Northern Exposure: Season 4

Maggie faces her 30th birthday with unease. Taking Ed's advice, she spends the day camping alone to try to come to terms with her personal issues. Joel rescues a sick and delirious Maggie after she faces the criticisms of her dead ex-boyfriends (Grant Goodeve as Rick Pederson, Patrick Warburton as Glenn, Ted Henning as David, Will Plunkett as Bruce, and Garrett Bennett as Steve Escandon). Marilyn asks Ruth-Anne and Chris to teach her how to drive, with mixed results. Maurice rambles endlessly in

Joel's circadian rhythm is thrown off by the midnight sun. He becomes "light loony", full of energy and unable to sleep. Maurice chooses him to coach the Cicely Quarks in their annual basketball game against Sleetmute. Joel also comes on to Maggie in his hyperactive state. An old friend (Jim Haynie) drops in to visit Ruth-Anne and outfits the town from his collection of fashionable ensembles.

Chris accidentally kills a dog with his truck and quickly falls in love with its owner, animal-loving math doctoral student Amy (Wendel Meldrum). She is strongly attracted to him too, but after her pet parakeet dies while in his care, they agree he needs to sacrifice something he loves as much to save their relationship. Maurice buys a very expensive antique Augsburg clock, and Rolf Hauser (Mark Pellegrino), a highly trained specialist, assembles it for him. Holling and Shelly are invited to a d

Chris struggles to figure out how to give his deceased friend and mentor Tooley (Mickey Jones) a proper sendoff after he has his remains mailed to Chris. Heavy-metal rock star Brad Bonner (Adam Ant) mistakenly arrives in Cicely instead of Sicily, and soon Ed is filming him as he prepares to stage a concert with native drummers. Shelly swoons over Brad, making Holling ill at ease.

Maggie's interest is aroused after ex-lawyer Mike Monroe (Anthony Edwards) relocates to Cicely. Mike has become hyper-allergic to many man-made substances and lives alone in a geodesic dome in the woods. Joel suspects Mike's condition is psychosomatic. With help from Maggie (and Maurice), Mike introduces himself to the town. Ruth-Anne must also cope with a new addition to the community - her investment banker son Matthew (Joel Polis), who has been fired, along with the rest of his department, an

The ever-quiet Bob returns to Cicely, with "The New Perception Players" and still hopes to win Marilyn's affection. Maurice receives a package from his son and it reminds him that he needs to adjust his will to cover his Korean offspring. Maggie tries to develop her relationship with Mike, by helping him with the revisions to Maurice's will. Ed is suffering from a creativity block and finds a ring with the initials F.F. engraved on the inside, and then he begins to have Fellini-like visions.

Holling is shocked when his previously unknown, illegitimate, con artist daughter (Valerie Perrine) arrives in town - especially since he believed he was sterile. Holling does not like the influence Jackie has on Shelly. Marilyn moves out of her parents' home, and Maggie helps her look for her dream house. Mrs. Whirlwind (Armenia Miles, Elaine Miles' real-life mother) puts her house up for sale. Ed is excited about the annual migratory visit of Princess, a crane he raised after she was abandoned

The Indians in Cicely celebrate Thanksgiving by throwing tomatoes at white people. Joel is Ed's first victim and he is angered because in his words he is "definitely not white." The town gets decorated with skulls and pumpkins as they also celebrate "The Day of the Dead." Joel also gets bad news in a letter telling him that he must serve another year on his contract. Mike's latest reactions to the environment are caused by something he can't trace so he thinks about moving to Greenland. Chris wa

Viktor (David Hemmings), a former member of the KGB, visits Cicely to sell Maurice (who is still working on his memoirs) his dossier, which contains some very embarrassing information. He also talks Joel into accepting the dossier of a Russian Jew also named Fleishman as payment for his treatment. Jason (John Hawkes), a dedicated young health inspector who once shut down his own father's establishment, gives The Brick its first checkup in more than thirty years. Uneasy, Holling encourages Shelly

Chris's past finally catches up with him; he is apprehended for breaking parole in his home state of West Virginia years before. A circuit judge (Anne Haney) presides at his extradition hearing. Chris is willing to go back to West Virginia and prison, but Maurice recruits Mike, the only lawyer around, to represent him, even though Mike has never handled a criminal case. Chris hears what the townspeople think of him during Mike's novel (and desperate) defense.

Ed becomes concerned about the environment after a nightmare. Mike helps Ed with his quest to preserve the seeds of plant species for the future. When Maggie discovers ancient Alaskan Native relics buried in her backyard, Maurice takes over, with Ron and Erick leading an archaeology dig. Maggie reclaims her yard from the men, with the support of the other women of the community. Holling gives 12-year-old Brad (Edan Gross), a runaway juvenile delinquent, a job at The Brick, where he becomes smitt

Chris takes time off for a spiritual retreat at a monastery, with Bernard filling in for him at the radio station. Chris is welcomed by Brother Timothy (Stephen Root) and finds monastery life different than he had imagined. He is also inexplicably attracted to (and has troubling erotic dreams about) reclusive Brother Simon (Elizabeth Juviler), who has taken a vow of silence, not knowing "his" secret. Ruth-Anne pays Maurice the remaining amount owed on her store in one big lump sum, which angers

