Season 4, Episode 22 (February 10, 1976). Written by Larry Gelbart & Gene Reynolds; Directed by Gene Reynolds.
This is one of M*A*S*H's most emotionally raw episodes — a quiet, character-driven study of Hawkeye Pierce at his most vulnerable, with the comedy almost entirely set aside in favor of adult heartbreak.
Two new nurses arrive at the 4077th, one of whom turns out to be Lieutenant Carlye Breslin Walton — an old flame from Hawkeye's surgical residency in Boston, where the two lived together for eighteen months in a small flat they painted themselves. Hawkeye was, in his own words, "hopelessly in love" and "couldn't live without her." Carlye left him because she felt she was competing with his devotion to medicine — "his passion for being a surgeon some sort of competition where there are winners and losers" [1][2].
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, Lt. Carlye Walton had to walk into Hawkeye's. The complication: she is now married to Doug Walton, an advertising professional serving the war in the Navy. No children yet. Hawkeye is still a bachelor [1].
Hawkeye is visibly shaken the moment he hears her voice outside her tent. Surgery together becomes a minefield of snide remarks and unfinished sentences. He takes her to an abandoned shack ("early terrible," he calls it) to clear the air, and admits: "I hated you for a long time. Passionately. Hate. The real thing... I got over the hate but I never got over the love." They end up sleeping together [1][3].
Blythe Danner (born February 3, 1943) guest stars as Carlye. The pairing was a reunion of sorts: Danner's earliest starring film role was opposite Alan Alda in the 1972 thriller To Kill a Clown, making her one of the few guest stars on M*A*S*H who arrived with a pre-existing working relationship with her leading man [4][5].
Danner later became far better known to television audiences as Marilyn Truman, Will's mother on NBC's Will & Grace, and to film audiences as the matriarch of the Focker dynasty in Meet the Parents (2000) and its sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers [4].
The episode gives Danner a serious dramatic showcase. After the affair, Carlye confesses the situation to Col. Potter and puts in for a transfer. Hawkeye confronts her, wants her to stay, and proposes — but Carlye reads him perfectly: "Look at yourself! Look where you are! You're trapped! You just proposed yourself into a corner." She knows Hawkeye is still, and will always be, married to his work, and she leaves anyway, asking only that Hawkeye tell anyone who asks that he turned her down [1][3].
The closing image is one of the series' most quietly devastating: Hawkeye tells B.J. that he's okay with her leaving, but adds, "She never altogether leaves." It's the rare M*A*S*H episode in which Hawkeye Pierce is not the smartest man in the room.
The episode title comes from the standard "The More I See You", composed by Harry Warren with lyrics by Mack Gordon, originally introduced by Dick Haymes in the 1945 20th Century Fox musical Diamond Horseshoe [2][6]. The song became a pop and jazz standard, later recorded by Helen Forrest, Bing Crosby, and many others.
The song had already become a small recurring joke on the series: Corporal Klinger (Jamie Farr) could be heard singing "The more I see you, the more I want you..." in earlier episodes, giving the title a gentle in-universe echo [2].
While Hawkeye's heart is being surgically removed in the mess tent, Col. Potter is moonlighting as a portrait artist. He sketches Radar in charcoal (Radar does a "fantastic turtle impersonation" as his subject holds still) and works up Klinger as a Greek Olympian — to Klinger's repeated confusion about which body part "latissimus" refers to. Potter says he'd love to send his wife a copy and promises Klinger a carbon under the canvas next time [3].
In a quieter beat, Father Mulcahy brings Potter a gross of newly arrived Bibles riddled with typographical errors, including the unfortunate commandment "Thou shalt commit adultery." Mulcahy hopes it's a typo. Potter agrees to send them back [3].
The other arriving nurse, Lieutenant Becky Anderson, is played by Mary Jo Catlett, who would return in later seasons as a recurring character [2].
[1] "The More I See You" Plot Summary - IMDb [2] The More I See You - MASH Fandom [3] M*A*S*H S4 E22: The More I See You Recap - TVTropes [4] Blythe Danner - MASH Fandom [5] Episode Spotlight: The More I See You - MASH4077TV [6] Diamond Horseshoe (1945) - Wikipedia