Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Northern Exposure Season 3 Episodes
Season 3 Episode Guide
23 Episodes 1991 - 1992
Episode 1
The Bumpy Road to Love
Mon, Sep 23, 1991
Maggie has commissioned a statue in memory of Rick. At its unveiling, Maggie perceives that Joel thinks it looks like a hood ornament. She agrees. When Chris asks if anyone wants to say any words at the event, Maggie is crushed to learn of his infidelity after a stranger's eulogy offers private details. Later, at The Brick, she teases some details out of the woman, Joanne. She learns they met in Juneau at her store that sells Native American stitched skin goods. To drown her dismay, Maggie imbibes way too much. Ruth-Ann takes her home to bed. Maggie keeps claiming all men are swine. Maurice pursues Officer Semanski, inviting her down for some fun target practice and physical training. He has a very expensive Browning pistol engraved with her name. But she dumps him when she hears an answering machine message from his accountant. The accountant has found a tax loophole that will save him thousands of dollars. Barbara is so dedicated to lawful behavior that she cannot condone such actions. She leaves abruptly. Joel hears noises outside his house. It's Adam looking for him to come treat his wife, Eve. He is forced to drive to a remote location, hearing on the way about the blissful relationship that Adam and Eve share. Once at the home, he finds that Eve is a hypochondriac who will not be denied her self-diagnosed afflictions. Joel can find nothing wrong. He is witness, however, to gargantuan arguments between the two. Adam, in a fit of anger, storms out of the house. When Joel tries to do the same, Eve bops him on the head with a frying pan. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself bound with wrist and leg manacles. He is to be her 24/7 personal physician. Joel tries to pick the locks on his restraints with no luck. Eventually, he manages to facilitate a discussion between the two of them. They cut his chains with a hacksaw and let him leave. At home, he is still trying to pick the locks when Maggie arrives for a little visit and companionship. For a man, Joel is not a complete swine.
Episode 2
Only You
Mon, Sep 30, 1991
As Joel and Chris walk down the street, every woman gives Chris a warm greeting. Joel notices this and asks Chris about it. He tells Joel that it's a smell phenomenon. Joel determines to study it. Maggie goes to the mobile eye clinic and learns that she has presbyopia, she is farsighted. Dr. Irene Rondenet tells her not to worry, it is just a sign of aging. Maggie is horrified that the doctor referred to her as middle aged. She asks Joel if there is anything he can do about it. He says no. NASA has asked Maurice to submit a photo for their Houston Space Center. Holling volunteers to take the picture. Chris goes to see Dr. Rondenet, too, fully expecting her fall victim to his attraction aroma. She seems totally immune to his scent charm. This bothers Chris and, in a reverse reaction, prompts him to become fixated on her. Joel prepares some sniff samples for Marilyn. She correctly identifies the Chris scent. Maurice seeks out Holling, furious about the photo portrait. He is sure Holling selected that one to ridicule him. What's more, it's a continuation of his taunting him about stealing Sheely. Joel is sought out by both parties to validate their positions. Holling tells Joel that he thought the picture was good and that Shelly came on to him after he helped her open an aspirin bottle. Maurice says the Holling snatched the aspirin bottle as he was trying to open it. Later, Shelly says that neither of them opened it; it was Dave. Chris keeps obsessing about Dr. Rondenet to the point where, for the first time, he is impotent with some of his other ladies. He even asks Dr. Rondenet if she could just pretend to like him a little; maybe that will help him recover his libido. She says no thanks. Joel is surprised to find Maggie wearing make-up. It helps her feel like she is still young enough to attract male attention. Maurice decides that Holling was not out to embarrass him. They make up to Shelly's delight. Chris period of scent attraction has passed without Doctor Rondenet ever responding to him. He reluctantly tells her goodbye.
Episode 3
Oy, Wilderness
Mon, Oct 7, 1991
Joel and Maggie are returning from a round of vaccinations in some remote villages when her plane starts to lose altitude. With Joel losing it, Maggie manages to leave a radio message as to their situation and where they are putting down. The plane makes it safely down to a grassy opening. Maggie does a quick inspection of the airplane and starts to set up camp. Joel, as might be expected, is worried about wild animals and what they are going to eat. The only food they have is whale blubber and spotted seal liver. Back in Cicely, Shelly's best friend Cindy makes a surprise visit from Saskatoon. Cindy thinks Shelly looks old while Shelly is astonished to see how Cindy has gone from plump to svelte. Cindy's mission is to convince Shelly to divorce Wayne. They have never made it official. It will cause some friction with Cindy's parent when they find out that she is married to a man who was already married. When Joel cannot choke down blubber, Maggie reluctantly agrees to go out hunting for meat. She leaves Joel with a pistol and a whistle. The first time the bushes rustle, Joel frantically blows the whistle. It's just Maggie. Shelly agrees to push through a divorce and asks Chris to perform the ceremony. If he can perform weddings, why not divorces. They get Wayne on the phone and over the radio conduct the dissolution. "Shelly, do you untake Wayne..." Everyone agrees. Later that night, Holling tells Shelly that if she wants to go back to Saskatchewan and her young friends, she can. Shes indicates she will stay in Cicely and make Holling young. While Maggie is out hunting again, Joel takes a hand at working on the engine. Using the same logic in analyzing cardiac surgery, he finds a valve to one cylinder that is blocked. Maggie is horrified to see her plane engine partly dissembled and promptly puts it back together. Joel says to try the engine. To her disbelief, it works.
