Sitcoms are not the hot thing right now. All the top TV shows—“Severance,” “The White Lotus,” “Yellowjackets”—are big-budget dramas pushing the boundaries of what audiences will come to expect (or tolerate) from streaming content. But some viewers are reluctant to let go of the beloved format that governed the media of our youth: consistent settings, running gags and end-of-episode resolutions. Dramas and thrillers are all well and good, but personally, I am not looking for additional stress right now. Reasonably, some are looking for a fresh escape from mainstream insanity and the mounting threats of armageddon.
Enter “North of North”: a Netflix sitcom with a setting unlike any other. Set in Nunavut, Canada, in the fictional town of Ice Cove, “North of North” follows a 26-year-old Inuk woman named Siaja, played by Anna Lambe, and her struggle to thrive in a tightly-knit community after a messy and public divorce. After her separation, Siaja looks for a purpose for this new era in her life and begins to find it in her career as a community organizer. She has a lot to contend with: a gruff but loving mother recovering from alcoholism, a young daughter struggling to understand why her parents have split, a neurotic and egomaniacal boss and an estranged father she was previously unaware existed until his research team returns to Ice Cove.
It is impossible to talk about this show without first commending its unique visuals and soundtrack. Filmed in Nunavut’s capital, Iqaluit, “North of North” is bursting at the seams with jaw-dropping arctic natural beauty. The camera immerses you in a far-away world of extreme cold, with sweeping aerial shots of tundras, expanses of ice-cold ocean and snow-covered mountains. The show’s color palette, relying on a vivid contrast of blues and yellows, is rich and alive. The soundtrack is just as immersive, weaving together traditional Inuit music and soundscapes with modern musical styles.
There is a lot to love about “North of North.” The sitcom is almost a trope in and of itself in terms of what viewers expect from an episode: “North of North” adheres to these sacred structures while opening up its own avenues to explore often-neglected topics and stories. Sitcoms have historically been a medium with a serious diversity problem. Perhaps the show’s strongest selling point—and online criticism seems to agree with me here—is the way it portrays indigeneity in a modern context. Western social conditioning entices us to think of indigenous lifestyles and traditions as incompatible with the modern era. This ignores the current lived experiences of communities who are very much still here: As of 2021, more than 80 percent of Nunavut’s population identifies as Inuit. “North of North” gives us a glimpse into the lives of a people living both modern and indigenous lives—it shatters preconceptions that these are incompatible and brings us into an underrepresented yet relatable world. Siaja’s mother, Neevee, bears her traditional Inuit tattoos while going to bars. Elders speak in Inuit languages while watching baseball games. Members of the community wear kamiks alongside their puffer jackets.
From a writing perspective, “North of North” is clearly still finding its footing. There are moments where the dialogue feels rote, and other times where it feels choppy and disorganized. Characters often exit at bizarre points in conversation, and sometimes the line delivery feels stilted and unnatural. Optimistically, I am choosing to attribute that to the lead actors not having found their communal rhythm yet. If the show gets renewed for a season two, I will look forward to being proven wrong. Many of the supporting characters—Siaja’s ex-husband most egregiously—are flattened into caricatures in service of bits. The problem here seems to be that the show does not trust that it will be renewed; it seems to lack faith that it will have time to develop characters, and so reduces them into their easiest form.
Where the writing really shines in this show is in its worldbuilding. The town’s radio hosts, Millie (Zorga Qaunaq) and Collin (Bailey Poching), are a Greek chorus-type duo that liven any scene they appear in. The elders—Elisapee (Nutaaq Doreen Simmons) and Jeffrey (Vincent Karetak) in particular—are comedically the high point of the show. The seal-hunting competitions and dumpster fire cookouts are rife with energy and community spirit. And where some characters lack depth, others have it in spades: Siaja’s mother, Neevee, is given the most compelling backstory by far and is certainly the most interesting of the core cast, particularly in her role as a grandmother to Siaja’s young daughter. “North of North” may not succeed in depicting domestic spats or father-daughter arguments in a particularly elegant way, but its affectionate portrayal of such a unique community and all the dynamics at play within create a rich world.
Plot-wise, I am compelled by Siaja’s journey, even if her awkwardness is sometimes hard to bear. It is certainly difficult to pull off the coming-of-age, fledgling-party-girl angle in a town of 2,200 people. Understandably, the writers want Siaja to have opportunities to explore herself. Part of the issue is that the show seems to be avoiding the old trope, “I am trapped in my small, close-minded town and I am outgrowing it,” while still attempting to reap its benefits. The show is also often making an attempt at edge in a way that feels a little immature: I was particularly put off by a light incest scene that felt both poorly executed and conceived.
I appreciate that Siaja is imperfect. Indigenous women are often held to an unfair moral standard, expected to conform to the “noble savage” trope that is deeply rooted in colonialism. She is not limited to being a paragon, nor is she expected to be by the people who love her. She makes mistakes, but these failings do not prevent her from advocating for herself and her community.
I am thrilled that a show like “North of North” can get made in the first place. The living-room sitcom and the office park sitcom have been done to death; in order for the genre to survive in the present day, it will need fresh takes like this one to keep viewers coming back. In the face of a wave of new-age conservatism, it feels nice to sink back into that 2016-era progressivism that is a little millennial-esque and ultra-sincere. “North of North” attempts to do a lot, and not all of it is successful. But it succeeds in creating a world that feels good to inhabit: These days, what more do you need?