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The Best Episodes of Northern Exposure

Every episode of Northern Exposure ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Northern Exposure!

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After receiving a scholarship from the state, a recent Columbia University medical school graduate is required to set up his practice in an eccentric Alaskan town.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 23 - Cicely
    8.2/10(4 votes)

    #1 - Cicely

    S3:E23

    Joel meets an old man who's returned to Cicely after many years. The man tells him the story of two remarkable women, Roslyn and Cicely, whom transformed the town into ""the Paris of the North"" back in 1909.

    Director:Rob Thompson
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  2. Northern Exposure Season 1 Episode 8 - Aurora Borealis: A Fairy Tale for Big People
    8.0/10(6 votes)

    #2 - Aurora Borealis: A Fairy Tale for Big People

    S1:E8

    The approach of the Aurora Borealis and the constant light produces some strange behavior among the residents of Cicely. Chris abandons the radio station to build an unusual piece of modern sculpture and to get acquainted with a new soul mate that has come into town on some predestined mission. Joel journeys into the back woods to visit an isolated forest ranger and, when he gets stuck coming home, remembers the stories of a strange Bigfoot-like creature named Adam rumored to be roaming the area. Joel is rescued by Adam, who turns out to be real and a damn good cook, only when he returns to town no one believes him.

    Director:Peter O'Fallon
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 2 - Only You
    8.0/10(5 votes)

    #3 - Only You

    S3:E2

    Maurice sulks over what he believes is an unflattering photo taken by Holling, Maggie worries about needing glasses and getting old, and Joel tries to explain Chris' uncanny appeal to women, who is busy chasing the one woman immune to his charm.

    Director:Bill D'Elia
    Writer:Ellie Herman

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  4. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 8 - A-Hunting We Will Go
    8.0/10(5 votes)

    #4 - A-Hunting We Will Go

    S3:E8

    Joel decides to explore the fascination of hunting by accompanying Chris and Holling on their annual pilgrimage. Ed becomes worried and over solicitous when he learns that Ruth-Anne is seventy-five years old.

    Director:Bill D'Elia
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 10 - Seoul Mates
    8.0/10(3 votes)

    #5 - Seoul Mates

    S3:E10

    The holidays in Cicely see Joel experimenting with an unfamiliar Christmas tree, a clumsy Maggie suddenly left alone, Shelly pining for the religious pageantry of her childhood, and Maurice meeting a family he never knew as everyone awaits the pageant of the raven.

    Director:Jack Bender
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  6. Northern Exposure Season 4 Episode 13 - Duets
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - Duets

    S4:E13

    One-Who-Waits returns and has positive information on the location of Ed's father and takes Ed to the construction site where he works. Ed gets a job and tries to come up with a way to tell the foreman that he is his father. Mike asks Maggie to fly to a mountain range where he thinks he will be able to identify the chemicals that were part of a container spill. A blind man comes into "The Brick" and offers to tune and rebuild the piano but begins to get on Holling's nerves. Maggie tries to hold off Mike's advances by telling him about her "curse."

    Director:Win Phelps
    Writer:Geoffrey Neigher

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Northern Exposure

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  7. Northern Exposure Season 5 Episode 1 - Three Doctors
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #7 - Three Doctors

    S5:E1

    Ed wakes up in strange places with no clues about how he got there. Joel contracts "glacier dropsy" which gives him the feeling of pins pricking his nose, a fear of shrimp, a tender groin and other strange symptoms. Shelly loses her singing voice just when she needs it. Leonard treats Joel's patients and Ed's "sleep flying" which maybe and indication of a greater purpose.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  8. Northern Exposure Season 5 Episode 6 - Birds of a Feather
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #8 - Birds of a Feather

    S5:E6

    Joel's parents come to Cicely and his father's know-it-all attitude gets on Joel's nerves and his mother gets back to nature. Holling's dislike of sports causes Shelly to ponder their baby's athletic future and his stature among the men of Cicely.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  9. Northern Exposure Season 2 Episode 2 - The Big Kiss
    7.8/10(4 votes)

    #9 - The Big Kiss

    S2:E2

    Ed's wish to know who his parents were summons up a 256-year-old Indian spirit named "One-Who-Waits" who offers to help him find out. Chris finds his voice has been stolen by a beautiful woman passing through town, and comes to believe in a folk cure he hears about-that he must sleep with the most beautiful woman in town, Maggie.

    Director:Sandy Smolan
    Writer:Henry Bromell

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  10. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 7 - Roots
    7.8/10(5 votes)

    #10 - Roots

    S3:E7

    Joel's former fiancé Elaine, now a widow, comes to visit. Chris' half-brother Bernard returns just as Chris is having dreams of Africa. The reclusive Adam takes a job with Holling to pay his insurance premiums.

    Director:Sandy Smolan
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 13 - Things Become Extinct
    7.8/10(4 votes)

    #11 - Things Become Extinct

    S3:E13

    The death of his uncle sends Holling out to his still and into an orgy of self-doubt, Joel feels isolated as he searches for proof of other Jews in Alaska, and Ed widens his own horizons when he films Ira Wingfeather producing his unique wooden flutes.

    Director:Dean Parisot
    Writer:Robin Green

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  12. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 16 - Three Amigos
    7.7/10(3 votes)

    #12 - Three Amigos

    S3:E16

    The death of an old friend sends Maurice and Holling packing off into the snowy wilderness to bury him at No-Name Point. But the way is hard, including an unexpected run-in with the man's attractive widow.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  13. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 20 - The Final Frontier
    7.7/10(3 votes)

    #13 - The Final Frontier

    S3:E20

    Maurice becomes curious about the influx of Japanese tourists to the area during the Northern Lights, Holling sets out to discover if Jesse the bear is really dead, and Maggie leads the curious townspeople in trying to discover what is in a mysterious package covered with foreign stamps.

