1. "The Race" 9/25/93

[Rating: 14.6 - Share: 26 - Rank: 20 - Viewers: 23.0]

Shooting Date: 4/16/93 - 5/5/93

After Snowbird gives Mike an Indian pony, Flash, in thanks for her work at the reservation, Mike tries to enter the Territory Stakes Race. She is discouraged personally when race officials, Loren and Jake, won't allow a woman to ride, and then professionally when her efforts to diagnose an injured rider are rebuffed by another doctor. Dr. Cassidy arrives from Denver with his champion horse and spurns Mike attempts to speak to him colleague to colleague. Dr. Cassidy's rider, Drew, is injured and Mike diagnoses cranial compression, yet Dr. Cassidy refuses Mike's assistance. Drew dies and an angry Mike is determined to enter the race, disguised as a man. Meanwhile, with encouragement from Grace, Brian enters a pie-baking contest and is met with skepticism from Colleen and Loren. To everyone's surprise, Brian is declared the winner. Mike rides the race of her life and wins, but is disqualified when her disguise is revealed and Hank, riding Dr. Cassidy's horse, is declared the winner.

Dr. Cassidy . . . . . Jerry Hardin
Drew . . . . . Blake Gibbons

Writer: Sara Davidson
Director: Chuck Bowman

2. "Sanctuary" 10/2/93

[Rating: 13.0 - Share: 24 - Rank: 26 - Viewers: 19.8]

Shooting Date: 5/17/93 - 5/25/93

Dorothy, Loren's sister-in-law and old flame, is introduced as an abused wife who defends herself against her husband's assault, then seeks shelter with Loren. Marcus Jennings, Dorothy's husband, persuades Dorothy to return home with him, which she does. Later, they have another fight and Dorothy returns. Unfortunately, after the couple's last fight, Marcus is found dead, and Dorothy is the prime suspect. Mike defends her at the trial, but in the end Dorothy is found guilty. At the eleventh hour, Mike performs an autopsy on Dorothy's husband and proves Dorothy's innocence; Marcus was suffering from acute cirrhosis of the liver. Dorothy remains in town and Loren gives her a room at the General Store and helps her get started on her own newspaper, "The Gazette." Meanwhile, Snowbird, Cloud Dancing's wife, throws Cloud Dancing's things out of their teepee when tradition dictates he take in a widow as his second wife. Mike discusses worms as hermaphrodites with Sully while he teaches her how to fish.

Dorothy Jennnigs . . . . . Barbara Babcock
Marcus Jennings . . . . . Wayne Grace
Curtis . . . . . Gary Hershberger

Writer: Josef Anderson
Director: Daniel Attias

3. "Halloween" 10/30/93

[Rating: 12.7 - Share: 22 - Rank: 32 - Viewers: 19.2]

Shooting Date: 6/25/93 - 7/6/93

Halloween is trick-or-treat for the residents of Colorado Springs when Sully's dead wife, Abigail, haunts Dr. Mike, after Sully suggests fixing up the homestead for her, and a "dead man" keeps appearing all over town. Eventually, Mike is able to lay Abigail's ghost to rest, and Sully completes a rocking horse he had been creating for his child before she died with his wife. Meanwhile, Brian becomes terrified after his investigations lead him to believe Dorothy is a witch. But, later she helps him deal with his sadness about the fading memory of his mother. Jake and Loren's prank on the town backfires when Jake pronounces a man dead and his "corpse" walks away -- Mike later diagnoses the man as a catalepsy sufferer.

Abagail . . . . . . . . . Megan Gallivan
"Dead" man . . . . . . Tom Poston
Lewis Bing . . . . . David Tom
Missy . . . . . Melissa Flores
Man at Store . . . . . Richard Lindheim

Writer: Toni Graphia
Director: Chuck Bowman

4. "The Incident" 11/6/93

[Rating: 14.0 - Share: 24 - Rank: 24 - Viewers: 22.2]

Shooting Date: 6/7/93 - 6/15/93

Jake, Loren and Horace are out hunting when Jake, mistaking an Indian for a deer, accidentally shoots and kills him. During the melee, Horace is wounded by an arrow, which Mike treats. Loren and Jake, frightened and guilty, try to cover up Jake's blunder by declaring that the Indians attacked. They persuade Horace to participate in this lie. Sully and Mike are caught in the subsequent hostilities between the Indians and townsfolk. The incident threatens to provoke an all-out Indian war, as well as a rift between Sully and Mike and between Sully and Cloud Dancing, until Mike elicits a confession from Horace and Sully intervenes to bring peace. Eventually, the Indian tribal council declares that Jake must make financial reparations to the dead Indian's family, including his horse, watch and ring. Colleen and Brian stop the town from calling the army by cutting the telegraph wires.

Black Kettle . . . . . Nick Ramus
Charles . . . . . Eric Balfour
Franklin . . . . . Pato Hoffman

Writer: Sara Davidson
Director: Chuck Bowman

5. "Saving Souls" 11/13/93

[Rating: 14.3 - Share: 25 - Rank: 22 - Viewers: 21.5]

Shooting Date: 5/6/93 - 5/14/93

Visiting faith healer Sister Ruth, whose fire and brimstone get a cold reception from Michaela, finds love in the form of Kid Cole, who's revisiting the town in order to jail a desperado he's apprehended. The desperado's two brothers have followed him to town and stalk him. Kid Cole, strangely fatalistic, seems to have lost the will to live. Things come to a head when Mike and Sister Ruth must unite their mutual strengths; medicine and faith, to save Kid Cole's life. Sister Ruth professes to be able to heal with only prayer, and Dr. Mike has difficulty accepting healing by faith alone. Mike performs an emergency procedure to evacuate the tubercular Kid Cole's lungs; Sister Ruth helps him find the will to live. Sully forces Kid Cole to reveal his feelings of guilt for having gunned down the desperado's brother, who was unarmed. Sully helps the Kid resolve this crisis of conscience and in a climactic showdown, the town helps the Kid avert a gun battle with the desperados. Meanwhile, the Reverend refuses to allow Robert E and Grace to marry in the town church, but eventually capitulates to their demands, with some help from Mike and Sister Ruth. Mike catches wedding bouquet #2.