Episode 4
Animals R Us
Mon, Oct 14, 1991
A stray malamute dog strolls down the street in Cicely. After a brief exchange with Ed, it continues on. Ed goes into Ruth-Anne's store excited to pick up the film editing equipment that he had ordered. The dog finds Maggie in front of her house and doesn't want to leave her. She invites it in, then later takes it for Joel to check out. He isn't keen on examining it but gives it a go. He gets a bite on the hand for his efforts. While Maurice is in the general store, he spots a huge ostrich egg that Marilyn has given to Ruth-Anne for a church dinner souffle. He sees a money-making opportunity in ostrich ranching. He visits Marilyn with a pitch for going into business together. When he asks why the eggs are so big, Marilyn responds that the birds enjoy having her sit with them. Back at The Brick, Ed tells Holling and Rich that he is pulling the plug on his "Brink of Emptiness" film. Editing all the footage has convinced him that it didn't gel as he had hoped. Later, Joel visits Ed in his room and encourages him to go for it. Joel cannot believe that Ed is pen pals with Marty Scorsese, Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg. Subsequently, Ed has a theater session with Grandma Woody. He hears her proclaim that films work if treated like documentaries. Maggie's adopted dog keeps doing things that Rick did such that she is beginning to think he is Rick reincarnated. When she asks him to bark three times if this is so, he does. She takes him to The Brick and he immediately hops onto Rick's bar stool. Joel dismisses her arguments that he is Rick. Maurice brings a cut-out figure of Marilyn to leave by the ostrich pens all the time. It doesn't work; the eggs diminish in size. Marilyn tells him the birds don't like him, that there is no future business with him as a partner. Rich's announcement over the radio about Maggie's stray dog brings its real owner from a town about 400 miles away. She takes Butchy home. Ed has made a new film about the people of Cicely. He offers a free screening of it at the theater to a most appreciative audience.
Episode 5
Jules et Joel
Mon, Oct 28, 1991
Shortly after hitting his head, Joel is visited by his identical twin brother, Jules, and changes places with him for a day. Meanwhile, Chris is contacted by a bomber who wants to turn himself in.
Episode 6
The Body in Question
Mon, Nov 4, 1991
While fishing, Chris finds the body of a man frozen in ice. Maurice looks upon this as a business opportunity as a battle begins over the body. Ed takes a job at Ruth Anne's store. Joel explores his Jewish faith.
Episode 7
Roots
Mon, Nov 11, 1991
Chris keeps dreaming of Africans dancing to rhythmic drums outside his trailer. It's a harbinger of half-brother Bernard's return to Cicely. Instead of arriving in leathers on a Harley, he shows up in a car. Adam returns to town, bursting into Joel's office asking for a loan of $100 for his insurance premium. Joel declines to help him. Then, Joel's day continues its weird trajectory. Elaine arrives unannounced. She reveals that her new husband Dwight has died from a heart attack, and she wanted to see him. Joel is not very accepting of her approach and sends her away. Maggie is instantly on Joel's case to go apologize to her and at least give her a chance to talk with him. In the end, Joel reluctantly agrees to put her up for the night. Adam is still in search of $100. At lunch in The Brick with Joel, he stabs at a mushroom in his meal with some disgust. When Holling asks what is wrong, Adam tells him that he could do much better. He bets him $100 that he could quickly get people lining up to get in with his cooking skills. Holling accepts the bet. People start raving about his dishes. Back at Joel's place, the holes in the roof (where Maggie is repairing it) lead to cold sleeping conditions. Elaine seeks out Rob to snuggle for warmth. Maggie surprises them in bed together and draws the wrong conclusion. Chris and Bernard continue to display a phenomenal, linked behavior. Chris initially thinks that the African dancers are a sign that he needs to go to Africa. Before long, however, he realizes that it is Bernard that needs to go there to find his roots. Adam makes some suggestions for good restaurants in Dar Es Salam among others. Joel and Elaine get a chance to talk and enjoy their past relationship. They sleep together with wildly satisfying sex but finish by admitting that their relationship is over. Maggie visits with Joel about Elaine's return with some obvious implications. She is surprised when Joel tells her that Elaine has left. It's over. Holling admits that Adam has won the bet. He wants to hire him. Adam takes his $100 and leaves. Then Chris sends Bernard off in his car, eventually bound for Africa.
