10 Saddest M*A*S*H Episodes, Ranked – TVLine

“M*A*S*H,” one of the best TV shows of the 1970s, helped popularize the idea of the network dramedy in American television. Set during the Korean War, the show follows the antics of a mobile Army surgical hospital during the ’50s conflict. Though the story’s de facto protagonist Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) engaged in wacky pranks to keep himself occupied, it also never shortchanged the soul-consuming cost of war. The series also got much more serious as it progressed, eschewing the screwball comedy elements in its early years for somber storytelling.

What all that means is that as funny as “M*A*S*H” could often be, it also prominently featured heartbreaking emotional stakes. Powered by strong antiwar themes, the nature of the main characters’ wartime occupations trying to save lives from grisly violence was a constant element. Even main characters weren’t safe from tragic fates over the course of the series, something the show established relatively early in its run. These are the 10 saddest “M*A*S*H” episodes ranked to the most effectively tear-jerking stories of them all.

“M*A*S*H” is a show that recovered from a bad season, with its inaugural 1972 season focusing more on awkward screwball comedy. One rare serious episode with tragic personal stakes in the series’ first season is “Sometimes You Hear the Bullet.” The story has Hawkeye reunite with his old friend Tommy Gillis (James T. Callahan) only to become his attending surgeon when he’s mortally wounded in action. This informs Hawkeye’s decision to report an underage soldier (Ron Howard) to have the teenager avoid the same fate.

While the “M*A*S*H” main characters contend with life-and-death work on a regular basis, “Sometimes You Hear the Bullet” is the first time we see Hawkeye break down and cry over it. On some level, as soon as we see Tommy identified as Hawkeye’s friend, we know that his time left on this Earth is limited. But as telegraphed as this death is, it doesn’t mitigate the shocking sight of the normally unflappable Hawkeye in tears. The start of “M*A*S*H” venturing into more serious territory, “Sometimes You Hear the Bullet” is a bright spot in a largely weak season.

Countless times over the course of the series, medical personnel at the camp find themselves advocating for the defenseless left vulnerable by the war. This includes orphans and the abandoned, most saliently in the eighth season episode “Yessir, That’s Our Baby,” with a baby left on doctors’ doorstep. With the infant being half-Korean, the camp staff are concerned that the child is at risk of being killed over racial purity prejudices. While trying to find a safe home for the baby, the doctors are incensed by the widespread indifference and hostility from those that they seek help from.

Full disclosure, as someone who is a half-Korean individual, “Yessir, That’s Our Baby” always strikes a deep chord whenever I rewatch the episode. But my personal connection aside, it’s infuriating and gut-wrenching to see how much adversity and cold disregard that even an innocent baby faces from all parties. This is compounded by the underlying uncomfortable awareness that Hawkeye and his are essentially trying to abandon the baby themselves, even knowing the dangers that she’ll face. An episode with no easy answers and an ambiguous ending, “Yessir, That’s Our Baby” gives our wily doctors a true no-win scenario.

“Deluge,” the penultimate episode of the fourth season, puts the men and women of the 4077th on the defensive for the entire episode. While tending to a particularly prolonged wave of wounded, news breaks that the Chinese have entered the war against America and its allies. This extends the titular deluge of patients streaming into the camp, all needing vital medical care from the doctors and nurses. This is exacerbated by the camp accidentally catching on fire and coming under enemy fire as the medical teams work.

“Deluge” is one of those episodes that doesn’t give the main characters any lucky breaks throughout its run. It feels like everything that can go wrong during the course of the story does and often at catastrophic proportions. The announcement that the Chinese are entering the war adds to the hopelessness of the situation along with the bitter realization that the conflict isn’t ending anytime soon. An episode that really captures the sheer despair and seeming futility of what the characters have to go through, “Deluge” puts our heroes through the wringer.

One of the boldest creative swings that “M*A*S*H” ever took was also its most ethereally haunting as it dove headfirst into the surreal. The eighth season episode “Dreams” as the staff in the middle of a particularly exhausting wave of combat wounded flooding the operating room. As the various characters manage to catch whatever sleep they can, the horrors of war begin to bleed into their respective dreams. This is staged in hazily rendered sequences, with Alda, who directed the episode, twisting the rules of reality to illustrate the deep-seated trauma the characters continue to endure.

From Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit) unable to enjoy her honeymoon or B.J. Hunnicut (Mike Farrell) separated from his wife by the wounded, “Dreams” gets into each of its characters’ subconsciousness. The episode itself isn’t sad in the sense that there’s a single heartbreaking moment, but the dreamy presentation and its implications offers a real sense of melancholia. This is supported by the episode being one of the few without a laugh track, underscoring just how somber this story is. The type of aching sadness as you realize these characters can’t catch a break, even asleep, “Dreams” is a surreal masterpiece.

Deteriorating mental health from prolonged pressure during wartime is an underlying theme throughout “M*A*S*H,” most often afflicting Hawkeye. The fifth season episode “Hawk’s Nightmare” as Army psychiatrist Sidney Freedman (Allan Arbus) called in when Hawkeye begins suffering disturbing recurring nightmares. Sidney and Hawkeye realize these nocturnal incidents are caused by the growing feeling that his rebellious defiance of the war is proving fruitless. Heartbreakingly, Hawkeye begins to openly wonder if he’s beginning to lose his sanity and if he’ll ever be whole again after the war.

