The Northern Lights: They really do look like that.
Nice shot of characters reacting, as Chris and Bernard realize they are related.
Every Northern Exposure fan has their own list of favorite episodes. There are some perennial entries (“Burning Down the House” makes almost every top-5), but people’s beloved tend to center on whatever it was that most resonated about the show for them.
For me, this 90s TV gem was at its peak when it embraced magical realism. And Episode 8, “Aurora Borealis,” was the first where it totally dove in. In the final episode of Season 1, the writers introduced us to two new recurring characters and set a bar that would be difficult to top—though at times they did match it.
Episode 8 opens with Chris on the radio, talking about the full moon which has beset Cicely with a kind of lunar madness and sleeplessness:
“Knowing how we’ve been tossing and turning these last few nights, for fear of where our dreams may be taking us, I’m not about to pretend that man in that moon has our best interests at heart. No way. He’s too much of a kidder. So until the big fella packs his bags and hits the road, put away those sharp utensils and stay close to your loved ones. If you’re lucky enough to have any.”
Basic storylines: While out golfing, Joel and Ed come across a huge footprint — possibly of “Adam,” Cicely’s own bigfoot on whom the residents blame all manner of mischief and minor thefts. Does he exist? Most say No. … At the same time, Chris is rushing to finish his sculpture, "Aurora Borealis,” before the Northern lights peak. He gets help from a mysterious biker who rides into town—Richard Cummings Jr. as “Bernard,” the first African American actor on the show.
Ed: So …you’re black.
Bernard: Yeah?
Ed: We had a black logger here once, but he left.
Bernard: Why is that?
Ed: I guess he wasn’t into drinking beer and fighting.
Adam (played by Adam Arkin) turns out to be real, and Bernard is revealed to be Chris’ half-brother.
This dream sequence features a truck-driving Karl Jung and Bernard as a “thin Barry White.”
Great lines include Joel telling Ed, as he practices his golf swing on a beautiful Alaskan spring day, in front of a mountain view:
“There is something intrinsically therapeutic about choosing to spend your time in a wide-open park-like setting that non-golfers can never truly understand.”
Part of what made Joel’s character work was that he consistently held beliefs and unconscious ideas out of sync with what the audience saw. He hated Cicely, for many of the reasons viewers loved it.
“Adam” turned out to be an enigmatic, angry hermit and ex-chef who had abandoned civilzation—though as he returned in later episodes, viewers learned he was still fairly tied to the world.
He prepares noodles for Joel, and furiously shouts" “It’s cumin!” when pestered for the secret ingredient. Adam later vanishes, leaving Joel to question if he imagined the encounter.
“It’s cumin! Are you happy now?”
“If you want to call it art, you’ve got the benefit of all my doubts.”
Of the first season’s eight episodes, this final one is my favorite. It isn’t the most complex, but somehow it embodies much of what the show would go on to be. As Maurce put it, standing at the end in front of Chris’ sculpture: “I get it.”
Ranking Season 1 episodes (with links to my reviews:
#1-Aurora Borealis (1.8)
#3-Brains, Know‑How and Native Intelligence (1.2)
#4-Pilot (1.1)
#5-Dreams and Schemes and Putting Greens (1.4)
