BlackberryJam

So I've finished S1 for a second time. It's lovely, really lovely. There is such a gentleness. I might go back through each episode, but Joel really is a very caring doctor. I struggle with Maggie's defensiveness. She jumps to the worst assumptions with every Joel interaction, even when he's trying to be kind. I appreciated the introduction of Adam so much more, and Joel's utter delight at finding the garlic press once he takes Ed and Maggie back to Adam's ...hut? The Bernard/Chris connection was interesting but not utterly compelling. However, I loved the Aurora Borealis sculpture. Watching Chris and Bernard work on it made me want to be creative again. Maurice wanting a son/heir is sweet, even if watching him try to parent Chris is weird. Sour note for me was Shelley and her husband Wayne. They just grate.

I love the fling itself, but yes, the lead up was enraging. I was really bothered by Joel outing and then trying to “fix” the chimney sweep. He deserved better. Joel is frequently kind, in his own way, to people, but yeah, that fell flat. A smashed cow would be cruel. Maggie lacks empathy often.

My fear is that the breaks would be at the wrong time. Could you imagine an ill-timed commercial in the middle of The Fling?

Ugh. I have been looking around for a Hulu deal and there is just nothing I can find. I don't really want to start out paying full price. Also, I'm going to pay the extra for ad-free Prime. Northern Exposure just wouldn't be the same cut up with ads.

So, I started my second rewatch. The first 20 or so minutes of the Pilot is SUPER ANNOYING JOEL. However, the second episode, Joel treats Mr. Anku. At Ed's urging, he goes to dinner at the Anku's. He sits in the sauna with Mr. Anku and Ed. He later makes a house call and Mr. Anku teaches him to dance. His treatment is so very respectful, and he goes out of his way to encourage Mr. Anku to get treatment. He's reasonable and kind. It's this interaction that leads to him being adopted by the tribe later on. It's just...lovely. That second episode. However, it makes the constant character reset annoying.

Northern Exposure premiered July 20, 1990 with the final episode of that season airing August 30, 1990.

I don’t think we are getting any mod attention…so if someone wants to make threads…? I watched a couple episodes into post-Joel S6. Paul Provenza is terrible. I don’t believe him as a doctor. I feel like the actor had never even been to a doctor he’s so bad at acting like a doctor. So, I went back and watched the Joel leaving arc. He does not have a final scene with Chris after Up River. In the Cicely Water/Sex Pollen trope episode, Joel turns down Maggie’s offer of dinner saying he already has plans with Chris, but we never see any of that. It’s a missed opportunity. Morrow likely had in his contract that he would appear in a certain number of episodes because he just briefly shows up a couple times. Once to trade with Holling for a knife. In the episode with Maggie’s mom coming to town, he walks into the Brick, Maggie sees him and convinces him to leave. I think Maurice’s last scene with Joel is Maurice walking into the Brick to talk to Phil about the sex water and he sees Joel eating there. He glares Joel’s direction and sits down with Phil. Both episodes had enough filler to have added a Chris and Joel scene. I would have liked a final scene with Joel and Leonard too. I might just skip ahead to the final episode because these Capra episodes are bad. On the other hand, I can be a bit of a completionist. I am really looking forward to starting over with the Pilot episode.

Okay…so I stayed up late to watch The Quest. The Chris story was IDIOTIC. John Corbett and Richard Cummings both seemed to hate it. I love the idea that JC was purposefully doing bad work because he hated it as well. In the lead up, and I did stay up late, but did Joel and Chris get a goodbye scene? We get Ed and Joel in Up River. The next episode, Joel trades with Holling for a knife. Marilyn goes to see Joel. Maggie, of course. Joel interacts with Shelley over the Founders’ Day tapes. Does he also have a scene with Ruth-Anne? I know Maurice at least sees Joel at The Brick. I just don’t recall a Chris and Joel goodbye scene, and dammit, there should have been one. Despite that I found Chris grating, Joel and Chris were friends. They deserved a final scene. If there was one and it was cut, what a damned shame. The last scene I remember them together in is the one where they put handprints in the concrete. I did read a theory that Joel actually died on the walrus hunt and the Quest was Maggie letting him go. I hate that theory. We had all those years of Joel and he finally learns and grows only to die? Screw that. I think I read a Morrow interview (which I cannot find, sorry), in which he said something like, “Joel is wherever you want him to be.” So, in a quest, defeat the dragon, resist the siren, solve the riddle, but does the hero stay in the jeweled city, or is it just a way to get home, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz? I think about Joel saying to Maggie, “I gotta do this,” and think, “yes, he has to go back to NYC, but not to stay.” I feel like NYC was unfinished business for Joel. It was like he needed to get what he’d been dreaming of to fully let it go. He did make a list of his favorite things and then burned them. He had to go back to NYC so he could walk away from it. Which brings me to how I have re-written it in my head. My insane head fic is hidden by spoilers because not everyone wants to read this crap. Yeah, in my head that’s how it ends! Also, screw you David Chase.

