Chris wakes up one night to find a group of men and women performing a spirited traditional African dance to drum music. Well, traditional-looking, anyway. I don’t know if this was authentic, contemporary, or made up for the show. I don’t know much about indigenous cultures in Africa, to be honest. And neither, we will learn, does Chris.
The dancers disappear, and Chris finds himself alone outside in his long johns.
[Cue moose strutting to funky jazz music.]
Joel is showering when plaster starts to rain down on him. It’s Maggie, patching up the roof. She comes in for coffee, and they bicker and trade barbs. It’s stuff the viewer is used to by now. In addition to the cabin falling apart, Joel’s truck won’t run, though he insists he is not flooding the engine and he has a very light foot, thank you very much. Maggie offers him a ride, but he decides to walk. Didn’t we establish he had a very remote cabin, 7 miles or so outside of town? That’s quite a walk.
Anyway, Chris is on the air that morning, musing about the dream he had and about dreams in general. Bernard comes by. (What a coincidence!) Since his last visit, he’s gotten rid of the Harley and leather and has gone back to being the sweater-wearing, mild-mannered accountant he was meant to be. He comes bearing a gift for Chris: a check for $36,000. Turns out when his their dad died, he left $60,000 to “his sons.” Bernard is simply giving Chris his half, plus interest. Bernard is a pretty stand-up guy. Chris is reluctant to take the money! In philosophical terms, he doesn’t see Bernard’s dad as his dad. Even if they were technically, physically the same person, Bernard Sr. was a totally different guy from Papa Chris. Now, I think this is dumb for a guy who lives in a trailer and seems to perpetually be a fallen tree branch away from homelessness, and also just intellectually and philosophically dumb. But I have to admit that in a very “Chris” way, it’s admirable too. Bernard insists. He had a dad growing up. Chris didn’t. This is the least he deserves.
Fleischman is being super neurotic in his office when Adam comes in being super Adam–hairy, dirty, rude, the whole nine yards. He demands $100 from the doctor. For what? His insurance premium is due, obviously. Fleischman’s busy arguing with him when Elaine walks in. Yeah, that Elaine. His Elaine. Turns out her husband has died of a heart attack. The doctor kicks Adam out of his office. Elaine explains that she’d just had the urge to see him and hopped on a flight without even packing. Joel is… not very comforting to her.
Back at The Brick, while Joel is puzzling over why the woman who had so coldly dumped him would come back for a surprise visit, Adam is puzzling over what the hell is in the food. He insults the cooking to Holling, who challenges him to do better in a hot kitchen during the lunch-hour rush. The two wager $100 on it. Maggie comes in to gripe at Joel for hurting Elaine’s feelings and blah blah blah. That night, Maggie drives the two of them to Joel’s cabin, along the way lying to Elaine about Joel having insisted she stay with him as well as pressuring Joel to apologize. Elaine and Joel spend an awkward night in his cabin, not sharing a toothbrush or a bed, but talking about what happened between them. In the morning, Elaine wakes up freezing cold (hole in the roof, you’ll remember), so Joel platonically invites her under the covers with him to warm up. The two are laughing over old memories when Maggie busts into the cabin without knocking, Cicely-style, and awkwardly sees them in bed together. She leaves, assuming what most people would assume. She goes to The Brick and chatters anxiously with Shelly about what she thinks she walked in on. I’m not quite sure what she was expecting–shoving two exes together, and at that a grieving widow and a lonely man. What did she think was going to happen?
Bernard and Chris roast weenies out by the lake and finish one another’s sentences. Chris asks if he’s had any weird dreams lately, but Bernard says he hasn’t had any dreams in a while. That night, Chris has the African dance dream again, but this time Bernard is there. They speak a few lines of… I don’t know what language. Google translate isn’t helping, and neither is Amazon. (“[speaks in foreign language].” Thanks.) Chris dances while Bernard stands by. Chris then wakes up and tells Bernard it’s clear now that he must go to Africa. Kesho… whatever that means. On his radio show the next morning, Chris (now sporting cornrows) bids Alaska farewell, as he is soon to embark on a trip to Africa. On air, he formally declares himself to be a person of color. (Yikes.)
Kesho.
Maggie, having clearly still not learned to mind her own business, goes to Dr. Fleischman’s under the false pretense of a hurt wrist, fishing for information about what’s up between the doctor and his ex. Back at The Brick, Adam has indeed brought in a huge crowd (or at least his gourmet cooking has). When he asks Chris what part of Africa he’s going to, Chris doesn’t really have an answer as he hadn’t thought that much into it. East? Of course Adam has restaurant recommendations, and as much as we know Adam is full of shit, we know he knows his stuff in this department.
Elaine and Joel have dinner, and between the world class food and this music, it’s a surprisingly romantic date for a night in Cicely. As the two continue to reconnect, Maggie butts in. She asks Elaine to go to the dump with her to watch the most hilarious family of Kodiak bears. But Elaine feigns being tired, and she and Joel retreat to the cabin. They kiss, and then the obvious thing Maggie feared would happen happens. Maggie apparently spends the night at The Brick, getting wasted, and the next morning Adam grumpily plays bartender-therapist. It’s only natural to be jealous, he says. Elaine has everything Maggie lacks in terms of emotional courage.
Chris has yet another African dance dream, except this time he’s in full tribal regalia like the other dancers. And this time, Bernard is there, seated in the middle of the dancers like a king or chieftain. Bernard figures out that Chris has been having his dreams. Talk about obvious. The next morning, Chris (no longer wearing cornrows) encourages Bernard to take the pilgrimage to the motherland instead.
Joel and Elaine agree that last night’s sex was great. Fantastic. Extraordinary. And it’s over between them. They’ve made peace. They have closure, and it’s time to move on.
Holling begrudgingly but honorably admits he was wrong and that Adam is an fantastic cook. He even offers him a job. But the mysterious, cantankerous gourmand isn’t interested. He just takes his hundred bucks and walks out.
Maggie goes to Fleischman’s office to “warn” him about Elaine’s grieving widow act. Joel tells her that Elaine is gone and that he’s fine. And he sincerely thanks her for caring.
Bernard hits the road as this track plays:
Miscellaneous Notes, Quotes, and Anecdotes:
– “In your dreams, Fleischman” is a line Maggie has used so much, I think we can safely call it a catchphrase by now.
– Adam, disgusted with the food at The Brick: “Come on, Fleischman, get your coat. I’m not paying for this swill.” As Joel points out, he has no money and wasn’t going to pay for anything.
– Elaine wears Joel’s Columbia sweatshirt, a recurring character itself since the pilot.
– Google says “kesho” is Swahili for “tomorrow,” but can be used to more broadly refer to a later time. I guess like how Americans will simply say “later” as a goodbye.
– Fun Shelly Earrings Alert!: Silver table settings (plate, fork, spoon, knife)!
– Shelly says something about “a grungy new guy” working in the kitchen. I’m not quite sure when (or if) it catches on with the people of Cicely that this is the Adam and that Joel was telling the truth before.
– Adam predicts that Maggie will grow old surrounded by her many cats. I feel like even by the early 90s, this was a tired, misogynistic trope. It feels cheap.
– Of course the top comment on the Miriam Makeba video is about Northern Exposure. Surprisingly not so with the Roberto Torres link.
– Kesho!