Product Details

• Actors: Rob Morrow, Janine Turner, Barry Corbin, John Cullum, Darren E. Burrows
• Writers: Jeff Melvoin, John Falsey, Jordan Budde, Joshua Brand
• Producers: Henry Bromell
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 47 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303057055
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,163 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Northern lights, a dream world captured on tape, July 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Northern Exposure: Northern Lights [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Northern exposure is brilliant at it's worst and in this magical episode, it combines every character nuance, every dynamic to it's upmost. Chris, ever my personal hero toils over a piece of performance art that, shockingly to both himself and the viewer fails to come together: "there's no there there" he laments. Mistaken for a hobo by Cicely's first homeless person, they share a pure moment in which class and situation are immaterial - brilliant! Maurice flaunts his famous bigotry brought up smart by a surprising twist in the hobo's story while Bernard ponders so incisively the psychological and metaphysical reasoning behind class attitudes. Joel meanwhile battles with his personal dejection and "abandonment issues" as Cicely first denies him his holiday and then begins a lawsuit against him when he protests. The episode ends as brilliantly as ever with truly the most captivating and enchanting set imaginable, set to an appropriately whimsical score. Brilliant an absoloute 5 star cracker.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shedding a lot of light on the darkest day of the year in Cicely, Alaska, December 24, 2005

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Northern Exposure: Northern Lights [VHS] (VHS Tape)

As soon as you see the title of this fourth season episode of "Northern Exposure," you might wonder if there is a connection between "Aurora Borealis," the last episode of the abbreviated first season, and "Northern Lights." Yes, there actually is a connection in that the former is when Chris Stevens (John Corbett) discovered that Bernard (Richard Cummings Jr.) was his brother, and Bernard is back helping Chris in the Morning on KBHR helping people cope with the oppressive darkness. Also, we once again find Chris working on his winter sculpture.

"Northern Lights" (First aired March 1, 1993), was written by Diana Frolov and Andrew Scheider, and primarily focuses on the winter rituals of the local inhabitants. For example, Holling Vincoeur (John Cullum) is hibernating, leaving Shelley (Cynthia Geary) to run the Brick all by herself. As mentioned above, Chris is again working on his winter sculpture, but halfway through the process his muse abandons him, which is not a good thing. Then there is Ruth-Ann (Peg Miller), who has taken to painting.

Then there are the major conflicts of the episode. Cicely has its first homeless man in Lane Bristol (Scott Paulin), who appears on the street and starts begging for money. Maurice (Barry Corbin) wants the bum thrown out of town until he learns that Bristol was also a marine, at which point Maurice does a complete about face to try and help his fellow jarhead. Then there is poor Joel (Rob Morrow), who is looking forward to his first vacation away from Alaska. After all, we are down to that time of year when the sun only shines for an hour each day, if that. But the state of Alaska denies him time for a vacation because the community would be endangered by not having a doctor. Of course an irate Joel decides to see if that would be the case by going on strike, somehow thinking the state of Alaska, having sent him to Cicely in the first place, will be reasonable and/or compassionate with regards to his plight.

This is a fairly literate episode, not just because Chris is quoting the likes of Goethe, Dylan Thomas, John Henry Newman, the Book of Psalms, and Isaiah, but also because "light" is a master metaphor in the episode from start to finish. It extends even to the beer than Lance is drinking and the earrings that Shelly is wearing when Holling finally wakes up. So you might think this episode is all about Seasonal Affective Disorder (appropriately abbreviated as SAD), but it really is all about letting a little light in your life.