Kid Cole . . . . . . . . . .Johnny Cash
Sister Ruth . . . . . . . .June Carter Cash
Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs
Ned Benjamin . . . . . Robert Keith
Joe Benjamin . . . . . Heath Kizzier

Writer: Toni Perling
Director: James Keach

6. "Where The Heart Is" 11/20/93 (2 hours)

[Rating: 17.2 - Share: 29 - Rank: 10 - Viewers: 27.5]

Shooting Date: 9/7/93-9/29/93

Mike receives an emergency telegram from her sister Rebecca -- her mother is gravely ill. Mike rushes to Boston to her mother's side, the Cooper kids in tow, where Dr. Mike and her "roughhewn" children are met with raised eyebrows by Dr. Quinn's own family. While consulting with Elizabeth Quinn's attending physician, Dr. Mike meets a handsome and progressive doctor, Dr. William Burke. Dr. Mike's prognosis of her mother (hepatitis) differs with Mrs. Quinn's doctor, Dr. Hanson, who diagnoses cancer. Dr. Burke, however, believes Dr. Mike may be onto something. They have a lot in common and develop a strong mutual admiration for each other. They work together to cure Mrs. Quinn and some of Dr. Burke's other patients. Meanwhile, Matthew chafes at being stuck in Boston away from Ingrid, while Colleen appreciates the learned and cultured atmosphere and Brian adores the candy stores. Just when everyone has settled comfortably into the Boston routine, Sully shows up, unannounced, just in time for a formal family dinner.

Sully, having done what his recurring dreams about the city seemed to suggest, arrives in Boston and discovers that he's facing worthy competition for Mike's affection in the form of Dr. William Burke. Sully at first settles uncomfortably into Mike's Boston surroundings, but later, with prodding from the kids, submits to a grand makeover. Later, Sully romances Mike with dining and dancing, even attending an opera together. At an all-male medical society, Dr. Burke steps aside so that Mike can present a paper on Indian medicine, while Sully looks on. Afterward, Sully overhears Dr. Burke proposing marriage to Mike. Struggling with fighting for the woman he loves or resigning himself to being alone, Sully must take the advice of some very wise friends before he realizes his true path. After confessing his love to Mike and watching her walk away, he heads back to Colorado. In the end, Mike declines Dr. Burke's marriage proposal and Mike and the kids return to Colorado, where Dr. Mike returns Sully's declaration of love with a vow in kind.

Elizabeth Quinn . . . . . Georgann Johnson
Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs
Dr. William Burke. . . . . Edward Albert
Dr. John Hansen . . . . . Richard Herd
Rebecca . . . . . Elinor Donahue
Marjorie . . . . . Alley Mills (Orson Bean's wife)
Maureen . . . . . Anne Lockhart
Claudette . . . . . Nancy Youngblut
Martha . . . . . Pamela Kosh
Harrison . . . . . David St. James
Fiona . . . . . Kathleen Tipton
Mrs. Gerrity . . . . . Ann Gibbs
Porter . . . . . Tony Lorrich
Doctor #1 . . . . . Don Garner
Doctor #2 . . . . . Rob Roitblat
Nurse Receptionist . . . . . Marisa Redanty
1st Female Cousin . . . . . Jessica Dollarhide
2nd Female Cousin . . . . . Katie Flynn (Jane's daughter)
1st Male Cousin . . . . . Joshua Winter
2nd Male Cousin . . . . . Devon Gummersall

Writer: Beth Sullivan
Director: Chuck Bowman

7. "Giving Thanks" 11/27/93

[Rating: 14.7 - Share: 25 - Rank: 10 - Viewers: 24.0]

Shooting Date: 10/27/93-11/4/93

This show picks right up from the previous episode and Mike and Sully have trouble adjusting to the new status of their relationship, "courtin'". They begin to cultivate their relationship by searching for common ground, but disagreements abound, leaving them wondering if they have enough in common to continue their relationship.   Sully introduces Mike to his world, taking her into the woods, showing her how to track and hunt. Mike convinces Sully to come to a town meeting, where tempers flare over the scarcity of water. Later, Sully takes Mike to his home, a simple lean-to, and she wonders how they can make a life together when they're so different. Scared at how much she has come to depend on Sully, Dr. Mike lashes out at him in anger when he arrives after lightning strikes the barn and causes a fire she and Matthew had to put out. Horace's attempts to divine for water fail, and Hank decides its time to pull up stakes and take Myra with him. Robert E and Grace also consider leaving. Mike and Sully persuade Cloud Dancing to share his methods for water conservation and farming with the town, only to be rebuffed by Loren and Jake. Loren and Jake take water from an Indian pond which Cloud Dancing warns is poisonous, but they sell the water to the townsfolk anyway. However, their greed brings dysentery to the town, and Dr. Mike must treat them. Afterward, the town pulls together to create a Thanksgiving feast. Sully arrives with Cloud Dancing, the Indians, and food for all. During the dinner with the town and the Indians, Hank returns, and, later, as if blessing the truce between the Indians and the "settlers", the heavens open, and the much-needed rain falls on their meal.  Everyone rejoices, and Sully and Mike reaffirm their commitment in the rain.

Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs

Writer: Toni Perling
Director: Michele Lee

8. "Best Friends" 12/4/93

[Rating: 13.4 - Share: 24 - Rank: 25 - Viewers: 20.5]

Shooting Date: 9/29/93-10/6/93, 11/16/93

Colleen and Becky become best friends when, at Bray's store, Alice, another friend, insists on taking Colleen's favorite fabric to make a dress for the Sweethearts' dance. Dorothy fears she may be pregnant when she faints in the general store. Mike assures her she is not, but she is beginning the "change of life". Later, Mike is frustrated when she tries to teach Sully to dance the Sweethearts' reel and he's more interested in kissing. Mike confides to Dorothy her fears about a physical relationship and Dorothy guesses Mike is a virgin. Meanwhile, Becky asks her new best friend, Colleen to ask Richard, a boy she likes, if he likes Becky. He asks Colleen if "the girl," (he thinks it's Colleen) will meet him at the kissing tree. Colleen misunderstands and thinks he knows it's Becky. She tells Becky where to meet him, but Becky chickens out and Colleen goes in her place, to explain. Richard, assuming Colleen is there to meet him, kisses her. Becky finds out and is heartbroken. Becky and Alice team up against Colleen and spread rumors about her. Meanwhile, Sully visits Dorothy for dance lessons without telling Mike, which causes Mike to suspect something's going on between Dorothy and Sully.

Later, Mike must perform emergency, albeit minor, surgery on Dorothy to staunch her hemorrhaging. There, Dorothy tells Mike she knows what she's thinking, and that it's silly. Sully's crazy about Mike. Mike's suspicions are partially allayed, but the question remains -- what was Sully doing in Dorothy's room?

It all gets sorted out when, at the Sweetheart's Dance, Becky and Colleen reunite when Richard shows up stag at the dance and kisses Alice, Becky and Colleen's nemesis, and it's revealed that Dorothy was merely teaching Sully to dance as a surprise for Mike. Sully dances with Dr. Mike in the "Sweetheart's Reel" and they share their first *real* kiss.

