[Cue moose strutting to funky jazz music.]
Dr. Fleischman walks into his office one chilly morning to find someone already in his examination room: It’s a goat, eating that butcher paper stuff that’s uncomfortable to sit on. “It’s a gift,” says Marilyn. Earlier, he’d “cured” a tribal elder’s arthritis (that is, gave her some Cortisone), and this is how she’s chosen to repay him. Joel, understandably, does not want a goat. But Marilyn insists it can’t be returned or regifted. “It’s a gift.”
Back at The Brick, Holling is in a surprisingly good mood for someone whose almost-wife is out of town visiting friends. He explains that he’s looking forward to waxing the floors. He’s been expecting a couple mystery packages from Maggie, but he refuses to divulge any details about them.
Joel tells Mrs. Noanuk that as much as he likes the goat, he simply can’t accept it. He’s not an animal guy. She thinks he must have felt insulted by the meager offering. So she’s going to make it right. She’s going to adopt the doctor into her tribe.
“Congratulations” says Marilyn.
How does he get out of this? “You can’t.” What does this ritual entail? She doesn’t know. It’s not her tribe. Joel refuses to take part in some “Indian hazing” ritual, which does not please Marilyn. Ed pays him a visit later (no knocking, of course), and admires Joel’s goat, which he has tied up in his living room so it wouldn’t freeze. But Ed’s not just there to admire the goat (though he very much does). He’s there to let Fleischman know he hurt Mrs. Noanuk’s feelings.
Joel: “You think I did a bad thing?”
Ed: “Well you insulted Mrs. Noanuk’s tribe and all her ancestors.”
Dr. Fleischman continues to get the silent treatment from Marilyn. Like, even more than usual. He caves and agrees to undergo initiation into the tribe. “Good” she says. They meet with Mrs. Noanuk. It turns out the solution is simple. Joel simply has to give up all his possessions.
Ed comes over to cheerfully help take Joel’s stuff.
Joel asks “Now when do I get my stuff back?”
“Back?” Ed says.
Ed can’t promise he’ll have his possessions returned. He’s not from the same tribe as Mrs. Noanuk.
Holling abruptly kicks a crowd out of The Brick. I guess he’s really eager to redo those floors. Chris offers to help, but Holling boots him out too. People start to get suspicious.
A council of tribal elders comes to meet with Joel, bringing with them a bearskin vest (a way more practical gift than a goat). They ask Joel if he wants to know anything about them or their culture, and Joel takes the opportunity to make a smartass joke about Marilyn being a font of information. He rudely, and stupidly, misses the opportunity to ask them about the ceremony.
Now that they’ve taken all his possessions, there’s one more step: fast.
As he’s having a “dinner” of some kind of pungent tea, Ed freaks him out about the ritual. Again: not his tribe. He doesn’t know what they’re going to do. But he does know movies, and this reminds him of that one scene in A Man Called Horse where they pierce the guy’s flesh and hang him from a lodgepole…
Anyway, Joel is at least getting his stuff back. Sort of. Ed’s brought him other people’s stuff as a replacement. Joel is, predictably, unhappy about this.
Chris mentions the upcoming “flesh sacrifice,” which inspires a freaked out Joel to run to the station and ask for details. But like everyone else, Chris doesn’t have information other than musings about torturous rituals he’s heard of here and there.
Maggie confronts Holling about what’s actually going on. It turns out the mystery packages contained astronomical equipment. Holling explains that years ago, he “purchased” an obscure star for a, uh… “friend” named Eleanor. Holling and Eleanor lost touch, then he eventually got word from a mutual acquaintance that she had passed. Now, the distant star he had named for her is about to be visible in the night sky for one last time. So he’s been poring over star charts for his one last chance to see her.
Fleischman’s fast ends, not so much as part of the ritual, but because everyone felt bad for the “starving” doctor. Ed brings him Tupperwares full of food.
Joel: “What is it? Bear? Moose?”
Ed: “It’s lasagna.”
The next step: He has to go out and have a vision. Ed takes him to the woods to stare at the moon, but Joel says he’s not really the vision-having type.
Holling and Maggie go to the roof of The Brick to see Eleanor, but it seems to be too late. Eleanor isn’t there. Maggie tells Holling not to feel too bad. Who knows where Eleanor is… but it’s a beautiful night, and they’re two friends together, and that’s something.
Joel goes to the Bingo hall, where he gives a small awkward but gracious speech. Mrs. Noanuk welcomes “Heals With Tools” to the tribe, “and thanks for the Cortisone.” And that’s it. Time to eat!
Mazel tov!
Miscellaneous notes, quotes, and anecdotes:
– Continuity: Joel once again mentions his poor departed pet turtle.
– Fleischman says the goat has the eyes of a being from the underworld.
– Mrs. Noanuk: “Has your Rabbi Ragins been to the moon? Our Rabbi Ragins has been to the moon.”
Dr. Fleischman: “No, I think he’s just been to Jerusalem once or twice.”
– Maurice (hanging out at the store because The Brick is closed) tells Ruth-Anne to freshen up his coffee, and she tells him to do it himself.
– Joel, watching people line up for coffee in the store: “A line? It’s been so long since I’ve seen a line, I’d forgotten what one looks like.”
– This episode has an interesting structure. The A-plot really dominates this one, with Holling’s B-plot mystery barely taking up any time. Maurice is hardly here until the end, Chris doesn’t even have a radio segment for the first half of the episode, Maggie is largely written out as busy with work, and Shelly is away entirely. There’s no magical realism or bizarre characters randomly popping in. Come to think of it, this is a very Season 1 episode, focused on the main character’s fish-out-of-water experiences.
– There’s kind of a weak C-plot about people missing The Brick. It’s funny as a sort of leitmotif (with people hanging out at Ruth-Anne’s and even in Fleischman’s waiting room), but when Chris has a bit of a crisis over it towards the end of the episode, it feels shoehorned in.
– Joel describes himself as a New Yorker, a Republican, and a Knicks fan.
– Having lost many loves, Maggie was the right person for Holling to tell his Eleanor story to.
– Trying to see a fading, distant star on the night of a bright, full moon is pretty unfortunate timing.
– The characters look at the moon and see various things.
Joel: “Pizza Face,” an acne-suffering med student he knew.
Maggie: Used to see men she wanted to marry. Mick Jagger or Ron Howard. Now? Just the moon.
Maurice: Alan Shepard’s weird feet.
– Continuity?: Joel claims he’s never had a vision, despite experiences such as his younger self speaking to him at the theater and his time-traveling visit to see his ancestors. Perhaps he chalks them up as dreams so they don’t count?
– It’s not really clear what happens to Dizzy (that’s the goat’s name) in the end.