23. Cicely

Joel hits, but does not seriously injure, 108-year-old former Cicely resident Ned Svenborg ( Roberts Blossom ) with his pickup truck late one night. In flashbacks, the man tells current residents the story of Cicely's founders, lesbians Cicely ( Yvonne Suhor ) and Roslyn ( Jo Anderson ). In 1908, these "free-thinking" women drive into the then-nameless frontier town, ruled with an iron fist by the absent Mace Mobrey and his gang. The pair realize their utopian dream, winning over the rough residents and transforming the place into an artists' colony, "The Paris of the North". Roslyn's friend Franz Kafka shows up, burdened by writer's block.

Tragedy ensues when Cicely falls ill and Roslyn becomes depressed, while Mace returns and sends his philosophical henchman Kit to fetch his girl, Sally, who has fallen in love with Abe. Members of the cast played characters in the flashback: Rob Morrow as Franz Kafka, Barry Corbin as Mace Mobrey, Janine Turner as Mary O'Keefe, John Cullum as Abe, Darren E. Burrows as young Ned Svenborg, John Corbett as Kit, Cynthia Geary as Sally, Elaine Miles as Marilyn, and Peg Philips as Rhoda.