Becky . . . . . Haylie Johnson
Richard . . . . . Thomas Ian Nichols
Missy . . . . . Melissa Flores

Writer: Sara Davidson
Director: James Keach

9. "Sully's Choice" 12/11/93

[Rating: 13.5 - Share: 24 - Rank: 18 - Viewers: 20.3]

Shooting Date: 10/18/93-10/26/93

Mike is called away to Soda Springs to help with an outbreak of influenza and Sully promises to stay with the children. Sully plays "Mr. Mom" but the kids grow restless. While out exploring caves with Brian, Sully winds up with a bullet in his back and a bounty on his head after tying to quell the violence between renegade Indians and the Cavalry. When the smoke clears, Brian can't locate Sully and goes to town for help. The Reverend helps the kids hide Sully, and they take Sully to the cave for safety. Colleen enlists the Reverend's help to bring supplies from the clinic, but he is spotted by Hank and Jake, who are out for the bounty. They knock Hank out and tie him up, but when Colleen is forced to remove the bullet, she must employ Jake's assistance to save Sully's life. When finally they ride back into town, the Cavalry tries to arrest Sully for blowing up the railroad, but the townsfolk provide Sully with an alibi preventing his arrest. When Dr. Mike returns and asks what she missed, Sully greets her with a kiss and replies, "Nothin' much."

Army Sargeant . . . . . Tim de Zarn
Soldier . . . . . Will Egan
Solder #2 . . . . . Eric Briant Wills

Writers: Josef Anderson, Sara Davidson, Toni Graphia, Toni Perling
Director: Chuck Bowman

10. "Dr. Mike's Dream - A Christmas Tale" 12/18/93

[Rating: 14.0 - Share: 26 - Rank: 18 - Viewers: 21.2]

Shooting Date: 11/5/93-11/15/93

Mike's Christmas Eve gets off to a bad start, triggering a personal crisis for Mike. Through no fault of her own, a patient dies of a heart-attack on the operating table as Mike performs a routine operation on Christmas Eve. The deceased man's family blames Mike. Later, at home, the Cooper kids bicker. Next, as Mike, Sully and the kids are on their way to the town's Christmas Eve party, Robert E comes to ask Mike to deliver a baby for a couple who's just come into town. The couple, married against their parents' wishes, are on the run. Robert E offers them the use of his stable for the birthing, as the couple's fathers, who're in close pursuit, will certainly find them at the clinic. Mike goes to attend the delivery, which causes her to miss the event.

As Mike, melancholy at missing yet another social function thanks to her career, falls asleep, an angel, the kids' deceased mother, Charlotte Cooper, visits her. Charlotte takes Mike to her Boston past, where Mike, as a young intern, relives yet another Christmas Eve missed as she baby-sits a young doctor's hospital ward. Next, Charlotte takes Mike to the present, where, as invisible entities, they watch townsfolk discuss Mike's various virtues and failings. Finally, Charlotte takes Mike to Christmas future, where Mike sees her beloved, adopted children grown and doing well, and evidence that she'll be happily married, though the identity of her future groom is not revealed.

Mike, "awakens," counts her blessings, and vows with her children -- and Sully -- that henceforth, they'll never be apart on Christmas again. The young couple-with-the-baby's fathers show up, and Mike mediates a truce between the families. Also, the Cooper kids are very disappointed that a mail-order gift ("from a 'real' store in Boston") for Mike doesn't show up in time to give to Mike in time for Christmas, but Mike impresses upon them that, "it's the thought that counts." This episode also has a cute repartee between Hank and Sully where Hank offers to trim Michaela's wick for her to which Sully replies, "I would Hank, but truth is, you ain't man enough to hold a candle to her."

Charlotte Cooper . . . . . Diane Ladd
Bishop . . . . . Brendan Burns
Piano Player . . . . . George C. Clinton
Joseph Quinn . . . . . John C. Clarke
Mrs. Marley . . . . . Elyse Donalson
Dr. Hancock . . . . . Jeff Weatherford
Martha . . . . . Pamela Kosh
Samuel . . . . . Shawn Toovey
Matthew's Child . . . . . Sean Flynn (Jane's son)
Adult Brian . . . . . Ron Melendez
Margaret . . . . . . Sarah Kim Heinberg
Caleb . . . . . David Pearce Roberts
Harp . . . . . Paul Sand

Writer: Josef Anderson
Director: James Keach

The year 1869

11. "Crossing the Line" 1/1/94

[Rating: 13.4 - Share: 22 - Rank: 18 - Viewers: 23.8]

Shooting Date: 11/17/93-11/29/93

Miners gather in front of Loren Bray's store to protest Loren's not extending credit to striking miners, and for doing business with the mine owners. A budding union leader, Conrad, is there trying to organize the workers. At the same time, Travis Stone, the mining boss, rides up, hands out flyers advertising for scabs. An angry miner throws a stick of dynamite onto Loren's porch, which Sully, who gets knocked out in the subsequent fray, comes to just soon enough to put out. Matthew takes a flyer -- decides he'll take the job to augment building costs on his homestead. By doing this, he's at cross-purposes with Sully and Mike, who try to talk him out of it.

Grace tells Loren she won't be buying anything from him until the strike's over, due to his unfair trade practices with the striking miners. Matthew finds, to his dismay, that Loren charges 10 cents on every dollar of "scrip" (miner's credit) for "bookkeeping" costs. Later, as Mike administers some bicarbonate of soda (Brian's got a tummy-ache from too much candy purchased at Loren's store), Brian comes to the conclusion that Mr. Bray's trading practices are unfair and that he will boycott him as well.

As town tensions gather, there's a cave-in at the mine, which re-unites the strife-torn townsfolk. Conrad, the union leader, even agrees to help dig out the miners when Sully tells him they'll probably be happy to join his union afterward. Sully goes back into a mine for the first time since he was trapped in 1859. Mike, Robert E and Horace accompany him. Robert E and Horace find an unconscious miner and go back; Sully and Mike end up saving Matthew in the nick of time, though they thought they'd have to amputate his leg to get him out from under a rock and a rising water line. Fortunately, Sully, who used to be a powder man, finds some dynamite and blows the rock off Matthew's leg.

Meanwhile, outside the cave, Loren confronts the mine boss, Travis Stone, and decides to mend his avaricious business practices with the mine owners and miners in response to pressure from Brian, who boycotts his store, and Dorothy, who writes an article about unsafe mining conditions. As the episode concludes, Matthew tells Stone he doesn't want the job. Stone replies, "... plenty of men to take your place." Mike retorts, "... not here, Mr. Stone. Not in this town.."

Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs
Jon . . . . . Christopher Keene Kelly
Travis Stone . . . . . Peter Jason
Conrad . . . . . Rodney Saulsberry
Wounded Miner. . . . . Steve Posner
Miner. . . . . Edward Rote

Writer: Josef Anderson
Director: Chuck Bowman

12. "The Offering" 1/8/94

[Rating: 13.0 - Share: 21 - Rank: 37 - Viewers: 20.9]

Shooting Date: 6/16/93 - 6/24/93

Mike and Sully work to treat a typhus epidemic at Black Kettle's camp, which begins after Mike and Sully unwittingly convince Black Kettle to accept government blankets infected with the virus. Mike is heartbroken and guilt-ridden as she battles the tribe's typhus epidemic. When Matthew comes down with typhus, the town panics and locks the children in the clinic alone with Horace. Colleen treats Matthew and Horace contrives to send the kids out to the reservation to be with Mike. Meanwhile, the town prepares for the Fourth of July, ironically missing the point entirely that the first Americans, the Indians, are being systematically wiped out and further, that the newest Americans, the Immigrants, have just had their camp destroyed by the typhus-fearing townsfolk.

Walks on Cloud . . . . . Zahn McClarnon
Black Kettle . . . . . Nick Ramus
Colonel Egan . . . . . John Reger
Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs
Shanoski . . . . . John Glen Bishop
Henderson . . . . . Brian Varady

Writer: Toni Perling
Director: James Keach

13. "The Circus" 1/15/94

[Rating: 15.3 - Share: 25 - Rank: 15 - Viewers: 24.1]

Shooting Date: 11/30/93-12/8/93

A ragtag circus, consisting only of Heart and Atlantis, a mother-and-daughter team, arrives in Colorado Springs. Heart, the mother, enlists the townsfolk to participate as performers. Everyone accepts but Mike, whom Heart tries to engage as a trapeze performer. Later, in the homestead, Colleen reveals her fear of being in the limelight, and Brian asks Sully if he'll perform on the trapeze, per Heart's request. Sully says to Mike, "I will, if you will," upon which Mike says she'll perform if Colleen will. Colleen reluctantly accepts the challenge.

Heart engages the Reverend to be a magician, with Miss Dorothy as his lovely magician's assistant. Brian and Loren are the designated clowns. Colleen, Atlantis and Matthew do a tightrope act together, and Jake is pressed into service as the ring announcer. The town happily embraces their various roles in the circus, but friction occurs between Mike and Heart when Mike discovers that Atlantis, Heart's daughter, has webbed fingers. Mike wants to fix them, but Heart, so-named because of a heart-shaped birthmark on her face, thinks Mike shouldn't meddle with God's creations.

Meanwhile, Colleen is working on the tightrope with Atlantis and Matthew, albeit reluctantly. As Atlantis strives to bolster Colleen's courage on the rope, Colleen engages in a campaign to boost Atlantis' self-esteem by remaking a dress for her, and by suggesting the family, including Matthew, compliment her. As a result, Atlantis develops a crush on Matthew, which makes her more and more self-conscious about her hands. When Ingrid shows up and Atlantis sees her and Matthew kiss each other, she becomes very upset and in a frenzy of self-hatred, takes a knife to the webbing between her fingers on one hand. Mike does emergency surgery, successfully (with Heart's blessing) separating both hands from their webbing. Later, Colleen screws her courage to the sticking and overcomes her fear of making mistakes and/or performing in front of crowds as she, with all the other townsfolk/entertainers, performs her act in front of a sell-out Colorado Springs crowd. This episode has a cute scene between Mike and Sully, where Mike asks, "Sully, do you think I'm...." and he interrupts her with, "bossy?  Not for me!"  Another scene has Mike wishing Sully good luck before they perform, to which he replies, "You're my luck."

Heart ("Queen of Hearts") . . . . . Fionnula Flanagan
Atlantis . . . . . Lisa Rieffel
Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs

Writer: Jeanne C. Davis
Director: Lorraine Senna Ferrara

14. "Another Woman" 1/22/94

[Rating: 16.2 - Share: 28 - Rank: 15 - Viewers: 24.4]

Shooting Date: 12/20/93-12/23/93, 1/3/94-1/5/94

Catherine, a beautiful blond woman captured by and raised with renegade Indians, is brought to Colorado Springs by soldiers when her tribe, which includes her husband, is wiped out, leaving her the sole survivor. She initially earns the townsfolks' sympathy, then their contempt when she rejects their gestures of kindness, doesn't know the language, and falls down into an epileptic fit. Indeed, her Indian name was "Shivering Deer" thanks to her grand mal epileptic seizures. Mike takes her in, but the only members of the family she trusts and feels comfortable with, especially with her faltering English, are Sully, then Brian. Brian, however, becomes decidedly less enamored of her when he accidentally glimpses Catherine kissing Sully. Later, when Brian confronts Sully, he doesn't understand Sully's distinction between "being kissed" and "kissing someone," and troubled, tells Mike about it.

Meanwhile, Jake, in a conversation with Loren and Dorothy about what marauding Indians do to white women, declares that he'd "die protectin'" Miss Dorothy in the advent of Indian attack, whereas Loren condones women be "blowed up rather than be taken captive by Injuns." This prompts Dorothy to flirt with Jake, which prompts him to ask her out.

When the night for the fateful date occurs, however, Dorothy meets Jake, not to go to dinner with him but to tell him she doesn't want to go out with him because of the way he treated Catherine. (He was rude to her at church). Jake's very upset and reveals some of his back-story, which leads Dorothy to plant an impulsive kiss on him, kicking off a romantic triangle between he and Dorothy and Dorothy and Loren. Loren, who thought he'd had squatter's rights to Dorothy, is understandably jealous. This triangle is ongoing until further notice.

During a friendly chat, Catherine confesses her love of Sully to Mike. Mike confronts Sully about Catherine, but Sully turns the tables on Mike, asking why it is that Catherine is unaware of their courtship -- is Mike less demonstrative than she could be? Later, when Catherine confides that she's afraid to go to her family in the east (whom Dorothy helped locate), Mike offers to let her stay with them. Catherine tells Sully about this, at which point Sully tells Catherine he's in love with Mike. Catherine's crushed, but understands, and deeply appreciates Mike's noble offer. Catherine leaves, but the damage is done -- there's a rift between Sully and Mike, to be cured during the next episode...

