A newly graduated doctor is offered a highly paid contract to set up his practice in Cicely. Soon he finds out that it’s Cicely, Alaska. After arrival he learns something else - it is not an ordinary town.
1 | Dinner at Seven-Thirty |
| Joel experiences an alternate reality in Manhattan after accidentally drinking one of Ed’s healing creations. After seeing what life would be like as a doctor married to a more successful lawyer, Joel comes to the conclusion that life in Cicely is not all that bad. |
2 | Eye of the Beholder |
| Ed exposes an insurance scam involving Hayden Keyes, while Maggie has second thoughts after donating a family heirloom for a charity auction. |
3 | Shofar, So Good |
| On Yom Kippur, Joel gets the Christmas Carol treatment and comes away the better for it; Ed helps Holling forgive himself for not being there for his first daughter; Maurice holds the annual fox hunt, hoping to impress an attractive English aristocrat guest, but the fox gets away beforehand. |
4 | The Letter |
| Maggie does some soul-searching after she reads an old letter written by her fifteen-year-old self to her as an adult; Joel starts to smell life’s flowers when he has a cancer scare; Shelly learns that her destiny is not shaped by a chain letter; Cicely gets a new barber, who is hostile to Chris. |
5 | The Robe |
| Joel relishes the opportunity to conduct a medical study in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (still stung that it turned him down for admission years ago), but Ed ruins it; Shelly is tempted by the offer by the Devil (in the guise of a spa salesman) to fulfill her wildest dream; Chris uses a ventriloquist dummy to offer straightforward opinions, in contrast to his more nuanced responses, and becomes irked when people prefer the dummy to him. |
6 | Zarya |
| Ed employs storytelling techniques of an old tale about secret negotiations between Princess Anastasia and Vladimir Lenin in Cicely to cure Marilyn’s pain in her leg. |
7 | Full Upright Position |
| Joel and Maggie are off to Russia for a week of adventure, or not; Maurice tries to mold his young cousin into an heir apparent; Chris tries to get inside electricity. |
8 | Up River |
| Joel settles at a native village after paddling up the river for a house call; Chris gets a life lesson when he remodels his trailer; Ruth-Anne struggles with her realization that she is madly in love with Walt. |
9 | Sons of the Tundra |
| Cicely welcomes a new doctor and his wife, Phil and Michelle Capra, to their quirky way of life; Holling wants desperately to join the prestigious Sons of the Tundra men’s club; Ed sees the future after eating a magical trout; and Joel makes a brief appearance in search of a new hunting knife. |
10 | Realpolitik |
| Maggie is elected mayor of Cicely, and Chris has an unexpected reaction to her new circumstances; Phil plays a metaphysical round of golf with Joel; Marilyn’s attempt at dog breeding is a flop. |
11 | The Great Mushroom |
| Maggie treks into the Manonash village to visit Joel, who she fears is in imminent danger. |
12 | Mi Casa, Su Casa |
| Marilyn travels to Manonash for a potlatch and questions Joel’s conception of himself; Maurice leaves Ed to housesit while he goes off on a hunting trip; Shelly and Holling shop for their first home. |
13 | Horns |
| Maurice’s newest venture, bottled Cicely Water, causes some unusual gender role reversal effects; Joel learns that he is free of his contract and can leave Alaska; mental hospital escapee and violinist Cal Ingraham is depressed without an audience. |
14 | The Mommy’s Curse |
| Walt tries working for Ruth-Anne and ends up moving in with her; When her mother’s boyfriend dies, Maggie is convinced there’s a family curse; Holling’s new friendship with Phil has Maurice seething with jealousy. |
15 | The Quest |
| Joel and Maggie embark on a search for the mythical Jeweled City of the North; Chris sues Dr. Capra for medical malpractice; and Michelle is assigned to write a food review of the Brick. |
16 | Lucky People |
| Phil and Michelle have the horrible realization that they are stuck in a place they hate; Maggie and Chris restore Roslyn and Cicely’s Model T for the Founders’ Day parade; Maurice goes on a buying spree for Holling and Shelly’s baby daughter Miranda. |
17 | The Graduate |
| Maggie learns the harsh realities of running a business; Chris gets his Masters degree in Comparative Literature; Holling’s dark secret is revealed (he’s been sending money for 25 years to help support Patrick Dulac and his mother). |
18 | Little Italy |
| Phil discovers Cicely has an Italian neighborhood and gets caught in a vendetta between two families; Maggie plays marriage counselor for Holling and Shelly; Ruth-Anne is interviewed on National Public Radio’s show All Things Considered. |
19 | Balls |
| Phil and Michelle have marriage problems; Cicely has a bowling team; Lester Haines offers to finance Ed’s film, if Ed no longer sees Heather. |
20 | Buss Stop |
| Michelle directs the townsfolk in Bus Stop and almost has a nervous breakdown. |
21 | Ursa Minor |
| Ed becomes a surrogate parent to a bear cub; Chris uses lucid dreaming to explore his growing love for Maggie; Maurice is concerned the population is dwindling. |
22 | Let’s Dance |
| As Officer Semanski and Maurice take Cal back to the hospital, Barbara starts to fall for Cal; Marilyn teaches cotillion; Phil’s manners are not good so he attends cotillion. |
23 | Tranquility Base (Our Town) |
| Cicely’s couples converge on Maurice’s summer lodge, "Tranquility Base". |