“Dreams” delves into each of the main characters’ subconsciousness while “Hawk’s Nightmare” puts its focus squarely on the show’s affable protagonist. As the audience, we always like seeing Hawkeye charm his way out of most situations, but this episode constantly keeps him off-balance, affecting us too. It is also, at this point, Hawkeye at his most emotionally vulnerable and the sadness comes from seeing how distraught he truly is. With its tighter focus and a more nuanced performance from Alda, “Hawk’s Nightmare” is a standout from Season 5.

The first episode of the entire series without a laugh track, “O.R.” from Season 3 takes place, as its title suggests, in and around the confines of the operating room. The story unfolds in a series of vignettes that range from the intensity of receiving seemingly endless waves of patients to the quiet moments between the doctors and staff. This includes a rare vulnerable moment with Frank Burns (Larry Linville) confessing to Trapper John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) that he has no friends. But the most heartbreaking scene has Hawkeye desperately trying to save a gravely wounded soldier only for him to die mere hours after the doctor’s valiant efforts.

While “M*A*S*H” had steadily been growing more serious since its slapstick-heavy first season, “O.R.” does feel like a major creative turning point for the series. Series regular McLean Stevenson was among the cast members happy with the TV show changes, including its tonal sensibilities. Those elements are clear here and the entire episode feels like a candid look at what the characters are going through. A fly-on-the-wall story that captures the tragedy of the piece, “O.R.” is another big step for the show.

Among the famous actors you forgot guest-starred on “M*A*S*H” is a young Patrick Swayze in Season 9’s “Blood Brothers.” Swayze plays Gary Sturgis, a soldier trying to donate blood for his critically wounded buddy who is being treated at the camp. However, after running blood tests, Hawkeye learns that Sturgis is suffering from an aggressive case of leukemia and struggles to tell him. Even after learning his diagnosis, Sturgis decides to spend his time by his friend’s side rather than leave him for treatment at better facilities in Tokyo.

What earns “Blood Brothers” a spot on this list is how much of a likably soulful performance Swayze gives in his guest-starring role. As the audience, we’re instantly behind Sturgis for his clear compassion and unwavering loyalty to his friend only for him to receive medical news that’s far worse. Even facing near-certain death, however, that Sturgis still decides to use his remaining time on his friend twists the knife a little bit more. A strong showing for Swayze and a quietly tear-jerking episode, “Blood Brothers” finds the warmth of friendship in the depths of its sad story.

“M*A*S*H” had several Christmas episodes across its 11-season run, putting a yuletide spin on the wartime premise. The penultimate Christmas episode of the series is the ninth season installment “Death Takes a Holiday,” which revolves around a heartwarming story and a heartbreaking one. During the holiday truce, the camp hosts a potluck dinner supporting local orphans, with Charles Winchester (David Ogden Stiers) taking point on the event. Meanwhile, B.J. Hunnicutt works to keep a mortally wounded soldier from passing away on Christmas Day so his family won’t forever associate his death with the holiday date.

“Death Takes a Holiday” is an excellent showcase for the type of storytelling that “M*A*S*H” excelled at in its later seasons. There is genuinely earned sentiment and a compassionate side to the normally snobby Winchester seen in this story, but also a grueling losing battle to complement it. So much of B.J. stems from his love for his family and seeing the lengths he’ll go to soften the loss of a stranger for his unseen kids is intensely bittersweet. Christmas as only “M*A*S*H” could do it, “Death Takes a Holiday” finds a yuletide silver lining in the face of tragedy.

The original commanding officer for the mobile hospital was Henry Blake, a bemused figure who usually tried to turn a blind eye to Hawkeye’s rebellious behavior. Blake’s actor McLean Stevenson quit “M*A*S*H” after just three seasons, intent on taking a lead role elsewhere rather than playing second fiddle to the rest of the ensemble. In the Season 3 finale “Abyssinia, Henry,” Blake earns enough service points for an honorable discharge to return home to his family. The joyous celebration of Blake’s farewell is undercut in the closing scene by the news that his plane was subsequently shot down, leaving no survivors.

Henry Blake’s death at the end of “Abyssinia, Henry” feels unnecessarily cruel for a character that already was on their way out of the show. Worse yet, the news is delivered while his friends are busy in the operating room, as if they didn’t need the reminder about the horrors of war already. For his part, Stevenson publicly regretted quitting the show, never finding the same level of popularity or success. “M*A*S*H” was never quite the same after Blake’s departure, both comedically and tonally, setting the stage for more consistently mature storytelling to come.

It’s moments like the “M*A*S*H” series finale where you have to remind yourself that the show is a comedy because there are few laughs to be had here. Running for two hours, including commercial breaks, the episode opens with Hawkeye under psychiatric care after suffering from a severe unseen nervous breakdown. As Hawkeye reveals what triggered his condition, the other main characters suffer from the horrors of war, including Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) losing his hearing in a mortar attack. As the group tends to another wave of wounded, they learn that the American involvement in the war is coming to an end, making their last goodbyes to each other.

“Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” is a sitcom episode guaranteed to leave you in tears, with even its lighter moments mired in morose overtones. The finale takes one last parting shot at many of the characters, underscoring how traumatized these individuals are in, frankly, excessive ways. After 11 seasons of extolling that war is hell, we get it. Message received. “M*A*S*H” ends on a thoroughly depressing note, while also quietly setting up one of the worst TV spinoffs of all time, genuinely making this episode all the sadder.

Thanks for the memories, “M*A*S*H.” We’ll remember the lighter, happier times even if you didn’t.