Cathryn (Catherine) . . . . Sheryl Lee
Army Sargeant . . . . . Tim de Zarn

Writer: Toni Graphia
Director: Chuck Bowman

15. "Orphan Train" 1/29/94

[Rating: 15.1 - Share: 26 - Rank: 18 - Viewers: 22.8]

Shooting Date: 5/26/93 - 6/4/93

Eight orphans arrive on the train. The Reverend takes them in at the church and Mike nurses their ailments. When no one in the town wants to adopt the orphans, the Reverend extends a proposal of marriage to Mike so that they can raise the orphans together. Mike briefly considers the offer, and Sully confronts her about it, asking her if she loves him. She accuses him of not making any kind of committment to her, whereas the Reverend has, to which he replies, "If marriage is all you want...." leaving his meaning clear without being spoken that he's possibly willing to offer more. Considering this, Mike turns the Reverend down, much to the relief of Sully and the Cooper kids. Eventually, the orphans board the train and leave town, but each orphan boards the train a more complete person as a result of their interaction with the townsfolk. Dr. Mike confronts the fact that she can't save the world and she and the Cooper kids emerge as a more united family. Hank offers to let Myra out of her contract if she'll recruit a young orphan girl as her replacement. She refuses, and ends up extending her existing contract to cover the young orphan girl's debts to Hank.

Josh . . . . . Thomas Leon Chaney
Jennifer . . . . . Tara Subkoff
Nick . . . . . Aaron Michael Metchik
Crying Girl . . . . . Shannon MacPherson
Farmer . . . . . Bob Swain
Farmer's Wife . . . . . Lyndsey Fields
Rancher . . . . . Blumen Young

Writer: Toni Graphia
Director: Jerome R. London

16. "Buffalo Soldiers" 2/5/94

[Rating: 13.8 - Share: 24 - Rank: 28 - Viewers: 20.3]

Shooting Date: 12/9/93-12/17/93

A troop of black cavalry soldiers ride into town intending to cover themselves in glory by eradicating hostile Dog Soldiers who've been attacking the railroad. Mike commits an act of civil disobedience by tipping off the Indians, which results in carnage on both sides and the defeat of the Buffalo soldiers. She's accused of treason, and jailed, but the arrogant black cavalry leader, Sergeant Zachary Carver, manages to exonerate her when he's made to realize, through the combined efforts of Sully and Mike, that his beloved troops are nothing more than pawns in the U.S. Army's policy of genocide against the Indians. Returning the favor, Mike manages to medically fake the Sargeant's death, and he escapes court martial.

Meanwhile, Colleen cheats on a test and by doing so manages to win a school trip to Washington. Mike must then explain the concept of "good lying;" that is, civil disobedience for a principle, and "bad lying," that is, Colleen's self-serving actions regarding the test. In the end, Colleen confesses her transgression to Miss Dorothy, her instructor, and forfeits the trip, earning her the respect and admiration of Mike, Brian, Matthew and Sully.

Captain Arthur Tyrrell . . . . . Spencer Garrett
Sargeant Zachary Carver . . . . . Dorian Harewood
Black Kettle . . . . . Nick Ramus
Winslow . . . . . Keith Cameron
Little Feather . . . . . Sabrina Wiener
Missy . . . . . Melissa Flores

Writer: Kevin Arkadie
Director: James Keach

Series pre-empted three weeks for the Winter Olympics.

17. "Luck of the Draw" 3/5/94

[Rating: 13.8 - Share: 24 - Rank: 20 - Viewers: 21.7]

Shooting Date: 1/6/94 - 1/14/94

When Julius Hoffman rides into town and engages Matthew in a poker game, Matthew thinks he's found a great way to earn money to finish he and Ingrid's homestead, although Mike and Sully disapprove. At first, Matthew wins steadily, though he and Ingrid get into a terrible fight when, after missing an elaborate dinner she cooked for him (he was in a game), he confesses he used her hard-earned laundry money, which she gave him for building supplies, as a stake. Though Ingrid and Mike disapprove heartily, Matthew continues playing the game, even after he gets beaten up and robbed of his earnings.

Eventually, townsfolk become so confident in Matthew's abilities that everyone but Mike, Sully and the Reverend back Matthew in the big poker game. The Reverend pulls Mike aside and confesses that he was once a gambler, knew Julius, and suspects that the town's been set up. As Matthew makes his way to the big game, Ingrid breaks up with him over his poker playing. In the process, she returns the engagement ring which Mike gave to Matthew for her. The Reverend wants Mike to intervene, but Mike, realizing that this is one lesson Matthew must learn for himself, refuses.

Ultimately, Matthew loses the big game, but before he does, he throws Ingrid's engagement ring into the pot. The town's disappointment and disillusionment is palpable. Later, in a climatic confrontation between Julius and the Reverend, we learn that the Reverend was a gambler in his former life. Sully and Robert E help the Reverend get Matthew's stolen money back from Julius. Matthew donates the money to the church and, bent (and with broken ribs from his beating) but not broken, painfully makes his way out to his homestead, intending to carry on by himself. Mike, Brian, Sully, Colleen and Brian join him at the site to help him. He painfully confesses to Mike that he gambled away her engagement ring gift. She presents it back to him with a simple, "I know." (Sully bought it back from Julius). Mike declares that she'll always want to protect him, and that they'll always be a family. At this, the family sets the eagle loose and he soars majestically into the nethers. Matthew and the family work on, and Matthew's unspoken resolve to win Ingrid back shows plainly in his face.

Meanwhile, Brian decides to buy a caged eagle which Loren has on display at the general store, and takes on several chores to earn the money to do so, intending the eagle's freedom to be a surprise for Mike. Brian tries to set the eagle free, but it scratches pathetically in the dirt, refusing to seize the opportunity to fly free. Brian's heartbroken and dejected that the eagle refuses to "take the Cheyenne prayers" to the heavens, and collapses, crying, in Mike's arms. Sully comforts Brian by telling him that the Cheyenne believe the eagle's powers to heal are in its feathers and that "maybe it's staying around for a reason."

Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs
Julius Hoffman . . . . . Craig Wasson
Miner . . . . . Alex Zonn

Writer: Kathryn Ford
Director: Jerome R. London

 

18. "Life and Death" 3/12/94

[Rating: 13.9 - Share: 25 - Rank: 21 - Viewers: 21.4]

Shooting Date: 1/17/94 - 3/12/94

Tom Jennings, Dorothy's son, shows up in Loren's store one day when Mike and the kids are there shopping. He's a Civil War Veteran with an old war injury -- his leg was almost blown off. Dorothy asks Mike to treat him when he complains of pain in his seemingly healed leg. She gives him a syringe of morphine for the pain, not noticing his blissful expression. Mike invites he, Dorothy and Loren to dinner. During dinner, Colleen develops a crush on him. Sully's suspicion is piqued when Tom leaves and he forgets to use his cane. The next day, Tom returns to Mike, telling her his leg hurts. She treats him, but denies him her last vial of morphine, which she's saving for an emergency. Later that day, Loren catches Tom slipping a vial of patent medicine from the store under his coat. When Dorothy confronts Tom, he replies that the pain just got to him, and complains that Mike won't give him any morphine. Later that night, he goes out and tries to mooch free drinks at the saloon. Later still, he breaks into the clinic searching for Mike's bag, then he breaks into the homestead itself. In the melee, and having no idea who the masked man is that has his hand over Colleen's face, Mike shoots him in the leg, upon which she must now operate

