The new CBC series North of North has a lot going for it. The setting, a hamlet in the Arctic, is unlike anything we’ve seen on Canadian TV, and it is coldly beautiful. The cast is mostly Inuit, as are the creators and the writers, giving it a point of view unique from anything else on Canadian TV. In this regard, it’s exciting to see a part of Canada portrayed on Canadian screens – and in the spring on Netflix everywhere else – that few of us will ever see.
Yes, these are all pluses. On the minus side, North of North is a comedy that is woefully short of laughs.
Siaja (Anna Lambe) is a young Inuk woman who loves her tiny Arctic community of Ice Cove, but feels constrained by traditional Inuk women’s roles of wife to Ting (Kelly William) and mother to daughter Bun (Keira Belle Cooper). Things come to a head when, after a near-death experience in icy waters (a beautifully filmed sequence), she breaks up with chauvinist Ting in a very public manner. Siaja and Bun move back in with Siaja’s mother Neevee (Maika Harper) as she finds a job at the local community centre, run by Helen (Mary Lynn Rajskub — best remembered as Chloe from 24 — the only familiar face in the cast). When a handsome visitor named Alistair (Jay Ryan) comes to town, a long-held secret comes to light, and complications arise.
North of North belongs in the ‘young woman finding her way’ genre, with a northern twist. At one point, one character tells Saija that she’s “acting like a white girl with options”. There are a few gentle digs at the wokeness of the local whites, like when Siaja makes an observation that anyone could make, and she is praised for “sharing her traditional Inuit knowledge”.
North of North has an authenticity to it that is admirable, but admiration is not enough of a reason to watch a program. Call me old fashioned, but I like my TV comedy to make me laugh, and North of North does not. Nothing in the first three episodes made me want to tune in for the entire eight episode run, perhaps because it is aimed so squarely at a female audience (Siaja is always dressed in dazzling, designer Arctic wear). I wanted North of North to have wider appeal, like Son of a Critch, but for all its qualities, it falls flat as a comedy.
North of North premieres on CBC Gem, CBC TV and APTN on Tuesday, January 7. New episodes will be available to stream in Canada weekly on Tuesdays on CBC Gem starting at 9 a.m. ET, followed by broadcast on CBC TV at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) local time and 9 p.m. ET on APTN. After its world premiere in Canada, North of North will then launch globally on Netflix in the Spring of 2025.
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