Ed's invisible spirit guide One-Who-Waits locates his father, Pete (Gordon Tootoosis). Ed goes to work on Pete's construction crew and gets to know him, but puts off revealing their relationship. With a push from One-Who-Waits, Ed finally tells Pete, who confirms that he is Ed's father. Maggie and Mike kiss, but then she remembers her track record: five boyfriends, all killed in unusual ways while in the prime of life. Arlen Briscoe (Kevin Conway), a blind traveling piano tuner, works on The Bri

Maggie bribes Joel with courtside seats to an NBA game into accompanying her to her Grammy's (Barbara Townsend) 80th birthday party in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and pretending to be her boyfriend. Her real boyfriend, Mike, would never survive the trip. Joel meets Maggie's mother Jane (Bibi Besch), brother Jeffy (Dylan Baker) and Jeffy's unhappy wife Stephie (Lisa Waltz), as well as the various party guests. Grammy has locked herself in an upstairs bathroom, much to Jane's annoyance. Jane gets Mag

Joel becomes so worried when Marilyn goes on vacation by herself to have an adventure in Seattle that, when she does not check into the hotel he arranged for her, he flies down to search for her. Holling studies to obtain his high school diploma. The new schoolteacher (Jo Anderson) is a former US Air Force pilot, but her views of a woman's role in society are completely at odds with Maggie's.

When the seasonal Coho winds blow, strange behavior follows. Joel tauntingly invites Maggie to punch him during an argument, and she obliges, breaking his nose. He files a lawsuit, and she retaliates with an eviction notice. The hostility builds until they tussle, which ends up with them having sex. Maurice becomes unhappy when Chris saves his life, feeling an unwanted obligation to do something in return. Ed is intrigued by death.

Maggie forgets about having had sex with Joel, which dumbfounds and annoys him. Ed's uncle recommends he settle down in an arranged marriage, but there is a problem with his uncle's choice of wife, Debbie (Michelle St. John): she already has a boyfriend. When a rare Siberian tit is reported in the area, dedicated birdwatchers Holling and Ruth-Anne set out to photograph it.

Maurice is at first disgusted when he spots a panhandler (Scott Paulin), then finds out he is a fellow ex-Marine and that he abandoned a good job for an unusual reason. Joel goes on strike when his annual vacation is denied because there is no replacement doctor available. Chris runs out of inspiration while working on a massive, metal outdoor sculpture. Maggie decides to risk a relationship with Mike, despite her deadly track record with boyfriends.

Leonard unveils a totem pole he carved for the Whirlwind family, but its symbolism, referencing past history, reignites a dormant feud with another Tlingit clan over an incident in 1934. Shelly sees periodic visions of dancers. Joel thinks she may be schizoid, but Leonard has a different diagnosis (and cure). Joel is bothered by his inability to define his and Maggie's relationship.

With Mike now completely healthy, he feels obligated to leave Cicely and Maggie behind to continue his environmental crusade, leaving Maggie feeling betrayed. Now that Shelly and Holling are married, she becomes dissatisfied with how their bedroom looks. Holling tells her to redecorate it any way she wants, but is secretly appalled by the result. Maurice has his boyhood home moved from Oklahoma to Cicely to save it from demolition. The contents of a hidden childhood cache stir up the shameful me

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Minnifield Communications, Maurice prepares one of his famously lavish parties, sparing no expense. Joel feels Maurice is getting back at him for his unintentional disclosure about Maurice to the IRS by not inviting him. Adam and Eve return to Cicely with their new baby. Adam takes over from the French chef (Adam's former apprentice) Maurice hired for the party. Shelly accidentally breaks a very expensive bottle of Maurice's wine, a 1929 Château Latour, but E

The death of Joel's uncle hits him hard, as they were very close. In order to say Kaddish for the deceased, Joel needs ten Jews, but they are rare in Alaska. Maurice rallies the community to mount a search. After eight total strangers are found, Joel begins to question the tradition. Two Miller brothers come all the way from West Virginia to continue a Miller-Stevens feud that predates the Civil War, much to Chris's delight. His brother Bernard is reluctantly dragged into it. When Marilyn choose

With the coming of spring, Holling feels such an overpowering urge to reconnect with the earth and sow seeds that he pays a farmer to let him work the land. He finds, however, that Shelly's pregnancy satisfies his need. Maurice purchases a truffle pig. Maggie discovers that she has mysteriously become a positive force — among other things, she saves Dave from a falling sign — and decides to change her attitude about life.

Maurice's son comes to ask for his permission on his choice of a bride. There is a little hitch, Ron thinks that the new bride maybe the daughter of North Korean Colonel Pak Soon Ye, the butcher of Yang Dok. To help in the preservation of his native tongue, Ed decides to dub The Prisoner of Zenda. Holling's "needs" (an average of 4 times a day) are being held back and he seeks a way to relieve them. Ed runs into trouble with the star of his movie, a man with experience working in Hollywood and n

The town's oldest tree is dying. Shelly wakes up and finds that she can't talk, but she can sing. The town asks Joel to diagnose Old Vicki. Chris goes wireless and is freed from the confines of the broadcast booth. Shelly's singing starts to get on Holling's nerves. Maggie tries to be pleasant to Joel and the result of all this kindness is that Joel keeps getting injured. Maurice is intent on bringing the tree down. Shelly becomes worried that she may never talk again. After the felling of Old V