Abyssinia, Henry

"Abyssinia, Henry" is the 72nd episode of the American television series M*A*S*H and the final episode of its third season. Written by Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell, it first aired on March 18, 1975. The episode is notable for its shocking ending, in which the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital's amiable commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake (played by McLean Stevenson), receives an honorable discharge and leaves for home but, in the final scene, is reported to be killed by enemy fire. This ending prompted more than 1,000 letters to series producers Gene Reynolds and Larry Gelbart, and drew criticism from both CBS and 20th Century Fox.

The title of the episode refers to the 1920s–1930s slang use of "Abyssinia" for "goodbye". ("Abyssinia", an old term for Ethiopia, pronounced /ˌæbɪˈsɪniə/, can be understood as "I'll be seeing you".)^[1]

After the production of this episode, both Stevenson and Wayne Rogers, who played Captain Trapper John McIntyre, left the series to pursue other interests. While Stevenson's departure was announced prior to and written into "Abyssinia, Henry", Rogers unexpectedly left the series during the break between seasons, and so his character's departure takes place off-screen in the following episode, "Welcome to Korea", the first of the show's fourth season. These combined departures and their subsequent cast replacements also signaled the beginning of a shift in focus for the series as a whole, more centered on the character Hawkeye Pierce, played by Alan Alda, and with stories and tone increasingly from the dramatic side of comedy drama.