"Dear Sigmund" is the 8th episode of the fifth season of the television series M*A*S*H. It first aired on CBS on September 18, 1976. The episode was conceived, written and directed by cast member Alan Alda, who played Hawkeye Pierce on the show.
Plot
PsychiatristSidney Freedman (Allan Arbus) is having trouble working after one of his patients, whom he thought he had helped, dies by suicide. He believes "there's something special" about the 4077th, so he goes to a poker game there one night and decides to remain for several weeks, to work through his feelings.
During his time there, he writes a letter addressed to the deceased Sigmund Freud. In the letter, he describes the members of the 4077th and recalls stories about them; for instance, Klinger pretends to have been hit in the head by a helicopter blade and speaks only Arabic, Hawkeye Pierce deals with a bomber pilot who needs to learn the consequences of war, and Radar processes the accidental death of an ambulance driver, including writing a letter to the dead man's parents. The main 'action' during the camp's downtime is when people are victimized by an unknown practical joker. B.J. Hunnicutt turns out to be the joker; at one point, he fills Frank Burns' air raid bunker with water, coats the eyepieces of Colonel Potter's binoculars with black ink and enlists Sidney's help by having him shout "Air raid!" to lure Frank into the trap.
Revitalized, Sidney ultimately departs the 4077th, realizing that happiness is "like springtime at MASH. If you can't see it or find it, you just go ahead and make it", and he's "coaxing a little bud to grow" inside himself. As he drives off, he finds himself the latest target of B.J.'s jokes.
Production
Alda was a regular writer for the program, as well as a cast member. He had long been impressed by Arbus's acting skills as a psychiatrist, initially believing him to be a subject expert and turning to him for psychiatric advice. The pair's friendship continued past the end of M*A*S*H's run.[1][2]
When Alda first told producer Gene Reynolds about his idea for the episode, Reynolds balked, saying that "if you ask an actor to play depressed, it'll be depressing for the audience". As a result, when Alda wrote the script he made sure that Freedman was cheerful on the outside and that his depression remained beneath the surface.[3]
After the series concluded, Alda described the episode as one of his favorites.[1][3]
In a retrospective review in 2005, Alun Thorne of Birmingham Post praised the episode as the fifth season's highlight. Thorne lauded the "sheer blackness", fitting in with the series' themes of "the human condition and the horrors of war", and the "genuinely heart-breaking" letter to a deceased ambulance driver's family, as well as a "brilliantly written and beautifully delivered" joke in the opening scene.[5]
References
^ abBoehm, Mike (December 31, 2000). "Theater; Lured Back for One Last Great Role; Veteran actor Allan Arbus leaves a fulfilling retirement to take on an Arthur Miller parthe found he couldn't resist". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest421589533.
^Thorne, Alun (January 17, 2005). "DVD reviews: M*A*S*H is a smash ; M*A*S*H Season Five DVD PG Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment RRP pounds 29.99 Out now". Birmingham Post. ProQuest323924975.
