Yet Hawkeye isn’t the only one feeling the pressures of war. BJ nearly drives himself to exhaustion trying to help a poor Korean family, Father Mulcahy almost gets himself killed trying to get a promotion, Charles falls in love with a working girl at Rosie’s Bar, and Margaret’s divorce is finally made official. It’s all part of life during wartime.

Unlike Larry Linville's one-note Major Burns, David Ogden Stiers found new notes to play as Charles Emerson Winchester III. His character remains, as Hawkeye observes, "pompous, arrogant, conceited, and a total bore." But he's also "all right" in three of his finest half-hours: "Major Ego," in which he lets a magazine profile go to his swelled head; "Rally Round the Flagg, Boys," in which he outwits camp nemesis Colonel Flagg; and "Ain't Love Grand," in which he falls for a Korean girl he meets at Rosie's Bar (the setting for another essential episode, "A Night at Rosie's," in which the company seeks refuge from the war). The seven-year itch got to Gary Burghoff, who would depart the series in season 8. Episodes such as "Hot Lips Is Back in Town," in which Radar sweetly woos a new nurse, demonstrate why he would be keenly missed. The two-part "Our Finest Hour" is anything but. It is a rehash of the season 4 classic, "The Interview," that serves as a clip episode. This is a rare misstep in another satisfying season that did this series proud. --Donald Liebenson