Quirky Becomes Boring In Northern Exposure The Complete Fifth Season.

The Good: Moments of character, Moments of weirdness or culture, DVD bonus features
The Bad: Not funny, Little new on the acting, Stagnant plots, Pacing
The Basics: A pretty lame season of television, Northern Exposure The Complete Fifth Season does little service to the characters or concepts of the television series.


When a television series becomes tedious, sometimes the best thing that a network can do is pull the plug. As time goes by, I find myself appreciating or understanding why networks have done that from time to time. For sure, there was still plenty of potential in Firefly (reviewed here!), but the more I rewatch Twin Peaks (reviewed here!), I can understand how it did not get renewed for a third season. The middle of that second season of Twin Peaks winds and wends in directions that are not just strangely dreamlike, but are just plain bad. This comes to mind when I consider the DVD set Northern Exposure - The Complete Fifth Season because I am at a loss as to how this season survived for the entire twenty-four episodes as well as how it won a sixth season.

In its fifth season, Northern Exposure does nothing of note or significance that viewers of the series have not already seen before. In fact, the only ones who might find any portion of this season palatable are those who have suffered through the earlier seasons; those approaching just this season are likely to find the episodes tiresome and tired. The season has a homogeneously slow pace with few peaks and one long, extended valley. While the show continues its serialized storylines, nothing of note happens in the fifth season and after sitting through my latest viewing of the twenty-four episodes - each almost an hour in length - I find myself at a loss as to what to write about the boxed set because the season blurs together as one dull mass of images. There is nothing superlative in this season and while the show still occasionally delves into the philosophical or the native american indian culture, the fifth season finds the divergences less quirky and more dull; we've seen it before and for those who haven't it just "reads" as weird and quirky for the sake of quirky.

In the fifth season of Northern Exposure, Joel gets ill with Glacier Dropsy around the same time that Ed gets his calling . . . to become a shaman. As Ed begins to train for his spiritual calling, Maurice has a life-sized wax casting made of himself for a museum, Chris continues working at the radio station and trying to fulfill the spiritual needs of Cicely and Maggie spars with Joel while their passions slowly build up again. Maggie solves a minor mystery and becomes a homecoming queen for the local high school. Elsewhere in Cicely, Holling and Shelly prepare for the birth of their baby, who does eventually make an appearance and Ruth-Anne begins to date Walt.

Adam makes an appearance, to thwart Maurice's efforts to have fireworks in Cicely under the pretense that the company he is using are covert government operatives. Ed returns to working on film, even while training as a shaman, Maurice breaks his leg and loses his house to a fire and Shelly and Holling adapt to the presence of Randi. As the season winds to a close, the resident gay couple in Cicely gets married, Maurice tries to make money off a wheelchair race, and Joel finally accepts the magnitude of Cicely's effect upon him.

The only episode worth watching in the entire season is "Hello, I Love You," which has Shelly meeting a time-travelling version of her own daughter at the Laundromat. The episode is clever, allows actress Cynthia Geary to stretch beyond the strangely immature character of Shelly by giving her some real parental depth. Geary, for much of the rest of the season, is forced to play Shelly like a high school brat and the role becomes tiresome to watch, especially after Shelly loses her musical ability which made her remotely interesting at the end of the prior season. "Hello, I Love You" is psychologically interesting and does a good job of showing what could be if parents were given a chance to see the results of their childrearing before their kids are born and the concept is unique to this episode and it works.

Unfortunately, it is probably the only unique thing in this entire season. Maurice continues to try to swindle other businessmen, he retains his homophobia and he is portrayed as an absolute idiot in "Mite Makes Right." In that episode, Maurice pays over a million dollars for a violin and he refuses to consider the advice of a violin protege who insists it must be played or else the violin will be ruined. That Maurice is played as so monolithically stupid and into his investment just for the money reinforces the anti-capitalist messages Northern Exposure tends to have, save that in this case it does not logically track; Maurice is too smart to be so ignorant and not even pay attention to the violinist's view. "Mite Makes Right" is not a bad episode, but it follows on the heels of the one-note "Mr. Sandman," which is too obvious and the concept (people in Cicely begin dreaming one another's dreams) wears thin quickly.

Recurring characters like Bernard and Officer Barbara make their annual appearances, as do Adam and Eve. But the quirkiness that once made Northern Exposure interesting is gone and the series seems to be stretching for stories to tell. This seems as good a reason as any for the appearance of the gruff Walt to give Ruth-Anne a love interest and the plot with Walt becoming addicted to a light treatment is predictable and just bad. Fan-favorite characters like Chris are relegated to few scenes and almost no complete plots. Instead, Chris, Maggie and Holling (and even Joel for most of the episodes) take a backburner to stories focusing on Ed, Ruth-Anne, and Shelly. Unfortunately for viewers, they are not enough to carry the season.

For those interested in who the primary characters of Northern Exposure are, this is how the fifth season finds them:

Dr. Joel Fleischman - His tenure in Cicely rapidly running down, Joel looks to escape even as he realizes how much of a part of Cicely he has become. Irritated by a visit from his parents, he tries to have a dinner party (but fails completely) and he begins to date Maggie outright. He makes an effort to work with the fire department and admits to Maggie he cannot stand children. And when he and Maggie hit a bump, he is swallowed by the giant fish living in one of Cicely's lakes where he is taught a very valuable lesson,

Maggie O'Connell - Slowly warms to Fleischman after trying to solve a mystery of a local store and its weird owners. She builds her own airplane, becomes a homecoming queen (despite being in her thirties), and she buys a clothes washer only to discover she misses the socialization of the Laundromat. She also snags a doctor friend for Joel,

Maurice - Exposed as a shoe-fetishist when others dream his dreams, he tries to swindle a local native american businessman only to be bested in the transaction. He finds his colleagues have become geezers and tries to have Ed organize a film festival. After purchasing a rare violin, he breaks his leg and his house burns down and he is forced to rely upon others in Cicely,

Holling - Nervous (still) about becoming a father, his troubles multiply when Randi is born and he has to admit he renounced his Canadian citizenship decades ago. Things get weird for him with fellow birdwatcher Ruth-Anne when it is revealed his ancestor ate one of Ruth-Anne's during a blizzard. He begins to paint-by-number after Randi is born,

Shelly - Insecure about becoming a mother and shrill after Randi is born with Holling over religion and childcare, she has a brief lull when she meets future versions of Randi on the day Randi is born. She gets irked at Holling for his acting out during birthing classes,

Chris - Continues working at the radio station, save a portion of an episode where he quits because he learns that bloodpressure medication will keep him alive well beyond his initial expected life expectancy. Otherwise, he does sculpture, is frustrated when Bernard's new girlfriend (who is one of Chris's ex's) cannot tell them apart in bed, and he fawns over the Catholic priest who comes to baptize Randi,

Ed Chigliak - Gets the call to become a shaman. As he trains for that (undermined by a Green Man), he continues working on his film work and working at Ruth-Anne's store. He fails to arrange a film festival and when he snags an agent, his agent wants to completely alter his script "The Shaman." He betrays Ruth-Anne and Walt's relationship at a dinner party and still struggles to understand what virtually anyone in Cicely is saying,

Marilyn - Continues to show up to work at the clinic each day, though she uses patient's records to figure out who to date,

and Ruth-Anne - Pursued by Walt suddenly, she begins to question her priorities. After having a spat with Holling, she and Walt hook up. Still, she becomes upset with the residents of Cicely and abandons the store to join a motorcycle gang. Upon returning, she and Walt are outed.

