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CBC
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
We collected North of North's funniest moments from Season 1 (you're welcome)
Forget your typical sitcoms – CBC's North of North delivers laughs and heart from the captivating landscape of Ice Cove, Nunavut. This quirky and delightful series follows Anna Lambe as Siaja, a young woman who blows up her marriage to the town's golden boy Ting (Kelly William) and sets out on a new life with her eight-year-old daughter Bun (Keira Belle Cooper). She moves in with her prickly mom, Neevee (Maika Harper), and finally meets her estranged dad, Alistair (Jay Ryan), an environmental consultant who had no idea Siaja existed. In dire need of a job, she convinces the community centre manager, Helen (Mary Lynn Rajskub), to hire her as an assistant, where she spends time in the warmhearted company of best pals Mille (Zorga Qaunaq) and Colin (Bailey Poching). This Inuk community vibrates with love and laughter. In some ways, Ice Cove is like any small town with its lore and gossip, except the people who live here drive to work on snowmobiles and wear the most beautiful sealskin parkas. "While these stories all are fictional, a lot of them have come from grains of truth in lives", says executive producer and co-creator Stacey Aglok-MacDonald. "We're putting all of our insecurities and heartbreak on the table, the things that have ripped our hearts out and made us laugh the hardest, too." "I think what the show does really well is that it reflects Indigenous reality, in the sense that history and our pain never goes away, but our day-to-day lives are filled with joy and happiness and connection and love," says actor Bailey Poching. "I have a friend who once told me that if we didn't laugh so much, we'd be crying." Here are just a few top LOL moments from the first season of North of North. Enjoy! In a land short on wood, the residents of Ice Cove resort to bone. (There is no polite way to say this. We tried.) Walrus dick baseball | North of North 7 hours ago Duration 0:58 In a land without wood, the locals resort to bone. Alistair tries to settle into his new role as Siaja's dad. But first, he must endure the shade. Dad bods are hot | North of North 22 hours ago Duration 0:22 Alistair tries to settle into his new role as Siaja's dad. But first, he must endure the shade. Siaja and her mom, Neevee, hilariously battle over parenting styles. 'Your generation is so sensitive' | North of North 22 hours ago Duration 0:54 Siaja and her mom, Neevee, hilariously battle over parenting styles. The gang accompany Siaja in a quest for rebound romance — at the local airport. Behold the Inuk goddess | North of North 7 hours ago Duration 1:16 The gang accompany Siaja in a quest for rebound romance — at the local airport. Siaja has a date with a visiting French Canadian photographer, who has some interesting kinks. Siaja goes out on a date | North of North 7 hours ago Duration 1:13 Siaja has a date with a visiting French Canadian photographer, who has some interesting kinks. And let's all swoon over that Bridgerton dress. Behold. The 'Bridgerton' dress | North of North 7 hours ago Duration 0:43 Saija has a vivid dream in a beautiful dress. Of course, now you want more. We've got you, because North of North (drum roll, please) will be back for Season 2! Watch North of North Season 1 on CBC Gem now.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Set on ice, ‘North of North' warms the heart
Sandra Hale SchulmanSpecial to ICT A hit in Canada, 'North of North' is a clever, relatable comedy about a 27-year-old Inuk woman and her challenging relationships with her macho, soon-to-be-ex-husband Ting, troubled mother Neevee, adorable kid Bun, and surprise father Alastair. Set in an isolated Alaskan community, the show hits all the right frigid – yet warm – notes. Filmed in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and Toronto, Ontario, the show features Siaja, played by Anna Lambe, who is from Inuit and appeared in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.' Siaja aims to build a new future for herself after leaving her condescending husband. But in a small Arctic town where everybody knows your business and you work in the community center, it won't be easy. But it may be funny, even when a mysterious sea goddess keeps calling you a loser. In eight episodes, 'North of North' introduces the residents of Ice Cove, Nunavut, sheltered in vistas of snow, mountains, polar seas and cozy homes. This is Netflix's first Canadian original series from co-creators and executive producers Stacey Aglok-MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, who are both Inuit. Their search for a cast included combing the geographic terrain where the series is set and filmed. 'We had to scan the Arctic far and wide,' said Aglok-MacDonald ('Qanurli,' 'The Grizzlies') in a Netflix interview. 'I never in my wildest dreams imagined that our core family – Neevee, Siaja, and Bun – would be Inuit from Iqaluit [Nunavut's capital city, where 'North of North' was filmed]. It's beyond special.' 'This cast has been a gift,' said Arnaquq-Baril ('Angry Inuk,' 'The Grizzlies'). 