Ep 17. COOPER VS QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN, PART 1

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman season 3 episode 17, titled "Cooper vs Quinn, Medicine Woman, Part 1", tells a story about a medical mystery surrounding a group of railway workers who were exposed to a mysterious substance, leaving them sick and in need of immediate medical attention. To help them, Dr. Mike, Sully, and Andrew go to the railway site to start treating them.

As they arrive, Dr. Mike meets an old acquaintance, Dr. Andrew Cook, who has been sent to the site by the railroad company to assist in the treatment of the sick workers. Andrew used to work with Dr. Mike in Boston, but their history is complicated. Andrew is still in love with Dr. Mike and wants to be with her, but she chose to marry Sully instead. This causes tension between Andrew and Sully, who is also present at the railway site.

Meanwhile, a mysterious figure appears in town who calls herself "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," claiming to be a doctor and asserting her medical knowledge and skills. The residents are skeptical of her and dislike her for deceiving them. Eventually, Dr. Quinn reveals her true identity: she's Cooper, a teenage boy who used to be a student of Dr. Mike. Cooper is pretending to be a woman in order to be taken seriously as a doctor in a time when women are not allowed to be doctors.

Dr. Mike is sympathetic to Cooper's plight and agrees to help him with his medical education. She invites him to assist her in treating the sick railway workers, even though he has little experience. However, his presence causes further tension between Dr. Mike and Andrew as the two men compete for her attention and respect.

As the investigation into the workers' illness continues, Dr. Mike and Andrew discover that the workers were exposed to arsenic, likely resulting from the chemical treatment of the wood used in the railway construction. They quickly realize that the situation is dire, as the workers are rapidly deteriorating, and the contamination has spread to other areas.

With the help of a Native American medicine man, Cloud Dancing, Dr. Mike and Andrew devise a plan to save the workers by using traditional medicine and combining it with modern medical technology. They do everything in their power to save the lives of the sick workers, but their efforts may not be enough.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger, leaving viewers wondering what will happen next. Will the workers survive? Will Cooper be exposed as a fraud? And will Dr. Mike's complicated relationships with Andrew and Sully be resolved? These questions and more will be answered in the next episode of the series.