- When Hawkeye's snappy new Polaroid camera is stolen, Klinger searches the black market and finds it. Unfortunately en route back to camp, Klinger is stopped by MPs who assume he is the camera thief.
- A grateful father sends to the chief surgeon of MASH 4077, a Polaroid camera (the kind that develops its own pictures within 60 seconds) as a thanks for his son who was treated here. Hawkeye and BJ fight over who treated the boy (BJ did the bowl resection, while Hawkeye patched the artery in his leg) and Mulcahy shames them into sharing custody of the camera. Hawkeye and BJ try to figure out how to make the Polaroid work. MAHS 4077 is in the middle of a crime wave, with all sorts of things being stolen, Hawkeye's golf clubs, hospital Penicillin, all the beef in the mess refrigerator etc.
When Hawkeye's snappy new Polaroid camera is stolen (BJ left it on the bed when he went to OR), Potter loses it (the unit was supposed to take a group picture with the camera just before it was discovered stolen) and asks Klinger to file a stolen items report. A week later, Hawkeye calls I corps to figure out if they managed to find the camera. He finds that the report hasn't been filed with them, and that Klinger forgot to send it to I Corps, despite having filled it in triplicate. The report lies in Klinger's cabinet.
Klinger is ashamed and checks around with Rosie (Eileen Saki), who gives him an address of the black market in South Korea (she charges him $8 just for the address). Klinger searches the black market and finds the camera (it came into the market only a week ago), and buys it off the black marketeers for $60 of his own money. Unfortunately en route back to camp, Klinger is stopped by MPs who assume he is the camera thief (the serial number of the camera match the one from the one reported stolen). Klinger is caught red handed and when he takes the MPs back to the black market, there is no trace of it. On top, when the camera is returned, BJ and Hawkeye confirm that the camera would have been recovered earlier if Klinger had filed the report earlier (not knowing that Klinger was the prime suspect in this investigation)
Klinger is released back to the MASH 4077 pending court martial. Potter says there will be an investigation. Captain Triplett (Peter Jurasik) from I Corps is assigned for the job and BJ and Hawkeye try to figure out how to save Klinger. The whole camp decides to pitch in and share tit bits of acts in front of Triplett designed to portray Klinger in the light of the perfect army man, a model soldier. Triplett smells the BS and calls in Rosie's bar in front of Hawkeye, BJ and Potter. Potter admits, but also re-iterates that Klinger is innocent, to which Triplett agrees. Just then Rosie walks in and asks Potter to tell Klinger that some CID investigation is going on and hence he should not try and sell anything into the black market for a while (implying that he did so earlier). The whole game plan crumbles. Triplett recommends court martial, possible sentence includes 6 months hard labor, dishonorable discharge, no benefits and a criminal record on civilian life.
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