| The Permanence of Change | |
|---|---|
| Season 3, Episode 21 | |
| |
| Takes Place | {{{takesplace}}} |
| Air date | 8 Apr 1995 |
| Written by | Carl Binder |
| Directed by | Jerry Jameson |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Bone of Contention |
Next Washita |
The Permanence of Change is the twenty-first episode of Season 3 of Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, and the sixty-second episode of the series.
The Reverend becomes sick and faints while teaching at the school. Dr. Mike rushes him to the clinic where she discovers he needs his wisdom teeth removed. She states that Jake Slicker has better tools for the job, and his operation occurs off screen.
While the Reverend is recovering, Dr. Mike takes over his teaching duties. Dr. Mike begins to teach the students about Darwin's theory of evolution, which angers the town, prompting some residents to complain to Jake, the mayor. Jake and the parents confront Dr. Mike outside her clinic, pull their children from the classroom, and Loren, Jake, and Hank vandalize her clinic sign by painting the word "Monkey" across it.
Meanwhile, Brian befriends a new girl at school, Mary Ann Dagget who shows signs of abuse and neglect that concerns Dr. Mike. Mary Ann is an orphan who was placed in the legal custody of Thomas Dagget. Dr. Mike visits Mary Ann's home when her absence from school is noticed, and Dr. Mike soon discovers the girl sick, malnourished, and laying on the floor of a rat infested barn with rat bites all over her legs. Mary Ann is rushed to the clinic where Thomas Dagget refuses to allow her to receive medical treatment.
Dr. Mike requests Horace to send for a marshal to bring charges against Thomas Dagget for abuse of a child, but the marshal refuses to come as no laws protecting children from abuse existed. This prompts Dr. Mike to convene the town council to vote on the removal of Mary Ann from Thomas Dagget's custody. Dr. Mike argues the town had precedent in removing animals from abusive owners after a horse was removed from a man named Zeke's custody after he was witnessed "beating it half to death." Drawing on the episode's previous theme of Darwinian evolutionary theory, Dr. Mike argues that Mary Ann is no different than the horse because both she and the horse are part of the animal kingdom. She then quotes from the Ecclesiastes 3:19-22 after protests from council and the audience over her comparison of a human to a horse, reading a passage that states humans and animals are the same because each were born of the same breath of God and both return to the same dust.
The town council votes unanimously to remove Mary Ann from Thomas Dagget's custody. Becky Bonner's mother volunteers to take Mary Ann into her custody until she finds a new family.
Information[]
- Sully thinks evolving from an eagle is more likely than an ape
- Mary Ann's guardian doesn't send her a lunch to school and is watching her due to her parents dying
- Hank and Loren write "Monkey" over the word "medical" on Dr. Mike's sign
- Hanks stands up for taking Mary Ann away from Mr. Dagget for her safety
- Mary Ann had never slept in a real bed before
Patients[]
- Reverend - abscessed wisdom tooth
- Mary Ann Dagget - rat bites and other abuse related wounds