The family races into town, Tom in tow. Dorothy is outraged, "You shot Tom?" Colleen immediately manifests signs of trauma; she doesn't want to leave Mike's side. After the operation, in which Mike manages to save Tom's leg, Mike exhibits some trauma of her own -- she's never shot a man before. The next day at school, Brian acts out the events of the night before, and Colleen, sickened at the memory, leaves school with a "stomach ache." Mike tells Dorothy Tom's addicted; Dorothy is angered -- "Tommy would never do something like that just to feel good." They hear Tom scream -- his leg is hemorrhaging and must come off. Later, when Mike's morphine does come in, she refuses to give any to Tom. At the homestead, Sully enters to find two disturbing sights -- Brian's play-acting with guns and Colleen, dark rings around her eyes, refuses to go to school. Sully explains to Brian that guns are bad, but he's at a loss as to how to handle the Colleen situation. Later, Mike and Dorothy butt heads when Mike initially refuses Dorothy's repeated requests to medicate Tom with the morphine. Sully warns Mike that Colleen's going through some trauma of her own -- Mike says she would have noticed. At the homestead, Mike and Sully encounter Colleen, barricaded into the cabin with a shotgun in her lap. Colleen collapses in Mike's arms, "Tom seemed so nice... Why'd he want to hurt us?" -- Mike comforts her and apologizes for not noticing her distress. Mike, questioning modern medicine, consults Cloud Dancing about different, non-addicting forms of pain killers. He assures Mike that Indians learn through trial and error as well, and she departs the reservation with willow bark, also known as aspirin. When she returns with the willow bark, Dorothy demands that Mike give Tom the morphine instead, but she firmly refuses. Later, Tom goes through morphine withdraw. Jake and Sully are there to assist. Jake's traumatized when he realizes that's what he was like during his D.T.'s. When Loren and Dorothy go upstairs to visit Tom, he attacks Dorothy viciously, telling her she was a crummy mother. Dorothy now realizes Mike was right. She's crushed. Later, Mike talks with Colleen about confronting her fears.

A seemingly reformed Tom accepts a job in his Uncle Loren's shop. Colleen and Mike visit, where he apologizes to Colleen for traumatizing her. She seems okay about it, and makes her way back to school. The next day, Tom leaves town with Loren's cash box, Mike comforts Dorothy, and they make peace with each other.

Tom Jennings . . . . . Matthew Letscher
Missy . . . . . Melissa Flores

Writer: Toni Perling
Director: Harry Harris

19. "The First Circle" 3/26/94

[Rating: 13.1 - Share: 23 - Rank: 22 - Viewers: 20.0]

Shooting Date: 2/16/94 - 2/25/94

Robert E buys a house in town. When the auctioneer, Jedediah Bancroft, sees that he's sold the house to a black man, he tries to renege, but Mike intercedes. Later, Mike is surprised to learn that Jake, Loren, Hank and Dorothy are displeased to have Robert E and Grace living in their midst. That night, at the homestead, Matthew tells Mike he's been invited to join a new men's club -- the Ku Klux Klan, which he knows nothing about but is heading out the door to investigate. At the meeting, Jedediah, the leader of the group, promises only "a big surprise" for the following night, then adjourns the meeting. The next night, townsfolk don white gowns, recite the KKK oath, and ride out to harass and beat Robert E. After treating Robert E, Mike storms into the barbershop, where she confronts Jedediah, Jake, Loren and Hank about the events of the night before.

Jedediah tries to make offers to get Robert E and Grace out of town, even threatening Mike with the mortgage on her clinic if Robert E doesn't agree. Mike, declaring this extortion, refuses to capitulate, saying, "I'll practice in the street" before she'll agree to his strong-arm tactics and threats. That night, the Klansmen hit Grace's cafe, vandalizing it in the process. Robert E fires a gun into the midst, and Loren is hit. Dorothy, horrified, prints up a slanted article in the gazette. When the KKK members waylay Grace at the clinic and chop off her hair, they seek refuge at the homestead. That night, the family is awakened by a lynch mob, who puts a burning cross in their yard. Later, Mike enters the saloon and accuses Jedediah of burning the cross at her home. As proof, Sully lunges for him and pulls back his sleeve, displaying a gaping burn wound. Jedediah then threatens Mike's children, and Sully threatens to kill Jedediah if he lays a hand on any of them.

The family, truly outraged, expresses to each other their intent to stand firm behind Robert E and Grace. That night, the group, now including a reluctant Loren, form a lynch mob... Grace rushes into the clinic, hysterical. "They took Robert E!" The family rushes to the woods, where the KKK has Robert E sitting on a horse, a noose around his neck. Even Jake and Hank are worried by this time -- they had no idea it would go so far. Fortunately, Mike, Sully and the kids arrive in the nick of time, and Mike rips off Jedediah's hood, confronting him. She makes an impassioned plea, and the town finally sees the folly of their ways, to Jedediah's consternation. Even Hank looks remiss. Finally, Sully cuts Robert E down and everyone goes home. The next day, while not exactly enthusiastic, the townsfolk allow Robert E and Grace to move into their new home unmolested, with Loren even helping Grace to carry a heavy box over the threshold.

Jedediah Bancroft . . . . . George Furth
Missy . . . . . Melissa Flores

Writer: Toni Graphia
Director: Chuck Bowman

20. "Just One Lullaby" 4/9/94

[Rating: 13.3 - Share: 25 - Rank: 19 - Viewers: 20.1]

Shooting Date: 3/18/94 -3/26/94

Read the Reverend's Story told in this episode

When the Reverend brings his ex-sweetheart, Louise Chambers, to town to teach school, she's at first enthusiastically embraced by Mike and the townsfolk. Mike, especially, befriends the young woman. Soon, however, the schoolchildren and especially Mike's own son, Brian, begin to manifest signs of abuse. It is then that Mike takes action, soliciting the "Yeahs" and confronting the "Nays" of the townsfolk who are both for and against a ban on corporal punishment. A town council meeting is called. Interestingly, when Loren, an advocate of corporal punishment, looks to Jake for support at the meeting, Jake quietly leaves; later he reveals he was beaten by his mother as a child. Mike's proposed ban is defeated.

Later, Louise gets a taste of her own medicine when one of the children she's been caning turns on her and bloodies her nose, breaks her ribs and otherwise roughs her up. The Reverend comes to comfort her, and they discuss children (he's proposed marriage, and she's accepted) -- he wants them, she doesn't. The Reverend rescinds his proposal, and Louise leaves town.

