The inevitable and unenviable reality of dreams. The characters experience the ultimate in the emotional gamut. A exercise in cognitive dissonance guaranteed to leave a mental scar. A memorable and poignant depiction of what causes PTSD. An important episode with No laugh track, enhanced the gravitas. This will resonate!
13 Reviews
Creeped me out as a kid.
robert-ostrom13 June 2020
no laugh track, thank you
robrosenberger25 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
During a marathon OR session, everyone grabs quick naps and has disturbing dreams. Ensemble nirvana. They aimed big with this one and found iconic touches, and images so subtly disturbing that they might filter into the viewer's dreams...Margaret in a bloody wedding dress, BJ dancing with his wife Peg (the first of two memorable appearances by Catherine Bergstrom), Winchester performing cheap parlor tricks trying to save a life, Hawkeye losing two arms to an unforgiving professor, Klinger in Toledo watching himself on an army operating table...not worthy of a top-ten list, but one hell of an effort. Also...maybe she just had an off-day, but on one of the few occasions they gave Nurse Kellye (uber-supporting actor Kellye Nakahara, the only non-regular to appear on the M*A*S*H IMDb title page, with 166 episodes, 11 more than Radar) an actual scene, she comes up with a, shall we say, unfortunate performance.
Poignant, poetic, and emotionally horrifying
jakebirkel3 February 2019
This is one of those episodes of MASH that's obviously supposed to tell a different story. We're dispensed with all the humor and wit everyone in the 4077th uses to cope with the horrors of war, and are instead treated with their yearnings and internal horrors. It's heartbreaking in the best ways. We see into their minds and gain a different understanding of the trials they go through. It's simply so much of what we would choose to ignore what we laugh at on this show. If you watch this show at all, this episode is a must see.
Heartbreaking but worthwhile
Deidra30 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Possibly one of the most profound and heart wrenching episodes. Each segment highlights some of deepest fears, sadnesses or tragedies that the characters must bear. Beautifully, concisely written and sensitively directed by Alan Alda.
The most surreal and probably most haunting M*A*S*H episode
safenoe29 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This episode still sticks in my mind, and congratulations to the producers and writers for boldly pursuing the Dreams (maybe Nightmares is more apt) episode. The main characters (Hawkeye, BJ, Potter, Houlihan, Fr Mulcahy, Klinger and Winchester) have dreams lasting a few minutes between a hectic round of surgery. All of the dreams except Potter's ended in very disturbing fashion.
There's not necessarily a link between all the dreams but I guess they stem from the insecurities and fears of the dreamers, and they really get you down.
The ending was poignant because the seven decided to stay together in the mess hall and drink more coffee instead of going back to sleep and possibly enduring more disturbing dreams.
There's not necessarily a link between all the dreams but I guess they stem from the insecurities and fears of the dreamers, and they really get you down.
The ending was poignant because the seven decided to stay together in the mess hall and drink more coffee instead of going back to sleep and possibly enduring more disturbing dreams.
A quirky masterpiece!
arpeggiomikey26 July 2022
This particular episode tends to elicit powerful feelings -- for better or worse -- from a great many viewers. It was written, I believe, to drive home the horrors of war in a way that a conventional storyline might not. Is it a bit over-the-top? Check.
Is it discomfiting to a usually comedic sensibility, overall? True -- hence the absence of the laugh track usually layered over the onscreen action with this series.
My thinking is that the writers intentionally set out to move the viewer outside their "comfort zone" by revealing the inner struggles each character has with the war (or, in Winchester's case, with his ego), and show that, as with Henry's untimely demise earlier, that war is *not* a pleasant place to be! Side note: Potter's dream was the only one from which the dreamer was less-than-pleased to have been awakened.
I processed the essential premise of this important episode pretty quickly, and have shared my views with other fans.
Despite the presence of some disturbing imagery, I feel that, taken within the broader context of the overall zeitgeist of M*A*S*H, this episode should be revisited from time to time, to sort of "recalibrate" one's perspective on the intentions of the very, very talented cast and writers in crafting this quirky masterpiece! 😎
Is it discomfiting to a usually comedic sensibility, overall? True -- hence the absence of the laugh track usually layered over the onscreen action with this series.
My thinking is that the writers intentionally set out to move the viewer outside their "comfort zone" by revealing the inner struggles each character has with the war (or, in Winchester's case, with his ego), and show that, as with Henry's untimely demise earlier, that war is *not* a pleasant place to be! Side note: Potter's dream was the only one from which the dreamer was less-than-pleased to have been awakened.
I processed the essential premise of this important episode pretty quickly, and have shared my views with other fans.
Despite the presence of some disturbing imagery, I feel that, taken within the broader context of the overall zeitgeist of M*A*S*H, this episode should be revisited from time to time, to sort of "recalibrate" one's perspective on the intentions of the very, very talented cast and writers in crafting this quirky masterpiece! 😎
un forgettable episode.
mm-397 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Un forgettable episode. Dreams is well acted and directed. There is the dreams and asperations of the characters. The priest has a religious dream which is interrupted by the war. Margret's dream of marriage is surreally destroyed by a battle field wounds. Hawkeye with the missing libs and the boat. The drams are the asperations of many characters, and the reality of the war interrupted the subconscious. The nightmare in a dream artistic fashion which makes for a memorable moments. The ending with the hectic war everyone not wanting to go to sleep is memorable. Well acted, directed, and exacted. One of my all time favorites.
