Customer Reviews

Northern Exposure - The Complete Sixth Season

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With some of the original air dates in debate:

1.) Dinner at Seven-Thirty
Original Air Date: September 19, 1994
Joel drinks orange juice from Ed's refrigerator, but it is actually a healing potion for body aches.

2.) Eye of the Beholder
Original Air Date: September 26, 1994
Ed busts an insurance scam; Maggie donates a family heirloom for a charity auction; Maurice donates a case of "turned" red wine.

3.) Shofar, So Good
Original Air Date: October 3, 1994
Rabbi Schulman plays the ghostlike character in "A Christmas Carol"; Maurice holds the annual fox hunt.

4.) The Letter
Original Air Date: October 10, 1994
Maggie discovers a letter she wrote to herself when she was a teen; Shelly learns the fallacy of chain letters; and Chris meets the new town barber.

5.) The Robe
Original Air Date: October 17, 1994
Shelly meets the devil; Ed works with Joel to prove himself to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; and Chris becomes a ventriloquist.

6.) Zarya
Original Air Date: October 31, 1994
Marilyn tells a story about Russian treaty negotiations.

7.) Full Upright Position
Original Air Date: November 1, 1994
Joel and Maggie board a plane bound to Russia; Maurice brings his young cousin into his business; Chris gets inside electricity.

8.) Up River
Original Air Date: November 14, 1994
Joel goes to Manonash; Chris remodels his trailer; Ruth-Anne surrenders to love.

9.) Sons of the Tundra
Original Air Date: November 28, 1994
New doctor, Phillip Capra and his wife, Michelle, come to Cicely. Holling wants to join Sons of the Tundra; Ed sees the future.

10.) Realpolitik
Original Air Date: December 12, 1994
Maggie is elected Mayor; Dr. Capra plays a round of golf with Joel; Marilyn buys a dog.

11. The Great Mushroom
Original Air Date: January 4, 1995
Maggie goes to Manonash; the Capras entertain house guests; and Ed discovers a cure for shingles.

12.) Mi Casa, Su Casa
Original Air Date: January 11, 1995
While house-sitting, Ed throws an outlandish bash on Maurice's dime; Marilyn goes to Manonash. Shelly and Holling look for their first house.

13.) Horns
Original Air Date: January 18, 1995
Joel is free from his "imprisonment"; Maurice produces Cicely Water, which affects the town's people in strange ways.

14. The Mommy's Curse
Original Air Date: February 1, 1995
Maggie's mother brings her boyfriend to town; Walt works for Ruth-Anne at the store; Holling and Dr. Capra hang out together.

15.) The Quest
Original Air Date: February 8, 1995
Joel and Maggie search for the Jeweled City of the North; Chris sues Dr. Capra; and Michelle Capra writes a review of the Brick.

16.) Lucky People
Original Air Date: February 15, 1995
Dr. Capra has a shocking realization; Cicely celebrates Founders Day; and Maurice buys gifts for Holling's daughter.

17.) The Graduate
Original Air Date: March 8, 1995
Chris earns his Master's degree; Maggie purchases the local movie house; a young man claims to be Holling's son.

18.) Little Italy
Original Air Date: March 15, 1995
Dr. Capra discovers "Little Italy"; Ruth-Anne is on NPR's "All Things Considered."

19.) Balls
Original Air Date: March 22 1995
Cicely has a bowling team; Ed quits working for Maurice. Lester Haines makes Ed an offer.

20.) Buss Stop
Original Air Date: April 12, 1995
Michelle Capra directs the play "Bus Stop."

21.) Ursa Minor
Original Air Date: May 3, 1995
Ed adopts a bear cub; Maggie walks in on Chris using lucid dreaming; Maurice is upset about Cicely's population decline.

22.) Let's Dance
Original Air Date: May 10, 1995
Officer Semanski has feelings for Cal Ingraham; Dr. Capra insults Mrs. Whirlwind.

23.) Tranquility Base
Original Air Date: May 17, 1995
Finale: The cast of characters go to Maurice's Tranquility Base. Michelle gets lost in the woods; Maurice asks Barbara to marry him; Iris Dement's song, "Our Town" is the vocal backdrop for a wonderful montage.

