Northern Exposure: The Complete Sixth Season

With some of the original air dates in debate:

1.) Dinner at Seven-Thirty

Original Air Date: September 19, 1994

Joel drinks orange juice from Ed's refrigerator, but it is actually a healing potion for body aches.

2.) Eye of the Beholder

Original Air Date: September 26, 1994

Ed busts an insurance scam; Maggie donates a family heirloom for a charity auction; Maurice donates a case of "turned" red wine.

3.) Shofar, So Good

Original Air Date: October 3, 1994

Rabbi Schulman plays the ghostlike character in "A Christmas Carol"; Maurice holds the annual fox hunt.

4.) The Letter

Original Air Date: October 10, 1994

Maggie discovers a letter she wrote to herself when she was a teen; Shelly learns the fallacy of chain letters; and Chris meets the new town barber.

5.) The Robe

Original Air Date: October 17, 1994

Shelly meets the devil; Ed works with Joel to prove himself to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; and Chris becomes a ventriloquist.

6.) Zarya

Original Air Date: October 31, 1994

Marilyn tells a story about Russian treaty negotiations.

7.) Full Upright Position

Original Air Date: November 1, 1994

Joel and Maggie board a plane bound to Russia; Maurice brings his young cousin into his business; Chris gets inside electricity.

8.) Up River

Original Air Date: November 14, 1994

Joel goes to Manonash; Chris remodels his trailer; Ruth-Anne surrenders to love.

9.) Sons of the Tundra

Original Air Date: November 28, 1994

New doctor, Phillip Capra and his wife, Michelle, come to Cicely. Holling wants to join Sons of the Tundra; Ed sees the future.

10.) Realpolitik

Original Air Date: December 12, 1994

Maggie is elected Mayor; Dr. Capra plays a round of golf with Joel; Marilyn buys a dog.

11. The Great Mushroom

Original Air Date: January 4, 1995

Maggie goes to Manonash; the Capras entertain house guests; and Ed discovers a cure for shingles.

12.) Mi Casa, Su Casa

Original Air Date: January 11, 1995

While house-sitting, Ed throws an outlandish bash on Maurice's dime; Marilyn goes to Manonash. Shelly and Holling look for their first house.

13.) Horns

Original Air Date: January 18, 1995

Joel is free from his "imprisonment"; Maurice produces Cicely Water, which affects the town's people in strange ways.

14. The Mommy's Curse

Original Air Date: February 1, 1995

Maggie's mother brings her boyfriend to town; Walt works for Ruth-Anne at the store; Holling and Dr. Capra hang out together.

15.) The Quest

Original Air Date: February 8, 1995

Joel and Maggie search for the Jeweled City of the North; Chris sues Dr. Capra; and Michelle Capra writes a review of the Brick.

16.) Lucky People

Original Air Date: February 15, 1995

Dr. Capra has a shocking realization; Cicely celebrates Founders Day; and Maurice buys gifts for Holling's daughter.

17.) The Graduate

Original Air Date: March 8, 1995

Chris earns his Master's degree; Maggie purchases the local movie house; a young man claims to be Holling's son.

18.) Little Italy

Original Air Date: March 15, 1995

Dr. Capra discovers "Little Italy"; Ruth-Anne is on NPR's "All Things Considered."

19.) Balls

Original Air Date: March 22 1995

Cicely has a bowling team; Ed quits working for Maurice. Lester Haines makes Ed an offer.

20.) Buss Stop

Original Air Date: April 12, 1995

Michelle Capra directs the play "Bus Stop."

21.) Ursa Minor

Original Air Date: May 3, 1995

Ed adopts a bear cub; Maggie walks in on Chris using lucid dreaming; Maurice is upset about Cicely's population decline.

22.) Let's Dance

Original Air Date: May 10, 1995

Officer Semanski has feelings for Cal Ingraham; Dr. Capra insults Mrs. Whirlwind.

23.) Tranquility Base

Original Air Date: May 17, 1995

Finale: The cast of characters go to Maurice's Tranquility Base. Michelle gets lost in the woods; Maurice asks Barbara to marry him; Iris Dement's song, "Our Town" is the vocal backdrop for a wonderful montage.

Northern Exposure is the best show ever made in all of television history.

This is the final season, and though Joel leaves the show to many peoples dislike, the rest of the characters keep the show interesting up till the finale episode. The way Joel's experiences in Alaska end up changing him are very significant as we see in the final season, and this has always been in my opinion one of the most existentially sincere and compelling character changes ever developed in any television show. This is the result of writing that is comparable to high literature if you compare the character of Joel from the first episode to the final one he appears in, and the entire series of NX becomes a protrayal of a man who goes through the most poignant and profound experiences of self realization.

I love this show. I do.

But the entire feeling that I remember so fondly from the end of the episode entitled "The Quest" is altered by the change in music from the original. Years ago when it first aired, "Forever Nightshade Mary", by the Los Lobos side project band Latin Playboys, played over Rob Morrow's final scene on the show. I distinctly remember the calming, almost zen impression it made, twelve years after it first aired.

Now, it's gone, replaced with something that sounds like Rosemary Clooney or Ethel Merman, something that has far more bombast, and was no doubt cheaper to license for the DVD set. Do I love the fact that I can get the show on DVD? Yes. But it would be disingenuous to say that I don't cringe everytime I hear a piece of music that I know didn't play when the showed aired originally, as music played such an integral part of the mood and feel of the show. This is a case in point illustration of the effect of choice of music in television.

I had hoped against hope that it would not be the case with the sixth season (they had at least managed to get away from double sided DVDs), but alas...

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