DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN: THE HEART WITHIN (TV)

Summary

A television movie based on the western series of the same name about Dr. Michaela Quinn, a young doctor practicing medicine in 19th-Century Colorado Springs, Colorado. Michaela, Sully, Brian, and Katie take a train to Boston to visit Colleen, who is graduating from medical school, as well as attend a series of parties in celebration of the United States’ centennial. Brian secretly tells Katie that their grandmother is trying to secure him a job at the Boston Globe, so that he can fulfill his dream of becoming a reporter. Sully hopes that the trip will afford him some personal time with Michaela in the form of a second honeymoon. In Boston Michaela and company are greeted by her sister Rebecca, who informs her that their mother is in the hospital due to recurring heart seizures. Rebecca explains that their mother, Elizabeth, tried to keep it a secret from Michaela so she wouldn’t worry. Elizabeth is being tended to by Dr. Charles Cook, chief of staff at Boston Memorial Hospital and Andrew’s father. They immediately go to visit her, and find Andrew and Colleen there as well. Elizabeth wishes to be discharged, insisting that her condition is not as serious as it seems, and Charles seems to be complying. Michaela notes her mother’s skin coloration and examines her, arguing against releasing her and against Charles’s prescription of strychnine. However, Elizabeth will not be deterred and Michaela allows her to return home. Elizabeth is happy to be home and shows everyone in; she continues to be up and active despite Michaela’s misgivings. That night, Elizabeth holds a gala in her home, and she spends all evening greeting and entertaining her guests. Colleen is worried that her accomplishments at Harvard Medical School will be meaningless because she is a woman and won’t be afforded the same opportunities as her peers. If she does too well on her exams the board may act to bar her progress, and she and Andrew discuss this with Michaela and Charles, who notes that her inclusion has caused great debate at the school; they have passed a standard disallowing women after her. Charles warns that even if she obtains her degree, she will still need a license to practice, and it may prove impossible for her to get. Colleen feels guilty that she has made it impossible for women in the future to study medicine at Harvard. Meanwhile, one of Elizabeth’s friends, Senator Holloway, expresses an interest in Sully’s surveying work and invites him and Michaela to a dinner at the Ritz, prompting Sully’s suspicions as to his true motives. Brian notices Elizabeth sneaking off to take her pills, looking pale and breathing heavily. She insists that she is “as well as I can be” and refuses to return to the hospital. Michaela gives Colleen some final words of advice before she takes her medical exams. Meanwhile, Brian goes to a job interview with the editor-in-chief of the Boston Globe. He suggests that Brian work as an apprentice before becoming a full-fledged reporter, and Brian accepts this arrangement. He is assigned to Phineas Croft, editor of news items west of the Mississippi. He returns and tells everyone the good news. Sully and Michaela attend dinner with Senator Holloway and his wife, who talks to Sully about the question of utilization of natural resources and how it might conflict with Indian populations. Sully advocates following the Indians’ example of careful resource management, and Senator Holloway asks Sully to convey these ideas to a gathering of businessmen. Colleen receives the results of her exam, finding that she achieved a nearly perfect score, the highest marks of her grade. However, Charles doesn’t want them alerting the male students of her accomplishment, and does not wish for her to attend the commencement ceremony. Colleen, however, feels that she deserves to receive her degree and will attend regardless of the attitudes of her peers. Michaela, feeling the need to exercise caution, argues with Elizabeth about it. Elizabeth takes another pill, making Michaela concerned, but Elizabeth quickly dismisses her concerns. The next day, Michaela apologizes to Elizabeth for their argument, explaining that the years have given her a newfound sense of responsibility and perspective. Elizabeth understands, remarking that they have “learned from one another.” Brian is sent by his editor to cover a political rally by feminists led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Sully meets with Holloway’s friends, who want to have influence on what lands are appropriate for the fledgling National Parks Administration. They maintain that they should have a say in Sully’s recommendations for preserved lands, offering him a percentage of the profits from lands diverted to business interests if he complies. Sully refuses to be bribed and walks out on them despite their warnings of dire consequences should he refuse. Colleen speaks with Charles in private; he asks her to reconsider her decision to attend the commencement ceremony, but she is adamant. Charles admits that he only helped her to get into Harvard in the hopes that she would give up on getting her degree, believing that she should focus wholly on being Andrew’s wife. She retorts that she can do that and also work alongside him at his practice. Elizabeth, Michaela, and Rebecca attend Stanton’s rally, where she decries the unequal rights of women. Brian takes notes and spots Michaela in the crowd. Later, Sully informs Michaela of his meeting with Holloway and his associates, warning her to look out for their treachery. Sully vows not to let any harm come to his family. They attend Colleen’s graduation, where President Ulysses S. Grant makes the commencement speech. Elizabeth throws a graduation dinner for Colleen, and congratulates her, also announcing that she is making a donation to the Cooper clinic to grow into a full-fledged hospital alongside Colleen’s practice. Charles protests, announcing that Colleen will not be joining their practice; his partners believe that their patients will not accept treatment from a female doctor. Elizabeth