Mash- Colonel Blake Dies

Margaret & Frank were horrified/stunned/shocked all at once. Brilliant acting.

Notice how Frank froze, but Hawk and Trapper just kept going. Their patients always took priority over their feelings, and made them that much better surgeons.

I was a kid when I saw first on the date it aired. Wow.

Award for worse acting on a tv series.

Well no cocktail for Colonel Blake then 🤪

I tear-up to this day when I see this. Brilliant writing, directing, and acting.

Gary Burghoff was the youngest in the sitcom & in M*A*S*H the movie too.

This and charles asian bands death were among the saddest in the series

The insensitive Radar could have waited until they had finished operating! Would you want your surgeon to be given such devastating news while trying to save your life?

I remember watching this episode during its first airing... first time ever a TV show made me cry.

Why do I remember someone dropping an instrument when radar gave the news.

Nobody stopped to look at Radar while he spoke, but Hawkeye glanced at the door after Radar walked out. Spoke volumes to me.

Probably not the best idea to deliver that kinda news to a bunch of doctors and nurses working on patients in an operating room...way to go Radar...

An incredible scene.

The director did not tell the actors beforehand.

All reactions are authentic.

Just watched this episode
Great character Henry Blake it was a rough one
The show is beyond words beautiful writing beautiful characters and really unique compared to all others

The sound of the instrument dropping on the floor was an accident. An extra mistakenly dropped something on the floor. It worked so well (the realism) that the director kept it in. Also....what always seemed to bother me was (and I know he was shocked and upset) but why wouldn't Radar wait until after they were out of surgery before making that announcement?

I have watched this scene so many times, and it still brings me to tears

I remember one day in a place I had worked. One of our coworkers had been off sick for a few days. And then one morning the manager came in and said they needed to speak to us. We thought we just had to sign off of some new policy or something. That’s what management usually would come to talk to us about. So we’re all just working, goofing around like we normally do. Then they mention our coworkers name, who hadn’t been in in a few days. And we all just stop. It all goes quiet. Because even though they’ve only just mentioned his name. We all just instinctively know. They said his daughter called them that morning and told them that he’d passed away the night before. This scene perfectly captures what that feeling was like.

Why do it during surgery???

Arguably the most powerful moment in television history.

Powerful. 😿

I still cry on this episode.

Frank actually had real emotion in his eyes...hated the character but Larry bravo on acting with just the eyes.

I have to watch this show alone, this shit chokes me up something fierce.

It broke their hearts when he left the show I think.

I’m still crying til this day

henry wasthefather radar didn't have

They all did a beautiful job.

CBS killed Blake because Stevenson was talking to another network about a series where Henry Blake comes home to Bloomington , Ind. after the war.

Not very professional of Radar to tell everyone such devastating news while they're performing surgeries.

Damn, 1000 ninjas cutting onions around me 😢 great show still watching reruns on Disney channel now

Imagining going through hell then when enroute to his home and getting killed🤕. Shows what our military goes through 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸.

Best scene ever, even though it gutted me. STILL !

They didn't want him to leave the show but he wanted to do a spin-off of the show, so they killed his char in show to get back at him for leaving. Then they did a Trapped John Md. show later and refused to let him do and appearance.

Started crying all over again. Saddest day in tv history ❤ 😢

The absolute best show ever on tv

I have just watched this episode yesterday afternoon on MeTv.

This is in my opinion, one of the finest "Point of no Return" moments this show ever dropped on audiences. Sure there were dramatic/emotional moments prior, but having Col. Blake be sent home, but only to die off screen and Radar break the news to everyone was a glimpse of the future for Mash. The status quo had been broken, and while the humor would never completely go away, the show became more nuanced as the rest of Camp went on their own character arcs (except for Frank Burns, who never really got a chance to be anything more than the "Self-important butt monkey").

Without question, one of the most intense and well-done moments in TV history. Gary Burghoff's delivery was jaw-dropping in its greatness. Interesting fact - the sound of someone dropping an instrument was unintended, but matched the scene perfectly. Despite that they had just heard their friend and former leader was dead, the OR had to continue. Brilliant.

Only Alan knew.

One of the saddest moments in tv history.

As powerful as this scene was, it always bothered me because it blew/blows away my suspension of disbelief. No way would anyone with even just two functioning brain cells come in and give everyone that news while they were operating.

It's strange the things you actively notice with repeat viewings. For example there is a lot of ambient background noise when radar enters the room. It gets quieter when he mentions Col Blake and by the time he says "was shot down" you could hear a pin drop. It didn't occur to me how much power this adds to the scene. The sound man deserved an Emmy.

The very definition of a figurative gut punch. Decades later and it still brought tears to my eyes.

Larry as Frank looks stunned and the way Wayne and Alan as Trapper and Hawkeye glance at each other shows that they are thinking the same thing: "It can't be true...not Henry!"😢

Larry was kinda playing both himself and Frank in the scene and so we're the others.😢

They all felt the loss

No matter how many times I’ve seen this, it always hits home