    Director:Tom Moore
    Writer:Jeff Vlaming

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  14. Northern Exposure Season 4 Episode 1 - Northwest Passages
    7.7/10(3 votes)

    #14 - Northwest Passages

    S4:E1

    Maggie must come to grips with her 30th birthday and the ghosts of her dead boyfriends by using an Indian ritual allowing her to lay the past to rest. Marilyn decides it's time to learn to drive and gets Ruth-Anne and Chris to give her lessons. Maurice drives the citizens crazy when he begins to write his memoirs.

    Director:Dean Parisot
    Writer:Robin Green

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  15. Northern Exposure Season 4 Episode 2 - Midnight Sun
    7.7/10(3 votes)

    #15 - Midnight Sun

    S4:E2

    Joel is charged with energy as the sun hasn't set and he uses his pent up energy to try to coach Cicely's basketball team to victory. Holling is distracted by Shelly's cheerleading outfit. The traveling salesman/tailor comes back to Cicely to sell his wares and he romances Ruth-Anne.

    Director:Michael Katleman
    Writer:Geoffrey Neigher

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  16. Northern Exposure Season 4 Episode 8 - Thanksgiving
    7.7/10(3 votes)

    #16 - Thanksgiving

    S4:E8

    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 waxes nostalgic and decides that the something missing from his life is "the joint" when he finds a can of beans that he remembers from Thanksgiving.

    Director:Michael Fresco
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Northern Exposure Season 2 Episode 3 - All Is Vanity
    7.6/10(5 votes)

    #17 - All Is Vanity

    S2:E3

    Holling decides to be circumcised to please Shelly, Chris and Maurice organize the town to keep watch over an anonymous man whom died in Dr. Fleischman's office, and Maggie persuades Joel to pose as her boyfriend to please her father.

    Director:Nick Marck
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  18. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 17 - Lost and Found
    7.6/10(5 votes)

    #18 - Lost and Found

    S3:E17

    The hypochondriac, Eve comes to town to ask about her latest symptoms, but Joel is preoccupied with the ghost of a lonely old soul haunting his cabin. Maurice receives a visit from his old Army commander, who needs to borrow money.

    Director:Steven Robman
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  19. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 6 - The Body in Question
    7.5/10(6 votes)

    #19 - The Body in Question

    S3:E6

    Chris' discovery of the frozen body of a Napoleonic Frenchman raises many questions for Joel, has Maurice dreaming of the economic benefits for Cicely, Shelly worrying over fertility and Holling confessing over his despicable ancestors.

    Director:David Carson
    Writer:Henry Bromell

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  20. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 14 - Burning Down the House
    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #20 - Burning Down the House

    S3:E14

    Maggie receives an unexpected visit and some unwanted news from her mother. Meanwhile, Chris searches everywhere for just the right cow to fling for his conceptual art piece and Joel becomes obsessed with a local chimney sweep that he believes is a former pro golfer.

    Director:Rob Thompson
    Writer:Robin Green

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  21. Northern Exposure Season 3 Episode 22 - Our Wedding
    7.5/10(4 votes)

    #21 - Our Wedding

    S3:E22

    As their wedding approaches, Adam debates with Joel about women and Eve lets a gung-ho Shelly take over the wedding plans as she worries about more important matters. Maggie and Joel try in their own ways to come to grips with their experience in Juneau.

    Director:Nick Marck
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  22. Northern Exposure Season 5 Episode 2 - The Mystery of the Old Curio Shop
    7.5/10(2 votes)

    #22 - The Mystery of the Old Curio Shop

    S5:E2

    Maggie investigates the owners of an antique shop who are exhibiting strange behavior. Maurice begins to see the signs of age when he is called a senior citizen, meets old friends who've seen better days, and has a mild heart attack. Joel discovers that a Yiddish word is in the local Indian language and that a Jewish man may have had an influence in Alaska two hundred years before.

    Director:Michael Fresco
    Writer:Rogers Turrentine

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  23. Northern Exposure Season 5 Episode 3 - Jaws of Life
    7.5/10(2 votes)

    #23 - Jaws of Life

    S5:E3

    Maurice is chosen to be a wax figure at Madame Tussaud's, in London, for their rugged individualist's exhibit. Chris is faced with having to live longer than he planned on, a consequence he has trouble dealing with. The dentist comes to town, which puts everyone on edge.

    Director:Jim Charleston
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  24. Northern Exposure Season 5 Episode 9 - A Cup of Joe
    7.5/10(2 votes)

    #24 - A Cup of Joe

    S5:E9

    Chris suffers an anxiety attack during the written part of the exam, when he decides to become a pilot. Holling and Ruth-Anne's friendship undergoes a strain when a diary that Ed has found shows that his grandfather ate hers during the blizzard of 1897. Joel is in search the thief of forty dollars in petty cash.

    Director:Michael Lange
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  25. Northern Exposure Season 5 Episode 10 - First Snow
    7.5/10(2 votes)

    #25 - First Snow

    S5:E10

    As the town prepares for winter, a healthy elderly patient tells Joel she is dying, much to his disbelief. Maggie decides to redecorate her house before winter sets in and gets a new chair that no one seems to like. Holling must figure out how many plots to dig at the cemetery before the ground freezes. Shelly lies to Maurice about never saying she loved him and she thinks her nose has begun to grow because of it.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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Best Episodes Summary

"Cicely" is the best rated episode of "Northern Exposure". It scored 8.2/10 based on 4 votes. Directed by Rob Thompson and written by Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov, it aired on 5/18/1992. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Aurora Borealis: A Fairy Tale for Big People".