Did Hawk and Trap ever see each other again?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — MASH*
wordsatplaytoday — 9 years ago(December 14, 2016 05:08 PM)
Like did they ever have Hawk show up on Trapper John MD?
If not, do you think they should have?
Or do you think they ever re-met some other time we didn't see?
Let me know if I'm on your ignore list.
Thanx! -
crypticanomaly73 — 9 years ago(December 16, 2016 12:13 PM)
I imagine that before Korea Hawkeye was a rather average type of guy and the war just brought out a certain arrogance in him and (as far as the show goes anyway) he saw that due to his skills he could get away with a great deal.
After the war he would have struggled to deal with being average again as well as with all the other baggage he picked up during his time in Korea.
So my point is if Hawk ever saw Trapper or BJ again it might be because he is one of their patients or they pass him on the street because he is one of these eccentric homeless types.
Sometimes a movie or tv show plot is so stupid that only the stupid can understand it. -
crypticanomaly73 — 9 years ago(December 16, 2016 04:10 PM)
For sure, also and as we have only the show's "reality" to go on, he had a lot of freedom in the war zone. Although he had responsibilities, he also was living in this world where because everything was so extreme a lot of lesser things were let go. I doubt he would be able to maintain a practice with his slobbish appearance and 3 day growth. And his womanizing wouldn't have gone done well in his town.
I can see him sitting in his practice and being bored and even annoyed at people who come in with the flu or a sore knee. He would want more exciting problems to treat, ironically he might even seek out another war to go to or a very violent city. I think the boredom would get to him and would also give him to much time to think.
Sometimes a movie or tv show plot is so stupid that only the stupid can understand it. -
BiffGG — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 10:08 AM)
But the impression he always gave was that he would go home to Crabapple Cove where presumably there would be a far greater demand for a GP than for a surgeon. Pierce may have been coached up by the military to be a good surgeon whereas it was fairly ineffective with Frank but it may not have been something he was overly comfortable doing. No reason he could not convert to being a GP and it is not unheard of for doctors to switch disciplines. Serious life threatening issues bothered Pierce so it may be less stressful to become a GP.
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louiseculmer — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 09:47 PM)
i think the system must be different in America than it is in the UK. Here, you decide while at medical school what route you want to take, whether to tran as a GP, or specialise (as in surgery or something else). The training to be a surgeon is longer and more demanding than the training to be a GP. Someone who had trained as a surgeon would presumably be used to dealing with life threatening situations before going to war.
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BiffGG — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 07:51 AM)
There would be nothing stopping Pierce from acquiring the education and training to become a GP even if he was through a good portion of what it took to become a surgeon. I don't recall Pierce talking about putting people back together after a serious auto accident or industrial accident before he was drafted so whatever he accomplished at medical school seemed pretty much academic and did not have much of a real life feel to it. Even so he would not be the first to find it takes a while to know that he dislikes a profession he has trained for versus knowing before he filled out the application for medical school. It was said for years that the number one reason that lawyers develop drinking/ addiction issues is that there is an ugly underside to the profession such as defending people who morally should be going to jail versus being acquitted or a parent who wants custody of the kids even though that parent is a monster. All the doubts do not get figured out before the diploma is chucked at you sometimes.
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louiseculmer — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 09:52 PM)
i think the system must be different in America than it is in the UK. Here, you decide while at medical school what route you want to take, whether to tran as a GP, or specialise (as in surgery or something else). The training to be a surgeon is longer and different from the training to be a GP. Someone who had trained as a surgeon would presumably be used to dealing with life threatening situations before going to war. And certainly in the 50s, being a surgeon had more prestige than being a GP.
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indy_go_blue44 — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 11:11 PM)
It sounds like the procedure is the same.
To get an MD in the US, you have 4 years of school taking courses to prepare you for medical school (there's no such degree as pre-med; it's usually a BS in chemistry or some other science degree.
Then its 4 years of med school for a doctorate in medicine.
Then it's usually another minimum 2 years for a general surgery specialty, even more if you're specializing in neurosurgery, cardiovascular, etc. During the training period, doctors are usually said to be in a residency.
So a GP couldn't be trained in a few months to be a surgeon. Remember that in S4.1 when BJ talked about being drafted he had just completed his residency. -
BiffGG — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 06:04 AM)
Normally that is true but I have read that for the Korean War there were a fair number of converted doctors such as dentists who were trained in some aspects of surgery. I think this is where Frank's inadequacy in OR originates from. Frank was probably alright for very basic procedures but anything sophisticated forget it. And it did not help that Frank was trying to impress superior officers so he no doubt attempted procedures that he should have had no part in. I don't recall Pierce's every credential spelled out for the series so it is possible that he was not fully trained or practiced in every surgical procedure. It's been a while since I watched the first few seasons in their entirety but I thought the only true chest cutters by education were Blake and MacIntyre.
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indy_go_blue44 — 9 years ago(December 22, 2016 01:04 PM)
You're probably right; I hadn't thought about the need for surgeons overriding their qualifications in an emergency situation.
Re your last line: Trapper was the "chest cutter" in the movie; the series pulled that from him in S1 "Dear Dad." Hawk was dressed as Santa when the call came in about a wounded soldier pinned down in a foxhole. The dialogue went something like this.
Henry: [explained the situation described above] I need a volunteer.
Trapper: I'll go.
Henry: No, it'd better be Pierce, he's a chest man.
One more piece of gonad clipped away from poor Trapper/Wayne Rogers. -
crypticanomaly73 — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 05:25 PM)
As Biff mentions Hawk did always give the impression he wanted a simpler life, also he could still use his surgery skills as a GP in emergency cases where possible. I think after the war Pierce would have dropped right back and would have become reclusive.
Sometimes a movie or tv show plot is so stupid that only the stupid can understand it. -
indy_go_blue44 — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 11:17 PM)
TV MASH tried to sue Trapper John on copyright and trademark issues; TJ won because they were able to prove its TJ was based on the book and the movie, not the TV show (which may be a reason why the part was never offered to Wayne Rogers.)
That might have been an incentive not to have any of the other MASH characters show up, plus if Hawkeye had shown up it wouldn't have been Alan Alda.
It's possible they might have seen each other again; we'll never know I guess. Based on proximity, it's more likely he'd have seen Charles at some point.
Possibly Henry and Frank, who lived about the same distance apart as Hawk and Charles, would have seen each other again as well. -
wordsatplaytoday — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 10:29 AM)
(which may be a reason why the part was never offered to Wayne Rogers.)
Or maybe because Wayne wouldn't have been interested or maybe because he wouldn't have looked like he aged all that much?
Let me know if I'm on your ignore list.
Thanx! -
flyerzzrul — 9 years ago(January 03, 2017 09:23 PM)
which may be a reason why the part was never offered to Wayne Rogers
It was offered to Rogers, he turned it down
Possibly Henry and Frank, who lived about the same distance apart as Hawk and Charles, would have seen each other again as well.
That would have been tough since Henry's chopper was shot down after leaving the 4077 and he didn't survive