The DQ Times

[Jane]

I really liked this episode... but I think it could've been a little better... I just didn't feel like I knew enough about Abigail to judge if she'd accept or object to Mike invading her home and stealing Sully. I felt like it all happened too fast - one moment Abigail was insisting that Mike leave, the next a rocking horse had her saying they would've been friends. I would've liked to see flashbacks from when Abigail was alive dispersed throughout the episode. Just a clip here and there... maybe in black and white film...how she interacted with Sully, with Loren, etc. That way her haunting would've had more of an impact... I think.
Thoughts anyone?

[Michaela&Sully]

yep I agree...
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If Your Heart Is Open, Love Will Always Find Its Way In-Jane Seymour

[Michelle]

[Jane]

Thanks Michelle. You're definitely not the only one. : )

For me, the ghost didn't match what we knew of Abigail. According to Loren, Abigail was sweet and delicate etc. Yet, the Abigail we see is intrusive and confrontational. For Sully to hold Abigail's memory so close and dear all that time, I wanted to see what was special about her. Her visits with Dr. Mike didn't help me understand at all. Dr. Mike was saying how she didn't know how Sully could love two women so different... From this episode alone, Dr. Mike actually seemed more like the gentle and kind one than Abigail.

The other thing is I can't picture Sully intimate and head over heals for anyone other than Michaela! That's why it would've helped to see him in the past all lovey dovey with his first wife. Ah well.

[kristin]

I just watched that episode last night, and I agree, her spirit kind of clashed with what Mr. Bray was saying about his daughter. One thing I might have done differently...how did a ghost take the rocking horse with her? I think I would have had Abigail ask Dr. Mike to give it to a needy child in town or something. I think just the fact that Dr. Mike had Sully finish it and showed it to Abigail, along with telling her that she doesn't want Sully to ever forget her, had resolved that issue. Also, part of me always thought that Abigail was really just a dream to Dr. Mike, not actually a ghost she was seeing...and that Abigail was an issue Dr. Mike was having to resolve within herself, and having Sully finish that rocking horse and having that closing "dialogue" had given Dr. Mike the closure that she needed on the Abigail issue. Especially since Dr. Mike admitted that she felt she would always be compared to her. I could have been way off base though.

[HorseyJaneFan]

[Elaine]

I didn't care for the actress that played Abagail. She just didn't "fit" what I would have expected. I could understand her being bitter about what happened, but from Loren's description, she would have been more "sad" than bitter. That lady seemed mean-spirited and almost hateful to me. She wasn't as "delicate" as I thought she'd be.

[kristin]

I can't place the episode now...but Mr. Bray says something like "...she had a heart as big as the world, she did." Where was that? Was that in the wedding episode? Was it when Mr. Bray was talking to Sully or Mrs. Quinn? Or was that in the Halloween one that I just watched and obviously wasn't paying close attention to? Having a heart as big as the world, it surprised me that she would confront Dr. Mike in the way that she did, if even at all. But, I suppose even the biggest hearts can get broken...

[Jane]

Kristin, Mr Bray speaks of Abigail on two occasions... The first is when Abigail is haunting Mike... Michaela asks Loren what she was like as she's visiting Abigail's grave.

The second time is during the wedding episode. It's when Sully asks Loren if he'd give Dr. Mike away since Elizabeth wouldn't do it. Sully says to Loren, "I don't think Abigail would begrudge it." And that's when Loren talks about how Abigail "had a heart as big as gold, she did."

[Jane]

Elaine... I just thought the actress who played Abigail looked WAY TOO OLD to be Sully's wife. Even if they waited six years to have a baby, Abigail was 18 when she married Sully. And that ghost was NOT 24 years old! I don't think "ghosts" age with time from beyond the grave... maybe I'm wrong. But if you ask me, Sully looks younger in all six seasons than Abigail did in that one episode.

[Mary Ann]

I agree with so many of your points. That Abigail did NOT fit Loren's description of her- however I guess we could attribute that to the fact that Loren would always see his daughter as perfect- what father doesn't? And especially after someone has died, we tend to remember only the good things.

Jane I love the idea of doing flashbacks to Sully and Abigail- that definitely would have improved things.

I really liked the episode but I certainly did end up scratching my head at the end (Kudos to the writer here) trying to decide if Abigail was a dream or not. I guess though the rocking horse being gone was supposed to tell us she had been a ghost. The interesting thing in this episode is once again it is a way for the writer to hint that Mike is in love with Sully and is still very unsure of his feelings for her.

Definitely the best halloween ep they ever did although as you all say, it could have been even better.
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[Jane]

I think it had a lot to do with closure. By this episode, Mike knew she was staying in CS. Her whole life had changed. She had succeeded in making a life on the frontier. She had her practice. She was finally figuring out motherhood with Charlotte's children. The only uncertainty was her future with Sully. To determine if she would have one or not, I think she needed to see Abigail - she hoped seeing the woman he was married to before would be an indicator of whether Mike could be his future wife. The fact that she was so different from Abigail must've caused doubts. But I don't think Mike doubted that Sully loved her. She said it herself that while he hadn't told her yet, Mike couldn't understand how Sully could love two women so different. I think her doubt was if they could make a life together work. They were after all, very different. She said in another episode, "he likes to come and go as he pleases, he sleeps on the floor..." Abigail was young. Abigail wasn't a doctor or career woman. CS was all Abigail had ever known, vs Dr. Mike coming from the "Boston life."
I think closure comes at the end when Abigail says, "You're wrong you know, we would've been friends." If those two could be friends, then Sully and her could definitely make it work. After all, Mike and Abigail were as different in worlds as Sully and Mike were. If Abigail and Mike could've been friends, then certainly Sully and Mike could have a real future together.

[Jane]

And, on a slightly different note... what is the biggest thing Abigail and Dr. Mike had in common???

Abigail went against Loren's wishes when she married Sully. She followed her heart instead of her father's orders.

Mike went against her mother's wishes when she came to CS. She broke the mold when she got involved with/married Sully instead of what her mother had envisioned for her... a William or David maybe.

Both women gave up a lot to be with the man they loved. And funny, both of them gave up a lot for the same man! I just think that's sort of neat... the parallel... just proves you can't control who you love. When it's right, it's right, and there's nothing anyone can say or do about it.

[HorseyJaneFan]