Northern Exposure: The Complete Third Season DVD Review:

In the third season on Northern Exposure it seems as though the show has found its stride, with some of the best episodes in the run of the show. Along with two Emmy winning episodes, season three continues to tease us with the possible romantic connection between Dr. Joel and Maggie the local pilot and handy-woman. With the death of Maggie’s long time boyfriend Rick in season two, she is finally available, as is Joel after his fiancé left him for an older man in New York. This would seem to make things easier for Joel and Maggie to finally confess their obvious attraction, but this is not satisfied easily, making it a great season although somewhat frustrating.

The story always progresses steadily in Northern Exposure, but each episode carries some of the back-story from other seasons or other episodes. Characters such as Adam make more appearances in this season, this time joined by his hypochondriac wife, Eve. It seems that although Sicily is a small town, there is always something going on and often visitors. There are also no shortage of strange occurrences, some too ridiculous to be believable but always fun nonetheless. It seems that the writers enjoyed writing themselves into corners, too often using dreams as a means of escape from the situations they put the characters into.

Season three has twenty three great episodes placed on three double sided discs. These discs are fit into slim disc containers, all snugly packaged in a green cardboard box. Fans may be disappointed to find that the fabric covering has been abandoned, but the package is neater although less fun. Each of the discs also have a special feature or two, all of which seem to be some sort of deleted scene or storyline. The features are minimal and unimportant but avid fans may find them interesting.

It was a great show and although some of the episodes are a bit hokey at times, the characters have been well developed by season three, making it the most enjoyable of the three released so far.



Ryan Izay