vehemently protests this before suddenly collapsing due to another seizure. She is taken to Boston Memorial Hospital, where Charles concludes that her arteries are clogged and that she should be confined to bed. He believes there is nothing they can do for her, but Michaela wishes to try an experimental European surgical technique on Elizabeth which could correct her condition. Charles denies her out of concern for Elizabeth’s safety, and points out that he is still Elizabeth’s physician and has not been dismissed. Michaela decides to keep Elizabeth sedated overnight. On the way back to the hospital, the wheels on Sully’s coach come loose, causing it to collapse. Brian sustains a concussion in the crash, but they get him out and Michaela helps him recover, although he’ll need to be in bed for a few days. He mumbles something about a “surprise,” but falls unconscious before he can explain. Sully and Michaela recognize that the crash was the work of the businessmen attempting to kill Sully. Andrew tells Colleen that he intends to leave his father’s clinic to start his own alongside her. However, Colleen convinces him to stay on with his father for the time being, not wanting him to jeopardize his career. Everyone waits alongside Elizabeth’s hospital bed as her condition continues to deteriorate. Suddenly she awakens, and they explain the situation to her, including Michaela’s idea for the experimental surgery. Elizabeth gives them permission to contact the doctors responsible for devising the surgery, and in response Charles resigns from her care. Brian sneaks out in order to keep working at his new job, but Croft fires him, not believing his explanation of what happened. However, he changes his mind when Brian accidentally re-opens his head wound and starts bleeding everywhere. Colleen is upset that her peers will not acknowledge her, but Michaela tries to restore her confidence. To give her some perspective, she takes Colleen to the Holy Mission Orphanage, the only place she was allowed to practice medicine after she got her degree. Together they treat a little boy with obstructed air passageways, and Colleen performs a tracheotomy. Sully interrupts the businessmen’s poker game, threatening them with a tomahawk before abruptly leaving and issuing a similar warning to Senator Holloway. Michaela successfully gets in contact with the European doctors who pioneered the surgical technique, and they agree to come to Boston to treat Elizabeth. Elizabeth finds Brian’s article on the suffrage rally in the Boston Globe, and Michaela is surprised to find that their attendance is mentioned. Elizabeth reveals that she recommended Brian to the paper, much to Michaela’s surprise. Colleen tells Andrew that she’s considering working at the orphanage or the asylum as per Michaela’s suggestion, although Andrew worries for her safety. She believes they can work together to make a difference in these places despite the lower income they would receive, advising that they “live more simply.” However, when she and Andrew start working there she finds herself deeply affected by the death and misery of such a place, and is upset that the administrator offered them no pay. She feels as though she’s ruined Andrew’s career. Michaela reassures her that they’ll work through this situation somehow. Elizabeth, pretending to be asleep, overhears their conversation. Sully pays President Grant a visit, and asks a favor of him. Meanwhile, the ship bearing the European doctors arrives, but Michaela finds that she is too late and Elizabeth has died. A funeral is held shortly thereafter, and Michaela delivers a tearful eulogy on her family’s behalf. Later, Sully visits Brian at the Globe and gives them information about President Grant’s upcoming announcement concerning an investigation into allegations of bribery in Congress. Furthermore, President Grant is allowing Brian to get an exclusive on the story. At the reading of Elizabeth’s will, Andrew and Colleen discover that she has established an ongoing endowment for the “Cooper-Cook Clinic for the Underprivileged,” and that she has given much of her estate to Michaela in order to establish a hospital in Colorado Springs. Michaela prepares to leave, taking a last sentimental look around her mother’s house. She, Sully and Katie return to Colorado Springs as her children begin their new lives in Boston. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: CBS
• DATE: May 12, 2001 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:26:37
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:83912
• GENRE: Drama, western
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, western
• SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 2001
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Beth Sullivan … Executive Producer, Writer, Based on characters created by
• Howard Braunstein … Executive Producer
• Michael Jaffe … Executive Producer
• Jane Seymour … Executive Producer
• Jerry London … Producer, Director
• Jacky Lavoie … Line Producer
• William Olvis … Music by
• Jane Seymour … Cast, Dr. Michaela Quinn
• Joe Lando … Cast, Byron Sully
• Jessica Bowman … Cast, Colleen Cooper-Cook
• Shawn Toovey … Cast, Brian Cooper
• Brian Douglas … Cast, Dr. Andrew Cook
• Elinor Donahue … Cast, Rebecca Quinn Dickinson
• Georgann Johnson … Cast, Elizabeth Ann Weston Quinn
• Sara McRae … Cast, Katie Sully
• Vlasta Vrana … Cast, Dr. Charles Cook
• Francis Xavier McCarthy … Cast, Senator Holloway
• Gary Plaxton … Cast, President Ulysses S. Grant
• Michael Rudder … Cast, Phineas Croft
• Joel Miller … Cast, Clarence Deere
• Victoria Barkoff … Cast, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
• Jeffrey Aarles … Cast, First Businessman
• Frank Fontaine … Cast, Second Businessman
• Mark Walker … Cast, Third Businessman
• Jude Beny … Cast, Martha
• Stephen Spreekmeester … Cast, Holloway Butler
• Una Kay … Cast, Mrs. Cook
• Bibi Burton … Cast, Mrs. Holloway
• Brian Wrench … Cast, Globe Clerk
• Maria Bircher … Cast, Cook's Nurse
• Daniel Libman … Cast, Sick Boy
• Richard Jutras … Cast, Agent #1
• Jim Bradford … Cast, Attorney
• John Walsh … Cast, Archbishop