Season2, Episode 11: Mike's Dream... a Christmas Tale

Oh wow. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all in one season!


The Gist:
 Michaela loses a patient (Mr. Marley, see below) and proceeds to freak out and push Sully away and because that's her total MO -- and causing her to be on edge with everybody. And then, of course, she has to deliver a baby in a stable. Because it's Christmas; please, beat us over the head with it.  To follow this up, we get our very own Colorado Christmas Carol.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mike's Christmas gift (from BOSTON!) has not arrived, which has the Cooper kids in a snit.  And of course Dr. Quinn doesn't care, because it's the thought that counts.

Commentary:
1.  Are we seriously going to have a show titled "Mike's dream" that begins with a dude named Mr. Marley dying? Jeez Beth Sullivan, I've seen more subtlety on an episode of The Real World.  Of course, she goes on to read A Christmas Carol to her children before a Christmas party -- and Michaela shares that they would read the entire book aloud every Christmas Eve.  Is it just me or is that just ... a lot of reading? I could see over several sessions, but day-um!  Maybe this is just my 21st century sensibilities.

2. Charlotte's ghost appears! Michaela Quinn, ghost whisperer.  They talk about the guilt they feel for missing holiday functions because of the nature of their jobs.  Then Charlotte takes her on a Dickens-style mystery ghost tour. Of course, we begin with her past (Michaela is pouring over textbooks on Christmas Eve instead of partying with her family; Michaela is attending rounds with her father while some dude flirts with her to get Mike to cover his shift so he can go make out with his fiance), where we are reminded how much Michaela sacrificed to serve her medical career over the year.  We then go to Michaela's more near-past -- we see her father's funeral and her first Christmas, where Sully showed up and gave Matthew a puppy.

3.  In the present, we see that the labor is taking for-ev-er and this young crazy couple is about to get busted by her family. And Charlotte is all happy-sad as they watch the kids at a Christmas party. And Michaela is outraged when she hears all the townsfolk berating her for being opinionated and pushy, but warm and fuzzy when she sees Sully defending her.  Are we really meant to believe that Michaela was unaware of how Hank & Co. viewed her?  Really?  And then they reflect on how Michaela has saved pretty much everyone in the town. So they'lll let her stay.

4.  In the future, Colleen is a new doctor, still fighting the patriarchy.  There are some mysterious children (who it seems belong to  Matthew), and Brian is playing yet another of Matthew's kids.  They're waiting for Brian to arrive.  They listen to some more goddamn Charles Dickens.  Brian (a soldier -- wtf??) shows up as she finishes the novel.  And I have to admit, I get some shivers.  Just as we're about to see who Michaela's husband will be, Charlotte drags her back to the present.