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Epidemic
Season 1, Episode 2
Epidemic
Takes Place 1868
Air date 2 Jan 1993
Written by Beth Sullivan
Directed by Chuck Bowman
Episode guide
Previous
Pilot
Next
The Visitor


Epidemic is the second episode of Season 1 of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

Olive Davis and her cowhands return from a cattle drive in Old Mexico bringing the grippe (influenza) with them. The resulting epidemic stops the stage coach from bringing food, supplies, & medicine. Dr. Mike does her best to treat the epidemic & runs out of quinine when she herself gets sick. The Cheyenne medicine man Cloud Dancing is left as the only person in town that can help Dr. Mike.

Important Information[]

  • Character Arc: Olive Davis, part 1 of 11. First appearance of Olive Davis (former Bray). Olive heard about Charlotte's death when she was halfway across Old Mexico. Miss Olive, as the kids call her, is a rancher and Loren Bray’s sister. She becomes the first town schoolteacher after the school is built later in The Operation. Dr. Mike and Olive share some hostility over the children as the result of Olive believing they should have been given to her when Charlotte died. Miss Olive gives Brian a blue wolf statue, Colleen a locket, and Matthew with a golden revolver. The golden revolver isn't seen again after Epidemic. Dr. Mike later chooses Olive as the caretaker of the children if she dies from influenza. Olive tells her she doesn't need to worry, and that she'll get well.
  • First appearance of Grace. Robert E. falls in love with Grace the first time he sees her. Grace is one of Miss Olive’s cattle hands who returns from the cattle drive.
  • First appearance of General Custer. He appears at the makeshift clinic looking for Indians, but departs when Olive tells him there is an epidemic of the grippe (influenza). General Custer is played by Taylor Nichols.
  • First appearance of Ingrid played by Ashley Jones. Matthew and Ingrid would later introduce themselves and talk to each other in The Prisoner, and he would invite her to dinner with his family in Law of the Land.
  • Story Arc: Epidemics. First epidemic on the show. An influenza epidemic breaks out in Colorado Springs due to a cowhand of Olive's from becoming sick in El Paso. The stagecoach ceases operation to Colorado Springs during the epidemic, Loren rations the food in his store for two hours a day in the mornings, and Dr. Mike runs out of quinine to treat the patients with. Dr. Mike uses the boarding house building as a makeshift clinic as she doesn't currently own the building. Colleen decides, after watching Dr. Mike care for the sick, that she wants to be a doctor herself. Horace and Myra first meet during this epidemic. Dr. Mike eventually falls ill to the influenza which prompts Sully to take her to Cloud Dancing the Cheyenne medicine man to help heal her. Dr. Mike has her first experience with Cheyenne medicine. Sully also brings back purple coneflowers to help the sick recover from the influenza as Dr. Mike ran out of quinine. Brian is worried about Dr. Mike because his real ma, Charlotte, died in the same room Michaela is resting in. Sully tells Brian not to think Dr. Mike will die. The next epidemic that is mentioned, but not seen, is an influenza epidemic in Soda Springs in Sully's Choice.

Patients[]

† Dies as a result

Dr. Mike's Aides[]

Cast[]

Starring:

Guest Starring:

Co-Starring:


Dr. Quinn Episodes
Season 1 "Pilot" • "Epidemic" • "The Visitor" • "Law of the Land" • "The Healing" • "Father's Day "• "Bad Water" • "The Great American Medicine Show" • "A Cowboy's Lullaby" • "Running Ghost" • "The Prisoner" • "Happy Birthday" • "Rite of Passage" • "Heroes" • "The Operation" • "The Secret" • "Portraits"
Season 2 "The Race" • "Sanctuary" • "Halloween" • "The Incident" • "Saving Souls" • "Where the Heart Is" • "Giving Thanks" • "Best Friends" • "Sully's Choice" • "Mike's Dream: A Christmas Tale" • "Crossing the Line" • "The Offering" • "The Circus" • "Another Woman" • "Orphan Train" • "Buffalo Soldiers" • "Luck of the Draw" • "Life and Death" • "The First Circle" • "Just One Lullaby" • "The Abduction" • "The Campaign" • "The Man in the Moon" • "Return Engagement"
Season 3 "The Train" • "Fathers and Sons" • "Cattle Drive" • "The Library" • "Halloween II" • "The Washington Affair" • "Money Trouble" • "Thanksgiving" • "Ladies Night" • "The First Christmas" • "Indian Agent" • "The End of the World" • "Pike's Peace" • "Cooper vs. Quinn" • "What Is Love?" • "Things My Father Never Taught Me" • "Baby Outlaws" • "Bone of Contention" • "The Permanence of Change" • "Washita" • "Sully's Recovery" • "Ready or Not" • "For Better or Worse"
Season 4 "A New Life" • "Traveling All-Stars" • "Mothers and Daughters" • "Brother's Keeper" • "Halloween III" • "Dorothy's Book" • "Promises, Promises" • "Expedition" • "One Touch of Nature" • "Hell on Wheels" • "Fifi's First Christmas" • "Change of Heart" • "Tin Star" • "If You Love Someone" • "The Iceman Cometh" • "Dead or Alive" • "Deal with the Devil" • "Eye for an Eye" • "Hearts and Minds" • "Reunion" • "Woman of the Year" • "Last Chance" • "Fear Itself" • "One Nation" • "When a Child Is Born"
Season 5 "Runaway Train" • "Having It All" • "Malpractice" • "All That Glitters..." • "Los Americanos" • "Last Dance" • "Right or Wrong" • "Remember Me" • "Legend" • "The Tempest" • "Separate but Equal" • "A Place to Die" • "Season of Miracles" • "The Dam" • "Farewell Appearance" • "The Most Fatal Disease" • "Colleen's Paper" • "A House Divided" • "Hostage" • "The Body Electric" • "Before the Dawn" • "Starting Over" • "His Father's Son" • "Moment of Truth"
Season 6 "Reason to Believe" • "All That Matters" • "A Matter of Conscience" • "The Comfort of Friends" • "Wave Goodbye" • "A Place Called Home" • "Lead Me Not" • "A Time to Heal" • "Civil Wars" • "Safe Passage" • "Homecoming" • "Point Blank" • "Seeds of Doubt" • "Seven Kinds of Lonely" • "Life in the Balance" • "Happily Ever After" • "Birdman" • "Vengeance" • "To Have and to Hold" • "The Fight" • "A New Beginning "
Movies Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman: The MovieDr. Quinn: Medicine Woman: The Heart Within
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