'North Of North' Season 2 Review: Another Fun Season Of A Cute Little Inuit Slice-Of -Life

When North Of North first came out, I thoroughly enjoyed it just for the fact that it brought to notice so much about Inuit culture without feeling like an edutainment show on Nat Geo. The 8-part series really grows on you as time passes, with a delightful protagonist who is without a doubt an attention grabber, even if it’s because she can be a real big mess sometimes. Season 1 introduced us to Siaja’s beautiful world and the many phases of her life that she needed to grow through. Not only is she absolutely adorable to look at, but she’s so charming that despite wanting to facepalm every time she does something stupid, you still root for her and hope to see her grow with time. The series is now back with a second season, a whole year later, and it’s already making me wish I could go spend the winter on a snow-covered mountain somewhere in the North of Canada.

Now, let me give you a disclaimer before I get into the actual review. I am not watching this show to see character development, or some crazy dramatic change in Siaja’s life. I’m watching it to get to know a little bit more about a community that I knew nothing about until last year, and to enjoy a chill show with a gorgeous cast and gorgeous snow all over the place. The second season sees Siaja continue to make the same mistakes she did back in season one. She’s desperate to be liked by everybody, and that leads her to make some rash decisions that cause her to repeat the same cycle over and over again.

The show gives us more than one “will-they-won’t-they” relationship this time around. Yes, all our fav characters have come back, and there are a couple of new ones, mainly Katie, who is a writer of smut, and definitely an outsider trying to get a look-in. But the most important plot thread of this season follows Siaja’s obsession with finding her sister. She will go to any lengths to do it, because, as we already know, she is not the kind of person who will give up on anything that she wants. It’s very simple: she’s very determined in every aspect of her life, but it’s especially true when it comes to family for her.

We see a great shift in her relationship with her father, and between Bun and her grandfather too. Alistair is definitely a fun character, and we don’t get to see as much of him this season, but his presence is certainly needed, especially to tone down Neevee’s madness a bit. Alexis and Kuuk return as the It couple of the season, but things aren’t as bright and sunny as they used to be for them. More importantly, Siaja makes a very big mistake, and that could’ve, in my opinion, cost her her friendship with Alexis and Kuuk, but fortunately it doesn’t.

This season is visually enchanting. There are 3 scenes in particular that I want to mention. The first is one where Siaja meets her spirit goddess person in her dreams again, and the woman’s hair is just flowing over a black sea of nothingness, while the two women stare at each other. This image is so stunning it makes you want to paint it on your brain. The second is something similar; it does have to do with the hair of the goddess, but this time it’s in a braid, looking almost snake-like (thank god it wasn’t traumatizing for a ophidiophobe like me), flowing around her as she dances in the middle of a clubbing crowd. Finally, the scene of the winter ball, that I won’t give you any more information about, but it’s definitely very worth your time, and really made me think about how gorgeous Inuit fashion and style is. Like, there are some gowns on display here that look so high fashion, and I was thinking to myself, how come everyone has a gown lying around? But yeah, that was a great choice for this season for sure.

Neevee and Siaja continue to be a mother-daughter duo that don’t fully get each other and are annoyed most of the time because of their proximity. But the one cool thing is that this season sees Siaja go through a really rough patch, and Neevee is there with her a hundred per cent of the way, which was really lovely to see. Now, however you feel about Helen, Mary Lynn Rajskub brings incredible comic timing to the show, and her tone deaf explanations and lectures are all really funny to watch.

Season 2 of North Of North may not be something groundbreaking. It may even leave you a little more annoyed by Siaja’s very immature choices, but that makes the show more fun and less serious in a positive way. This is not to say that it doesn’t address some difficult situations, and there are plenty of those, considering the geographical setting of the show. I, for one, would love to go, so if anyone wants to sponsor me, I’m down.

Jokes aside though, North Of North continues to be an adorable entertainer that you can watch with your family and still be fine. There is mention of sex, and some profanity, but for the most part it is very PG. It does occasionally remind me of something that Disney would’ve put out some fifteen years ago. Something heartfelt, with great energy and loads of life lessons to pick up on. But this is very clearly a Netflix show that bulldozes you and later leaves you wanting a lot more. So yeah, if you’re looking to watch something this weekend, you can catch both seasons on Netflix. Plus, it’ll be over in like 8 hours combined since it’s only 20-odd-minute episodes. With that said, I give North Of North season two 3.5 out of 5 stars.