The writing for the Capras is funny, I just don't think Provenza carries it off well. Young Teri Polo! I've not finished yet so I'm not sure if Helen Santos has scenes with Stanley Keyworth (Adam). I love a The West Wing crossover. Character whiplash! Maggie goes to visit Joel at Manonash and keeps imagining him getting killed and is horrified. However, she was turned on by gunshot near misses just a few episodes earlier. I mean, I love the show, so I'm going to suck it up, but the whiplash is annoying. Also bothersome, Chris being attracted to Maggie as she's now mayor and talking as if he's always attracted to women in positions of authority. He keeps a magazine cover of Janet Reno. But let's go back to the Crime and Punishment episode in which Chris was being extradited. The judge was a woman. Chris was not attracted to her. Corbett is selling it, but I'm not buying it. Costuming note: Although Maggie has always had real estate (Joel's house, helping Marilyn look) she's generally dressed as primary job, bush pilot. Now she dresses more like a real estate agent. She's less Cicely and more Gross Pointe.

Call me insane, but I’m finding Joel is hitting peak hot in the episode where he golfs with Phil Capra. The sweater, the hair, the small half-smiles, the twinkle in his eyes. It’s all working for me. Speaking of Phil Capra, Paul Provenza seems so miscast. His Capra is charmless. He looks like a mob boss’s second in command. Costuming note, I went back and checked Up River. Joel is no longer wearing his Columbia class ring when Ed finds him at Manonash.

Links! Morrow on Jon Stewart Such babies, both of them. Burrows on Arsenio Hall Ketchup and Mustard sandwiches. :) Turner on Letterman She is so very pretty, but the laughing is ...weird. SNL with Rob Morrow and musical guest Nirvana The Pat skits do not hold up Video interview with Morrow, Turner, Geary and Josh Brand, show creator. (2017) Initial reboot talk Revival talk with Turner's tweet about it Rob Morrow at 60. He's naked. Morrow in stupid hats. Janine Turner - Surprised eyes, uneven lip filler. In 2023/2024. She's unrecognizable. Darren E. Burrows.

I stopped after Up River yesterday and will pick up again after work. That one episode made me feel so much that I wanted to let my brain chew on it. Maggie really doesn’t come off well, but that’s just a means to get Joel out of town. Her behavior is out of character and dumb, but I’m not going to obsess over it. Since I wasn’t watching, I looked up some old interviews and the like (while watching football). Anyway, fun bits I found: Rob Morrow hosted SNL and Nirvana was the musical guest! It made me think that they were filming near Seattle during the time when grunge was becoming more widespread. That had to be an interesting time. Rob Morrow did an early episode of Jon Stewart/The Daily Show. Stewart looks like a baby. Rob and Jon have some history in that Jon dated Rob’s second cousin or something. That was fun. Darren E. Burrows did Arsenio Hall. How did I forget about that Arsenio Hall had a talk show? Darren seemed sweet and so happy to have steady pay. Janine Turner did Letterman. She came off pretty…vapid. There was talk of a revival in 2018/2020 without Turner, and she was miffed about that. (COVID seems to have killed the idea, but you never know.) Turner made a SM post asking if she looked older/worse than Rob Morrow as they are near in age. Whatever she’s done to her eyes makes her look permanently surprised and the lip injections have done her no favors. I’m not saying she should be excluded from a revival because of her age or looks, but it might not have been a good idea to ask that question. Morrow looks…exactly like you’d expect him to look at 60. He also wears a lot of stupid hats. Cynthia Geary looks great. Darren E. Burrows makes jewelry now and looks kind of like a wild man. On the separate thread note, I don’t think there is that level of traffic, but I am happy to spoiler hide my final season posts if people want.