'They're beautiful, generous, and so smart. They work so hard and open up their hearts and souls, sometimes with difficult material. This is a warm, aspirational, and lighthearted show, but there are definitely some moments where sh*t gets real – and they handle it with such grace. I feel so lucky.' Co-produced with the Canadian Broadcasting Company in partnership with Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, 'North of North' is the first production of its scale filmed in the Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut. Despite the set up, it is a comedy, though the creators, cast and crew faced challenges filming the show from harsh weather conditions to logistics of transporting crew and set materials. Mainly filmed in Iqaluit, Nunavut's most populous city, there are 500 locals working as background actors – including the mayor – along with the series' 45 Canadian cast members. The series rests on Lambe, who rises to the task with enthusiasm as challenging situations arise constantly at home and at work. Along the way, tribal stories are told – about residential schools, traditional roles in question, how they need to hunt to eat as provisions most take for granted are far away. Hunting scenes are kept mostly off screen for the squeamish. Lambe says she drew from her own experiences growing up in Iqaluit. 'I saw a story that I was familiar with from so many people that I grew up with,' she told Netflix. 'When we see Siaja in the beginning of the season, she's quite frantic and insecure. We see her make some large and life-changing decisions that cause her to fall flat on her face in front of her entire community and force her to reevaluate her life and try to make it better. Throughout the season, we see her growth as she begins to validate and understand her own feelings. She finds support within her community that she was often isolated from or that she felt she couldn't reach out to.' Maika Harper plays her mother Neevee, who has yet to come to terms with her early abuse, drinking problem, and motherhood. 'She doesn't let too many people in,' Harper told Netflix. 'She has gone through so much in her life and she finally comes to terms with herself. It's beautiful to see her blossom as a character.' The other star of the show is the furry, vibrant array of coats the characters wear – traditional Inuit parkas called amautis or qulittaqs. 'Our goal was to get it right culturally, and for it to be beautiful and modern,' the show's lead costume designer, Debra Hanson, told Vogue Magazine. 'And to make the characters come alive.' Working with Keenan 'Nooks' Lindell, an Inuk artist and consultant on the series, the costumes are a highlight. The cast sports colorful and bold parkas of fox and wolverine, furry mitts, dozens of pairs of beaded earrings acquired from various festivals, and boots that had to be kept in a freezer as they are naturally tanned sealskin. Designers included Winnie Nungak, and Victoria Kakuktinniq of Victoria's Arctic Fashion, who has shown her work at Toronto's Indigenous Fashion Arts. The notable soundtrack includes tracks from The Halluci Nation and Billie Eilish. Saija zips around on her Ski Doo in big furry hats, embroidered parkas, and mirror wrap-around shades, battling problems – a literal dumpster fire, an elder who drops dead during her first night hosting them, an attractive co-worker she may or may not have a future with. We root for her and her extended family and community to win a baseball game played with an oosik (walrus dick) pitch ice station research project funding, hunt seal and elk, kiss and make up through 10 layers of clothing. It may not be a typical community's problems, but the seasoned cast, fresh storylines and exotic Arctic locale prove to be endearing. It's charm on ice. 'North of North' is now streaming all episodes on Netflix. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter!
Boston Globe
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘North of North' invites you to travel, well, pretty far north
Soon, Siaja and her young daughter have moved in with her troubled, charming mother Neevee (Maika Harper), who runs a supply store, while Siaja dives into the process of convincing Helen ( The show is awfully cute; it has a needle to thread between showing off the charms of its unusual setting and making clear that these are also people just living their lives like anyone else, even if they use a Ski-Doo to get from place to place. There are moments when 'North of North' can feel both a little overproduced and a little underbaked. There's an unfortunate overreliance on peppy music cues to close out scenes, and the writers sometimes resolve conflicts far too swiftly. You might find yourself wishing the show could just relax more into its storytelling and let its subplots unfurl with more jagged edges, and more zingers. Advertisement (L to R) Maika Harper as Neevee, Nutaaq Doreen Simmonds as Elisapee in "North of North." Jasper Savage/Netflix/JASPER SAVAGE/NETFLIX The show's more jagged parts are often the most compelling, thanks to especially strong work from Harper as Neevee. Siaja may still be working out who she wants to be as an adult, despite being a parent, but she's a reasonably open person. Neevee is a recovering alcoholic whose difficulties forced Siaja to take care of herself as a child, and she's none too thrilled when Alistair reappears. She's mercurial, the type of woman who responds to her granddaughter's behavior troubles in school by impulsively letting her skip a day and go play. She's hot and cold with both Siaja and Alistair, but Harper makes those choices feel true to a person working through some inner conflict. Siaja is our protagonist, but Neevee can be something of a fascinating antihero. The show's setting also lets it dig into conversations about Inuk culture. Siaja and the other younger folks of her generation can often understand some Inuktitut but not speak it, while older generations may not speak much English. Canada's history of residential schools, which took Native children from their families, looms in the background, a gruesome reality that the show manages deftly as a present but not forefronted trauma. In other words, 'North of North' is just plain interesting. The first season may be overburdened with exposition establishing how these characters live their lives, but it shows promise as a place to visit. Advertisement Lisa Weidenfeld can be reached at
