Bramwell

- Season 2

(1996)

Eleanor and her father are involved in a subway accident, and Eleanor must amputate Peter Mills' crushed leg in order to save his life. Caring for him afterward in the infirmary, he seems to be falling for her while his brothers interfere with ill people coming for medical care. But when the thugs openly take over the Thrift, neither Bramwell can stand up to them.

Urged by her father, Eleanor applies for a clinical assistant position at St. Jude's Hospital. Dr. O'Neill opposes her hiring until she demonstrates her knowledge and willingness to learn. Eleanor cares for Lucy, a 12-year-old pregnant prostitute who wants an abortion. Dr. O'Neill offers Eleanor a job as his registrar. But when Dr. O'Neill sends away an injured and bleeding Lucy, Eleanor is torn between the desire to work with a dedicated scientist and her need to care for the poor.

Sir William proposes his friend Robert for membership in the Royal College of Physicians. Robert's sister Emily reappears after running off with a married man 20 years earlier and stealing their mother's jewels and money. Mr. Marsham's little girl Molly is treated at the Thrift for a broken leg and then develops diphtheria.

Eleanor and Robert treat several cases of cholera in the Thrift, and Eleanor has to report them to Robert's old adversary (and current Medical Officer) Finn O'Neill. O'Neill treats the patients with a new formula of his own, which may be lifesaving - or deadly.

Eleanor offers to help visiting lecturer Guy le Saux find orphaned children to start new lines in Canada. His wife Kathleen suffers from unexplained bruises, but insists Guy is a genius.

Eleanor's old nanny comes to visit. Eleanor and Joe rescue a carnival attraction, a young girl with "the world's largest brain" - an enormous cyst deforming her head. Eleanor and Joe disagree about whether to remove the cyst, a cosmetic procedure. When Eleanor talks Robert into operating, they find something unexpected. Meanwhile, Nanny is irritating Kate and Nurse Carr.

A friend of Marsham's brings an injured woman to the Thrift, but Eleanor is surprised to discover the patient is really a man, and Marsham is convinced he is a male prostitute, and a fellow patient attacks him. Meanwhile, Robert's friend Mrs. Quayle is enamored of evangelist Sullivan and is convinced Robert needs saving.

Eleanor meets Finn O'Neil at a seaside resort, but Robert hears of Eleanor's "cousin" Finn. Bitterly disappointed, Robert tells Eleanor there is nothing of her mother left in her, and Eleanor moves out. Sidney insults Nurse Carr and Eleanor fires him. Finn proposes to Eleanor, but confesses he is being named as co-respondent in a divorce trial and he plans to take a position in Chicago until the trial is over. Robert invites Eleanor to move back so she can be married from her own home.