Maggie is to me about as real as they come. She's got the whole independent woman-pilot-landlord-surviving in Alaska alone thing going pretty well. Her whole neurotic/passion without the acknowledgment or touch relationship with Fleshman feels like the most honest, real relationshipon TV. I know several devoted followers of the show who still can not distinguish between Northern Exposure and reality (((((ok, i'm one of them))))) Maggie and Ed are more concrete and emotionally real to me than many people I see everyday. . mike bischoff northeast missouri state university.