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The Worst Episodes of Northern Exposure

Every episode of Northern Exposure ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Northern Exposure Season 5 Episode 22 - Grand Prix
    6.5/10(231 votes)

    #1 - Grand Prix

    S5:E22

    Ted tries to impress Marilyn with the rich client he's just landed and learns what makes them different. Maurice organizes Cicely's 1st International wheelchair race and demands too much from the contestant he is sponsoring. Ed prescribes a remedy for a racer with tennis elbow, but the little green man returns to try to undermine his confidence in his healing abilities.

    Director:Michael Lange
    Writer:Barbara Hall

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  2. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 1 - Dinner at Seven-Thirty
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Dinner at Seven-Thirty

    S6:E1

    Joel takes a spiritual journey to New York City after drinking orange juice that contains some Indian folk medicine and sees how life might have been. There he and his wife Shelly, a corporate lawyer, give a dinner party. Maurice is their doorman and Eugene their elevator operator; Maggie is the au pair for their kids; Bernard is in fashions and Chris is an inarticulate fashion photographer; Ed is a corporate raider; Ruth-Anne runs the internal medical partnership that Joel is trying to join; Holling is a singer who's got agoraphobia (fear of open places). Through the course of the evening, they begin to transform into their Cicelian characters.

    Director:Michael Fresco
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  3. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 2 - Eye of the Beholder
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - Eye of the Beholder

    S6:E2

    With Renaldo, Ed participates in an investigation of possible insurance fraud being perpetrated by Hayden Keyes. Maggie & Maurice both regret their donations to the library fund-raising auction. A dollhouse from the auction, Miranda's 1st birthday, and her growth begin to depress Shelly.

    Director:Jim Charleston
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  4. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 3 - Shofar, So Good
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - Shofar, So Good

    S6:E3

    Maurice's plans for a fox hunt with his visiting English noblewoman must be put on hold when the fox escapes and gets into the protective custody of Ruth-Anne. Firing Marilyn and his lack of concern for Hayden's well-being are two items that haunt Joel, Dickensian style, during his celebration of Yom Kippur. Meanwhile Holling yearns to make amends for past misdeeds.

    Director:James Hayman
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 4 - The Letter
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - The Letter

    S6:E4

    A letter Maggie wrote to herself as a teenager makes her re-examine her current life against the ideals she had at fifteen. Shelly ignores a chain letter, and then bad luck falls on the Vincoeur household. A new barber arrives in Cicely and Chris tries to be his friend, but he doesn't want anything to do with an ex-con. A lump is discovered on Joel's head, so he goes to Anchorage and finds out the lump may be malignant, so he starts to live his life to the fullest.

    Director:Jim Charleston
    Writer:Meredith Stiehm

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  6. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 5 - The Robe
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - The Robe

    S6:E5

    Satan comes to Cicely as a whirlpool salesman; he offers to fulfill Shelly's fantasy of making the Brick a major casino. Ed makes a mistake and skews the results of a cold medicine test that Joel is running for John Hopkins. Chris gets a ventriloquist's dummy and adds him to his radio show, but the dummy becomes more popular, because he "shoots straight from the hip." Maurice is convinced that Joel's cold medicine contains a new appetite suppressant and he presses Joel to tell him what it is. When that doesn't work, he gets Hayden to try to steal the information. To make her fantasy come true, all Shelly must do is burn Holling's old bathrobe.

    Director:Lorraine Senna
    Writer:Sam Egan

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  7. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 6 - Zarya
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - Zarya

    S6:E6

    Ed films Marilyn telling the story of a Russian princess and her grandfather. It seems that Lenin and Anastasia arranged to meet in Cicely to work out an agreement that would reestablish the rule of her family in Russia. Meanwhile, an all-terrain vehicle is being prototyped for the Alaskan frontier.

    Director:Jim Charleston
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  8. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 7 - Full Upright Position
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - Full Upright Position

    S6:E7

    Maurice welcomes his young cousin Maurice to Cicely, hopefully to take over the family business. Charges of static electricity generate a new interest--and a new art project-- for Chris. Meanwhile sparks fly between Joel and Maggie on a Russian airline bound for St. Petersburg, where Joel is scheduled to speak at a medical convention.