Louise Chambers . . . . . Sherry Hursey
Becky . . . . . Haylie Johnson
Lewis Bing . . . . . Christopher Masterson
Mr. Avery . . . . . Bob Swain
Benjamin Avery . . . . . Eric Balfour
Mr. Myers . . . . . Jerry Giles
Steven Myers . . . . . Ross Malinger
Farmer's Wife . . . . . Lyndsey Fields
Becky's Mother . . . . . Nancy Gilmour (***she supposedly died in Father's Day)
Missy . . . . . Melissa Flores

Writer: Nancy Bond
Director: Chuck Bowman

21. "The Abduction" 4/30/94 (2 hour episode)

[Rating: 13.7 - Share: 25 - Rank: 10 - Viewers: 22.1]

Shooting Date: 1/27/94 - 2/13/94

Mike makes an unannounced supply delivery to the reservation with two Army soldiers, surprising some renegade Dog Soldiers. When the Dog Soldiers shoot the Army men, Mike is drawn into unwilling complicity by Sully and Cloud Dancing, who fear retaliation from the army on the innocent Cheyenne.

Custer confronts Mike about his missing men. She denies seeing them. The next day the widow of one of the soldiers confronts Mike about her dead husband. Has she seen him? Mike lies, but feels guilty; she vows if asked again, she'll tell the truth. Sully warns that if she does, the Army will come back and wipe out everyone at the reservation. Custer confronts Mike again about the missing men, and she admits she lied. Mike and Sully go to the reservation to warn the Indians. During the mass exodus, Cloud Dancing's son Walks on Cloud accuses Mike and/or Sully of betraying the Indians, then joins the Dog Soldiers. Mike confesses to Cloud Dancing and Walks on Cloud that it was she who told Custer about the cavalrymen.

Later, in the night, Sully confronts a Cheyenne war party. He realizes they're going to attack the town, and heads in to warn Mike. At that moment, the Indians attack the town with burning arrows. The town, realizing the Army can no longer protect them, puts up barricades. Anti-Indian feeling is running high. Later, Mike realizes that one of her patients is stranded outside town with a broken leg. She and Sully go to rescue her. Mike and Sully arrive at the patient's cabin, but she's already been evacuated. Dog Soldiers ambush the couple and abduct Mike. Sully screams to her that he'll find her.

Sully and Matthew ride into town; sound the alarm that Mike's been abducted. Custer refuses to help in the hunt until daylight. Sully takes off looking for her. Custer brings in thirty of the Indians from the reservation, including women, children, elders, and Cloud Dancing. Meanwhile, Sully tracks Mike and finds her, but the Indians retain their hold on her. Walks on Cloud shouts to Sully to go back and tell Custer to let his father and his village free. (Sully had no idea they were prisoners.) Sully returns to town, and Custer tells him that unless Mike's returned safely, he'll begin executing the Indians as soon as a gallows can be constructed. They continue to be constructed in the background as the episode plays out.

In camp, One Eye decides he wants Mike in the biblical sense, but Walks on Cloud intercedes, trading his necklace for her. He sets her loose, telling her she's the only one who can save his father and the reservation people, but he's shot for letting her escape, and she's recaptured. Fortunately, Sully's close. In the woods, Sully rescues Mike and they escape with the Indians in close pursuit. Mike awakens in her underclothes on a soft bed of pine boughs and calls to Sully. He comes to her and assures her she's safe. Upon learning that the Dog Soldiers didn't "hurt" her, Sully's relief overwhelms him and he and Mike share a very passionate kiss. Later, in the woods, the Indians close in on Mike and Sully. They leap off a cliff into the river; risking their very lives but escaping the Dog Soldiers, and coming back in town at the 11th hour, just in time to take the noose from around Cloud Dancing's neck. Mike tells Cloud Dancing of Walks on Cloud's noble death and gives him the necklace he exchanged for her.

Meanwhile, Brian discovers and falls in love with an adorable horse which Hank wins in a poker game, only to mistreat. Brian tells the family he wants a horse for his birthday. Matthew tries to buy it, and after it's wounded, Matthew strikes a deal with Hank that Brian can work to buy the horse from Hank. Hank goes back on his promise when he "sells" the horse in a poker game, but Loren convinces Hank to stick to his word. Later, at the homestead, after Mike and Sully are back home, the family tries to cheer a disheartened Brian as he plays pin the tail on the donkey. As he's blindfolded, Hank rides up and delivers the horse, and Brian, in his jubilation, names her "Taffy," due to her love of candy.

The episode ends with a cute exchange between Mike and Sully, where Mike thanks Sully for saving his life, to which he responds by kissing her and saying, "We couldn't miss a birthday, now could we?"

Walks on Cloud . . . . . Zahn McClarnon
One Eye . . . . . Jeff O'Haco
General George Custer . . . . . Jason Leland Adams
Elder Grandmother . . . . . Patricia Van Ingen
Old Knife . . . . . Jules Desjarlais
Army Sargeant . . . . . Tim de Zarn
Guard . . . . . John Haynes Walker
Soldier's Wife . . . . . Mary Rings
Woman Patient . . . . . Cathy Worthington
Young Indian Boy . . . . . Leenkun L. Baca
Man in Saloon . . . . . Michael E. Bauer

Writer: Josef Anderson
Director: Jerome R. London

22. "The Campaign" 5/7/94

[Rating: 11.5 - Share: 23 - Rank: 29 - Viewers: 17.1]

Shooting Date: 2/28/94 - 3/6/94

At an unruly town meeting, the citizens of Colorado Springs decide they need a Mayor. Loren nominates Jake and Horace nominates Mike. The Reverend says there's nothing about women being forbidden to run in the town's charter. Sully and Matthew are against Mike's running, but she's got Brian, Colleen, Grace and Dorothy's support -- Dorothy even offers to be her campaign manager. Loren is Jake's campaign manager. While Mike campaigns at the sewing circle, the local prostitutes indulge in a little democracy of their own when they band together to refuse to service a John notorious for cutting up whores. Unfortunately, Hank pooh-poohs the ban and sends Myra over to "Dandy John," whom she manages to give the slip to by getting drunk. Dandy John finally collars Myra and cuts her up. Sully rescues her, but when he takes her to the clinic, Mike's not there; she's out campaigning. Fortunately, Mike arrives in the nick of time.

Terribly disturbed by not being there when Myra needed her, Mike tries to bow out, but the children proudly tell her about the votes they've collected for her, and she discovers that they and especially Myra want her to stay in the race. Jake and Loren indulge in dirty smear tactics when they print a nasty leaflet about Mike and Sully. Later, Mike shows the pamphlet to Sully, who instead of comforting her, laughs and asks her what she expected. She stomps off, angry at the lack of support.

