MovieChat Forums > M*A*S*H (1972) Discussion > "The Tooth Shall Set You Free"

"The Tooth Shall Set You Free"

posted 8 years ago by trist962
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Not commenting on the racist combat line officer; my point is about the ongoing unnecessary & too-convenient shots at Winchester. OK, he visits the local Korean homeopathic for an herbal cure for his toothache; and at the end of the scene the fellow tells Charles to come back again & he'll give him something that will "grow hair"----& Charles just exits in bewilderment. YET, the Korean is completely BALD himself!! Couldn't the director have at least put a wig or a hat on him?? It just seems like another instance of "calling the kettle 'black'", just to embarrass Charles! OK, then cut to the closing sequence in which Charles bites the dentist's finger...Oh, sheesh! Was that the BEST they could come up with? Why not a scene in post-op with Hawkeye giving the good news of Weems' resignation to a patient? Whatever, something BETTER than just another instance of making the smartest person in the unit look like a fool!

[–] ExplorerDS6789 8 years ago

and at the end of the scene the fellow tells Charles to come back again & he'll give him something that will "grow hair"----& Charles just exits in bewilderment. YET, the Korean is completely BALD himself!!

That was pretty much the joke: the man is bald, and he's a fraud. It doesn't make hair grow, otherwise he would have hair himself. That's the joke. May not be very funny, but that's what it is.

OK, then cut to the closing sequence in which Charles bites the dentist's finger...Oh, sheesh! Was that the BEST they could come up with?

Well you know how the later episodes liked to end with either: A) A poignant statement or B)A last joke. More often than not, it was B.

Whatever, something BETTER than just another instance of making the smartest person in the unit look like a fool!

To be taken down a notch now and then strengthened his character. To show he's human, and not perfect.

[–] trist962 8 years ago

Ok, I'm with you on the first point---I wasn't implying that Charles REALLY believed the medicine man could give him a hair-growing concoction---heh, you're right---if it DID work, the Korean would've been the FIRST to benefit! Charles could have at LEAST given the tooth treatment a chance; the fellow told him to drink it ALL, whereas Chas dumps the whole brew out after only one distasteful sip! And I don't mind Winchester being taken down a notch when he's behaving like a pompous, arrogant twit, or when he's taking advantage of others, but he wasn't like that, here. Though perhaps his moaning & groaning, pilfering of supplies and outright lying to Potter wasn't the greatest example of conduct becoming of an officer! I just didn't like the closing.