    Director:Oz Scott
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  9. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 8 - Up River
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - Up River

    S6:E8

    Maurice sends Ed after Joel, who's moved up river; and Joel tells Ed of the few days he and Maggie spent together, where every time they got together, there was gunfire. Chris hires a contractor to improve the lot around his trailer and it turns his world upside down. When Walt goes away to check his traps, Ruth-Anne realizes that she's fallen in love and tries to fight it.

    Director:Michael Fresco
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  10. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 9 - Sons of the Tundra
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - Sons of the Tundra

    S6:E9

    A new doctor and his wife move to Cicely to take over Joel's practice and his house. While settling in, they get to know some quirks of the people and their new environment. After eating a trout, Ed starts to see the future. Holling tries to join the "Sons of the Tundra" and Shelly dislikes the "men only" aspect. Joel stops by and trades Holling pelts for a new knife.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 10 - Realpolitik
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - Realpolitik

    S6:E10

    Maggie gets elected mayor. Joel invites Phil up river, for a game of golf and a test. Michelle covers Maggie's first city council meeting as mayor and Maggie makes her first motion for a centrally located dumpster but runs into opposition from the fiscal-restraint minded crowd. Maggie's power as mayor becomes a turn on for Chris. Marilyn invests money in a stud dog that doesn't want to mate.

    Director:Victor Lobl
    Writer:Sam Egan

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  12. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 11 - The Great Mushroom
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - The Great Mushroom

    S6:E11

    Maggie decides to go and see Joel in the Manonash village after she begins to have visions of him dying. The Capras are having a small get together, but the whole town seems to turn out. Marilyn brings along two friends to the party, and because they're snowed in, they stay with the Capras, whom try to figure out how to get them to leave. Ed's shaman cure for shingles has Phil intrigued, he goes to Ed's to find out the secret but finds Ed's filing system less than perfect. Using a computer, to database these notes, makes Ed afraid.

    Director:James Hayman
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  13. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 12 - Mi Casa, Su Casa
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - Mi Casa, Su Casa

    S6:E12

    Marilyn comes to visit an old friend in the community where Joel is living and he begins to revert to his old ways. Maurice leaves Ed in charge of his house and he returns to find Ed has taken over the place. The Vincoeurs are house hunting and make an offer on Semanski's place but only after Holling gets a few little details fixed; but does he really want it?

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  14. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 13 - Horns
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - Horns

    S6:E13

    The state of Alaska admits to Joel that they were wrong in over-extending his contract. With his release secured, Joel returns to Cicely to collect his things. Phil notices there is something wrong with Maurice's new bottled water; the effect causes males and females to reverse roles. Cal escapes and becomes a fugitive in search of an audience. The area where Joel goes does not contain a village named Greenwich.

    Director:Michael Fresco
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 14 - The Mommy's Curse
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - The Mommy's Curse

    S6:E14

    When Maggie's mother and her male friend, who dies, come to visit, she realizes that her luck with men runs in the family. Maurice becomes jealous of Holling's friendship with Phil. Ruth-Anne and Walt's relationship is put to the test when she has him help her out in the store.

    Director:Michael Lange
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  16. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 15 - The Quest
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #16 - The Quest

    S6:E15

    Joel finds a map and brings Maggie with him on a quest to find a mythical city. They meet a belligerent gatekeeper and when faced with a crossroads, Joel sees his future and departs. Phil cleans out some impacted earwax for Chris but Chris sues him for malpractice when his inner ear is damaged. Maurice lets Holling know that Michelle is writing an article on restaurants for Alaska Highways magazine but she can't find any good words to describe the food at the Brick.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  17. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 16 - Lucky People
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - Lucky People

    S6:E16

    The citizens get ready to celebrate founders' day; Chris and Maggie open an old garage and uncover Roslyn and Cicely's old Model T. While rebuilding the car, Chris starts to show an interest in Maggie. Maurice believes that Miranda is the reincarnation of his uncle, so he "plans to take a personal interest in her." The Capras look at their financial situation when they wish to build a house on land they've bought. Phil has a major anxiety attack, resulting from the onslaught of nature, and he tries to get Maurice to buy back the property. Michelle's wish to be different nearly gets her frostbite, when she decides to not wear the anonymous gifts she's received.

