"Just One Lullaby" is the twenty-first episode of season 2 of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
Rev. Johnson recruits a new schoolteacher for the town, whom he appears to have romantic history with. All seems well when their flame is rekindled and she and Michaela hit it off as career women from the East. However, her beliefs about appropriate discipline come into question when students start coming to Dr. Mike with unusual injuries and Colleen and Brian admit that the injuries are from schoolroom discipline. The Reverend proposes and initially stands in the teacher's defense, but when Dr. Mike goes to Loren to call a town meeting to discuss her methods, and no one can agree, the Reverend has a discussion with her about it and learns that she doesn't even want children, which forces him to break off the engagement. Jake reveals to Loren his mother beat him with a strap. Though the town voted in support of her methods, she ends up leaving town when a harshly disciplined student retaliates and beats her up. When Brian can't sleep, Dr. Mike asks Brian to promise he will tell her if anyone ever hurts him.
This episode provides examples of:
- Continuity Nod: Louise asks if Mike is criticizing the way she's disciplining the children because she's jealous of her's and the Reverend's engagement, since he proposed to Mike some time before.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Corporal punishment was widely accepted at the time of the episode. The debate is whether or not Louise's actions are excessive rather than unallowed.
- Not Wanting Kids Is Weird: The Reverend breaks off his engagement with Louise because she doesn't want children.
- Stern Teacher: Louise Chambers is a competent teacher but regularly uses corporal punishment on her students, so much that they require medical treatment. She almost crosses the line into full Sadist Teacher, but leaves town before that can happen.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: One of Louise's pupils, a grown boy, retaliates and beats her up.