Sully, in a gesture of support for Mike, deeds all the women in town a small piece of land, making them eligible to vote. Seeing all the women at the polls makes Jake and Loren nervous. Running scared, Loren and Jake strike a deal with Dorothy and Mike; both sides compromise; Jake's willing, if he wins, to let all the women in town vote, while Jake extracts, with Dorothy's help, the promise from Mike that if she wins, she won't close the saloon to "drinkin' or entertainin'." Myra is disappointed, but understands. Mike loses, and Hank calls for a round of drinks. But the disappointment from Mike's loss compels Myra to declare her freedom to Hank. He threatens her, but she stands firm -- she'll be a whore no longer. She rips her contract apart. Jake keeps his promise -- women are given the vote, whether they own property or not.

Dandy John O'Malley . . . . Steve Blackwood
Marvin . . . . . Marvin J. Campbell
Rachel . . . . . Kaye Kittrell
Hattie . . . . . Dawn Hudson
The Man . . . . . John Naehrlich

Writer: Joanne Parrent
Director: Victor Lobl

 

23. "The Man in the Moon" 5/14/94

[Rating: 11.0 - Share: 22 - Rank: 36 - Viewers: 16.4]

Shooting Date: 3/9/94 - 3/16/94

Hank the whoremaster, outraged at Myra's defection from his employment, causes a brouhaha at Myra's engagement party which backfires on him when Sully, in self-defense, throws a log and hits him in the head, sending him into a coma. At first, Hank seems alright after the blow to his head, although he does seem to be more insulting than usual and in fact offends everyone in his path. Soon, however, he slips into what looks like an irreversible coma, but not before Mike, finally reacting to his insults, gives him a verbal dressing down to remember, and not before he's rejected by all of the townsfolk at Grace's. Later, Hank's so called "friends" party down in the saloon, and Myra seems to be the only person in town who cares about Hank's recovery.

When Mike declares Hank "hopeless," Myra acts, entering church and dressing down the congregation: "... God loves all his children. Not just the good ones." The congregation, chastised, hastens to make amends with Hank each in their own way; everyone, that is but Mike.

Meanwhile, Grandma Quinn sends Brian a telescope and book, but neglects to send a present to Colleen. Brian and Colleen fight over the telescope, breaking it. That night, after she arbitrates a truce between Colleen and Brian, she expresses her self-doubts to Sully, who comforts her. Next, Horace, who'd tangled with Myra over her support of Hank, practices his marriage proposal to Myra on Mike. He then forgives Hank. This extraordinary gesture moves Mike, and after a conversation with Brian, in which a lovely metaphor paralleling Hank to the Man on the Moon is spun, Mike bares her heart to the comatose Hank. It is the force of her love which finally brings Hank out of the coma and back to the world of the living. The end of the episode has a beautiful soliloquy by Mike.

Saloon Girl . . . . . Jesse Dillon Miller
Saloon Girl #2 . . . . . Susan Bambara

Writer: Toni Graphia
Director: Rachel Feldman

 

24. "Return Engagement" 5/21/94 (2 hour episode)

[Rating: 13.6 - Share: 28 - Rank: 14 - Viewers: 20.0]

Shooting Date: 3/29/94 - 4/14/94

While chatting with Mike about Indian medicine, Cloud Dancing prophesies that Sully and Mike will be separated, for instance, by an illness. Mike is skeptical. Later, a "stranger" rides into town -- a naturalist named Andrew Strauss. He employs Sully as his guide. Mike sees something faintly familiar about him... Mike and Sully make friends with "Andrew."

In town, as Loren uncrates a velocipede (early bicycle), and the family decides to buy it for Sully. When Mike and the kids present the bicycle to Sully, their fun is interrupted by Cloud Dancing, who's come to tell Sully that he's going off to mourn his son Walks on Cloud's death, with no promise of ever returning. Later, Andrew, Mike and Sully are to go out on a naturalist expedition, but Sully doesn't show. Mike thinks he's being "elusive" again. She and Andrew go out by themselves. Sully catches up with them, his face tight. Later, it's Andrew who tells Mike that Sully's afflicted with migraines. She's suitably impressed with his diagnostic prowess, but it rings a bell...

Mike and Sully decide to do an Indian "sweat lodge" to treat Sully's headaches. In Sully's vision, Cloud Dancing comes to him, showing that Mike will "drift away" unless Sully takes action. The vision over, Sully calls to Mike, telling her he doesn't want her to ever leave, that he needed to "be" with her, then asks her to marry him. She accepts and they share a very passionate kiss.

The children are ecstatic that Mike and Sully are engaged. Mike and Sully ask them to keep it quiet; they don't want to overshadow Horace and Myra's wedding, which is a great success with even Hank showing up to confer his blessing. Unfortunately, at the reception, Horace, a little drunk from spiked punch, lets the cat out of the bag that Sully and Mike are engaged. (Mike had sent a telegram to her mother regarding impending nuptials.) It's only when "Andrew Strauss" makes a suspiciously familiar toast that Mike recognizes him as her presumed dead former fiance, throwing she and Sully's future into turmoil.

The children and townsfolk are also thrown into turmoil by these events. David, who'd been intending to leave incognito, tells as much to Mike, but Mike encourages him to stay so that she may sort out her feelings. Mike and David spend time together -- going on Mike's rounds, etc. Naturally, Sully's not pleased with this arrangement.

Meanwhile, the Cooper kids are cool to David when he shows up for dinner, and, adding spice to the brew, Sully shows up and David and they tussle. Later, when things cool off, Sully advises the kids to give David a chance, earning Mike's respect. Later still, Sully tells Mike he loves her enough to let her go if her happiness lies with David rather than himself. This liberates Mike to choose the right man -- Sully -- with whom to share her life, and she sends David off. The episode ends with Mike confessing her feelings for Sully, and he turns the tables on her, making her propose to him.

Andrew Strauss/David Lewis . . . . Maxwell Caulfield
Ingrid . . . . . Jennifer Youngs
Mother of Elsie. . . . . Elisabeth Harmon-Haid

Writer: Sara Davidson
Director: Gwen Arner

***Suggested Logical Viewing Order for Season 2 from Karen Holp:
The Race; The Offering; Saving Souls; Sanctuary; The Orphan Train; Halloween; The Incident; Where the Heart Is; Giving Thanks; Best Friends; Sully's Choice; Dr. Mike's Dream; Crossing the Line; The Circus; Buffalo Soldiers; Another Woman; Luck of the Draw; Life and Death; The First Circle; Just One Lullaby; Abduction; The Campaign; Man in the Moon; Return Engagement