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Northern Exposure
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To every fan around the world, the thought of
Joel leaving the show was as saddening as the feeling of a close friend moving to a new
city, for many even worse! Even though we knew that the show would go on, even
though we had the Capras, and Joel off and on for a few episodes, the grieving over the
loss could not be denied. The Myth of the Heroes Journey is a cross-cultural paradigm which brings about feelings of envy and pride in anyone who hears one of the myths - the Jungian concept of a collective understanding. Using this construct to bring about closure was brilliant! First, we open with Joel pounding on Maggie's door, with the desparate request for our participation in this Journey to the unknown, to the Jeweled City of the North... by continuing to watch what we understand will be the last time we see Joel Fleischman as part of the community of Cicely, we go on the journey with them. We allow ourselves to be brought out of the Normal into that liminal place which is for us as well as the characters a place of transition, a place where the normal and reasonable don't completely hold together. We fight along with Joel to overcome the dragon, for us the symbol of the loss of a major theme of our beloved Cicely, and we come out victorious. We struggle with them, the themes and conflicts of the regular NX show interspersed with scenes of their journey toward the Jeweled city. We struggle with our desire to see them fail. Adam as the Gate Keeper is the mythic challenge from a friend, the alter ego to Joel. The test determine if Joel understood, and a message for us the listener, to love something you must set it free. Love is non-possessive Hmmm, worth thinking about... For us the seductive Sirens are the interspersed segues to the normal episode, where we can believe that Joel is away in Sleetmute doing classes in Hygiene... but no, we are taken back to the journey where Joel and Maggie escape the Sirens, somewhat to our disappointment, as the journey must go on, and we know what the end of tonight's episode means... There is the struggle with the map, the inability to interpret, maybe a little hope that the end won't come, followed by the intervention from the person who brought Joel full circle, Maggie. And to the Jeweled City they go. Then we get past the tease that maybe we are going to lose Maggie too, followed by reassurance, the understanding that Joel is to go on alone. We are left hanging in the chaos of the loss, and the fear for the future of our show, then we move to the re-integration, the Postcard from Joel, the view of Joel on the Ferry, the Bliss of both Maggie and Joel, they understand. Remember, Cicely is a State of Mind. |
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