S6E8 or is it E7?. Up River - This a big one. This post is LONG. Just a note before I start, what’s listed on IMDb as S6E6 Zarya, an episode about Anastasia of Russia, actually aired for me in S5. So Up River is IMDb S8E8 but in Prime streaming, it’s S6E7. Catching up to where we are: In episode 5 Joel was doing a medical study with placebos. Ed knocks the pill jars over and confuses the placebos with the medication, screwing up the study. Joel is understandably pissed as he now looks like an idiot to Johns Hopkins, which was funding the study. So more of Joel’s career circling the drain. However, he forgives Ed fairly quickly. Burrows’ acting is fantastic. He makes Ed’s guilt palpable. B-stories. Chris gets rid of his stupid puppet. Shelley says what she wants most in the world is to make gambling legal in Alaska. Seriously, wtf? Episode 6/7. Maurice has his young cousin/heir come visit, also named Maurice. The kid gets all stressed by the pressure, blah blah. Such a weak B-story, but Barry Corbin does what he can with the material. Chris also has a B-story about electricity and art. Whatever. Don’t care. Joel and Maggie, an established couple(?) are heading to Russia for Joel to give a talk. They are flying on a Russian airline. Something goes wrong with the plane and they are stuck on the runway for …a day? It’s difficult to tell. Maggie and Joel bicker. Turner seems to be a little lost in what she’s supposed to be doing. At the end of the episode, Joel and Maggie get engaged. Continuity issue: It’s been mentioned many times that no one locks their door, but when Joel and Maggie arrive back at her place, she spends a lot of time searching for her keys while they stand on the front porch. They banter during this and decide to move in together. Which brings us to S6E7/8, Up River. The episode starts with Maurice pissed as Joel has been AWOL for two weeks. He went to go deliver a baby and never returned. Maurice sends Ed out to find Joel. B-story is Chris remodeling his camper and the contractor does crap work and doesn’t show..blah blah blah. Walt is away and Ruth-Anne is missing him and acknowledging she’s in love with him. (Although they’ve been banging for a while, but sure.) Ed heads up river and finds Joel in a …I’m not calling it a village. Six, maybe eight shacks/huts. Joel is softening hides. From this point forward, the Burrows/Morrow scenes are just fantastic. Morrow is as natural softening hides, canning fruit and stringing up fish as he was throwing around medical jargon. He’s still Joel, but a changed Joel. Joel invites Ed to stay to discuss how he (Joel) got to this place, so there are a lot of flashbacks. Joel has moved in with Maggie. They are making out and laughing. They end up in bed and her shotgun goes off, destroying the bedside lamp and leaving multiple holes in the wall. Joel is upset, but Maggie is all “whoopsie, an accident with my gun, giggle giggle.” Okay, this is the same Maggie whose boyfriends die in freakish accidents, and she’s fine with stray bullets. Next night, they are making out on the couch and Hayden accidentally shoots his gun through Maggie’s window, barely missing Joel and Maggie. Again, Joel is understandably upset and Maggie thinks it’s no big deal and kind of funny. These scenes are interspersed with Chris and his contractor and then Joel and Ed in the village with Joel telling the story. Joel’s hair is enormous. Joel speaks the language of the villagers and even goes spear fishing with them. You can see on Ed’s face that Joel’s proficiency makes Ed feel inadequate. Joel continues the story. A third night of Maggie and Joel. She’s in bed in a slinky nightie. He comes to bed, a problem with the dental floss, he’s tired, etc, but she is clearly in the mood. Joel is …haha…gunshy. Cut to the next morning, Joel arrives at work and Eugene is in his office, repairing a window. Eugene’s relative’s antique gun accidentally and shot out the window at the exact moment Joel and Maggie were getting it on. Joel is upset and feels that something is going on. Joel meets Maggie in the street and tells her about the musket blowing out the window. She is AGAIN nonchalant about it. Joel says he’s a rational person, but clearly something is going on, even if there is no logic. Now Maggie’s response to this has been weird and uncharacteristic all along, and Turner is struggling with the material. Maggie responds that Joel is just embarrassed about his sexual performance the night before. This is bad, bad writing. Move to that evening. Joel finds that Maggie has brought her gun back into the house and hidden it from him under the couch. She says it’s fine because they will be in the bedroom. Joel is pissed. As the conversation continues, she reveals that the gunshot near misses have TURNED HER ON. Again, Maggie has had multiple boyfriends die in weird circumstances and yes, we are to believe that curse is broken after Mike and her bangathon with Joel, but the fact she is aroused by being accidentally shot at while making out with Joel? Idiotic doesn’t even begin to describe it. Joel is appalled at her reaction. She tells him, “No sex tonight,” as if Joel is begging for it but Morrow is playing it like, “the very presence of a gun in the house has killed any libido I may have had tonight, or possibly ever.” Next day, Joel goes to see Chris, as Joel is doing pharmacy delivery. Chris has made peace with his contractor. Chris and Joel talk. Chris is all about, “losing your mind to find it.” Whatever. They put handprints in the concrete together. Joel goes back to Maggie to tell her he’s ready to open himself up to all the possibilities of their relationship. She’s been crying. She gives him a cashmere sweater vest. He talks to her about how fighting can be healthy and have their relationship develop and grow. He knows he has to be more open. She tells him to move out. He tells her he has to be less controlling and more accepting. She tells him he exhausts her. Maggie wants someone who can let go a little. (All I can think is, Yeah because Mike really let go, didn’t he?) Turner’s tears seem real here, even if what is coming out of her mouth is nonsense. Back to Joel and Ed. Joel then talks about being at the village, finding out they have no running water or electricity and no phones. He realizes he can let go of everything there and asks them if he can stay. Joel says he’s found he needs time with nothing, just time to be with himself. Ed wonders if he should stay, and Joel asks him if this “nothing” is what Ed needs. Joel walks Ed to his boat. He asks Ed to tell Maggie that he thinks of her every day. Ed asks Joel if he’ll ever come back. Joel responds something like, “whatever happens happens.” Joel tells Ed he’ll be in touch and they hug. I don’t know if this was Burrows and Morrow’s last scene together, but the camaraderie feels so real. I actually teared up. Even after all the annoying Maggie nonsense and the continuity backslide with Walt and Ruth-Anne, not to mention a really weak primal scream from Chris, I still got choked up by Morrow and Burrows. I also don’t know if those two remained friends, but they sold that scene as two close friends saying goodbye, possibly forever. This episode is definitely worth a separate rewatch for the Ed and Joel scenes.

