Somehow I feel that certain aspects of this episode are going to resonate even more now than in 1990.

[Cue moose strutting to funky jazz music]

Also cue some doo-woppy rock and roll, as Joel wakes up to an on-air shout out from Chris in the Morning and seems to be in an unusually great mood as he gets ready for the day. Then we’re treated to another new thing: Narration by Joel! He explains that after two months without seeing his fiancé, Elaine, she is finally coming to visit. The people of Cicely are all on board for making this a great weekend. Holling is going to take them to a scenic vista for photographs. Chris is going to play her favorite music on the radio. And Marilyn has promised not to drive Joel crazy.

It turns out this “narration” is actually the doctor jabbering away at a miserable-looking patient. And it turns out this very sick man is not only a pilot, but the pilot who was to pick up Elaine. And now he can’t fly. “Doctor’s orders.”

So now Joel is on the hunt for a last-minute pilot. Anyone but Maggie. Rick is sleep-deprived from a series of back-to-back jobs. Another pilot’s plane is in the shop. So Joel has to ask Maggie to pick up Elaine from Anchorage. She instantly agrees… for double the usual rate.

Meanwhile, Holling has to cancel his guided tour. He’s sick, which Maurice finds funny.

A nervous and excited Joel meets the two ladies at an airstrip, where Joel is perplexed to find that they actually hit it off very well.

Just as Joel and Elaine are having some alone time, Joel sees Ed standing in his cabin. (This will never not get a laugh out of me.) Maurice and Chris are now sick. The would-be romantic evening becomes a girls’ night for Elaine and Maggie and a never-ending series of house calls for the doctor. And the next morning, we see Ed of all people DJing for Chris in the Morning–the last in a long line of succession. I gotta say, I love this. Not only is it a clever way of showing just how sick the town is, but Ed’s childlike joy at being on air is delightful.

While Dr. Fleischman pleads with his physician contact back at Anchorage to send help for a burgeoning flu epidemic, Marilyn has distributed some kind of smelly brown goo for his patients to rub on themselves. Hio Hio Ipsanio. “It’s a tribal remedy,” is the only explanation she offers. The doctor is angry with her for bringing a folk remedy to his office of modern medicine.

The exhausted Joel returns to his cabin to find his waiting fiancé, as well as the air conditioner unit he’s been bugging Maggie for. Elaine doesn’t understand why Joel doesn’t like this perfectly pleasant woman. Joel: “She called me a pathological neurotic, okay? You know how the imprecise use of medical terminology drives me crazy!” Just as the two are about to finally share some intimacy, Ed pops up again. (And again: LOL. Every time.) Maurice has called an emergency town meeting.

The feverish townspeople demand to know why their doctor has failed them so, leaving Joel struggling to explain where the flu comes from and why he has no cure. When discussing the origins of various strains, he makes the mistake of mentioning the titular “Russian flu,” and the town meeting devolves into oddly specific Cold War conspiracy theories. Joel is clearly a Trotskyite and a KGB stooge, and “it’s pretty sad when the Soviets’ only hope for world domination is to send a flock of sick birds across the Bering Strait.”

The beleaguered doctor returns to his cabin to find his fiancé sick as well. The universe, or at least Cicely, Alaska, is cock-blocking Elaine and Joel to the extreme. The next morning, a sick and demoralized Elaine makes the observation that there seem to be two exceptions to everyone being sick: Joel and Maggie. And thus Maggie becomes the center of yet another argument between them. And we learn that Maggie told Elaine about the drunken night she made a pass at him. And so Joel, perhaps not unreasonably, starts to suspect that Maggie’s friendliness towards Elaine is part of a manipulative scheme.

Joel shows up to an empty office. Everyone has given up on Dr. Fleischman in favor of Marilyn’s Mystery Moose Goo. What’s in it? “I know, but you don’t wanna know.”

