The fictional town of Cicely, Alaska might appear as a place of simple comedy and drama but in an Entertainment Weekly interview, co-creator Joshua Brand calls his TV series Northern Exposure “a non-judgemental universe” and a “state-of-mind.” According to Scott Nance’s book Exposing Northern Exposure, the series was inspired by the experiences of medical students who accepted rural posts and endured the uniqueness of isolated communities.
Co-creators Brand and John Falsey introduce Dr. Joel Fleishman (Rob Morrow) as their in-debt medical student whose city knowledge doesn’t apply in Cicely. Fleishman represents the detached, judgemental attitude of the modern world while Cicely, Alaska maintains a space where people can “create themselves”. The place is a balance between the civilized and uncivilized, where strangers and animals are always passing through. Although the narrative begins as a simple fish-out-of-water show, closer examination uncovers that Cicely is a realm where characters go to find themselves through natural phenomena, dreams, and the wild unknown.
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Northern Exposure has been compared to the “dark material, dream sequences, [and] soapy melodrama” of its contemporary, which also changed television, Twin Peaks. Some episodes, like “Aurora Borealis,” were almost “too weird” for CBS to air. However, producer Matthew Nodella argues that Northern Exposure is more real and less “eclectic” compared to the other series. All the characters who land in Cicely arrive with a real crisis they feel can only be solved by being grounded in isolation.
Maggie O’Connell struggles with a curse that kills all of her boyfriends, Maurice Minnifield struggles with bigotry and his vision of the “Alaskan Riviera,” and Shelly Tambo reluctantly sheds her identity as Miss Northwest Passage. With its indigenous knowledge, wilderness, and the philosophical perspective of Chris Stevens, Cicely offers answers to those who need them. Here are three reasons why Northern Exposure is one of the most philosophical shows of all time.
Cicely, a State Of Mind
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The mysterious events in Cicely are examined philosophically by KBHR 570’s radio host, Chris Stevens (played by John Corbett of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sex and the City). Chris emphasizes that people should never lose touch with their “wild and untamable spirit.” He praises Nietzsche and Sendak for encouraging readers to “give that ol’ dark night of the soul a hug.”
Nietzsche’s perspective of wildness says that civilization rests upon the natural world and that chaos should be faced. That said, Chris feels that even in Alaska “people have turned their backs on the beast and opted for the zoo where the lion can’t eat them instead of the jungle, where it can.”
In Cicely, it appears that the characters move in to reignite their wild side and enter the Cicely state of mind. The opening credits moose sequence alone expresses Cicely, Alaska as a primal mental space. A beast drifting through town shows that the residents are straddling the psychological boundary between civilization and untamed terrain. This state of mind does not only impact viewers but apparently the show’s own cast. Darren E. Burrows, who played Ed Chigliak, could not shake the feeling of Northern Exposure and has tried to fund new episodes for a revival for some time.
Cicely’s Dreams and Carl Jung
In several episodes of Northern Exposure, characters experience what could be collective dreams. For example, the episode “Spring Break” begins with Maggie’s dream, where she appears to be laying with Joel in the Garden of Eden. Later, Joel has a dream of laying with Maggie in an igloo. They share these similar visions and desires but remain unaware. In another episode, the aforementioned “Aurora Borealis,” Chris shares a dream with Bernard and discovers that they are brothers. Their dreams intertwine until they find themselves in a semi-truck driven by Carl Jung himself.
The dreams in both episodes occur as a result of a natural event, such as the ice-breaking or the full moon. Chris approaches these visions from the perspective of the philosopher and psychoanalyst, Carl Jung. As Chris states, “You know, it’s like Jung said, the unconscious is revealed through the imagery of our dreams, which expresses our innermost fears and desires.” Jung also explores the idea of collective consciousness, a theory that suggests that humans are connected through shared experiences with their ancestors and each other. The residents in Cicely appear to be connected in this way without knowing it.
Chris, Maurice, and Walt Whitman
Chris Stevens represents the ever-shifting perspective and growth in Ciely. He encourages diversity, creativity, and thoughtfulness. He believes people should strive to be uniquely themselves. That is why Chris references the Complete Works of Walt Whitman on-air and explains how Whitman’s poems encouraged him to be creative during his incarceration. He originally came across the work as he and a friend were robbing a house.
Whitman describes the natural beauty of “lilacs blooming” and a “drooping star in the west,” as well as his love for a man. Maurice reacts violently to this content being read on-air and reveals his blatant homophobia. Maurice represents the more dated perspective in Cicely, and he sees the community as a tourist opportunity. He tells Chris that soon his land will be “fifteen thousand acres of opportunity, planned communities, resorts, roads, and mini-malls.”
In contrast, Chris provides a calm, progressive, thoughtful stance, and a love for the undeveloped natural world. In another episode called “Sex, Lies, and Ed’s Tape,” a double entendre with the Steven Soderbergh film, Chris tries to play a track of Indian music and Maurice, again, interrupts. He claims that it isn’t music. Together, Chris and Maurice show a transition in Cicely from old views to new. While this only scratches the surface of the six philosophically rich seasons of Northern Exposure, it should be enough to convince you that it’s worth checking out (and thinking about).