I’m into S6 and realize I’m rushing. I want to finish so I can rewatch again and savor. However, I’m not sure I can watch after Joel leaves. I miss him when he’s marginalized. I enjoy his episodes more. David Chase seemed to really hate the show when he took over in S5, so I’m trying to keep that in mind. I’ve finished S6E4. So far in S6, we’ve had one episode showing Joel how awful his NYC life would be and A Christmas Carol episode showing Joel how awful he is in Cecily. Yet another where Joel is thinks he’s dying and looks at the world different. Each of these episodes ends with a …slightly transformed Joel with zero lasting effects. I mean, come on. It’s essentially the same moral tale three times. The actors are selling the hell out of it, but there’s no character progress, just a reset next episode. Morrow’s hair looks bad. So bad that in the “am I dying” episode, the barber tells him he needs to wash his hair before coming in next time. I get they were letting it grow out for the upcoming episodes, but making it look greasy was unnecessary. Turner’s hair looks soft and shiny and bouncy, although the cut is awkward. Maggie also gets a “what are you doing with your life episode” including a visitation from her 15 year old self who finds Chris hot, laying the seeds there. Speaking of Chris, he’s a dick. The dude who didn’t care about his 30k in inheritance is jerking Maggie around about an item he’d purchased at auction, forcing her to pay 1k (double what he paid) to get it back. Also, he’s now a ventriloquist with a creepy ass puppet. And he has a weird interaction with the new barber. Speaking of that, a total waste of Bill Cobbs playing an angry barber in the witness protection program because mobsters get murdered in barber chairs. …okay. And he’s angry because the popularity of the Beatles made people stop getting haircuts. …sure. I actually think this story could have worked if they replaced Chris in the story with Adam. But noooooo….gotta shoehorn in Chris. Shelley gets a B story about dealing with Randi growing up and another about a chain letter. Both are like bad sitcom bits. The only character doing interesting things is Ed. When we last saw Joel and Maggie, they were dating, but that story has completely stalled. Walt is getting some good lines. Marilyn. Oh, now I love me some Marilyn, but the Christmas Carol episode makes out like Marilyn is on her own, sending money to support family and without the job with Joel, she’d be off alone eating boxed rice. The Marilyn at the beginning of the show had strong and rich family and tribal bonds. Ugh. So much ugh. ETA: AND Marilyn was getting those periodic tribal checks and that bit of story was excised. Ruth-Anne is doing well with screen time, and in the NYC episode, she gets some fun lines. No poker games or laundromat of convenience.