Northern Exposure is the best show ever made in all of television history.
This is the final season, and though Joel leaves the show to many peoples dislike, the rest of the characters keep the show interesting up till the finale episode. The way Joel's experiences in Alaska end up changing him are very significant as we see in the final season, and this has always been in my opinion one of the most existentially sincere and compelling character changes ever developed in any television show. This is the result of writing that is comparable to high literature if you compare the character of Joel from the first episode to the final one he appears in, and the entire series of NX becomes a protrayal of a man who goes through the most poignant and profound experiences of self realization.

I love this show. I do.

But the entire feeling that I remember so fondly from the end of the episode entitled "The Quest" is altered by the change in music from the original. Years ago when it first aired, "Forever Nightshade Mary", by the Los Lobos side project band Latin Playboys, played over Rob Morrow's final scene on the show. I distinctly remember the calming, almost zen impression it made, twelve years after it first aired.

Now, it's gone, replaced with something that sounds like Rosemary Clooney or Ethel Merman, something that has far more bombast, and was no doubt cheaper to license for the DVD set. Do I love the fact that I can get the show on DVD? Yes. But it would be disingenuous to say that I don't cringe everytime I hear a piece of music that I know didn't play when the showed aired originally, as music played such an integral part of the mood and feel of the show. This is a case in point illustration of the effect of choice of music in television.

I had hoped against hope that it would not be the case with the sixth season (they had at least managed to get away from double sided DVDs), but alas...

This television series, up until this final year, had well established itself not only as a landmark series, but also had maintained a fairly consistent level of quality. That is, until this final year. Joel Fleishman's (Rob Morrow) character would see reduced time on this series until he ultimately left the show alltogether. The producers brought on a few new actors in an attempt to reinvigorate the "fish out of water" scenario, but they both proved to be dissapointing. That, and coupled with a good chunk of lackluster writing left longtime fans with a very very bittersweet ending to this series. Even the last episode was not even written to be their finale, (it was also a very dull episode as well) and only a few spare moments were done in reshoots to close out the show. Overall, I think this particular season is really lacking and is not in the same class as what had been established in the previous five years.

When Rob Morrow announced, at the end of the 5th season, that he would not be renewing his contract to do the show, it sent the producers on a hunt for a replacement. Since the show had started as a Summer Replacement show, Rob still had six months left in his five year contract to fulfill. This meant that he had to appear in some of the sixth season episodes, and Rob seems to be just walking through these episodes waiting for his contract to expire.

While Dr. Joel Fleischer was the basis character for the series, the town itself quickly became the star. So the death of the series at Rob's announcement was not a given situation, replacements worked fine for M*A*S*H which had the similar ensamble style (but it was not Hawkeye they were losing). The producers introduced a new town doctor, but this time he was not neurotic and would not be persuing Maggie (he was happily married). That was the trouble. In a town full of neurotic characters, replacing neurotic #1 with a bland character having less personality that the town's totum pole just reminded fans that the series was ending after all.

One would think that with six months notice a better replacement could have been found.

Fans could also have troubles with the character transformation of DR. Joel Fleischman. He starts off this season like other seasons, but he quickly becomes a different character than the one we grew to enjoy. Watching the last 10 episodes of this season could be like watching a slow death, almost like watching "After M*A*S*H". The surreal series finale is perfect for this surreal series, and should have happened a few episodes earlier than it did. The nice part about watching this on DVD is that you can skip over those Morrow-less episodes.

I think that the town of Cicily Alaska could have survived the loss of DR. Joel Fleischman had the right replacement character been found. The first 5 episodes are classic Cicily. When Shelly meets the Devil the outcome is in the true spirit of the series.

Others have listed the episodes, so I will not repeat this information.