Episode 8
A-Hunting We Will Go
Mon, Nov 18, 1991
As Maggie drives into down with a handsome buck in the back of her pickup, Joel comes over to give her some grief about killing a majestic beast of the wild. She retaliates with it being part of the lifestyle in Cicely, plus the "you eat meat, don't you?" argument. The upshot of the discussion in that Joel decides he needs to go out hunting to experience first-hand just what all the mystique is about. He invites himself along on Chris and Holling's annual grouse hunt. Ed is working at Ruth-Anne's store when the discussion unexpectedly reveals that she turned 75 a few days earlier. Ed is horrified to think that she doesn't have much time left. He is very pro-active at jumping in to do things so that she does not have to strain herself any more than necessary. He wants to get her something extra special for her birthday. Joel drops in the store and gets all geared up for his hunt. Chris has lent him an extra shotgun, something that he has never handled before. Holling, who has given up killing, is doing his shooting with an SLR camera. His role will be to flush birds so that Chris and Joel can do the shooting. The trio start out, and two birds rapidly take flight. Joel misses but Chris gets them both. He picks up the two birds and says that it's time to go home. Joel will have none of that because he didn't get to do any killing. They spend the night, Joel getting everyone up at 2 a.m. thinking they can get an early start. After some more sleep, they go out again. A bird flies; Joel shoots and hits it. They run to collect the bird and find it is not dead, only winged. Joel quickly shifts into his doctor mode, having the bird carefully transported to his medical clinic. Despite his best efforts, the bird dies. He's devastated that he couldn't save it. Ruth-Anne is having a tough time starting her car. Ed comes to her assistance, bringing her into The Brick where there is a surprise birthday party for her. Ed's special present is a jar of dirt. "The rest of it wouldn't fit," he says. The next day he takes her to the rest of it, a grave-site for her with gorgeous views of the mountains.
Episode 9
Get Real
Mon, Dec 9, 199160 mins
After their bus breaks down, a circus visits Cicely. Marilyn gets a proposal. Holling and Shelley have a fight.
Episode 10
Seoul Mates
Mon, Dec 16, 1991
It's Christmas in Cicely and Maurice is approached by a Korean man who turns out to be his son.
Episode 11
Dateline: Cicely
Mon, Jan 6, 199260 mins
In an effort to sell more issues of his newspaper, Maurice hires pathological liar Adam to write for it.
Episode 12
Our Tribe
Mon, Jan 13, 199246 mins
Joel is given a goat by a patient. After he objects, the patient decides to make him part of their tribe, but there are some tasks he must perform first. Holling mysteriously closes the bar and sends Shelley out of town.
Episode 13
Things Become Extinct
Mon, Jan 20, 1992
Holling undergoes a midlife crisis when his uncle dies and Ed makes a documentary about a man who makes flutes.
Episode 14
Burning Down the House
Mon, Feb 3, 199246 mins
Maggie's mother comes for a visit and delivers some surprising news. Chris builds a catapult. Joel discovers someone's secret identity.
Episode 15
Democracy in America
Mon, Feb 24, 199246 mins
When a new candidate signs up for the upcoming mayoral election in Cicely, this triggers a large amount of activity among the residents.
Episode 16
The Three Amigos
Mon, Mar 2, 199246 mins
Maurice and Holling venture into the Alaskan wilderness to bury a recently deceased friend.
Episode 17
Lost and Found
Mon, Mar 9, 199260 mins
When Joel complains of ghost-like rumblings in the house, Maggie thinks it could be the loner who committed suicide in it decades before, so she orders an exorcism of the house. Meanwhile, the hypochondriac Eve wants Joel's help for her various ailments. And, Maurice is visited by his old Marine colonel who needs to borrow money.
Episode 18
My Mother, My Sister
Mon, Mar 16, 199260 mins
An infant is abandoned in Joel's waiting room and this stirs maternal instincts in plenty of Cicely's townsfolk, including Adam. Meanwhile, Shelly's youthful mother comes for a visit with her new boyfriend, turning Shelly's life upside-down.
Episode 19
Wake Up Call
Mon, Mar 23, 199246 mins
Spring arrives in Cicely and with it comes more quirky behavior from its residents: Shelly has a skin rash, Holling decides to give away eggs, Joel gets a lesson in medical care from a tribal medicine man and Maggie has a reawakening with the help of a handsome stranger.
Episode 20
The Final Frontier
Mon, Apr 27, 199246 mins
During the Northern Lights, Cicely is infused with Japanese tourists, Holling decides to go in search of Jessie the bear and Maggie and the townsfolk are curious when a package arrives that is covered with foreign stamps.
Episode 21
It Happened in Juneau
Mon, May 4, 199246 mins
Joel looks forward to a weekend in Juneau, hoping to spend it with attractive female physicians. But, instead, he winds up in a hotel suite with Maggie who clearly cramps his style. Meanwhile, Chris is flustered when Bernard, his "karmic doppelganger", returns from Africa.
Episode 22
Our Wedding
Mon, May 11, 199246 mins
Adam prepares to marry Eve. At his bachelor party, the men ruminate on the differences between men and women. Meanwhile, Eve lets an enthusiastic Shelly take over the wedding plans. And, Maggie and Joel try to finish what they started in Juneau.
Episode 23
Cicely
Mon, May 18, 199246 mins
Joel encounters a 108-year-old man who has come home to Cicely. He tells Joel that Cicely, founded by two incredible, free-thinking women named Roslyn and Cicely, was once considered the "Paris of the North". The series regulars appear in this episode as various residents from 1909.