There are no great performances in Northern Exposure The Complete Fifth Season. In this season, all of the principle cast simply does what they have been doing for the prior years and their performances in this season seem somewhat lackluster, as if the actors know they are not doing anything new and they are peeved about it.

On DVD, Northern Exposure The Complete Fifth Season comes with a slew of deleted scenes, many of which simply offer more quiet, awkward moments to each episode. Given that this is DVD, it is disappointing that there is no branching that allows the deleted scenes to be put back into the episodes. Given that the deleted scenes are now all relegated to the fifth disc, putting the clips back in their relevant episodes is not even remotely possible. There is a season five featurette as well and a "play all" function, but there are no commentary tracks on any of the episodes.

Northern Exposure is a supposedly quirky dramedy set in Cicely, Alaska and there is nothing quite like it on television, either before or after. In the case of how the fifth season presents its stories, this is not a bad thing. Fans of the series will find greater economic and space-saving value in Northern Exposure: The Complete Series (reviewed here!), but those looking at the seasons of Northern Exposure and considering which ones to buy can easily pass "The Complete Fifth Season" by. It is not funny, it is not well-developed and it is not distinctive or even interesting for most of its episodes.

For other fifth seasons of television shows, please check out my reviews of:
Gilmore Girls - Season 5
Frasier - The Complete Fifth Season
Friends - Season Five

4/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Predictable Exposure: "The Big Feast" Seems Like Far Too Much Of A Standard To Buy!

The Good: Moments of humor, Very few moments of character
The Bad: Moments of predictability, Nothing stellar on the acting front, Light on character
The Basics: Terribly disappointing, "The Big Feast" starts with a contrived plot, fails to add character development and is performed blandly by the entire cast.


As I reach the final individual episode of Northern Exposure on VHS for me to review, I have to say I am happy. Northern Exposure is a series that came to me highly rated and I have discovered it to be far more mediocre than extraordinary. Having watched the entire series (I'm on my second viewing of the final seasons for review), I find that it is hard to get excited about going through the later seasons and final individual episodes that are available when there are so many other, better products available for me to review.

With that, I find myself at "The Big Feast," a fourth season episode of Northern Exposure that even the die-hard fans would have to admit is predictable and more of a standard plot than a truly original episode of supposedly groundbreaking television that Northern Exposure claims to be. Instead of being intriguing or interesting, "The Big Feast" could have been written by a high school student and yielded pretty much the same results as we have on screen.

Maurice is in the mood to celebrate and he has chosen to honor the twenty-fifth anniversary of Minnifield Communications. He decides to throw the biggest party Cicely has ever seen, a feat that is guaranteed to be quite extraordinary given the references to prior events. He sets to slaughtering a virtual herd of cows for a reduction sauce, imports some extraordinarily expensive bottles of wine and hires an army of chefs and servers. And everyone is invited . . .

. . . except Joel. Joel builds up his sense of outrage, resentfully confronting Maurice when the feast begins and Marilyn falls ill during the shellfish course. Shelly breaks a bottle of wine that costs more than she makes in three years and she struggles to replace it with something drinkable without Maurice knowing, and Adam returns to take over the kitchen as an imported French cook fails to meet Maurice's standards. In the course of his whining, Fleischman and Maggie are forced to deal with their feelings for one another, especially now that they have had sex.

"The Big Feast" has far too many obvious plot conceits to be considered truly original or even interesting. First, there is the Joel plotline. When Joel is excluded, his pride prevents him from confronting Maurice directly and the roundabout way he tries to find out if he was purposely excluded or omitted by accident is obvious and predictable. Moreover, that the missing invitation forces him to confront O'Connell is disappointing especially for Northern Exposure.

In a move that makes one think that the writers of the episode were thinking, "the audience thinks we're going to zig or zag or otherwise do something surprising, so let's surprise them by doing what everybody else who has ever had a television show has done!," Shelly knocks into a bottle of fabulously expensive wine moments after discovering how costly the bottle is. Naturally, this forces her into a wacky run-around trying to find a way to acquire it (Holling doesn't even have that much money), replace it (no one in town has a bottle of it) and ultimately, forge it. This overlaps well with the final plot conceit as Adam returns and he is known to be a connoisseur of fine things and - apparently - an enophile.

The problem with the plot peaks with the return of Adam. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Adam and actor Adam Arkin who portrays him. I am always delighted to see him. The thing is, whenever there are so many chefs in the kitchen and an event of such momentous proportions in Cicely, involving fine food and drink, the viewer comes to expect that Adam will pop up. This is especially insulting after the long-belabored string of chef's who come through the kitchen with impeccable credentials and . . . oh, no! It turns out they are completely bloody incompetent. Isn't it handy that Adam just happens to be in the area to save the day?!

Yes, "The Big Feast" could have been written by the most formulaic hacks in Hollywood and on the off chance that writers Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green are reading this - or director Rob Thompson - shame on you! Seriously, did you guys just open the "Classic Television Plots" book laying around the studio?!

The only thing more insulting than the standard and obvious plots in "The Big Feast" would have to be the character development. Joel's plotline is the closest the show comes to character development, but the sad thing is there is no real development. Joel runs around whining. Wow, what a surprise. It's what he does virtually every week! Joel feels legitimately hurt by being excluded and it's hard to blame him . . . save that every week he is an elitist who tries to be above everyone else in the Alaskan wilderness. So, it's not like Maurice would be unjustified in excluding the doctor.

No, Joel does not grow and learn a very valuable lesson in this episode. In fact, in the Joel plotline, it is Maggie who grows a bit and she realizes that how she has been treating Joel might well be unfair and wrong. Good for her . . . it only took three and a half years for her to get there. But, at least there is an epiphany to be had and the show takes the viewer there.

The Shelly plotline, the Adam plotline, even all of the time Maurice spends on screen, these elements involve nothing in the way of development or growth, they are simply the characters running around doing what they always do. This is disappointing and does not distinguish "The Big Feast" from any number of other episodes of Northern Exposure. This is a bit of a disappointment for anyone who wants to sit and watch a decent drama.

Equally pathetic is the acting. It seems the actors have the sensibility that they are doing something that is tried, true and has been done at least a thousand times before on television. None of the regulars sparkle and even Adam Arkin phones in his performance. There is not a single spark in this episode and none of the regulars seem at all enthusiastic about working this one.