What can you say about this show that people that have already seen it haven't said already? Each and every episode of Northern Exposure has a plot and enough great writing and acting to be full length movies in their own right. Whoever was the casting directeor did an outstanding job with getting this cast together in the beginning because they all seem to fit their parts so well. Also, how many shows that are an hour long each week can last 6 seasons without the quality of the episodes going down at all. Sure, many people didn't like the fact that Joel left in this, the 6th and last season, but all of the Joel-less episodes were still great. And if you want to get technical, Joel did play in almost half of this season's episodes anyway. Each and every episode of this show was like I went on an adventure with the people of Cicely, Alaska, and I never wanted to come back. So many wonderful memries like Ed buying Ruth-Anne and burial plot and dancing on it with her, Chirs' legal trouble with the state of West Virginia, Holling's mid-life crisis at 63 years old, Joel discovering a wolly mammoth that Walt ends up cooking on his grill, and I could go on and on. Season 6 has its share of touching moments as well, most noteable is the very last episode called Tranquility Base. Did anyone feel bad for Ed when at the end of this episode everyone had someone to be with, but Ed went back home alone. But he had his movies and seemed as happy as anyone else.

Speaking of this "Tranquility Base", I would like to plead to whoever is releasing this set of DVD's to PLEASE leave the song "Our Town" in this last episode. I know the music has been reowrked a lot in these DVD's, but this song is crutial to this last epsidoe and it should be left in!

I was saddened to hear Peg Phillips (Ruth Ann) died a few years back. I wish she could have gotten to see these DVD's that she's so much a part of.

I, like many others here, have been a fan of Northen Exposure both when it aired originally and in the DVD collections. I am glad that all of the seasons have been offered on DVD so that we can capture this excellent show for our viewing pleasure for years to come. If you have not yet checked out this show, you are missing true television enjoyment. The actors in this show touched the lives of many fans with their wonderful characters, and we are geninely appreciative of the work that you all did on this show.

Never having watched the show when it originally aired I became entirely addicted to the DVD sets, and have blissfully devoured them all. For my money Northern Exposure is the second greatest TV series in the history of the medium, second only to The Fugitive.

I avoided watching the final season due to the dreadful comments of many Amazon reviewers but I finally gave in... and I'm sorry I did.

There are many specific problems and one that's more ethereal.

First, replacing Dr. Fleischman with another doctor whose attitudes, inability to adjust and general whininess exactly mirror his predecessor was a foolish move. It's hard to imagine the creative team who gave birth to this brilliant show making this decision - it reeks of one mandated by clueless studio executives.

Second, Paul Provenza as the new doctor and whoever as his wife, under the blanket of a dead script, create characters who could put a speed freak to sleep. Dull as dishwater and at times immensely aggravating.

Third, the entire cast seems to have had the wind taken out of their sails. Many are walking through their roles. Marilyn's usual stoney simplicity which for five seasons was cleverly rendered and at time hilarious in the final season now becomes shockingly boring. Too often season six has what the others never did - BAD acting.

Fourth, the reliance on fantasy, dreams, illusions, etc. is wildly overworked. The season opener's recasting of the characters in New York is clever and it entertains. But let's drop it there, please. Watching Provenza at one point turn into a werewolf while his wife serves him dinner is beyond painful. It's not clever. It's stupid.

The harder to pin down problem is that the magic is gone. The indescribable mix of sharp writing and quirky charm that makes Northern Exposure so unique is entirely absent. One always had the feeling that the characters loved each other. There's no love in these scripts.

If you feel like I do that there was always some fairy dust sprinkled on the streets of Cicely... you'll find that every bit of that dust has blown away...

Too bad this final set of DVDs does not include all of the original music. "Our Town" is still there, but none of the other music is, like "Forever Night Shde Mary" by the Latin Playboys. Pretty dissapointing, but I still bought it. :(

Other reviewers have found fault with the new characters of Phil and Michelle Capra, but I liked them. They brought the same sense of Yuppie angst and naivete to the town that Joel had displayed. I also very much liked the ending of Joel's journey. He left the town much more in touch with himself than he was when he arrived - which was a fitting conclusion to a journey through a place of magic.

My only complaint of course is the changed music (my set of tapes of the televised versions, incomplete though it may be, has a new reverential status - at least I can revisit the show and view it with the music intact) and the final show. It had it's moments but I was disappointed that Barbara never evolved at all and watching mighty Maurice accomodate her almost made me sick. And not enough was done to flesh out the Chris and Maggie plotline in the last season, making it hardly believable that they would end up together. It was almost as if the writers were embarrassed to put them together but felt that some type of conclusion to their individual story lines was needed.

Overall, a wonderful series that I would recommend to anyone who loves quirky characterizations and a fun, offbeat exploration of the human condition.