I love Ed's jacket too! I just think that he's got to be super cold. That jacket reminds me that he's an orphan and doesn't have someone looking out for him. But you know, cool leather jacket. I love everything about Graham Greene.

Yeah…just because it wasn’t commonly thought of as skeevy and played for laughs in the 90s doesn’t mean that the age difference wasn’t actually skeevy. I’m not saying it’s a dealbreaker for me watching the show, but it was skeevy then; it’s skeevy now. The actors seem to be working to alleviate that. Holling is very deferential to Shelley, and he changes his posture around her, being sure to stoop and almost making sure he is never threatening or appearing to be in power over her. I mean, I’m certainly not thinking in any episode, “Boy I wish we had more Shelley/Holling romance!” I’m thinking, “Can’t we just have Shelley and Holling as he proprietors of The Brick and leave it at that?” Anyway. A MUCH more problematic bit of casting. Ed’s low self-esteem taking the form of Phil Fondacaro, a person with dwarfism, they painted green. Who thought that was a good idea? I can’t find it, but I seem to recall that Darren E. Burrows was against it. In the episode where Holling and Shelley were taking a birthing class from Joel, it hit me that Morrow sounds like a doctor. It’s part of what makes him so believable as the character. I’m enjoying the Ruth-Anne and Holling friendship more than I recall. Maybe I’m just older. The more the show goes on, the more annoying I find Chris. There’s an episode of Shelley’s baby shower and Chris keeps trying to bond with the women to be in touch with his “womanness.” Eve responds that he needs to go cut his salary in half and essentially kicks him out. I have never loved Eve more. They have also introduced things like Marilyn, Chris and Maggie using the laundromat at the same time, which would have been nice if it hadn’t just popped up out of the blue in S5. Same thing with the poker game at Maurice’s. Costuming/Hair: I love Marilyn’s brightly colored shirts. They are putting Joel in more sweaters and fewer shirts and ties. It’s a good look. I wish Ed had a better coat than that leather jacket. Maggie’s hair is growing out and is very flattering. Chris’ hair/beard just look scraggly.

@possibilities I have noticed a lot of subtle acting from Morrow and Miles. Despite verbalizing how much he hates Alaska and wants to be back in NY, he doesn't short change his patients. He listens; he addresses concerns; he cares about making them healthy. They frequently write him out of the episodes by making him go give vaccinations in another town or something, but all that does is serve to make the character more sympathetic. I remember Joel as being always angry as well, and he's not. You're right. I also didn't realize how, despite him thinking she's a hooker/stewardess when they meet, he's often complimentary to Maggie. In S2 or S3 I think, Maggie is concerned about her looks and Joel tells her she's beautiful and has a face that could launch ships or something, but then finishes by saying it's her personality that is the problem. That's not the only time. He often provides her reassurance about her physical attractiveness. It's only when he's trying to compliment her as in "let's go out" that he gets completely awkward. Morrow does elevate the material with his choices. Janine Turner has expressive eyes, but she doesn't do as well as Morrow does with the writing. Elaine Miles does great work with few words. S1-S3 Chris was a nice narrator of the show, pulling together the threads of the A & B (and sometimes C) stories with literature and quotes. He just never developed as a character. Even Maurice showed more character development. Barry Corbin does a great job with that character. Watching John Cullum as Holling, I can see how much of a stage actor he is. It's in the way he hits his marks and uses his body, if that make sense. I get what you mean about the town size compared to population. I live in a town of about 10k, and while our downtown is bigger, we get the same amount of foot traffic as Cicely. Then again, if I can accept Ed's spirit guide, I can accept an unrealistic downtown. I am still really enjoying the show and suspect I will enjoy it more on second rewatch when I'm not in "rediscovery" mode.

