Which leads us to Northern Exposure's Episode 5, which is very good until it isn't. “Russian Flu" highlights some of what made the series exceptional, and introduces the surreal dream sequences that would become a highlight of the show.

Here's the plot in a nutshell: Joel's fiance Elaine comes to visit him in Cicely after he's been living there two months. Just as she arrives, the town is struck with a flu epidemic that keeps them apart and eventually gets them both sick.

With modern medicine unable to bring any comfort, Joel's receptionist Marilyn gives the people an tribal cure that eliminates the flu in short order. Joel and Elaine get to enjoy a final few hours together, before she returns to New York.

The episode's dialogue highlight is a town meeting where Joel tries to calm fears about the health epidemic and explains that flus are often named for their point of origin: the Shanghai Flu, the Hong Kong Flu, the Russian Flu.

Ruth Ann: So it could be Russian flu?

Joel: Certainly.

Ruth Ann: I never did trust Gorbachev.

Maurice: We know that Glasnost is just a big crock, anyway.

Joel: Wait a second, one thing has nothing to do with the other.

Man: Perestroika is a total failure, too!

Maurice: Yeah, the whole commie system is bankrupt!

It devolves--hilariously--from there, hilighting both the town's paranoia and social awareness.

Woman: Pretty sad when the Soviet's only hope for world domination is to send a flock of sick birds across the Bering Strait.

Joel: Don't be ridiculous, this is not a political conspiracy.

Man: That's easy for you to say.

Joel: What's that supposed to mean?

Woman: It means your grandfather was probably a Trotskyite.

Woman: And your parents marched in candlelight vigils for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Genius. Amazing writing. Also, A+ use of extras in the meeting.

As the town's flu subsides, Elaine comes down with it. Joel turns to the Native American cure, which involves covering her body in a brown substance that smells like moose dung. The two fall asleep, giving us the show's first dream sequence. And it is excellent.