Ultimately, "The Big Feast" is one of the more forgettable episodes of Northern Exposure and it is a true disappointment to the fans.

[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 last worthwhile season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

3/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Northern Exposure Plays The Weirdness Card Well With "Northern Lights."

The Good: Decent character work, Decent acting
The Bad: Light on plot, Some quirky for the sake of quirky.
The Basics: "Northern Lights" casts Cicely in darkness and gives Joel a chance to whine and Maurice a chance to learn another valuable lesson.


I know I am in the minority in being lukewarm on the television series Northern Exposure. I know a lot of people think it is one of the funniest, weirdest shows ever to grace television's airwaves, but as someone who got into television-watching with Ally McBeal, it's hard to see why Northern Exposure is considered so groundbreaking. After all, I can see the merit in Twin Peaks (reviewed here!) and I can see how that paved the way for shows like Northern Exposure and Ally McBeal, but on its own, Northern Exposure seems much more the fizzle than the bang.

I mention this before reviewing the Northern Exposure episode "Northern Lights" because while I like this episode just fine, I do not think that it is the perfect episode some reviewers have considered it to be. Indeed, within the context of the series, "Northern Lights" might suffer a little more than the average Northern Exposure episode for the simple fact that virtually everything in the episode has been done in a prior episode. Or, at least the inverse of what has been done before is in this episode . . .

Unlike the many episodes involving the unending sunlight in Alaska, Cicely is cast into darkness for days on end and its residents begin to go somewhat batty. Joel throws a fit over losing his Caribbean vacation, an event he has been looking forward to for quite some time. He is threatened with legal action by the citizens of Cicely, who maneuver Mike Monroe into taking the doctor out when Joel stages a strike for being denied his vacation.

While Joel does his pretty typical thing, Maurice discovers the local homeless man in Cicely is actually an ex-marine and he does his best to take him in and make sure the man is provided for. Of course, pride of a marine being what it is, this does not go quite the way he planned. As well, Chris is stuck with the visual artist's equivalent of writer's block and Holling goes into hibernation to survive the dark night. Maggie, for her part, begins looking into advancing her relationship with Mike, a huge step for her, Mike, and - of course - Joel.

"Northern Lights" plays on the tired and equally true idea that the weather in Alaska has a profound impact on the citizens there. Often in this series, that takes the form of the unending sunlight, as it did in an earlier fourth season episode where Joel takes over the basketball team. This is a pretty standard conceit on Northern Exposure and while it is good, it is by no means original on this series. In fact, it seems every season there is either the sunlight episode or the waiting for the thaw from the long winter, etc. The whole long dark idea is hardly a new one or an exciting premise.

Perhaps the only real benefit of this "weather of the season" episode of Northern Exposure is that it gives a good excuse for Chris's brother Bernard to make an appearance. As Chris wigs out into his art, Bernard takes on some of the responsibilities at the radio station. In "Northern Lights," the viewer begins to see that (perhaps) Bernard is just about as crazy and wonderfully weird as Chris is. Bernard has the same easygoing mannerisms, but he has - traditionally - been more grounded in reality and numbers than his half-brother.

What "Northern Lights" does least effectively as it tries to present itself as a new episode is make the viewer think they are watching anything truly original about the characters in Cicely. Much of the episode is dominated by the Joel plotline and the truth is, anyone who does not get by now that Joel will whine and complain about any setback to his plan to getting back to New York City to practice medicine is either not awake or completely dense. Joel does this. All of the time. He is a pathological complainer and by this episode, fairly late in the fourth season, it would be nice to see some growth from him. Instead, we get more of the same. Neurotic doctor is entertaining for a while, but after seeing glimpses of what he could be, this is just flat-out disappointing that he does not grow. Watching Fleischman complain throughout this episode, the viewer just wants to scream, "Grow up already!"

The only Joel-related aspect of the episode that works is that it effectively delays the inevitable hooking up between Joel and Maggie. As Maggie debates the merits and potential dangers of having sex with Mike Monroe, she and Joel come to understand more about themselves and their hot and cold relationship. This is almost enough; it is something so delayed because in the season premiere, it seemed like that relationship would actually get going that now it is just annoying that it is being delayed, though this episode does that pretty effectively.

The character aspect that works the best in this episode is the arc involving Maurice. Minnifield is often treated as the arch-conservative and something of a whack as a result. His initial outrage over Cicely having a homeless man quickly subsides to the Valuable Lesson Maurice Learns. The problem here is that Maurice is pretty consistently learning the Valuable Lesson Of The Week and at some point, it would be nice to see him be ahead of the curve of racism, homophobia or flat-out classism. "Northern Lights" is not the episode where he achieves any real sense of enlightenment, but at least his character works in this episode.

Part of this is because Barry Corbin, who plays Maurice, does a great job in this episode. Corbin is able to play Maurice as ignorant, but less boorish to begin with, making his character's journey make more sense. And while the plot fix might be a little obvious, Corbin makes it seem fairly original as Maurice struggles with the state of the veteran. He loosens his body language some throughout the episode, visually indicating how Maurice is becoming less rigid and that works.

But the one who steals every scene he is in is Richard Cummings, Jr., who plays Bernard. Cummings has an awesome ability to deliver some of the most extreme and quirky lines and make them seem perfectly reasonable and sensible. He makes the episode fun where it could otherwise just be yet another Northern Exposure morality tale.

On the balance, there is enough here for anyone who likes a good dramedy to appreciate, but fans of the series are likely to get a bit more out of the episode than those who are not already sold on the series. It's good, but not knock-your-socks off good and certainly not a great episode of the series.

[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 last worthwhile season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

6/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Tomatoes And Bubble Man Make For An Intriguing "Thanksgiving" On Northern Exposure.

The Good: Funny, Moments of charm and character, Decent acting, Interesting enough plot
The Bad: Concept gets stretched for a while.
The Basics: "Thanksgiving" is a surprisingly fun episode of Northern Exposure that lives up to the hype of the show being quirky and smart, funny and dramatic.


In the fourth season of Northern Exposure there are a few episodes that work and that I do enjoy enough to rewatch. One of the very few of those is "Thanksgiving," the annual episode focusing on, you guessed it, Thanksgiving. In truth, Northern Exposure (complete series reviewed here!) is one of two severe disappointments for me as a connoisseur of television shows on DVD. In my travels, I had heard much about how truly great Northern Exposure was and when I finally found it on DVD (and video), I found myself drastically underwhelmed.

However, since it is not a big special effects endeavor, when I encountered the VHS video of choice episodes, I have not minded spending on them. One such episode is "Thanksgiving" and that it managed to stand out in a season as poor as the fourth season of Northern Exposure is - in some ways - no surprise.

