#captainmacintyre

M*A*S*H 30 Day Challenge- Day 13- Character You Wish the Show Would Have Focused On More

Well that’s another easy one...

I adore Trapper McIntyre. Like it’s a problem. No man will ever live up to him and I’ve pretty much decided that I’m okay with that. The only reason I didn’t name him as my favourite character is that he only had three seasons and he wasn’t given the same opportunity to grow and develop as many of the others. But I am the smitten kitten whenever he is onscreen or even when I’m trying my damnedest to write him. 

What I love about Trapper: HIS LAUGH!! (but even more so, that 5 second delay his laugh has when he’s drunk. I love that even with a brilliant medical mind, he’s slow on the uptake when inebriated. Brilliant character choice), he’s modest, supportive, low maintenance, big hearted, cares about children and animals and all the things that make my ovaries do flip-flops (seriously, delivering that baby cow?!?! Are you kidding me?!?!?), he has a great sense of humour, he’s a tiny bit diabolical, he’s the mastermind behind so many of him and Hawkeye’s pranks and I’ve said it before but I love that they prank as a team and they never mess with each other. He’s so comfortable in his own skin. He’s hot as hell and super sexy and I get the feeling quite sentimental. And he’s obviously very progressive for the time period he exists in. 

What I want to know more about him: We know he’s married with 2 daughters but what about the rest of his family. We never find out if he has parents or siblings (not that the early M*A*S*H episodes were good at keeping track of those sorts of details). I want to know what was really up with him and his wife. The only episode he really seems connected to her in is ‘Kim’ and there just has to be more to this story. Like all M*A*S*H fans, I want to know why he left Korea without leaving Hawkeye as much as a note because for me, that choice was so out ridiculously out of character. Both Trapper and Hawkeye come off as grand gesture sort of guys. Like when you look at the effort they go to to accomplish things like getting a pair of boots or securing an incubator or welcoming Henry back to the 4077 after his trial, it seems highly unlikely he would have left his best friend without so much as a word. Like it so clearly screams, the studio was unhappy with the actor so we just got rid of the character. Not cool bros. As an audience I want closure. I want to know what's going on. Again this is all apart of the mystery of Trapper. It’s a huge part of why I’m writing my current fic Aftermath. I’m trying to answer the questions I’ve always wanted answers to. 

Anyway, I’ve rambled on for enough...

In conclusion, if there had been more Trapper-centric episodes, we may have been able to keep Wayne Rogers on the series for longer and that would have been amazing. 

I love Trapper and if you are interested in reading about what I think happened, you can read my work in progress Aftermath here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15372672/chapters/35672805

FYI, it’s slash, so be forewarned.