10 More TV Villains You Didn't Realise Actually Won
3. War Itself - M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H's iconic final episode - which remains the most-watched TV episode in American history - details the final hours of the Korean War. Euphoric though this might sound in theory, true to the show's overarching ethos it's hardly a dew-eyed going-away party for the crew of the 4077th MASH.
Yes, everyone is going home and gets to say their fond farewells, but underneath this is the dread-soaked reminder of war's destructive cost on those who participate in it.
Almost every single major character has suffered in some way for their part, not least Hawkeye (Alan Alda) going through a nervous breakdown. And of course, who can forget the "dead chicken" revelation, where a woman who apparently smothered her chicken to death to prevent the medical convoy being caught by an enemy patrol, is revealed to have actually smothered her own child.
Now, M*A*S*H's anti-war message is hardly subtle, but all the same, its triumphant final moments can't paper over the utter emotional hell these characters have been put through, forever changing them in the process.