As Thanksgiving approaches in Cicely, Alaska, Dr. Joel Fleischman receives two bits of bad news: he is white and he is condemned to Cicely for an additional year over what he was originally contracted for. Being white is a problem in Cicely around Thanksgiving because the Native population launches tomatoes at the white folk as a kind of "f-you!" for past injustices (like taking their land). Fleischman's Jewish heritage becomes vocal as he declares to Marilyn that he is not white. Unfortunately for him, even after the locals stop lobbing tomatoes at him, his extended sentence in Cicely turns out to be ironclad and binding.

While Joel goes through his issues, Chris begins to feel some homesickness for prison when he finds the same beans they served there on the shelves at Ruth-Anne's store. While he reconciles his criminal past with his new philosophical nature, Mike finds himself plagues by yet another environmental anomaly and he considers moving away, which leaves Maggie feeling vulnerable and hurt.

"Thanksgiving" is what Northern Exposure was promised to me as; it is weird, funny, dramatic and compelling. The characters are vivid and border on absurd at times, yet they educate the viewer as well as enlighten them. Joel's comparison of the schtedls and concentration camps to the displacement of Native Americans and the reservation system is an interesting one. The scene where he labors to explain to Marilyn how he is not white and he identifies solely with his Jewish heritage is compelling. Moreover, that Marilyn accepts the explanation is equally intriguing.

The b-plot with Chris is funny for its absurdity and it comes in when the Joel plot begins to get heavy and he reverts to his usual state of whining and complaining. The scenes with Chris, then, take on a much more pleasant and rational tone, despite the fact that the character is pining for a return to prison. Amid the tomato throwing and Chris's acceptance of being pelted with tomatoes, Joel becomes obsessed with fighting the extension of his stay in Cicely.

This also leads to an intriguing scene between Joel and Mike Monroe. Mike has been getting closer and closer to Maggie and his character is essentially established through the absurd. He lives in a bubble; a sterile dome house away from everyone else and coming into contact with the real world as little as possible. While he does leave his bubble - thanks to Maurice's space suit - his character has traditionally been grounded firmly in the absurd.

"Thanksgiving," then, allows Mike to stretch into a much more real and interesting character. In addition to being severely compulsive and/or ridiculously sensitive to the environment around him, it turns out that Mike is a lawyer and a pretty genius one at that. Joel, who has been distant from Mike in no small part because of the relationship Mike has with Maggie, is forced to turn to the greatest legal mind in Cicely. Joel finds himself dismayed when it soon becomes clear that Mike will not be able to find a loophole because the contract has no loopholes.

Of course, the savvy television viewer will figure that the whole contractual issue is based on the real world anyway; Northern Exposure was something of a gamble. No one knew how it would be received and as a result, it started with the premise that Dr. Fleischman is condemned to Alaska for four years because the state paid for his education. Given that the show was such a success and Fleischman is the lead protagonist, something had to be done to keep him on for a fifth season, hence the letter Joel receives. Actually, the idea is clever; because the economy is stalling, Fleischman owes the state more in adjusted dollars, enough to keep him in Cicely for an additional year.

"Thanksgiving" manages to be funny and heartwarming at the same time as well as being both quirky and somewhat educational. Despite the character reverting some, Rob Morrow's performance as Dr. Fleischman is surprisingly diverse over the course of the entire episode. Usually, Morrow is forced to play Fleischman as either arrogant and condescending OR wounded and real. In "Thanksgiving," Morrow is forced to play him at both extremes and the result is that the viewer is treated to acting that covers a great deal of emotional terrain. Morrow does it beautifully.

But it is John Corbett who steals every scene of the episode that he is in. Corbett plays Chris Stevens and while he usually plays Chris as a quiet, philosophical guy, in "Thanksgiving," he infuses the character with a deep and nagging tug from his past and the sense that Chris actually has some torment under the surface. Corbett plays that with a very subtle quietness that comes from playing out the beats a little longer than he usually does and it works perfectly to clue the viewer in to how there is something different from Chris's usual philosophical nature. Here, Corbett infuses an undertone of melancholy and it is masterful.

Who is likely to enjoy "Thanksgiving?" Even those who are not traditionally drawn to Northern Exposure are likely to enjoy this episode. Anyone who likes a decent mix of drama and humor will like "Thanksgiving" as it delves quite well into both the character-driven drama and the plot absurdities needed to make for an entertaining hour of television.

[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 middle season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

8.5/10

For other television program reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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"Northwest Passages" Opens The Fourth Season Of Northern Exposure With Just Enough To Raise Hopes.

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!
Thanks!]

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Season Four Of Northern Exposure Sinks Again Into More Mediocre Territory, Even On DVD.

The Good: Good DVD bonuses, Moments of character
The Bad: Most of the performances are average at best, Plots stagnate
The Basics: Northern Exposure - The Complete Fourth Season disappoints fans and DVD collectors with its lack of originality.


Northern Exposure is not one of the series' that has managed to hook me the way it seems to captivate a lot of people who watch it. It is, good at its best, but more often than not, it falls short of my expectations based on how great everyone once thought it to be. My point here is that Northern Exposure might have been groundbreaking and different at its time, whatwith being one of the first dramedies on television. But for those who were raised after that and/or are just catching the series now on DVD, it's a much tougher sell. Yes, the envelope has already been pushed and the bar has been raised higher.

With Northern Exposure - The Complete Fourth Season I am very much reminded of this. I have been, admittedly, slow in getting back through the individual seasons of Northern Exposure since watching and reviewing Northern Exposure - The Complete Series (reviewed here!). The thing is, the reason it has taken me so long to get back through it is that the series is not as inspired or exciting as it initially might have seemed.

In the fourth season, the residents of Cicely, Alaska return with Maggie trying to reconcile her past lack of luck with men and Joel discovering his stay in Alaska has been extended due to a faltering economy. Joel goes crazy when the sun doesn't set, Marilyn learns to drive, Holling returns to high school and Maggie fights with an anti-feminist pilot. The white residents are accosted by the Native population during Thanksgiving, Maggie takes Joel home to Michigan for the holidays, Maurice has to approve his son's marriage to the daughter of a war criminal, and he throws a magnificent dinner party to which Joel is not invited. Ed continues to search for his father and Shelly begins to feel the urge to change her relationship with Holling. And Ruth-Anne falls in love with a traveling salesman who returns to Cicely for her.

But what the fourth season of Northern Exposure is arguably most known for is the appearance of the heroic and neurotic Mike Monroe, who lives in a bubble and Joel and Maggie finally have sex. Maggie and Mike hit it off, despite his extreme germaphobia. Maggie draws Mike out of his bubble and in the process, the two develop a close friendship that begins to make Joel jealous. But then, of course, Maggie and Joel find their way to one another for a random sexual encounter which . . . actually does not change everything.

Northern Exposure - The Complete Fourth Season is especially anticlimactic. After leading up to a relationship between Joel and Maggie for over three years when they finally make love and nothing becomes of it, the viewer is left disappointed. After all, it's not that they are the two leads of the series and need to come together, but rather both have had inclinations toward one another for years. They fantasize about each other, they have interest, the viewer is ready for them to become something. When they finally make love, that they don't truly express love for one another . . . it's disappointing.

