As Chris (John Corbett) reads Call of the Wild by Jack London to Cicely over the air, Holling (John Cullum) and Maurice (Barry Corbin) head deep into the woods to lay a dead friend to rest.

They have a coffin ready to go, they saddle up the horses and head out into the snow, bonding over campfires and memories. Things, however, get complicated when they arrive at Bill’s cabin and encounter his fiery widow, Solvang (Joanna Cassidy).

She insists on coming with the pair as they ride deeper into the woods, and she also makes romantic overtures to both of them. And despite the fact that both of them rebuff her advances, tension and arguments increase.

Is it Solvang’s effect on them, or is it just a matter of the fact that they’ve gone further and further into the wilderness?

London’s tale echoes across the wilderness mirroring the journey Holling and Maurice find themselves on. The pair end up breaking their promise and bury him somewhere else, but the pair find themselves reinvigorated, even as age catches up with them.

It’s a fun story that looks at the wildness in our hears, and the journeys we take for those important to us, and the discoveries we make about ourselves along the way.

It’s a pleasant enough episode, quiet, and not quite as eccentric as some episodes we’ve seen, but wonderfully done. Using London’s classic tale to echo the one Maurice and Holling partake in, works so well.

Lost and Found sees Eve (Valerie Mahaffey) coming to bother Joel (Rob Morrow) about all of her ‘illnesses’ only to discover she’s pregnant . Joel, however, has problems of his own. It seems his house has a number of stranges sounds and rumblings taking place.

Holling and Ruth-Anne (Peg Phillips) believe that the rumbling may be Jack, a loner who killed himself four decades prior. When Joel goes to complain to Maggie (Janine Turner) she initially mocks him, but as he continues to complain about what is happening in his house, she arranges an exorcism. But the idea of a lost soul going to damnation because of his suicide causes Joel to reconsider his need for Jack to be gone.

Maggie points out that Jack and Joel aren’t so dissimilar and decides he wants to be more than just passing through to Cicely, he wants to be seen as a friend. Consequently, he organizes a party and settles in to Cicely a little more.

When one of Maurice’s former CO Gordon (Noble Willingham) shows up and Maurice does everything he can to impress him. So the last thing Maurice expects is for him to come looking for money to invest in his hotel project.

This is a fun and pleasant episode that shows that Joel may be on his way to thinking of Cicely as more than just his temporary prison.