The Good: Moments of character and acting, Final shot of the episode
The Bad: Predictable when it tries to be funny, Lack of real resolution.
The Basics: Very average with slightly better-than-average character work, "Northwest Passage" will entertain Northern Exposure fans, if not a general audience.
In rewatching and finishing the reviews on episodes and seasons of Northern Exposure, I am left considering how some episodes prepared the viewer for vastly better experiences than we ended up with. After a phenomenal third season of the show (reviewed here!), Northern Exposure returned with a somewhat mediocre fourth season that returned the series to very average territory. Indeed, I continued to find myself disappointed by the season as it went on and I think it would have been less of an issue if it had not begun on such decent footing with "Northwest Passages."
"Northwest Passages" opens the fourth season and sets the viewer back in Cecily, quickly re-establishing the world of the show, which is set in the quirky town of Cecily, Alaska.
Maggie is turning thirty and she decides to use her birthday to try to make peace with her past, most notably the terrible and frequent deaths of the men in her life. Encouraged to write to the dead, Maggie takes off for the wilderness for some privacy and tries to reconcile with Rick, Bruce, Dave, Steve, and Glenn, all of whom have died and Maggie feels responsible for. Unfortunately for her, her sojourn into the wilderness begins after her annual physical, results from which convince Dr. Fleischman that she is suffering from an infection. Soon she is, indeed, feverish and confronted by the dead.
While Maggie wrestles with redemption and guilt on the edge of civilization, Maurice begins to narrate his memoirs while walking throughout Cecily. This annoys everyone as he does it constantly and some of his stories sound downright arrogant and bragging. Also, Marilyn tries her hand at learning to drive, encountering Chris's existential philosophy on driving, Fleischman's uptight concept of travel and Ruth-Anne's laid-back idea of driving.
The thing about "Northwest Passages" is that the a-plot works very well. Maggie's story is a decent character study wherein the joke about her boyfriends dying becomes a simple method to explore her insecurities about herself. O'Connell has long been a good foil for Fleischman, but here she becomes a foil for herself and the episode forces her to look closely at what is within her that sets her back. This is a clever concept and the execution of it, with Maggie talking to the dead, works out quite well. There is a strong sense of realism to her portion of the story.
In stark contrast, Maurice's position in the episode seems much like raw attempts to be funny and as a result, they frequently fall flat. It is like Minnifield becomes the sole way the episode tries to be overtly funny and it feels forced. It seems bland and obvious and while Minnifield has the ability to be a funny character, using him solely for comic relief does not work so well.
What throws the balance of "Northwest Passages" is the Marilyn plot. Marilyn, being such a quiet, introspective character works beautifully as a way for other characters to speak up and articulate their world views. So, for example, the scenes with Chris and Marilyn wonderfully illustrate Chris's enthusiasm for the world around him. He is engaged and intelligent and the philosophical elements of Chris that play out best are explored through his interactions with Marilyn. This extends quite naturally from the Chris and Maggie opening of the episode, making for a very organic season opener.
On the performance front, Barry Corbin and John Corbett deliver very standard performances as Maurice and Chris, respectively. Corbin embodies Maurice with his standard rigid posture and somewhat stern demeanor, Corbett plays Chris with his easy-going philosophical nature and loose gait. Neither one does anything here that they have not already done in the series.
The one who does work is Janine Turner as Maggie. Turner is able to play feverish and crazed surprisingly well, making the viewer think she truly is on death's door. This is more than just a matter of the make-up effect of plastering her hair with sweat. No, Turner is able to perform, to shake, to change her voice so we believe that she is actually feverish. Moreover, Turner spends her lucid moments in "Northwest Passage" emoting and establishing her character as one who is truly struggling to reconcile her past and present. Turner has a great ability to emote using her eyes and voice and she brings that to bear in the confrontation scenes.
Ultimately, though, this is a very average episode of television and one that is not going to thrill pretty much anyone but fans of Northern Exposure. Ultimately, my "recommend" comes from the very last moments of the episode which give Joel a moment to be heroic and it truly sets up something wonderful for him and Maggie. Director Dean Parisot ends the episode with a very striking visual and it's enough to say "sure, watch this." But it's hard to see a lot of people going out of their way for it.
[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Northern Exposure - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the fourth season by clicking here!
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5/10
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© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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