In prior seasons, Maggie and Joel have been kept apart by their relationships with other characters and Maggie's sudden interest in Mike seems more like an attempt on the part of the producers to drag it all out. Rather than getting to it, they delay it even longer and this is just disappointing after so long the wait. All the hours on DVD until we get to that point delay the seemingly inevitable and in the fourth season, we're ready for it to be there and it's not.

Similarly, Mike Monroe adds little to the eclectic cast other than a character who seems more like weird for the sake of weird. He is played by Anthony Edwards who I just recently saw in The Forgotten and he was fine, but in this role, he is actually wonderful. He plays quirky with panache and realism that works. It makes sense that Peg Phillips finally joins the main cast, but Edwards is just on as a recurring guest star, no matter how memorable he and his character are.

The thing is, the Complete Fourth Season of Northern Exposure is very little new compared to what one might have seen before. The third season was more fresh and original than this one and in fact, it feels in a lot of ways like the show has taken a step backward for season four. Maurice is back to being prejudiced against virtually everyone, though the most compelling moments for his character come when he actually has a character struggle outside simple racism. The only truly incredible thing about Maurice in this season is that her speaks what now seems taboo and fresh again. Yes, there are references in the media and on Boston Legal about how Barack Obama does not "sound black." In this season of Northern Exposure, Maurice makes the same comment about Chris's erudite brother, Bernard. At least in this one regard, Northern Exposure - The Complete Fourth Season was ahead of its time.

But the show, more than the recycled plots with holidays, new characters popping up, and strange occurrences that happen around town in Cicely, Alaska, is mostly about the characters. In the fourth season of Northern Exposure, the principles include:

Dr. Joel Fleischman - When the economy falters, Joel's four years in Alaska are commuted to five. He slowly moves in on Maggie, especially after she shows a preference toward Mike Monroe. He finds himself becoming more and more a part of Cicely and begins to resent when he is not included like one of the natural residents. He also begins to explore his Jewish heritage much more,

Maggie O'Connell - Having (mostly) resolved her conflicts with her past over the men in her life who have died due to being in love with her, she finds herself drawn to the reclusive Mike. She and Fleischman clash, though they each rescue one another throughout the season and eventually they make love without falling in love,

Shelly - She begins to feel her biological clock ticking and her love for Holling grows to the point that she begins to hallucinate. She resolves her hallucinations in a rather unique way and when she does, she soon finds herself bearing the consequences of that,

Holling - In addition to hunting birds with his camera, this season he discovers his sperm is not as immobile as it once seemed when his adult daughter arrives in town. Disappointed in her, he soon finds his love for Shelly is all he truly wants. He also graduates high school,

Maurice - Becomes the bearer of bad news for Joel, condemning him to an additional year in Cicely. His life is saved by Chris when he almost falls off the roof of Rosalyn's Cafe and he works on expanding his communication's empire. He also is forced to come to terms with his actions in the Korean Conflict when his son wants to marry the daughter of a Korean War despot,

Ed - Restarts making movies and he comes to believe he has found his father once again,

Chris - Almost extradited for his past crimes, he continues to be the spiritual center of Cicely. He officiates a funeral for a friend, advised Joel, strengthens his bond with Bernard and puts up with Maurice, whom he saves from a dangerous plunge. As well, he inadvertently kills the pets of a woman he becomes smitten with,

Ruth-Anne - Is wooed by a traveling salesman and accompanies Holling on his bird "shooting" expedition,

Marilyn - She encounters the Flying Man again, who she refuses to marry. As well, she learns to drive and takes a vacation to Seattle,

and (recurring) Mike Monroe - A lawyer by trade and training, he is terribly afraid of germs and as a result lives in a bubble. He looks into Joel's contract, helps defend Chris, and keeps an eye out on the environmental disasters he fears, leading him to leave Cicely. He and Maggie hit it off.

In the fourth season, none of the acting actually stands out. This season, all of the performers hold the line for their past performances. In other words, none of the players do anything we have not seen them do before. Anyone who has not seen an episode of Northern Exposure might enjoy the way these characters are established by their various performers, but for those who have been watching from the beginning, there is nothing new here. The characters grow in very minimal ways, but the performers do not infuse the characters with anything not already seen in prior seasons.

As with the prior seasons, most episodes have deleted scenes or alternate takes presented on the DVDs. This is pretty much all we can expect of Northern Exposure. There are also three promotional spots presented on the DVDs and they are mildly amusing.

But it's not enough to make one shell out for these DVDs. They are remarkably average television and it is hard to get excited about adding this set to one's permanent collection.

For a slightly better idea of what this boxed set includes, please check out my reviews of the the following episodes included in the set:
"Northwest Passages"
"Thanksgiving"
"Northern Lights"
"The Big Feast"

For other fourth seasons of comedies, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Frasier - Season Four
Weeds - The Complete Fourth Season
30 Rock - Season 4

5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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The Alternate Universe Storyline Of "Cicely" Is A Northern Exposure Winner!

The Good: Fun, EXCELLENT Acting, Decent plot/execution, Interesting characters
The Bad: Minutiae (A bit on-the-nose)
The Basics: When Joel accidentally hits one of the original settlers of Cicely, the town is treated to the full story of how the Alaskan frontier was settled!


One of the hallmarks of Northern Exposure that always worked well for the series was how it tried to have fun with narrative techniques. In the otherwise mediocre second season (reviewed here!), there is a remarkable moment in the episode "War And Peace" where the show suddenly turns on a dime and goes in a completely ridiculous and wonderful direction. In its third season, Northern Exposure was much more on episode to episode and it is somewhat surprising that it ended its season with an episode that did not advance any of the main characters. Instead, the producers tell a very different story, the story of "Cicely," the town in Alaska that the show takes place in.

When Dr. Fleischman hits an old man with his truck, he is mortified and deeply apologetic. He brings the man back to his cabin where he discovers the man is over a hundred years old and he was in Cicely when it was established around the turn of the century. Ned, the old man, begins to tell the story of how Cicely was founded.

What makes "Cicely" work so beautifully is that as he tells his story, Joel and his friends imagine it, transposing themselves into the roles of the residents of the area. And despite having heard about how Cicely was founded in prior episodes - Chris infuriates Maurice in an early episode discussing the sapphic love of Cicely and Roslyn on his radio program. Here, the viewer finally sees the story of Cicely and Roslyn (who are portrayed by guest actors while the rest of the cast takes over the other roles) as they band together, inspire locals who are living in the Alaskan frontier and settle the town to form a community.