    Director:Janet Greek
    Writers:Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov

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  18. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 17 - The Graduate
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #18 - The Graduate

    S6:E17

    Maggie outbids Maurice for the ownership of the town's rundown theater which she begins to run with help of Ed and Heather. When two professors come to Cicely for the oral examination for Chris' master's degree, they clash over Chris' dissertation. A young Canadian Air Force lieutenant claims that Holling is his father, something proven because Holling sent his mother money every month for 25 years. However, that's just covering up a secret from his past. The theatre business causes stress for Maggie.

    Director:James Hayman
    Writer:Sam Egan

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  19. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 18 - Little Italy
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #19 - Little Italy

    S6:E18

    Ruth-Anne makes her debut on National Public Radio telling about little slices of life from Cicely. The Capras go to Cicely's Little Italy, where it turns out there is an exclusive restaurant in the basement of a house in a feud with the people next door and they get caught in the middle. Maggie in her role as mayor must play marriage counselor for Shelly and Holling.

    Director:Stephen Cragg
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 19 - Balls
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #20 - Balls

    S6:E19

    Ed resents Maurice's advice about his relationship with Heather. Chris believes that Maggie needs a new bowling partner so he holds tryouts and gets the woolly mammoth professor to be her partner. Michelle's success at bowling threatens Phil; they fight about it and she moves out. Chris becomes jealous of Maggie's new partner. Lester's wants to produce Ed's script for "The Shaman" with one change that makes Ed think about what Maurice said to him. Michelle moves out of the house.

    Director:Scott Paulin
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 20 - Buss Stop
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #21 - Buss Stop

    S6:E20

    Michelle decides to mount a stage production of "Bus Stop" unaware of the curse that has plagued past stage productions. Ron helps guarantee that Erick gets a coveted role and Shelly is jealous when Maggie gets the female lead. Hayden designs the sets and a stage with a trap door. Holling, Erick and Chris all have issues to deal with about their parts in the play, which they discuss while drinking out at Holling's still.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  22. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 21 - Ursa Minor
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Ursa Minor

    S6:E21

    Ed learns the responsibilities of parenthood when he begins caring for a lost bear cub. Maurice discovers that Cicely's population is declining. Chris uses a device that allows him to manipulate his dreams and work out some issues in his relationship with Maggie. Michelle waitresses at the Brick while continuing to work out her issues with Phil.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Sam Egan

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  23. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 22 - Let's Dance
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #23 - Let's Dance

    S6:E22

    Chris begins taking dance lessons from Marilyn but she disciplines one of her other students into giving him the lessons only she doesn't want to be seen talking to him, even though they have similar interests. Philip offends Marilyn's mother when he breaks tribal protocols for manners and Michelle confirms his deficiency. Maurice and Barbara travel on a prisoner transport with Cal the violinist to bring him back to the sanitarium. Along the way she falls under the spell of his violin playing causing her to think about violating the rules and letting him go free.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Sam Egan

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  24. Northern Exposure Season 6 Episode 23 - Tranquility Base
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #24 - Tranquility Base

    S6:E23

    Maurice's plans to ask Barbara to marry him while spending the weekend at his new summer home are in jeopardy when her style clashes with the way he wants his guests treated. Phil and Michelle continue to try to work out their differences and Ed, in his Shaman capacity, and Joel's Rabbi offer some advice. Chris is on the loose when Maggie doesn't make the journey to Maurice's but soon realizes that he is a changed man. The Vincoeurs stay locked up in their room when Holling is in heat.

    Director:Michael Fresco
    Writers:Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess

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  25. Northern Exposure Season 4 Episode 11 - Survival of the Species
    7.2/10(299 votes)

    #25 - Survival of the Species

    S4:E11

    Ed becomes gloomy about the future and begins to share Mike's visions about the future. Maggie digs up some artifacts from an ancient female in her front yard and Maurice wants to turn it into a major excavation. A young boy who runs away from a survival camp gets a job at "The Brick" to cover his room and board; he also falls madly in love with Shelly. Maggie and the rest of the women band together against the men who have dominated the dig in her front yard.

    Director:Dean Parisot
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Grand Prix" is the worst rated episode of "Northern Exposure". It scored 6.5/10 based on 231 votes. Directed by Michael Lange and written by Barbara Hall, it aired on 5/9/1994. This episode scored 0.5 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Dinner at Seven-Thirty".