The Korean War, which turned into massacres, has claimed many lives. But the team of doctors seems to have another point of view. Believe that laughter and humor are necessary in the midst of all this blood to accept the idea of war and its disappointing effects.
It's a big step up from the less consistently excellent ninth and tenth seasons, and it's capped with a spectacularly good, dramatically appropriate series finale.
It's a bittersweet ending that forever changed what a series finale for a TV show can be, because it doesn't always have to be the happiest ending possible.
A lot of great TV characters have come and gone, but MASH finally gets the edge over the rest. It was a class act... right until that helicopter made its last ride over the horizon.
Few TV series have done a better job of closing up shop. The final half-hour is beautifully bittersweet, as the characters get their chances to say goodbye, knowing they'll likely never see each other again.
In the end, the only way to kill M*A*S*H was to kill the war... Appropriately, it will not end with a bang - unless you count the one on the Nielsen chart - but with a sigh of relief.