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267 of 281 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Season That Hooked Us All...., December 15, 2005
Season Four of Northern Exposure introduces us to the strange "Bubble Man", depicts Chris flinging a coffin, and leaves us with a pregnant and musical Shelly. There's lots more to enjoy in this mid-series season!
Here is a brief decription of each episode (from http://home.comcast.net/%7Emcnotes/WhatEp.html )
4.1 Northwest Passages
To celebrate her thirtieth birthday, Maggie spends the weekend camping alone to reflect on her life and cleanse her soul. Marilyn asks Chris to help her learn how to drive. Maurice rambles endlessly into a recorder about his past in an attempt to write his memoirs.
4.2 Midnight Sun
Joel is "light loony" and, with his enormous amount of excess energy, coaches the Cicely Quarks in their annual basketball game against Sleetmute. An old friend (Gillis Toomy) drops in to visit Ruth-Anne and outfits the town from his collection of fashionable ensembles.
4.3 Nothing's Perfect
Chris kills a dog with his truck and quickly falls in love with its owner (Amy, the Pi Lady). Maurice buys an extremely expensive Augsburg clock and with its delivery comes a highly trained specialist to install it.
4.4 Heroes
Chris must decide what to do with his deceased friend's remains (Tooley). A heavy-metal rock star (Guest star Adam Ant) mistakenly arrives in Cicely instead of Sicily.
4.5 Blowing Bubbles
A mysterious new resident (Mike Monroe) quarantines himself in Cicely, arousing Maggie's interest and Joel's disbelief. Ruth-Anne must also cope with a new addition to the community - her materialistic son, Matthew, who gives up his career as an investment banker in Atlanta in search of a simpler life.
4.6 On Your Own
The Flying Man returns to Cicely to woo Marilyn; Ed finds a ring that once belonged to Federico Fellini; Maurice has Mike rewrite his will to include his recently discovered Korean son, Duk Won.
4.7 The Bad Seed
Everyone is shocked when Holling's unknown illegitimate daughter arrives in town - especially Holling who believed he was sterile. Maggie assists Marilyn in her search for her dream house. Ed is excited about his annual visit from Princess, a crane he took under his wing when she was abandoned as a baby.
4.8 Thanksgiving
Cicely readies itself for the annual Day of the Dead parade and Thanksgiving Day feast; Joel discovers he owes the state of Alaska a fifth year of service.
4.9 Do The Right Thing
An ex-member of the KGB visits Cicely to sell Maurice his official Russian dossier; a health inspector surveys The Brick for the first time in more then thirty years; Maggie makes a vow to herself to live each day as if it was her last.
4.10 Crime and Punishment
Chris' past finally catches up with him and he is apprehended and tried for breaking parole in the state of West Virginia many years earlier.
4.11 Survival of the Species
Ed becomes environmentally conscious; Maggie discovers ancient Indian relics in her backyard; Chris befriends a young delinquent and teaches him about life on the road.
4.12 Revelations
Chris takes his vacation at a monastery; Ruth-Anne pays Maurice the remaining amount owed on her store; Joel becomes incredibly antsy when he has no patients.
4.13 Duets
Ed's spiritual guide leads him to his natural father; Maggie and Mike share their first kiss; traveling piano tuner visits the Brick to adjust its ancient upright.
4.14 Grosse Pointe, 48230
Maggie bribes Joel into accompanying her to her grandmother's birthday party in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
4.15 Learning Curve
Much to Joel's distress, Marilyn goes on vacation by herself; Holling attempts to earn his high school diploma; the regional teacher spends two weeks in Cicely and almost becomes a role model for Maggie.
4.16 Ill Wind
Drastic tension between Maggie and Joel; Maurice is unhappy when Chris saves his life; Ed is intrigued by death.
4.17 Love's Labour Mislaid
Maggie forgets having sex with Joel; Ed faces an arranged marriage; a rare bird is seen (a Siberian Tit) and Holling and Ruth-Anne go out to see it.
4.18 Northern Lights
Maurice befriends Cicely's first homeless man; Joel goes on strike when his vacation is denied; Ruth-Anne, Chris, and Holling perform their various winter rituals.
4.19 Family Feud
When a totem pole is carved for the Whirlwind family, a family feud originating from an incident in 1934 is resurrected, dividing the Native Americans in Cicely.
