M*A*S*H (TV Series) House Arrest (1975) User Reviews

Watch Out for that Bar of Soap!

[hawkspride-47079 · 7/10 · 15 April 2023]

Okay, time to address the elephant in the room. While I consider this episode to be one of the funniest in the series, after reading the reviews, I can see why some people think this episode is bad.

First off, let me say that I actually felt bad for Frank because he REALLY did nothing wrong for once. So, Hawkeye chastises Margaret for her performance in OR, but that's only because an important Colonel is coming to MASH 4077. So, Margaret peer pressures Frank to "teach Hawkeye a lesson". His response is towel whipping Hawkeye. Now usually, Hawkeye just insults Frank and walks away. But instead, he PUNCHES Frank. Now, I'll admit, this is a bit out of character for Hawkeye. But then again, this isn't the first time he got physical with Frank (see Season 1 episode "Sticky Wicket" for more details). And to add insult to injury, Frank gets falsely accused of raping Colonel Reese (played by Mary Wickes) when she putting the moves on HIM. So, yeah, I felt bad for Frank in this episode.

So, everyone on here is talking about how Hawkeye gets treated as royalty for hitting Frank. I get why they're upset, but folks, you need to understand why this happened. NO ONE AT THE 4077 LIKES FRANK!!! Frank is an unlikable character that no one wants to hang out with. He thinks he's better than anyone at the camp and treats anyone who is below his rank like dirt. He acts all gung-ho when it comes to military tactics when in reality, he's nothing but a coward. Plus, I'm pretty sure the whole camp doesn't know the whole story of why Hawkeye punched Frank. They just give a big cheer because they don't like Frank. One of my favorite parts of this episode is Trapper giving his witness statement saying Frank "slipped on a bar of soap". And Hawkeye tried to catch him by "jamming his fist in Frank's eye" XD.

There's also the B Plot of Radar buying new shoes to make him taller. But Hawkeye tells him that he doesn't need the shoes to make himself taller. He just has to be himself and not change his image.

I read that some people believed this episode was the reason why McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers left the series. But I don't believe that is true. There were other reasons why they left. But this episode isn't one of them. Other than that, I still love this episode, regardless of the negative reviews I have read here. I do understand the hate which is why I'm giving this episode a 7. It's still an enjoyable episode.

Not as bad as it's cracked up to be..

[steveknightvoice · 9/10 · 30 August 2021]

A lot has has been made about Hawkeye belting Frank. It wasnt the first time he tried to attack Frank, nor would it be the last. As for his being Mr Pacifist, yep, he was being a hypocrite, but we all are at times. I liked the episode, despite the cringeworthy rape joke, Mary Wickes hits it out the park like she always did, And while this wasn't Fritzell & Greenbaum's best effort, there's enough of their unique, folksy humor to move things along.

Once Again the Royal Treatment

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 7 March 2015]

Frank snaps Hawkeye with a towel. Hawkeye slugs him. He is put under house arrest pending a court martial. So we have Mr. Pacifist hauling off and sucker punching another man. Of course, because the man was Frank Burns, he receives accolades from the whole camp. Instead of eating the food the other men eat, the cook fixes him a steak. When a Gene Tierney movie show up, it is projected in the Swamp, their living quarters. He even receives a Red Cross box, normally sent to prisoners of war. Frank really has a right to be angry and want vengeance. His act was silly but harmless. There are two subplots in the deus ex machina world where no one ever pays a price for anything. The first is the arrival of a Head Supervisor of Nurses, a virago who is hot to trot. Margaret is scared to death of what will happen when she arrives. She is anything but professional. Radar, meanwhile, orders elevator shoes and longer pants. The conclusion to this episode is typical. Frank pays a price for doing nothing.

Cardiac arrest

[safenoe · 5/10 · 13 October 2022]

What happened at the end of House Arrest, one of the final episodes of season 3, I don't know. It's as though the sub-plot of Frank being accused of assaulting Colonel Reese (Mary Wickes) had a cardiac arrest for sure.

This episode is so-and-so and quite ordinary in a kind of unusually M*A*S*H sort of way. But in a way, we could see M*A*S*H evolving from the madcap and tonic tone of season 1, and moving on the seriousness that would kick off season 4 and beyond which I know some viewers didn't like.

For me, I prefer M*A*S*H from season 4 onwards but still, House Arrest could have been a contender for a thoughtful episode.

