Plot summary
Joel receives a Dear John letter from his fiancée Elaine, who married a retired federal judge, which leads to him having to reckon with his fear of rejection that see him imagining a younger version of himself talking to him about having to get it together. When a depressed Joel tells Ed about not having closure with Elaine, Ed gets Holling and Maggie to try and give him a sense of closure, complete with Maggie wearing a dress in the midst of winter. Meanwhile, after Holling installs a satellite dish at the bar as a gift for Shelly, she becomes addicted to television shows from around the world and buys $4,000 of products from home shopping networks. Shelly, a Catholic, finally breaks down and persuades Chris to hear her confession.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, List of Northern Exposure episodes. HTML formatting and reference markers removed.