4.20 Homesick
When Mike (guest star Anthony Edwards) gets test results showing he is completely healthy, he feels obligated to leave Cicely and Maggie behind to continue his environmental crusade.
4.21 The Big Feast
To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Minnifield Communications, Maurice plans an extremely elaborate party; Adam and Eve (guest stars Adam Arkin and Valerie Mahaffey) return to Cicely with their new baby.
4.22 Kaddish for Uncle Manny
When Joel's uncle dies, he discovers that the important bonds in times of trouble are not necessarily from a common religion, but rather a sense of community.
4.23 Mud and Blood
At the coming of spring, Maggie and Holling find affirmation of life in Shelly's pregnancy.
4.24 Sleeping With the Enemy
Duk Won seeks approval of his bethrothed; Ed makes a movie in Tlinget; Holling wants more sex.
4.25 Old Tree
When an old tree considered to be a Cicely historical landmark appears to by dying, Joel dons a tree doctor's hat and gives his prognosis. Joel hurts himself everytime Maggie is nice to him. Shelly starts singing instead of talking.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Where words leave off, music begins. - Heinrich Heine, December 2, 2006
The replacement music on the DVDs has been such a mighty controversy regarding the release of NX on DVD. It's such a shame because I haven't heard of any other TV show being released on DVD that has had this problem.
I loved the show, and I really didn't notice the replacement music on Seasons 1-3, so I thought it could be forgiven. I figured that the original music was an artistic decision on the part of the creators of the series. If they couldn't get the rights at an affordable price for the DVDs, they would have to make more artistic decisions regarding replacement music. How bad could it be? How far could they go wrong?
Unfortunately, with Season 4, I am noticing it, and for me, I'm realizing how much the original choices of music were the heart of some scenes, and very often the heart of the all-important final scene, the one that leaves you with "that feeling". Often the music is essential for "that feeling".
So I realize I fall into the "original music is essential" camp of NX fans. If the music isn't the heart of the show's emotions for you, great. But Season 4 is the last one that I'll buy unless they find a way to release the series with the original music.
I'm glad I purchased seasons 1-4 to show my support (or else how else would they know how popular the show is so they can think about buying the rights to the original music), but I'm done with these DVDs. I'll watch them through and put them on a shelf, give them to relatives and hope they can get into them, but for my enjoyment, the original music was essential, and it's missing.
Hopefully, they won't be like David Bowie CDs, undergoing 3 or 4 releases until hardcore fans give him the finger and say "F*** You, David, I've given you enough money. I'm sticking with the Rykodiscs" like I did.
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32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Universal Studios = Cheese Factor, April 17, 2006
I have all the episodes of Northern Exposure on VHS and have enjoyed them for several years now. It's my favorite television show; I've seen every episode multiple times.
I've been fine with the DVDs but preferred the VHS tapes - despite their commercials, inferior quality, and slightly cut scenes - because, as many people have noted, the soundtracks on the DVDs for the second through fourth season have been changed.
The fourth season has finally turned me against the DVDs, for a very personal reason.
My favorite episode of Northern Exposure is "Nothing's Perfect," the third episode of the fourth season. The absolutely, positively most poignant few minutes of that show are hearing Danny Kaye's recording of "Inchworm" at the end of the episode. Truly, it's enough to make a person a little misty.
Prior to the season four DVDs I grudgingly accepted the replacement music because it generally didn't grossly interfere with the telling of the stories. Yes, it was hard not to hear "Is That All There Is?" at Rick's funeral in season two, but I could deal with that.
"Nothing's Perfect" is absolutely, positively not the same show without "Inchworm." I was relieved at first, because the DVD deceptively borrows a few lines of the song, but then it morphs into a song that has nothing to do with the theme of the show - as show which, as noted, is my favorite episode of my favorite television show of all-time.
Universal Studios is known for giving reputable actors a lot of money to take part in cheesy films. I didn't know the same cheese factor applies to its television offerings, but I've learned that's the case.
I hope someday enough fans of the show will have complained that Universal will release Northern Exposure again, this time *with* the music the producers and other creative people involved with the show so painstakingly chose to illustrate the stories they wanted to tell. I can't believe it's impossible to produce a limited edition for fans who are willing to pay a premium to see the show as it originally ran on TV, as it was originally intended to be viewed.
I hope Universal is listening.
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