Ned, a young man and aspiring poet, is virtually illiterate and carving out a living on the frontier as a virtual beggar where he is abused by the local crime lord, Mace Mobrey and his lackey, Kit. Cicely and Roslyn arrive in the area, fleeing the intolerance of the southern United States and they instantly treat Ned with kindness. Cicely, who is ill, and Roslyn, who is nurturing her back to health, instantly bond with the locals in Abe's pub. They include: Franz Kafka, a missionary names Mary O'Keefe, and Sally, Abe's young love. Roslyn and Cicely inspire Ned, Abe and the others to rise up against Mace and his oppressive tactics and claim the land as their own without paying patronage to him.

The regular cast is fit easily into the roles of their frontier counterparts and while the concept is not terrible heavy, it gives each of the actors a chance to step outside of their usual role. Rob Morrow (Fleischman) takes on the mantle of Kafka, Janine Turner (O'Connell) becomes O'Keefe, Barry Corbin (Maurice) is transposed into the villainous Mace, John Corbett (Chris) basically plays the same character as Kit (he's a bit highbrow for a thug's lackey!), John Cullum (Holling) becomes Abe, Darren Burrows (Ed) has a chance to stretch his acting legs as the young Ned, and Cynthia Geary (Shelly) tags along as Sally. The 1909 versions of each character are clever, though they seem to utilize many of the character conceits of the character who is imagining the story the older Ned is telling.

"Cicely" works (perhaps not as well as a season finale, but as a general episode) because it gives the viewer a real sense of a ride. The story is one that is pretty predictable: whatever happens in the impending shootout that Cicely and Roslyn arrange, we know Ned survives it and the town of Cicely is established. But this is one of those episodes where the journey makes all the difference. In other words, it's just fun! "Cicely" is a chance to watch a virtual actor's studio for a group of remarkably talented actors and unlike some episodes of Northern Exposure, which fall short on time and end up having filler, this is an incredibly tight episode (indeed, on the DVD version of it, this has possibly the greatest number of deleted scenes of any episode of the series!). In this way, "Cicely" becomes something of a gift to the fans.

The acting challenges that the cast live up to are almost impossible for the non-fans to appreciate because without the frame of reference, the performances as just roles that the actors are playing. And while it's easy to see someone like John Corbett playing the rogue Kit or Barry Corbin playing a character stripped of all ambiguity to be an outright villain, some of the cast gives shockingly good performances.

The highlight of these is Darren Burrows as the young Ned. Burrows has taken some slack from me as I review Northern Exposure episodes because it's hard to tell how decent an actor he truly is. Burrows plays Ed Chigliak as slow and subtle and his early performances were awkward and sometimes painful to watch because it was impossible to tell if Ed was supposed to be mildly handicapped, suffering from a language or cultural barrier or just off in his own little world. But in "Cicely," Burrows comes completely into his own.

In this episode, Burrows does not have any slowness to play, he is confident in the role and he takes the viewer on a wonderful character journey of a beaten boy who slowly gains his confidence and comes into his own. Burrows evolves the character with his performance such that by the end of the episode, the young Ned is speaking with the same cadences as the old Ned, played by Robert Blossom. That's a great acting challenge and Burrows lives up to the challenge well.

Robert Blossom gives a wonderful performance to lend credibility to the episode and Jo Anderson and Yvonne Suhor give good performances as Roslyn and Cicely, respectively. I was familiar with Suhor from her guest shot on Star Trek: Voyager's "Prime Factors" and was suitably impressed with her performance in "Cicely." She's a decent character actress and she plays off Anderson perfectly to create a believable couple.

"Cicely" won a boatload of awards for Northern Exposure and rightfully so. The episode takes chances, but it holds the attention of the audience and provides an entertaining story of people casting off their oppressors and fighting for love. That's a pretty classic story and it is told with humor and spunk on this episode.

While the acting and character quirks that transfer from the primary characters to their 1909 personas are likely to be more appreciated by fans of the show, this is a fun episode and a great entry point into Northern Exposure. Indeed, I'd recommend bypassing the first two seasons and starting with the third and because this episode establishes the setting of Cicely, it's a weird, but appropriate place to start. Worth it for any fan of dramadies!

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Northern Exposure - The Complete Third Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the third season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

9.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Another Tough Sell Episode In Northern Exposure's Third Season Is "Burning Down The House."

The Good: Moments of concept, Performances, Moments of character
The Bad: Entirely predictable a-plot, Ridiculous b-plot, Utter lack of anything superlative.
The Basics: In a sadly average (at best) episode, three weak plots are combined to try to fill the time, with none of them being truly satisfying.


There is something fun about going back and watching television shows from the '80s now, especially as some of the people who were in shows then age or, unfortunately, die. I first caught the Northern Exposure episode "Burning Down The House," shortly after the death of Bibi Besch, who I had enjoyed in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (reviewed here!). Sadly, this is not one of her more remarkable performances and honestly, this is a tough sell episode (it's one of my razor decisions that ended up falling short in the coin toss.

The fundamental problem with "Burning Down The House" is that it is weakly plotted. There are three mediocre ideas that are lumped together into a single episode and none of the three ideas is enough to carry the episode on its own. The title of the episode puts the focus on Maggie O'Connell, though. It helps to have seen "Seoul Mates" (reviewed here!) because there Maggie learns she is not being recalled home for Christmas Vacation as she is used to.

"Burning Down The House" finds Maggie being visited by her mother, Jane, who promptly reveals that she is divorcing her husband, Maggie's father. Apparently Jane and her husband spent Christmas traveling to rekindle the spark between them, did not find it and have decided to split. Unfortunately for Maggie, Jane finds a spark while in Cicely and she burns down Maggie's house.

Elsewhere, Chris becomes obsessed with creating a cow catapult and, separately, Fleischman becomes obsessed with the chimney sweep in town, who he recognizes as a famous golfer who blew a putt in the Majors some years before. Sadly, these one line descriptions of the plots that take up the other two-thirds of the episode are about that substantial. Fleischman antagonizes Bob into admitting he is, in fact, golfer Larry Coe, and Chris pursues his art and wastes any free moment of the episode with attempting to find a cow to fling through the air to its death. That plot is just plain stupid until the end.

The problem with a weakly plotted episode - other than giving me very little to review - is that the show suffers because it is taking the shotgun approach to storytelling and "Burning Down The House" definitely suffers from that. Because none of the plots are sufficiently developed, the episode pretty much goes anywhere in a desperate attempt to fill the fifty minutes. The problem, in this case, is that the only moment the show is remotely clever is when the Chris and Maggie plots resolve themselves together, though this forces writer Robin Green to contrive a completely new element to O'Connell that we've never seen before.

Jane O'Connell is nothing special and her appearance is somewhat baffling. Why? Maggie uses Fleischman in an earlier episode (in the second season) to impress her parents and Besch did not play Jane in that episode. In fact, it's like the writers forgot about "All Is Vanity," though admittedly Jane did not appear in it. The writers and directors of the two episodes were completely different, so they appear to not have conversed on making Jane into anyone who seems remotely compatible to Frank (Maggie's father). The short of it is, introducing Jane instead of revisiting Frank makes the episode seem a bit more convoluted in the big picture.

