Anthony Edwards guest stars as Mike Monroe, a new resident in Cicely. He is referred to as the Bubble Man because he believes he’s allergic to almost everything due to multiple chemical syndrome. He lives in a self-imposed quarantine in a pre-fab dome off highway 3.

Maggie (Janine Turner) thinks she can help him. And Joel (Rob Morrow) simply believes that Mike is having hysterical reactions to the environment and needs to confront deeper issues.

Blowing Bubbles was written by Mark B. Perry and it first aired on 2 November, 1992.

Ruth-Anne (Peg Phillips) is surprised and unsure when her Wall Street son, Matthew (Joel Polis) shows up, revealing that he’s been fired, and he’s taking stock of his life. That rethinking of his life makes him decide to stay in Cicely, and he’s going to open a tackle shop just down the street from her store.

Maurice (Barry Corbin) thinks that he can turn Cicely into one of the healthy places on Earth, or making it as destination for those who believe it. He’s toyed with this idea a couple of times. But with Matthew in town, perhaps he can get it launched.

Matthew is tempted and does some prelim work on it, and Ruth-Anne goes to Maurice to tell him to back off and let him rest. Matthew eventually realizes that he has to be who he is, and Mike, well Mike finds a way, kind of, to explore the world.

On Your Own was written by Sy Rosen and Christian Williams this episode was first broadcast on 9 November, 1992.

Bob/Enrico Bellati (Bill Irwin) and his circus friends return to Cicely. As hope springs eternal in Bob’s heart. Still silent, he has come back to woo Marilyn (Elaine Miles). While she cares for him, she doesn’t want to fall in love with him.

Ed (Darren E. Burrows) has a creative crisis when he discovers a ring in a fish he caught. He is convinced that the ring belonged to renowned director, Federico Fellini. But he’s troubled by the fact that the ring, and Fellini begins to take over his personality, transforming him into a version of Fellini as a director, and not his own kind of creator.

Maggie and Mike continue their friendship, and it has the possibility of blossoming into something else, despite the restrictions Mike imposes on his life and environment. They spend a lot of time together working on an updated will for Maurice, who wants to change it to include his Korean son.

Maggie realizes she may be falling for Mike, and despite the ‘let’s just be friends’ speech, both of them are definitely interested in one another.

This is a gentle and beautifully crafted episode, exploring love and the possibility of it in that Northern Exposure way. This one was just delightful.