Aurora Borealis

Summary
Joel comes faces to face with the legendary "Adam", a -like character while Chris meets a brother he didn't know he had.

Plot
In Cicely, the is having a strange effect on everyone. Ruth-Anne is eating at 8:00 am, Maurice is complaining about the, and Ed tells Joel about Adam, the mysterious person with bare feet and a green head who wanders around the  at night. Meanwhile, Chris has his morning radio show so that he can work at his trailer on his, called "Aurora Borealis", before the  actually occur.

A stranger shows up in town on a and new. Ed comments that he's, and that they don't have many strangers in town. The man introduces himself as Bernard and goes over to The Brick where he becomes engaged in conversation with Chris about and the. There is a clear connection between Bernard and Chris, and they begin acting similarly.

Joel drives out to make a for a  named Ranger Burns and, on the way back, his truck breaks down, leaving him stranded in the woods at night. He sees a large hulking figure come out of the woods, steal some things from his pickup truck bed, and then it finally beckons him to follow it. Reluctantly, Joel does, and finds himself in a in the. He tries to strike up a conversation with the man, but he simply tells Joel to shut up and sit down. He has a difficult time convincing Joel that he's Adam, the mysterious creature everybody's been talking about. Far from a wild beast, Adam is actually a superb and cooks a meal that Joel is amazed at.

Back in town at Maggie's house, Chris and Bernard are playing against Maggie and Holling. Bernard rarely plays, and yet he and Chris win every hand, as if they're thinking alike. As they leave, they speak almost in unison, and Maggie and Holling look at each other in confusion.

Later that night in his trailer, Chris has a about his father, and is surprised to run into Bernard in his dream, as well as Carl Jung. Bernard and Chris wake up simultaneously, and discover in conversation that not only do they have the same, but they are also brothers. Their dad spent half of his time with each of their families, which explains the similarities, and the mental connection. Chris and Bernard are both blown over by this turn of events.

Back at Adam's cabin, Joel wakes up, but Adam is gone. Joel traces his way back to the truck, is able to start it again, and drives back home. However, when he tries to tell everyone about it the next morning, no one believes him. Everyone thinks that the moon has made him crazy.

Following the formal presentation of Chris' sculpture, Bernard and Chris say goodbye, and Bernard rides off once again into the great unknown. Joel leads Maggie and Ed back out into the woods, only to find that Adam's cabin is gone. All that is left is a, which Joel is overjoyed to find.

Quotes
Chris: Whenever there's a looming on the horizon, I'll inevitably get a call from someone saying, 'Hey Chris, how bout that sucker?' And, I'll usually say something cordial like, 'Oh yeah, it's a marvelous night for a moon dance,' or 'I wonder what old  is up to tonight.' But, knowing how we've been tossing and turning these past few nights for fear of where our s may be taking us, I'm not about to pretend that that man, in that moon, has our best interests at heart. No way; he's too much of a. So, until the big fellow packs his bag and hits the road, put away those sharp s and stay close to your love ones, if you're lucky enough to have any. I'll see you in the morning, folks, or the moonlight, whichever one comes first.



Joel: Hey Ed, what is this--is this a ? Ed: Looks like a track. Joel: Looks fresh. You know, not that I know what a fresh track looks like, but that...that's big, whatever it is. What? What is it? What's wrong? Ed: It's a bare. Joel: As in footprint? Ed: No, more like as in a person.



Ed: Are you lost? Bernard: No! I just don't know where I am.



Bernard: Excuse me. Joel: Yeah? Bernard: Where am I? Joel: You know, I've been asking myself that same question since I got here. I finally figured out we're somewhere between the end of the line and the. Bernard: Where is that on the map?



Ed: So, you're black. Bernard: Yeah? Ed: We had a black here, but he left. Bernard: Why's that? Ed: I guess he wasn't into drinking beer and fighting.



Adam: I don't like people barging in on me, OK?! I don't like people! You are a person and I don't like people! Do you understand me?!



Adam: You know who I am? Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Do you know who I am? Joel: No. Adam: I'm Adam. Joel (amused): Well, I'm ! Adam: What? Joel: You're not Adam. Adam: What do you mean, I'm not A--I'm Adam! Joel: No, you're not. You're not Adam.



(Adam tries to teach Joel how to cook but he is holding the incorrectly, like a ) Adam: Look. Hold this correctly, OK? (Adam takes Joel's hand and forces him to hold the spoon with all the fingers) Adam: It's a spoon, all right? It's not a. I'm serious!



Shelly: What were you talking about this morning? "Yoong" and what was that other stuff? Chris: The. Shelly: Do they, or do they just cut records? ... I missed something, didn't I?



Bernard: Those are some kind of weird ...something? Chris: Yeah. Bernard: What causes them to do that? Chris: Well, this is just my guess, but I think that high-speed s and s from the sun are trapped in the. Then they're channeled through the polar regions by the where they collide with other particles and create a brilliant luminosity. Bernard: What does that have to do with us? Chris: I swear man, I don't know.

Music

 * "" by
 * "" by Beethoven
 * "" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
 * "" by The Coasters
 * "" by Billie Holiday
 * "" by The Chordettes
 * "" by kd lang
 * "Woody the Indian" by

Trivia

 * The episode name's full name is "Aurora Borealis: A for Big People".
 * This episode deals with, essentially, the opposite of the stereotypically depressive (SAD), which "Una Volta in L'Inverno" (5-17) deals with.
 * According to Ruth-Anne, for the past 15 years, people have been blaming every, , and on Adam, whom no one has ever seen.
 * Chris and Bernard's father was an avid card player, and sound-sleeping  who also sold s and missed their birthdays (July 3, 1963--Chris' age previously established as 27 and 29) every other year.
 * Chris found Chelsea out on.
 * Maggie, Holling, and Chris play.
 * Shelly's earrings: s
 * Ed finds a at the cabin when he, Maggie, and Joel look for Adam.
 * In 1997, this episode was ranked number 65 on "" list.