Spring is on the verge of springing and there is mud and mosquitoes everywhere in Cicely. Marilyn (Elaine Miles) encourages use of garlic, something that Chris (John Corbett) seems to agree with because of his food order at The Brick.

Mud and Blood was written by Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider and was first broadcast on 10 May, 1993.

Maggie (Janine Turner) and the town are delighted to receive a videotape from Mike (Anthony Edwards), but she’s anxious that perhaps the curse of dead boyfriends is going to hit him. When he seems to be not only well but thriving, the rest of the town comes to her for help.

Chris gets himself a hog to hunt truffles, and Holling (John Cullum) pays to work on a farm, giving into the urge to plant something and get his hands dirty.

And Shelly (Cynthia Geary)? She’s becoming obsessed with spring cleaning. Something that may be a direct correlation to Holling’s need to plant something… she’s pregnant!

And Cicely celebrates everything with a big extravaganza, enjoying the fact that spring is close! There’s a party, lots of food, and competitive sports like tug of war!

This one is just a joy! And maybe, Joel (Rob Morrow) will survive the constant assault of mosquitoes. They definitely seem fixated on him.

This one was just a fun, enjoyable episode that reveled in the way we celebrate the arrival of spring, and new life. All couched in that wonderful Northern Exposure way. Smart, funny, and maybe Maggie can leave her curse behind once and for all.

Sleeping with the Enemy has a lot going on. Well not for Holling. It seems that since Shelly’s pregnancy has seemingly kicked into high gear, their sex life has vanished. Joel councils Holling and tells him he should just talk to Shelly about it.

Maurice (Barry Corbin) is divided when his Korean son arrives. Duk (James Song) has come to get his father’s permission to marry. Sure, Maurice thinks, until he finds out the bride is the daughter of a former enemy. This causes a number of problems between he and Duk.

Will Maurice be able to reconcile his past with his son’s future?

Written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, this episode was first broadcast on 17 May, 1993.

The story I most enjoyed focused on Ed (Darren E. Burrows) as he tries to keep a native language alive by committing it to film. He wants to dub The Prisoner of Zenda. But will he be able to get the performances he needs from some of his actors?

This one was quiet, charming, and shows that Maurice isn’t always a horrible person. He’s generally not, but he does tend to be very bigoted.

Next time, we finish off the fourth season and begin Northern Exposure’s penultimate season. Can the wonderful characters and eccentric storytelling continue?