‘North of North,’ A Subversive Charmer

Do you need cheering up?

It’s a bit of a moot question — I think we could all use some light amidst the constant crepuscular doom in which we’re crouched, shielding our tender hearts and other sensitive organs from the horror show that is daily life.

If you’re in want of some humour, beauty and the occasional bit of horniness, then it’s time to head north. Actually, North of North.

The serial comedy, currently in its second season on APTN+ and CBC Gem, is a breath of fresh air. Cool, bright and brimming with fun, it’s something of a godsend. But before we barrel into the action in the fictional community of Ice Cove, Nunavut, a brief recap from last season.

When we last left Siaja (Anna Lambe), the woman was at a crossroads. The first few episodes of the show dealt with the realization that she’d outgrown her marriage and was ready to take on new challenges, including a job, a place to live, a budding romance, as well as the information that her long-lost biological father had moved to town, accompanied by Kuuk (Braeden Clarke), his very handsome assistant.

So, a lot to contend with. But Siaja never met a challenge that she didn’t tackle head on. Sometimes a little too head-on. In the first episode of the show, she managed to leave her marriage, almost drown, accidentally tongue-kiss her own father, as well as meet a sea goddess.

The goddess in question, Nuliajuk (played by Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq), is the first to tell Siaja that she needs to make some changes in her life, and that’s exactly what she does.

In the current season, our intrepid heroine is living with her irascible mother, raising her kid, creating havoc at work and still looking for love. Oddly enough, she’s also managed to light a few more things on fire after accidentally setting the town dump alight.

To show her boss Helen (Mary Lynn Rajskub) that she’s capable of taking on greater responsibilities at the community centre where they both work, Siaja stages a traditional ceremony for cruise ship tourists that almost ends in incendiary catastrophe.

So, yes, all things are proceeding as usual in the town of Ice Cove. The place may be tiny, but the drama is off the hook.

In addition to the main cast, the supporting players bring levels of quirkiness and colour. There’s Siaja’s daughter Bun (Keira Belle Cooper) and her best friends Colin (Bailey Poching) and Millie (Zorga Qaunaq). The show also makes terrific use of Inuk locals and non-professional actors.

There is a lot to love about North of North, but one of the most compelling aspects is its sheer abundance of beauty. Filmed in Iqaluit, the overwhelming majesty of the landscape is something to behold. But there are other kinds of things to appreciate, including lipstick.

The makeup department for the show deserves a special commendation for making everyone in the show stunningly gorgeous.

Lambe, the show’s lead, doesn’t need a lot of help in the beauty department, but I find myself struck by how everyone looks wonderful, from older characters like the terrifying Elisapee (Nutaaq Doreen Simmonds) to Jeffrey (Vinnie Karetak), the guy who lives at the town dump.

Fashion is also seriously on point in the show. There is some seriously funky stuff happening, from the bright popping colours of contemporary parkas to more traditional clothing. The show has style to burn.

Although this might seem like something of a more minor aspect, I think the show’s emphasis on style is more profound than it might first appear.

Clothing is more than survival

As a recent CBC interview with costume designer Keenan “Nooks” Lindell, indicates, clothing is more than a necessary part of survival in Inuk culture. It’s a means of announcing who you are and how well you’re doing in life. This form of social currency speaks volumes without having to say a word.

“Nice clothing with many furs, stripes and different colours meant that you had a good provider or had a good person who could sew,” according to Lindell.

The aspirational aspect of clothing isn’t a new idea, but it hits differently in a show like North of North. It is showcasing a community that suffered profoundly, sometimes from the fashion industry itself.

One of the show’s co-creators Alethea Arnaquq-Baril took aim at the fashion world in her 2016 documentary Angry Inuk. When the use of traditional sealskin attracted the attention of actress Brigitte Bardot and Greenpeace, who successfully lobbied for an EU ban on seal products, the long-term repercussions were little known or understood.

I wrote about how the film not only flipped the script about the seal hunt but also made the argument that blaming Indigenous communities shifted the focus away from the commercial industry:

“The UN ban on seal products has closed down one of the principal means that Inuit people have of making a reasonable living, a situation that has been further entrenched in part by intensive lobbying at the international level... The long-term consequences are the most troubling. As Inuit people are forced off the land, poverty and despair become endemic. People go hungry.”

Beauty isn’t an unserious thing; it is kind of the opposite. North of North’s commitment to making a beautiful show serves several functions. Identity is one of them. Pride is another.

But there’s also something else at work. Call it the siren voice of the North in all its splendor.

Anyone who grew up in a cold place knows that in deepest winter, a certain kind of romantic spirit can take you over. Living in mild old Vancouver, I’d almost forgotten about this aspect, but a visit to the Yukon to attend the Available Light Film Festival brought it all back with a vengeance.

On my first night in Whitehorse, I wandered around the downtown core in temperatures that hovered below 30 C. A dry feathery snow was wafting down as memories of romantic moments in deepest winter resurfaced with glorious immediacy.

Style is met with substance

Another aspect of the show that continues to surprise is its ability to take on harder, more difficult issues with gentle humour and acceptance.

From the lingering effects of colonialism, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop to contemporary problems like a lack of clean drinking water and exorbitantly expensive groceries (hello, $30 grapes) the series doesn’t shy away from heavier stuff.

In one of the current season’s episodes, Siaja’s efforts to provide water to the town’s older residents who grew up on water from the surrounding ice results in yet another disaster. It’s an interesting way to address the issue of water access. It frames the realities of the situation and provides historical context, all of it couched in sharp, incisive writing.

And it isn’t just Siaja who is faced with a series of challenges to overcome. The ongoing complexities between Alistair (Jay Ryan), Siaja’s white father, and her mom Neevee (Maika Harper) are continuing. Having faced the long-held secret that she lost her first child when she was a teenage mother, Neevee is struggling with her own demons. Even the intervention of Elder Elisapee and the Christian church does little to help, leading Nevee to offer her assessment of God being a “vengeful prick.” She’s not wrong.

Again, it’s a fascinating way of addressing the complicated relationship between Indigenous communities and Christianity.

The simmering attraction between Kuuk and Siaja has also continued to create problems, especially when Kuuk’s new white girlfriend, an Instagram influencer, has taken on the task of promoting the community of Ice Cove to her followers, despite being deemed “culturally problematic.”

Romance is also something of a fraught issue, as a sequence dedicated to speed dating makes wildly clear. After languishing in singlehood for a while, Siaja is determined to get back on the horse, but before any romantic entanglements can take place, the dating participants must determine whether they’re related to each other by blood or marriage.

As is the case in any tiny community, the drama in North of North is epic. But the smaller moments — the jokes, the clothes, the silliness — are truly what that make the show such a charming experience. And there’s a truly kickass soundtrack.

Just watch it and thank me later. With really expensive grapes.

Season 2 of ‘North of North’ is airing weekly on CBC Gem and APTN+. It will launch on Netflix later this fall.