Remote Rewind: Birthday Kiss

Up until this point, we'd been anxiously awaiting the moment when Michaela and Sully crossed the line from friends to something more. And really, is there a better time than on Michaela's birthday? But before we get to that fateful moment, we have to back up to the beginning of the episode and one very down-in-the-dumps Michaela Quinn. Her looming birthday was weighing on her mind especially since she was beginning to feel like a spinster with no romantic prospects on the horizon (I know, but remember, I keep telling you that both she and Sully seemed hell-bent on derailing that train). To add insult to injury, her mother sent her a nice set of china, but it arrived in pieces. The kids decided to cheer her up by trying to set her up with one of the townsfolk. This went over as well as you are probably imagining. They tried, but no one was man enough to take on a strong, independent woman like Michaela. It began to feel like a lost cause with even Sully declining their request (he explained that "courtin'" was complicated).

Even though no one in town was interested in "courtin'" Dr. Mike, they pitched in and got her a nice sign to hang over her medical clinic in town. This was a HUGE gesture considering the fact that no one in town was willing to allow her to practice medicine on them when she first arrived in Colorado Springs only a short while ago. They also helped the kids throw Michaela a surprise party and both the party and the sign seemed to lift her spirits. But it was after she was surprised and after the sign was revealed that things heated up. Sully carefully chose his moment. He waited for the townspeople and the kids to head over to Grace's for the celebration. He waited for Michaela to be alone admiring her new sign and what it meant to her and her place in the hearts of the people of Colorado Springs. As she stood there looking up at her new sign, he appeared in a suit -- gift in hand. He had made her saddle bags to carry all of her medical supplies when she traveled to patients and to treat the Cheyenne. They were beautiful, but it was what he did next that left the lasting impression (on both Michaela and all of us watching at home). When she kissed him on the cheek to thank him, he saw an opportunity and he seized it. They kissed, they finally kissed! It was short, but sweet and it validated all of those pent-up, repressed feelings these two had been saving up since she arrived out west. It was great, but it was only a start. A start that had to wait some time before it turned into a story. There was one more bump in the road before that kiss and the awkwardness hanging between them after it, turned into one of the best romances in TV history.

Feeling nostalgic for Dr. Mike, Sully and the rest of the residents of Colorado Springs? Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Complete Series is now available on DVD.