Northern Exposure is Identity

We’re working through Season 3: Disc 5 of Northern Exposure (specifically My Sister, My Mother). In it, we find a nameless baby, Adam riding a roller coaster of emotions, and Shelly’s mom pretending to be her sister. Add these story-lines to the series’ general fish-outta-water-ness and there’s a lot of identity theory – Jewish or …

A Perfect Day for Cicely, Alaska

“I have grown really tired of contact sports…you can break an ankle, but can you die?”- Joel Fleischmann It’s -1°F this Saturday in the Twin Cities (weather.com says ‘feels like -18°F’, Thanks). Fortunately, NetFlix sent over Northern Exposure Season 2, Disc 2 this morning. This disc contains “All is Vanity”, the episode where Maggie has …

Reflections on Northern Exposure

“Football’s a good enough sport, but can you die playing it?” More than a decade ago, while flipping channels, I was first exposed to Northern Exposure. Maggie asked Joel to have dinner with her football-loving father under the pretense Joel was her extreme sports-loving boyfriend. (Not sure I got the above quote right, and google …