Hot Lips and Empty Arms

By the 11th season of M*A*S*H, Margaret Houlihan is a feminist icon...strong, independent and respectable. In this episode however the Major is still merely cannon-fodder for Hawkeye's and Trapper John's misogynistic abuse.

When Houlihan receives word that Tricia Spaulding, a woman who she'd known in basic-training, had married a doctor and was now living in luxurious comfort she begins to have regrets about her life choices. Frustrated by insubordinate nurses and the constant harrassment, both physical and sexual, by Pierce and McIntyre she decides that she's had enough of the 4077th and requests a tranfer.

At no point do the doctors express their gratitude for her hard work, they instead make jokes and express joy at her imminent departure. At one point Hawk and Trap offer the Major a truce and an offering of what they claim to be champagne, only to serve her something that "eats away" the inside of the nose. It is at this point that Margaret lists some of the offences that the pair of jokers have committed against her....none of which I found interesting or funny. The show ends with Houlihan thanking her persecutors and brushing off Frank Burns....however the pair are chummy again by the next episode.

Subsequently the nickname "Hot Lips" is dropped altogether in reference to the tough-as-nails nurse as the writers of the show realized that by disrespecting Major Houlihan they were thumbing their noses at the brave women who had served in field hospitals, heroically risking their lives to save the lives of others.

Margaret Houlihan receives a letter from a friend who is married and rich, with the same guy Margaret rejected. She now realizes that her life is empty. All the things her friend has have eluded her. She decides to change her life by asking for a transfer. Trapper, Hawkeye, and Henry try to get her to reconsider, using the same methods that have driven her to this point. She even considers Frank Burns Army issue. She calls him Ferret Face at one point. Their discussion as she drops the bomb on him is priceless. What follows is a Margaret who gets loaded and begins to act like every stereotypical drunk you've ever seen. It is still pretty hilarious as the guys try to sober her up before a battalion of Marines send their casualties. She actually bonds with her adversaries and what's interesting is that there is no carry over from this into the next episode. She and Frank start up where they left off.