Parts that got to you

Sad, melancholy, sweet heartache, unrequited wishes, isolation, good work and good personal qualities that go unnoticed - that has a strong appeal for many people. It's often in a unique collection of experiences for each of us. But a common feeling for uncommon events. Makes for good writing or acting. It's the flip side of fun and excitement, which was what most people seemed to prefer as priority. The rarer a thing is, often the more it is valued. But nowadays, fun and excitement is almost a dime a dozen. Shoot-em-up games of almost any conceivable types. Same for love novels. I like natural adventure myself. But at my age, the woods and wilderness will not long be an option. Then I can become a real wilderness wannabee, and buy the full NX DVD set to watch.

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When the old lady kept telling everyone she was going to die, and Joel kept insisting that there was nothing wrong with her and she was going to live- when she did die, it was the first time Joel seemed human to me. - Ditto-head

Nedra Larkin in "First Snow." Very powerful episode; the thread involving Maurice and Shelly is almost as strong as Joel's lesson.

Ruth-Anne's comments to Joel after Joel learns that Nedra has died are what are most moving to me. She tells him that he's "just a doctor"--not in a dismissive way, but in a way that tells him that he's just a part of something larger and more profound--and then Ruth-Anne says that Nedra "died well," which is a concept that is hard to fathom in the West.

Meanwhile, Maurice has some reckoning of his own with respect to his relationship with Shelly, and Shelly knows it too. There scenes here may be their best in the series.

Great choice, Ditto-head.
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"Death is an old joke but it's new to everyone." - Ivan Turgenev

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Oh! One of my favourites: when Joel's Uncle Manny dies and everyone looks for other Jewish people to say the "kadish" (wrong spelling, I'm sure). The final moments of the episode when Joel speaks to the town and everyone worships in their own manner - it gives me tears in my eyes to think that this is a reflection of my own hope for the world - that people would be free to worship (or not) in their own vein, as long as we love, support and accept one another. - Ikillthreads

Great choice--"Kaddish for Uncle Manny" is quite moving. It also shows how the town rallies around Joel in his time of need--Maurice especially spearheading the effort to find ten Jews to sit shiva with Joel.

The lesson that Joel realizes, of course, is that it's not the religious persuasion that is important as much as the sense of community surrounding him while in mourning. The final scene in the church is deeply touching, and it further assimilates Joel into Cicely.

That doesn't mean that there cannot be a few jokes along the way, from Joel scoffing that no Jew is going to be named "Buck" to (one of my NX favorites) his dream sequence when he's told by the Western "shiva posse" that, "We're packin' strudel, son--but it won't keep."

Spoiler: One of the deleted scenes on the Season Four DVDs is from the final scene in "Kaddish for Uncle Manny." It has Chris and Bernard interrupting Joel's ceremony to correct him on a point of order, and not only does it undermine Joel, but it has a flippancy about it. I'm glad that it didn't make it into the final cut because it really undercuts the poignancy of that last scene. Chris and Bernard spontaneously standing up in silent respect is a much more powerful moment without any embellishment.

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"Where there's smoke, there's work." "Shoes for industry!" - Firesign Theatre

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So many great moments already mentioned here, with this one in particular:

Oh! One of my favourites: when Joel's Uncle Manny dies and everyone looks for other Jewish people to say the "kadish" (wrong spelling, I'm sure). The final moments of the episode when Joel speaks to the town and everyone worships in their own manner - it gives me tears in my eyes to think that this is a reflection of my own hope for the world - that people would be free to worship (or not) in their own vein, as long as we love, support and accept one another.

I'd also add the episode in which an old tree needs to be cut down. When some of the townsfolk (Chris and Ed?) visit the remaining trunk, "Turn! Turn! Turn" by The Byrds is heard and the episode ends. Such a powerful scene!

Do you have any tobacco?

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