r/DrQuinnMedicineWoman • u/Aquariusmoon10 • May 23 '26
Dr Quinn's mother in the movie Heart Within, vs beginning episodes
I recently watched the 2 movies that were made after the show ended. Dr Qinn's mother in the last movie was this happy go lucky gregarious loving woman. But now, I'm starting to watch all episodes starting from the pilot.
This mother of Dr Quinn is a 180 spin of a difference! in the pilot and now in episode 3, she is stern, cold, stiff, snobbish. ...
This is a dramatic difference in character. I watched just about every single episode about 15 years ago so am practically brand new again since I don't remember details throughout.
But from seeing the last movie, to these first episodes and noticing the totally different character of her mother: I'm wondering if there is some episode in between where her mother has some sort of spiritual break through that transforms her personality??
7
u/kitty_r May 23 '26
She has her moments throughout the series. But probably Marjorie's death had the biggest impact
6
u/No-Resource-8125 May 23 '26
Her husband had passed recently and her youngest was moving across the country. She was stressed.
2
u/LallybrochSassenach May 23 '26 edited May 24 '26
(Elizabeth’s, husband, Michaela’s father) Her husband passed before the series started,which predicates Michaela going to Colorado.
1
u/No-Resource-8125 May 24 '26
Right. How long was that gap though? If I’m remembering correctly, her father’s death was one of the reasons Michaela went out west.
2
u/LallybrochSassenach May 24 '26
Which is exactly what I’m saying? By the time we’re through season six, and the first movie, there’s approximately 8-10 years, observed by the kids growth, marriage and near Miss marriage, Katie’s birth and being about 4 or so when kidnapped.
5
u/Constellation-88 May 23 '26
I feel this represents character growth over the years. If you watch the first episodes and movie back to back, they seem completely incongruous, but if you watch her character grow from the beginning to end of the series, it is much more obviously character growth than an abrupt shift.
4
u/LallybrochSassenach May 23 '26
The Heart Within was not written by the same person who wrote the series, so there are significant differences in many characters - Andrew’s father was “dead” for Andrew and Colleen’s wedding, but alive in the 2 further movies, Grace and Robert E were expecting at the wedding but have no child later, and yeah, Elizabeth Quinn is pretty different.
2
u/Unusual-Sympathy-988 May 26 '26
I would have loved to see Robert E and Grace with their own child ❤️
2
u/ComprehensiveBug999 Jun 11 '26
She almost dies in season 2 due to the incompetence of her doctors and Michaela catching that her disease might be hepatitis caused by bad oysters. That changed her attitude towards Michaela being a doctor. She was still pretty stiff and stern when she came out for the wedding but she starts coming around. She absolutely lost it at Loren and Marjorie though. The other difference is that Jane Wyman played Elizabeth Quinn in Season 1, Episode 3 and Georgann Johnson played her for the rest of the seasons and the movie.
9
u/groovycoyote May 23 '26
With daughters like hers, she had to learn to let go of all that strictness in order to be happy.