Pierce, and Blake look back and forth at each other.
"Well, you've got it in your blood, boy! Just let it out!"
And with that, Steele starts singing the original lyrics "Mississippi Mud":
"When the sun goes down, the tide goes out/The darkies stand around, and
they all begin to shout/Hey, hey, Uncle Fud/It's a treat to beat your feet
on the Mississippi mud."
Steele grabs his helmet and, shaking it, dances out of the hearing,
effectively ending it, the charges against Pierce, and (apparently)
Steele's career (though we find out in the coda he just gets promoted).
My question to the reader is this: what do you do with this episode?
A. Leave it be
B. Dub out the offending dialog
C. Remove the first reference and the ending scene
D. Pull it entirely
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