Alexander Alfort - Sweden My favorite Dr Quinn episodes is Just One Lullaby by Nancy Bond. The episode is from the second season. It is really cute and familyfriendly with a real western and DQ- feeling. However it deals with a very important issue; childabuse and corporal punishment. This issue is just as burning today as it was hundred years ago. The mainstory is about a teacher, the reverend’s old sweatheart, coming to town. The new teacher miss Louise Chambers, seems like a nice lady from the east coast, just like dr Mike. The two of them dr Mike and miss Chambers, become friends until dr Mike finds out that miss Chambers uses corporal punishment on her students. Every character in the episode is used in a multidimensional way. Even miss Chambers, Michaela’s antagonist, is presented with positive qualities. And we also get a good backround and information about other characters such as the reverend or Jake. The scene when Jake reveals his childhood trauma is just heartbreaking and really helps us viewers to understand his complex and troubled personality. However, the characters that I loved the most were the children, Colleen, Brian, Becky, Benjamin, Steven. If we start with Brian, I must say that I’m impressed with Shawn’s preformance. He showed us how Brian’s fear and pain made him burst out in anger. Brian used to be a calm and nice boy. But the abuse he suffered from put him at edge. I especially rember the scene when Brian starts hitting the chickens. Something is troubleing him, something so big that he can’t express it. He holds the pain and the terrible secret about the abuse inside. His reaction is so typical for children who have been abused. It is only a few of those who have suffered who really have the courage to come out and tell about their awful experiences. Brian did so, with the help of his sister Colleen who also seemed to be ashamed to tell. It was so wonderful to see Michaela comfort him. I think that the scene at the end when dr Mike rocks him to sleep and sings to him, is probably the best dr Quinn scene ever. Another child who also suffered from the abuse was Benjamin. But his reaction was rather different than Brian’s. The more severe and strict miss Chambers become, the more rebellious was Benjamin. But not even he admitted that he suffered from abuse. Instead he told his mother and Michaela that he had hurt himself in the barndoor. When I watch an episode like this one I really feel caught up with the story and all the emotions going on. I mean this is stuff that we all can identify with, whether we are young or old, black or white, rich or poor. DQMW gives us stories from our lives. It’s about real human problems, about the human condition but in a fantasy world. A world that can be like the town from the reverend’s story: a town where all the people are hardworking and happy and kind, simply because the children have been protected and loved, treated as if each child were royal. This episode had so much love!
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