30/01/2026
a huge shout out to Alan Alda and all the M*A*S*H crew and all his team at Stony Brook University thank you so much to all you have given to humanity! Your podcast Clear + Vivid is wonderful!
Alan Alda Was Forgetting Who He Used to Be - So Mike Farrell Brought Hawkeye Back—One Last Ride at Dawn
Alan Alda was forgetting things.
Not big things.
Small things.
The small things that make a life feel like your own.
January 2026 — Los Angeles
Alan Alda was 89 years old.
In eight days, he would turn 90.
The man who once was Hawkeye Pierce—
sharp, fast, fearless—
now lived behind a quiet fog.
Parkinson’s had taken so much.
First, his hands.
The hands that performed surgery on MAS*H for eleven years—
now trembling.
Then, his walk.
Once confident.
Now careful. Measured. Afraid.
And now…
his memories.
Not gone.
Just fading.
Like old photographs left in the sun—
still there, but harder to feel.
Mike Farrell came anyway
Every week.
For five years.
Because that’s what B.J. Hunnicutt would do.
And that’s what Mike Farrell did.
He found Alan in the living room.
Sitting in his favorite chair.
Holding something.
A photograph.
Alan’s fingers traced it slowly—
again and again—
like it might disappear if he let go.
Mike leaned in.
And his chest tightened.
It was them
1983
The final episode.
Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.
B.J. on the motorcycle.
Hawkeye behind him.
Smiling.
The last ride out of the war.
“Hey, Alan.”
Confusion first.
Then—recognition.
“Mike.”
A small smile.
But real.
“You came.”
“I always come.”
Alan lifted the photo.
“I remember this.”
“You do?”
“The cameras. The crew. The bike.”
He paused.
Searching.
Then his voice broke.
“But I don’t remember how it felt.”
“I remember it happened,” Alan said.
“But I don’t remember the wind.
The freedom.”
He looked at Mike.
“I’ve lost the feeling.”
Tears followed.
“I’m losing myself, Mike.”
Mike held his trembling hand.
“You’re still here.”
“Not to me,” Alan whispered.
“I forgot Arlene’s birthday. Sixty-eight years. I forgot.”
Silence.
The kind that hurts.
That night, Mike couldn’t sleep.
I don’t remember how it felt.
The words wouldn’t let him rest.
3:00 AM
Mike stood in his garage.
Under a dusty tarp—
a motorcycle.
Untouched for years.
Because every time he saw it,
he saw Alan.
1983
The last ride.
He cleaned.
Polished.
Checked the engine.
His body ached.
But his heart didn’t care.
5:30 AM
Alan Alda’s driveway.
Dark.
Quiet.
Then—
“HAWKEYE!”
Mike’s voice cut through the dawn.
“YOU’RE TOO SLOW!”
Lights snapped on.
Arlene appeared.
Then Alan.
Confused.
Until he saw Mike.
On the motorcycle.
And then—
a smile.
Big.
Real.
Alive.
“B.J., you’re CRAZY!”
“I KNOW!”
Fifteen minutes.
Stairs.
Slow steps.
Careful hands.
Alan insisted.
“I need this.”
They helped him on.
Just like 1983.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
They rode.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Two old men.
At sunrise.
Alan held on tight.
Not like before.
Not casual.
Like this mattered.
Like this might be everything.
“Mike,” Alan said softly, face against his back.
“I remember now.”
“Remember what?”
“How it feels.”
Wind.
Movement.
Freedom.
For one hour, Hawkeye was back.
When they returned, Arlene was crying.
Alan’s eyes were clear.
“I remembered,” he said.
That night, Alan slept holding the photograph.
And beside it—
a new one.
2026
Same pose.
Same smiles.
Older men.
Still together.
