Season 11 Episode 13: TRASH

January 27, 1997

Published 01/27/97

Jefferson, who turns out to hold a commission in the National Guard, talks Al and Griff into enlisting, on the understanding that it is a weekend obligation with uniforms and very little else required. Griff anticipates being the few and the proud; Al expects to be all he can be. Both have read the wrong recruitment slogans and neither has considered what the Guard actually gets called out for, which in this case is a Chicago garbage strike. The trio are deployed into a street fight conducted with refuse.

The barracks scene gets the episode off to its strongest start. SSG Fletcher wakes the reservists with a whistle, Al wanders onto the line yawning and is pleased rather than intimidated at being addressed as sir, and the exchange that follows establishes that he has no intention of taking any of it seriously. His comparison of the shoe store’s clientele to the Battle of the Bulge draws an immediate disavowal from Griff, and the order to drop and give fifty is met with the five dollars Al has on him.

The combat sequences are staged as war-film parody and the series commits fully: Griff takes an egg to the helmet and plays out a deathbed scene with Al cradling him, delivering a final request that turns out not to be a declaration of love. Al later rescues Fletcher from under a dumpster to an instrumental “Up Where We Belong” and comes home promoted. This is the only episode of the series written by David Faustino, who shares the story credit, and J.J. Johnston’s drill instructor is his last of several appearances on the show.

Episode Facts

Original air date: Monday, January 27, 1997 on FOX
Season 11, Episode 13
Overall episode 251 of the series
Production code 11.14
Story by Todd Newman and David Faustino; teleplay by Terry Maloney and Mindy Morgenstern
Directed by Amanda Bearse
The title plays on M*A*S*H
The only episode of the series written by a member of the cast