The idea that Jane is a pyromaniac is amusing, though it's a short-lived bit of humor. Her arrival and the news she brings is not at all surprising. The moment she appears - especially without Frank - the story she tells is pretty unremarkable. So, the viewer is left with a character relaying a story that is pretty dull and predictable for fans of the show, doing something amusing and then getting lost.

More important than Jane's pyromania is Maggie's dealing with it and the separation of her parents. Unfortunately, this does not come back up for some time in the series and the result of this visit does not move forward any of the bigger plots (I suppose I ought to be happy that the show did not go in a predictable direction and have Maggie and Fleischman move in with one another following her loss of a house!).

Fleischman's part in this episode is as simple as his plot. He pops up, recognizes the chimney sweep and does his usual annoying schtick. Nothing new here.

I wish I could say that the Chris plot challenges actor John Corbett, but he's pretty much standard Chris in this one. He's not as uninspired as he was in The Messengers, but he's nothing to write home about here either. Chris's need to do something artistic that has never been done before is admirable and certainly fits his character, but actor Corbett is not given anything new to play with the character in this role this episode.

So, what we end up with is mush that only Janine Turner (Maggie) makes work well enough to even bring the episode into remotely debatable territory. She plays the wounded adult who must deal with her parents' divorce quite well, though that whole conflict within her character is quickly sublimated to the fear that her mother is a pyromaniac. This does not give Turner a lot to work with, but she does what she can with it.

Ultimately, the episode is a failure to make something that holds up over multiple viewings and that is disappointing. The series does better and you can do better than picking this video up.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Northern Exposure - The Complete Third Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the third season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

5/10

For other television episode and DVD set reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Bit Of Dialogue Makes An Average Episode Shine With Northern Exposure's "Seoul Mates!"

The Good: Chris's interaction with Maurice, Character, Acting
The Bad: Weak plot, Maggie's b-plot
The Basics: Despite a slow or fractured start, "Seoul Mates" pulls together when Minnifield learns he has a Korean son during Christmas in Cicely!


Virtually ever television series airing in the United States makes an effort - at least once per series run - to capitalize on the Christmas holiday by doing a Christmas episode. Today, I've been enjoying that concept and I watched "In Excelsis Deo," the Emmy-winning Christmas episode from the first season of The West Wing (reviewed here!). I also decided to revisit the Northern Exposure Christmastime episode "Seoul Mates," which was nominated for several awards (it may have even won, come to think of it). The truth is, "In Excelsis Deo" is a grand slam episode for The West Wing, whereas "Seoul Mates" takes some warming up to. That's not to say "Seoul Mates" is not good television, but it does not instantly resonate the way the episode of The West Wing does.

With Christmas arriving in Cicely, Alaska, the small town is filled with raven imagery, much to the confusion of Dr. Fleischman. Deciding to embrace the season, the New York Jew opts for getting a Christmas tree because it has no direct ties to anything distinctly Christian and he likes the way they look. He approaches Maggie O'Connell about decorating it, but finds that she is fretting the impending annual manipulation of her by her parents. She dreads being recalled by her parents for Christmas with their timeworn efforts to make her feel guilty.

On the other side of town, Maurice Minnifield is feeling lonely until he gets a surprise . . . visitors from Korea, one of whom appears to be his adult son!

For those who have not seen or been a fan of Northern Exposure, it is germane to note that Maurice Minnifield, formerly in the military, formerly an astronaut, is a businessman who seeks to develop Cicely and the areas around it for tourism and profit. He's strongly conservative, especially on cultural issues. When he learns of his son, Yung, he is instantly resistant to the idea.

Indeed, Minnifield does not even remember Yung Yong Ja, the Korean prostitute who he had frequented while stationed in Korea when she arrives with Yung. Instead, Minnifield is instantly appalled by the idea that he might have sired a nonwhite child and he is openly hostile toward Yung. There is a dark irony to the confusion Minnifield exhibits when he understands that Yung is his son and demands to know what it is the man wants from Maurice. He is absolutely baffled that the son might not want money, but rather just to know who his father is.

"Seoul Mates" is one of the few episodes of network television I can recall that so thoroughly tackles - without fear or pretense - racism and the weird levels it exists on. Maurice is unabashedly hostile to Yung and exhibits revulsion over the idea that after years of considering the possibility of having an heir, that heir might not be white. In fact, Yung is nothing like what he expected and Minnifield manages to tell him that in what is a remarkably hurtful (through his indifference) way. Indeed, if there is any real fault with Maurice's character arc in this episode, it is how long his confusion persists before he actually becomes angered by the reality of his expectations suddenly turning around on him.

Why am I so enthusiastic about an episode where the main plot focuses on a mean racist whose anger boils up over having a nonwhite child? Because there is a moment in the episode where everything turns. The moment is incredibly clever and writers Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, as well as director Jack Bender, ought to be given a lot of credit for. The moment comes not with a "Hallmark" turnaround wherein Maurice realizes that his racism is wrong and he makes a full turnabout to embrace his son. No, "Seoul Mates" is smarter than that because while the issue is incredibly important, Northern Exposure wants to tackle the racism within the bounds of the actual characters.

As a result, Frolov and Schneider orchestrate a scene with Maurice and Chris. Back in the first season of the series (reviewed here!), there was an episode where Maurice named Chris his heir, so there has been an almost familial bond between them at times since. Maurice confesses to Chris about just how he is feeling and how hurt and disappointed he is by Yung being he son. Chris, then, goes into the obligatory speech about racism and all its evils. However, instead of putting Maurice in his place, Chris simply notes the good thing about the exact type of racism Maurice is exhibiting, which is that it is a learned trait.

Everyone in that scene performs and delivers perfectly. The writers set up the lines, Chris - played by John Corbett - delivers the story, Maurice - played by Barry Corbin - sets it up with lines asking why this ought to cheer him up and Corbett spikes home the kicker line that completely turns the episode. And no, I won't ruin that. It's worth the slow build-up of the rest of the episode to reach that point and be pleasantly surprised when it comes.

This is an episode where performance does everything, yet the performance is less a change and more the precise embodiment of the characters being portrayed. That is to say how wonderful Corbett and Corbin are in this episode is not based on how they stretch out from how they have played their characters before now. Instead, they simply (and I use the word knowing it is not simple for the actors!) embody their characters perfectly, becoming them without a hint of the performer. They make us believe completely in the reality of their characters with their performances.

They are pretty wonderful.

On the other side of this is a pretty weak b-plot with O'Connell that features her complaining annoyingly through the first acts about how her parents will send her a ticket home for the holidays, which she dreads. This plot resolves itself with a somewhat predictable reversal that those of us who watch a lot of television will be unsurprised to see. It's weird seeing O'Connell running around complaining and I'm not sure it works given her usually level personality. I'm more comfortable with the show when it's Fleischman running around kvetching, probably because I'm not so fond of his character.