Salvadore Dali Meets His MASH
Hitchcoc17 April 2015
This will live on as the strangest of all the MASH episodes. After endless surgery, the main characters each go off to bed and have dreams. We are able to see what they dream. It starts with Margaret who is wearing a wedding dress. She goes into a field and is in bed with a handsome man. Suddenly, a patrol of soldiers comes by, takes him into their ranks, and now she is lying in bed with several wounded men and her dress is covered in blood. B.J. is next. He is wearing a tuxedo as his wife walks toward him. They dance and soon find themselves in the operating room and he must leave her to perform surgery. Two other men come and take her away. Potter dozes off and a black horse appears in his office and he rides off. He is playing polo with a grenade. He then sees himself as a child riding a horse on the farm. Charles is next. He is wearing a cape and white gloves. He is a magician. He performs tricks while the rest of the crew applauds. Soon, Potter pulls a curtain aside and a young patient dies in front of him and all he can do are magic tricks. He is helpless. He then starts to tap dance with sparklers in his hand. Mulcahy listens to a confession where a young man begins to speak in gibberish. Suddenly, Mulcahy has become the Pope, but as he tries to read from the Bible, blood drops from the ceiling. Klinger's dream is a railroad trip to Toledo (of course).When he gets there he goes to his favorite hot dog place and they are doing surgery on "him." Finally, it's Hawkeye's turn. He imagines he has a surgical procedure, but he can't remember what to do because he missed it in medical school. He has to give up one of his arms to the teacher. Then his left arm. They just pull out of the socket. He soon finds himself limbless, floating in a bot with arms and legs floating by. This is a wacko episode where he is unable to do anything despite requests to help.
Horrid
michael-andres-397-49467411 April 2020
A Hauntingly Unforgettable Episode
hawkspride-4707913 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The doctors are working nonstop over 72 hours due to incoming wounded. And they have to sleep to regain their strength and stamina. As each doctor and Major Houlihan sleep, their dreams are not what they seem. Each of their dreams have one common theme: war. I can't really explain these dream sequences except that they are so haunting. I guess they represent how the war has affected their lives. I find it interesting how Potter's dream does not involve wounded soldiers but the enemy.
I wonder if this episode explains how the war affects soldiers and doctors who are risking their lives to serve their country. I never served in the military so I don't know if this is true. But I can believe it. I have watched movies and shows with soldiers that suffer PTSD and can have nightmares about being in a war. Maybe that's what this episode is like? About how the war can affect our minds? I mean the brain is a very powerful organ in our body. Maybe those who have been in the military can relate to this episode. I don't know...
Anyway, this episode is hauntingly unforgettable. There is no comedy, just drama. Kudos to Alan Alda for making this episode unforgettable. Watch this episode and maybe you can relate to it? 9.3/10.
I wonder if this episode explains how the war affects soldiers and doctors who are risking their lives to serve their country. I never served in the military so I don't know if this is true. But I can believe it. I have watched movies and shows with soldiers that suffer PTSD and can have nightmares about being in a war. Maybe that's what this episode is like? About how the war can affect our minds? I mean the brain is a very powerful organ in our body. Maybe those who have been in the military can relate to this episode. I don't know...
Anyway, this episode is hauntingly unforgettable. There is no comedy, just drama. Kudos to Alan Alda for making this episode unforgettable. Watch this episode and maybe you can relate to it? 9.3/10.
I'm deeply touched.
mohsenili23 November 2023
Tears were into my eyes throughout this episode but they never dropped. They stayed exactly where they were. I couldn't even imagine an episode like this; so scary and so fictional, while so true. I've been a soldier before, then there was no war on yet I still dream about those days. And so far no good ones. I've been watching this series for about a year and this is the first episode I'm writing a review and as you can read I'm just babbling to reach the minimum characters of 600. To say what I wat with my eyes still a little wet. This episode was just for the perfection, that was fantastic.
Terrible
pd-3106510 July 2023
This was without a doubt the worst MASH episode. But, it was written and directed by Alan Alda, so it's not to be expected. Once he became the "breakout" star, the show changed from a comedy, to a drama, and choose to show Alda's liberal views.
MASH started out as a fun lighthearted comedy, but after McLean Stevenson & Wayne Rogers left after the 3rd season, it started to go downhill. Then, Larry Linville left. No disrespect to the new arrivals of the cast, but the writing changed from a comedy to a drama and lost it's appeal. Once Gary Burghoff left, it really started to drop off. Surprised it lasted as long as it did.
MASH started out as a fun lighthearted comedy, but after McLean Stevenson & Wayne Rogers left after the 3rd season, it started to go downhill. Then, Larry Linville left. No disrespect to the new arrivals of the cast, but the writing changed from a comedy to a drama and lost it's appeal. Once Gary Burghoff left, it really started to drop off. Surprised it lasted as long as it did.
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