M*A*S*H episode - House Arrest

[mj-gavaghan · 17 October 2017]

First of all everyone has a right to like or not like an episode so people are not SICK SICK SICK. As for Hawkeye yes he should not have hit Frank but he did and he was under House Arrest. As for the dinner the cook made it for him because the cook didn't like Frank. I don't believe that the reason Wayne Rogers and McLean Stevenson left was because of Alan Alda. I am sure they had good reasons to leave. However Col. Reese loved men and she bribed Frank into kissing her so he could take care of the some big senators and congressman in Washington, D.C. Once Margaret saw her kissing Frank she changed her mind and Col. Reese made up the story about being raped and had filed charges against Frank.

One Of Worst Episodes Of The Seires

[bessiedeville · 3/10 · 9 December 2021]

One of the worst episodes of the series, in which Shmuckeye sucker punches a superior officer unprovoked and not only gets away with it, but is treated like royalty while under house arrest, taking it easy and eating gourmet food while everyone else has to work and eat slop from the mess hall. The only saving grace is the wonderful Mary Wickes, but even she can't provide adequate relief from the atrocious script.

Infantile Behavior.

[ExplorerDS6789 · 1/10 · 15 October 2014]

This is one of the worst episodes of the series, so I'm going to try hard to review it without completely blowing a gasket. It all began when Hot Lips was all aflutter for a visiting colonel, and a female colonel at that. She kept fumbling up in O.R., so Hawkeye sends her out. They get into an argument in the scrub room, and she tells Frank to do something about it. What can he do? Well, he childishly takes a towel and snaps Hawkeye with it. Now, Hawkeye could have been a man and ignored this, figuring this simpleton isn't worth any kind of retaliation, but no, instead he rears back and punches him. Right away, he and Trapper deny any assault took place, but Frank still wants a court martial. Henry is reluctant, because of the paperwork and having to actually do his job and all, but Frank insists, and while the papers are drawn up, Hawkeye is placed under house arrest, which he absolutely adores. Father Mulcahy brings him a prisoners-of-war care-package and the cook makes him a genuine steak to thank him for hitting Burns.

Colonel Reese eventually shows up. She isn't the model of perfection Hot Lips was hoping for, but rather a wise-cracking, flirtatious shrew who takes quite a shine to Frank. By the way, before I continue, there's a subplot about Radar buying altered pants and elevator shoes because he's tired of all the height insults he gets. I think this would have been a more appropriate A plot instead of a B, but I'm not the idiots who wrote this. So anyway, they decide to show the movie in the Swamp so Hawkeye can see it, and everybody crowds in the tent, while Frank goes to look to Hot Lips and instead finds Reese in her tent. The colonel flirts with Burns and promises big things for him, and so they get into the throes of intimacy, but when Hot Lips walks in on them, this happens: Colonel Reese screams "Rape!" This gets everyone's attention, particularly Trapper being excited about going to a rape. So now the bitch colonel wants to file charges on Frank for no reason and Hot Lips lies about the scrub room incident, so now Hawkeye is found innocent and Frank is under house arrest.

Oh, House Arrest, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways: 1) Horrible script by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. Whoever said they were the show's best writers wouldn't know good writing if it bit him on the ear. I could've written a better script than this. 2) Horrible direction by Hy Averback. 3) Horrible acting. Everybody phoned this one in, especially Mary Wickes. 4) Horrible all-around idea. For the love of God, why did they think this was a good idea?! Frank Burns getting punched, not that didn't deserve it, then Hawkeye going under house arrest and everybody treating him like a victim, then this Colonel Reese bitch coming in and accusing Frank of rape, getting him in trouble for no reason! This blows my mind on so many levels. I HATE this episode! I HATE, HATE, HATE it with a fiery passion and I advise all M*A*S*H fans to avoid it. If you like this or thought it was funny, you're sick. This was the meanest, most unfair display I have ever seen. So what if Frank is a Class-A jerk-wad, he was still treated unfairly here. Viewers, again, stay away from this garbage! It will make you very angry and curse the day you first laid eyes on it. I can't put into words how acrimonious it's made me. Screw you, House Arrest!

Not a Believable Storyline

[tonyhammer · 4/10 · 25 April 2023]

Burns got a bad rap in this episode. Pierce tolerated worse nonsense from people in earlier episodes without responding violently, so why this time? Seeing him punch Burns put a bad taste in my mouth. The fact that the whole camp hated Burns didn't do much to quell that bad taste. Neither did Houlihan's over-the-top reaction upon seeing the perceived monkey business.

I've always felt the behavior and dynamics of the officers was not very believable until after Linville left the show. It hardly improved when Winchester came on. I felt the officers could've done better by tolerating each other a bit more, without all the tension and drama. I'm sure their frequent bickering during surgeries and in post op wasn't received well by injured soldiers who had just arrived from combat. But I guess taming all of that down would've somewhat taken away what made the show a success.