Back at the cabin, a sick and miserable Elaine is uninterested in canned soup from The Brick so Joel, in a desperate bid to do something, rubs Hio Hio Ipsanio on her. But in the midst of it, the two argue about something Maggie said. Again. So they agree not to bring her up for the rest of the weekend

That night, Joel dreams he’s back in New York City–an alternate, dream version in which he bumps into his acquaintances from Cicely in various odd roles. In this dream (which is lucid to the point of 4th wall breaking), Elaine is Joel’s sister. His partner, and the object of his passionate (though confused) desire, is Maggie.

The next morning, Elaine is feeling better, Joel is starting to get sick, and we learn that when the two finally had their moment, Joel was physically unable to do the deed. The two blame exhaustion.

They go back into a rejuvenated Cicely, and Chris and Ed dedicate a song to Elaine:

The townspeople give them a warm welcome, apologizing to Joel and telling Elaine what a great guy he is. And it’s moments like this that remind me why I love these characters. As flawed as they are, they all have good in them that shines through when it matters most.

Joel seems annoyed anyway, and Elaine breaks her “let’s not talk about Maggie” promise to tell him what Maggie said about him: “She said you were a great guy. She thinks you’re funny and smart and compassionate… But, she doesn’t understand why you don’t cut anybody any slack. Why you can’t roll with the punches. Why you think everyone you meet has an ulterior motive. Why you can’t be spontaneous. And why you can’t see the beauty that’s all around you.”

Damn. If that isn’t Joel in a nutshell, I don’t know what is.

Holling takes them to a scenic overlook by a waterfall as Northern Exposure pays a bizarre spoof/tribute to the other surrealist TV masterpiece of its day, Twin Peaks.

I wanted to share the video, but the only version I could find was in Hungarian. But you know what? That adds to the baffling weirdness of it. So here it is:

Joel sees Elaine off with her original pilot, and the two try to convince themselves it was just an off-weekend. The pilot comments that Joel has a nice sister.

Back at the office, Marilyn is dutifully scrubbing the Hio Hio Ipsanio stink out of the floorboards. While the doctor can’t rule out that everyone got better because the virus ran its course… he has to admit Marilyn’s smelly goop seems to have helped. Joel makes a business proposition to her: The recipe could make them filthy rich. She just has to share it with him. Marilyn just smiles and goes back to her work.

Back at his Cabin, a very sick Joel gets a visit from his landlord. She gives him the last little bit of Hio Hio Ipsanio. Will she rub it all over him? “In your dreams, Fleischman.”

Miscellaneous notes, quotes, and anecdotes:

– Originally, Joel showered and readied for his day to the song “Who Put the Bomp?” Amazon has replaced it with some generic-sounding doo-wop for which Googling the lyrics for doesn’t pull up anything conclusive. I appreciate the attempt, vs playing some kind of elevator music, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed if not for fans online bringing it up.

– The original song is better, though:

– Joel’s oversized jacket and fat tie is a very late 80s/early 90s “dressing snazzy” outfit.

– Joel, to an unshaven Rick: “You know, the Don Johnson look is a little bit out of date, but it looks alright on you.” Even when asking for a favor, he’s a jerk.

– Maurice: “You never get sick if you live right and keep your negative vibes to yourself [cough cough cough].”

– Joel, on what’s wrong with Maggie: “Well for starters her boyfriend is from a long line of Cossacks.”

– I should start a running tally of times Ed wears his Neil Young shirt.

– The images of a deserted Cicely, set to a song about New York City, hits different post-COVID.

– Wild-eyed, frizzy-haired, red-faced, sick Maurice is hilarious.

– The chocolate moose killed me.

– I’ve been in Joel and Elaine’s situation: A young couple, divided by geography and the separate paths they’ve taken in life, are in denial that their relationship is failing. It makes for some funny sitcom misadventures, but it’s sad.

– Of course Ed doesn’t get sick. He’s a force of nature.

– Another Sureshot reference. I was right.

– WordPress is being weird, so excuse the lack of polish on the formatting here.