I used to have dense and detailed dreams. Sometimes they seemed meaningful and other times they were more like random brain farts. But most nights I would lie down to sleep and wake up to fleeting images and ideas that I then turned into poems and stories.
And then, they were gone. For years I slept without a hint of nightly brain activity.
Now, the dreams are back. If I had to guess, I'd say their return is tied to my meditation and work on consciousness expansion. Whatever the reason, I welcome the dreams. They appear almost every night, and almost always feel meaningful and deeply symbolic.
Which leads us to Northern Exposure's Episode 5, which is very good until it isn't. “Russian Flu" highlights some of what made the series exceptional, and introduces the surreal dream sequences that would become a highlight of the show.
Here's the plot in a nutshell: Joel's fiance Elaine comes to visit him in Cicely after he's been living there two months. Just as she arrives, the town is struck with a flu epidemic that keeps them apart and eventually gets them both sick.
With modern medicine unable to bring any comfort, Joel's receptionist Marilyn gives the people an tribal cure that eliminates the flu in short order. Joel and Elaine get to enjoy a final few hours together, before she returns to New York.
The episode's dialogue highlight is a town meeting where Joel tries to calm fears about the health epidemic and explains that flus are often named for their point of origin: the Shanghai Flu, the Hong Kong Flu, the Russian Flu.
Ruth Ann: So it could be Russian flu?
Joel: Certainly.
Ruth Ann: I never did trust Gorbachev.
Maurice: We know that Glasnost is just a big crock, anyway.
Joel: Wait a second, one thing has nothing to do with the other.
Man: Perestroika is a total failure, too!
Maurice: Yeah, the whole commie system is bankrupt!
It devolves--hilariously--from there, hilighting both the town's paranoia and social awareness.
Woman: Pretty sad when the Soviet's only hope for world domination is to send a flock of sick birds across the Bering Strait.
Joel: Don't be ridiculous, this is not a political conspiracy.
Man: That's easy for you to say.
Joel: What's that supposed to mean?
Woman: It means your grandfather was probably a Trotskyite.
Woman: And your parents marched in candlelight vigils for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Genius. Amazing writing. Also, A+ use of extras in the meeting.
As the town's flu subsides, Elaine comes down with it. Joel turns to the Native American cure, which involves covering her body in a brown substance that smells like moose dung. The two fall asleep, giving us the show's first dream sequence. And it is excellent.
Joel is back in New York City, with Cicely residents showing up in random spots. Chris is filling in for Larry King. Holling is a doorman. Ed operates the building's elevator. Shelley is a "call girl" (who practices safe sex--nice little PSA the writers got in there).
Importantly, in the dream Elaine is Joel's sister and Maggie is his wife.
When Joel wakes up, Elaine is healthy but their relationship is not. That's basically the episode. However, it runs another seven minutes or so and gets WEIRD (and not in a good way).
Holling takes Joel and Elaine on a nature trek and it plays like a nonsensical dream sequence with dialogue and references that are unmoored. I've watched this episode a half dozen times over the years and the last seven minutes have never made any sense. It feels like a chunk of the script wound up on the cutting room floor or was never filmed at all.
The episode, early on, also features Joel doing voice-over exposition--the only time I can recall the show going this lazy route.
So Episode 5, "Russian Flu," is uneven. There are about 35 minutes where it features excellent writing and a tight plot. But it has flaws, and is marred by the strange finish.
If you have any idea what the hell is going on here, please comment.