Watched an episode where the high school boys asked Maggie to be Homecoming Queen. One of the boys was played by Jack Black. So there’s that. A little annoyed with the, “Maggie is over 30 and SINGLE, she must be lonely and miserable” shtick. There’s a lot of unevenness in the writing. One episode Joel realizes he doesn’t need 10 Jews to say Kaddish because he has found a community in Cicely. The next he’s berating himself for losing his New York-ness. Holling and Shelley. *sigh* The writers seem to keep giving them sitcom stories. Chris’ meandering thoughts seem less a narration of the story and just filler for time. Maurice is a complete bigot, then he’s doing nice things for everyone. The episodes are driving character rather than the stories being born of the characters that were created. Ed wants a film career. Ed wants a family. Ed’s going to become a shaman. Whatever B story they need for an episode is just “hey let’s have Ed do X.” I will definitely have a second rewatch when I can just enjoy the show for what it is, but my nostalgia glasses were in full force. I think the first three seasons are definitely better than S4 and S5 (where I am now.)

Oh THANK GOODNESS. I mean, not that it Alan died, but that it wasn't Adam because, you know, President Bartlett's therapist! Gossip links. An extra talks about her experience on reddit Article about Morrow leaving the show with some quotes from John Cullum and anonymous crew Key quote: "I think the producers would have been happy if a script had put (Fleischman and O'Connell) on a plane and had it crash and the show went on without them," said one industry representative with connections to both the cast and crew and the production company. Janine went full super Christian Republican and has a daughter with Jerry Jones, Jr, son of the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. She's written books and I think she had a radio show or podcast about Christian values. Morrow seems to have chilled out after leaving the show. Maybe he was just young and unhappy in Seattle, where they filmed. Also, ego.

Wow. I'd forgotten how annoying Mike was. He's just not... sympathetic. And there was zero chemistry with Janine Turner. I have enjoyed Adam and Eve much more this time around. First time, I found them both super annoying. Maybe I've softened as Adam Arkin passed away this year. Just reading up on the behind-the-scenes stuff, I'd forgotten how Turner and Morrow were both kind of a nightmare. Episodes 3-7 of S4 seem to drop the Maggie/Joel dynamic completely, only to pick it back up later. It felt like they were seeing if the show would hold up without Maggie and Joel. Unfortunately, those weren't great episodes. One is Ruth-Ann's terrible son and another is Holling's terrible daughter. Maggie and Joel will they/won't they doesn't really kick into gear again until she takes him home for her grandmother's birthday in S4E14. Then she starts dating Mike. The whole season seems to have fits and starts as Morrow was attempting a contract renegotiation and the show was cutting his role. It's messy.

With my Steelers out, my only emotional investment in the playoffs is hoping the Texans take it to the Ravens. Not that I care about the Texans, but the Ravens are a divisional rival so fuck them. As far as the Chiefs go, I mean, I don't like them. But I kind of love the Taylor Swifting of the team. To be clear, I can't tell one Taylor song from another, but she is a phenomenally successful woman. I am down with the fact that she is out-earning every player on the field. Good for her. Bills. I mean. Whatever. Isn't the Cigarette Smoking Man out there still ensuring they never win a Super Bowl? Packers. Sure. Fine. Caveat that someone needs to shove a dirty sweat sock in Aaron Rodgers gaping piehole. 49ers. Another Sure. Fine. Whatever. Bucs. Well, I could invest in Baker Mayfield giving the middle finger to the Browns for signing Watson. Lions. They've been so pathetic for so long, even with some great players like Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson. I wouldn't mind seeing them take it all. It's the time of year when I can enjoy football for football while enjoying the misery of Bengals and Cowboys fans while sipping a nice glass of wine.

Steelers seem to being their best impression of the 2024 Dallas Cowboys.

I'm not going to be able to pay attention to the game until probably 530 or so. Annoying. The snow looks fun. My Steelers know how to play in bad weather. I mean, they are still terrible. Snow doesn't change that.

I would love to see a replay of this entire game with the camera focused only on Jerry.

Why am I not getting shots of the Dallas owner’s box? I have needs!! Eta, and just as I hit post…I’m gonna rewatch those few seconds.