The episode also features Shelly pining for an old Christmas like she had growing up - which is odd when one considers how flaky her mother is when she pops up in a subsequent episode. This gives actor John Cullum, who plays Holling, a wonderful chance to show off his pipes and it's a beautiful moment for the series and the Holling and Shelly characters.

Even more important to the episode is the raven image and the story of the Native creation myth that is told at the episode's climax. It's a pretty packed episode, come to think of it. But the truth is, it is dominated by the Maurice story, with the raven popping up throughout, until it is eventually explained at the end. And for the most part, it works.

Anyone who wants to see a decent holiday story that is surprisingly secular and spiritual without plugging a Christian or Paulist agenda, this is a great way to go.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Northern Exposure - The Complete Third Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the third season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

8/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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"The Body In Question" Yields A Mediocre Episode Of Northern Exposure.

The Good: Good concept, Good debate over consequences, Moments of acting, Holling's character
The Bad: Very simple plot stretched a bit far, Forced character elements
The Basics: When Chris finds a frozen body whose personal effects indicate a different version of the end of Napoleon's life, the citizens of Cicely are torn as to what to do.


For those who follow my reviews of Northern Exposure, it's no surprise to learn that I was not a huge fan (or a fan at all) of the first two seasons of the series. Indeed, with the first season (reviewed here!), I found the show to be not at all as good as others had suggested, specifically not as quirky as many had made the series out to be, and the second season (reviewed here!) was merely a poor repetition of the first. With the third season, I found it to be much of what I had been promised when I began watching the series. It is rare, then, for me to find a third season episode of Northern Exposure that I would have trouble recommending.

And yet, "The Body In Question" is just one such episode. "The Body In Question" has a wonderful concept and makes a wonderful case about the debate between history and culture, but some of the character elements are forced and overdone. Unlike many episodes of the series that are clever or eccentric that develop the characters well, here it feels like writer Henry Bromell did not have a firm grasp on the characters, which is odd because this is not Bromell's first episode of the series and his others are rather good.

Chris is out doing his thing in the local river when garbage begins to wash past him. He is surprised by the nature of some of it and is even more surprised when nearby he finds the frozen corpse of a man. Bringing the frozen man Pierre Le Moulin back to Cicely, Chris inadvertently sparks a series of events that challenge the citizens of the small Alaskan city.

Maurice Minnifield, in his usual way, looks for a way to exploit the corpse for tourism, which looks likely when Pierre's journals indicate he was a friend of Napoleon and that Napoleon may not have lived his life out the way history records it. Maggie is thrilled by the prospect of Pierre helping to rewrite history, as is most of Cicely. On the other side of the argument - as usual - is Dr. Fleischman, who fears that if Pierre is telling the truth, it will undo most of the written history of Western Civilizations.

The basic premise is a clever one: dead body is found which challenges the history most everyone in the world takes for granted. The debate that ensues as a result is a remarkably highbrowed and intriguing one: if one major historical figure's life is rewritten, what are the consequences of that? Who gets to make the choice over what is determined to be "historically correct?" The debate takes the polarizing notions of the value of the absolute truth vs. the importance of myth in history and society. It's rare that an hour of television attempts to wrestle with such big notions, but "The Body In Question" does.

And it generally does it well. "Generally" applies here because the argument is kept pretty simple and as a result, there is a great deal of repetition and because Joel is the only one making the strong argument for the value of keeping history intact, the episode begins to grate on the viewer some. Fleischman has not been doing so much complaining in the third season and that has been a welcome changed for viewers. Yet in "The Body In Question," he seems less like a principled debater and more like a whining, immature guy, like he was in much of the first two seasons.

As a result, much of the episode is driven by the plot, which motivates the characters to simply weigh in on their perspectives of history and the collective unconscious. And herein lies the problem: because someone needs to represent the view that "history is what is already written and to challenge that could unravel everything" and because the character chosen to do that is Joel (the only other reasonable person to do it would have been Minnifield, but Maurice always trumps his conservative nature with profit margins), the audience is asked to overlook how illogical that choice is. Joel has a great deal to gain from proving that Pierre is exactly who he says he is and challenging the history as it has been written. Such a role brings notariety, speaking engagements, profit, everything Joel lacks in his tenure in Cicely and has coveted from the first episode. If it did not get him out of Cicely, it would at least increase tourism and potentially allow him to either have more contact with people like himself or treat more people. Either way, he would be more stimulated than he is when the episode begins.

So, because the episode is stretched pretty thin, there are b-plots added in, or more precisely one b-plot involving Shelly and Holling. The problem is, the two interact so little in the b-plot, it feels almost like they are two separate stories. Shelly begins to freak out and believe that she may be infertile. She becomes obsessed with the idea that because she and Holling do not have children together - even though she's never exhibited any desire to have any - that their love will not last. She becomes convinced she is barren and that drains her (on the DVD version of this episode, there are deleted scenes that are much more explicit and obvious with this, though the aired cut on this tape is at least as good with the more subtle approach).

This is an interesting enough character dilemma, but it feels tacked on in this episode. Somehow, it just does not fit into "The Body In Question." And that is where Holling Vincoeur's story comes in. Holling is agitated from the moment Pierre's body arrives in Cicely. He becomes moody and withdrawn and avoids Shelly some, which sparks her fears about their relationship lasting.

Holling's story is much more interesting than what it appears and the explanation is brilliant. His actions throughout the episode make perfect sense in light of the - admittedly farfetched - character revelations that come out at almost the very end of the episode (which I shall not ruin!). Holling contributes the one genuine piece of actual character development to an episode that is otherwise seriously bogged down with plot points and thematic debates.

John Cullum, who plays Holling gives a wonderful performance and is able to completely sell the audience on his character's sudden left turn with the backstory revelations. Cullum is convincing because he has a quiet dignity and because he is not outlandish, he can make even the extraordinary seem plausible. It is Cullum's ability to play quietly emotional that gives his performance in this episode real weight and satisfies the viewer.

Close behind is actress Cynthia Geary, who gives a much more manic performance than Cullum as Shelly. Geary, whose work on the show often goes underappreciated gives a great performance as a young woman seriously worried about the future and the future of her relationships and the ability to have a family when she wants one. Even though the b-plot with her worries does not seem to fit this particular episode, she pulls the character aspects off well with a very considerate performance. Here she portrays a sense a maturity that her character seldom has and she is wonderful bringing that to the role.

"The Body In Question" has a resolution that is funny and quirky and seems like it might have been more appropriate on Twin Peaks, but it works for this odd show. Were it not so monolithic and repetitive in the debates and focused some more on the characters debating and why they have such an emotional stake in the whole "are Pierre's journals real or are the history books telling the truth" debate, then "The Body In Question" might have been a winner. As it is, it is an above average concept with a below average execution.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Northern Exposure - The Complete Third Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the third season by clicking here!
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5/10

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© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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