Twin Peaks

[teddyleevin]

After seeing

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the absolutely disturbing and enlightening visual of Frank Silva's face emerging from within Kyle MacLachlan's

in Part 5, I consider myself completely convinced by the use of digital effects herein. I think this might be the strongest part so far, especially in the way it subverts two weeks of fervent excitement and speculation from ride-or-die fans:

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We will always get a band, probably, but it will not necessarily be the end of the episode, as most assumed! I'm glad of this because the Roadhouse can still be a place of narrative import as we saw at the end of this part and back at the end of Part Two (also, observe that the sexually-assaulting drug-runner is credited as "Richard Horne"). And, while I know many expect a long, deliberate sojourn into the mysterious machinations of Dr. Jacoby's wooded laboratory, we got our mystery of the golden shovels solved almost right away, and my viewing crew could not stop laughing.

Because the first four felt like a super-long pilot (mostly because I watched them all at once on day one), this is the make-or-break episode, and it was a complete "make" for me. I would follow with "highlights include:" but I would end up listing most of the episode. Special shout-out to my boy, Josh Fadem, for another wonderful turn in a prestige series (in an episode featuring many wonderful additions to the cast).

[flyonthewall2983]

I was delighted to see Tom Sizemore on the list that was sent out, so seeing him last night was a highlight for sure.


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[teddyleevin]

It haven't seen him in ages and he was perfect for the part. I have a feeling we'll see more of him as well, given

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his complicity in covering for the "real" Dougie Jones' 3-day disappearing act and for being the first (so far only) trigger for Coop's new-found green-light-flashing lie detector abilities.

[Finch]

Episode 5 of the new season was yet more proof that Twin Peaks is the scariest but also the funniest show on television. People who've missed Badalamenti's music will be pleased to know that episode 5 uses his scores a lot but thankfully not in the wall-to-wall manner the ABC seasons do. Favourite moments: THAT superimposition and "Dougie" at the workplace. Most touching moment: Dougie seeing Janey's bored kid in the back of her car and moved to tears. Kyle MacLachlan's performance in this new season should garner him a few awards.

Not keen on the scene between Truman and his nagging wife but other than that, it was the third best episode of the season so far for me.

Was left wondering: is Jefferies trapped in that box we saw in Buenos Aires?

[Cold Bishop]

Most touching moment: Dougie seeing Janey's bored kid in the back of her car and moved to tears.

There may have been something more foreboding than touchig there:

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Keen eye viewers have pointed out that Sonny was blinking backwards

And finally the scenes in Twin Peaks are shaping up as major plot points, especially with the new generation of troubled youngsters.

[carmilla mircalla]

Most touching moment: Dougie seeing Janey's bored kid in the back of her car and moved to tears.

There may have been something more foreboding than touchig there:

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Keen eye viewers have pointed out that Sonny was blinking backwards

Definitely noticed this while I was watching it

[hearthesilence]

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(also, observe that the sexually-assaulting drug-runner is credited as "Richard Horne")

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It's been pointed out that the blocking for Richard Horne's assault on that girl is very similar to the Cooper doppelgänger's manhandling and subsequent murder of his would-be assassin in the pilot. Combined with Albert Rosenfield's previous remark "I know where she drinks," it may not be too much of a stretch to predict that Richard Horne is Audrey and the Cooper doppelgänger's child, and that Audrey is now a traumatized alcoholic in the wake of that experience.

[Robin Davies]

"Dick Horne".
I'm getting a subtle Freudian vibe from that name.

[hearthesilence]

Wait until he's formally introduced, it will be a scene worthy of Mike Myers.

[flyonthewall2983]

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(also, observe that the sexually-assaulting drug-runner is credited as "Richard Horne")

[/quote

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It's been pointed out that the blocking for Richard Horne's assault on that girl is very similar to the Cooper doppelgänger's manhandling and subsequent murder of his would-be assassin in the pilot. Combined with Albert Rosenfield's previous remark "I know where she drinks," it may not be too much of a stretch to predict that Richard Horne is Audrey and the Cooper doppelgänger's child, and that Audrey is now a traumatized alcoholic in the wake of that experience.

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Didn't Audrey die in the bank explosion from the S2 finale? Also, I feel like Albert's line was a subtle intro to the Laura Dern character.

[BigMack3000]

Plot question for Ep 3/4 as I haven't watched season 2 in quite a long time.

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When Bobby mentions Cooper meeting his father at his house before disappearing, Is he referring to their meeting in the woods? Or is this a post series finale meeting with Cooper's double?

Also, I'm always so enamored with Lynch's acting, the ending to ep 4 being a high in the new series. Has Lynch ever discussed why he doesn't seek out more acting roles? If Herzog can play the villain in a Cruise action thriller...

[hearthesilence]

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Didn't Audrey die in the bank explosion from the S2 finale? Also, I feel like Albert's line was a subtle intro to the Laura Dern character.

She could have should they have chosen to go that route (it would've made logical sense), but to my understanding, had ABC renewed the show, she would have been brought back too.

[Cold Bishop]

I haven't read it, but the "Secret History" has a few answer to both those questions (if Lynch chooses to follow them).

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Pete Martell dies shieding Audrey in the bank. Evil Cooper lures Brigg into a discussion about the Lodges, then attempts to kill him when he figures he knows too much, sending him on the run (I don't know how the fire figures).

[Roger Ryan]

I haven't read it, but the "Secret History" has a few answer to both those questions (if Lynch chooses to follow them).

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Pete Martell dies shieding Audrey in the bank. Evil Cooper lures Brigg into a discussion about the Lodges, then attempts to kill him when he figures he knows too much, sending him on the run (I don't know how the fire figures).

Regarding Audrey's fate...

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I've only skimmed the "Secret History" book because I didn't want it to spoil where the current season would go, but I did see a newspaper clipping in it explaining that Audrey survived the explosion which killed Pete Martell, bank manager Dell Mibbler and an unknown man (which the reader will know is Andrew Packard if they've seen the episode).

...Also, I'm always so enamored with Lynch's acting, the ending to ep 4 being a high in the new series. Has Lynch ever discussed why he doesn't seek out more acting roles? If Herzog can play the villain in a Cruise action thriller...

Apparently, Lynch is featured in a leading role in his daughter's new film A Fall from Grace. Also, if you haven't seen it, Lynch charmingly plays a romantic lead opposite Isabella Rossellini in the 1988 film Zelly and Me.

[mfunk9786]

Every episode of this reboot is full of transcendent moments, wonderful acting flourishes, music drops, little surprises and what-the-fuck-is-happening occurrences.

But having concluded my viewing of Part 6, I'm starting to wonder: Is all of this taking us anywhere, from a plot perspective, that will be surprising? And more importantly, is Lynch going to be able to seize some kind of forward momentum? It's a very different television climate, where cliffhangers at the end of each episode of a television drama are the norm - but more than that, they were a staple of the original series. And so when each episode of this reboot ends, there's the frustrating feeling of nothing to carry us through to the next part, no connectors affixed to the edges of these pieces. I don't know if it's a sign that perhaps we're only going to be getting more vignettes and only a very A-B-C plot wherein Cooper is able to find his way back to his identity, or if everything is going to come together in a way that excites, that is imbued with an urgency that just isn't there now. As humorous as the Dougie Jones plot thread is, it feels very low stakes, and I wonder whether the intention is ever to up those stakes. Same goes for any of the original characters, or is the intention let them continue to be a fluffy contrast to the new characters we've been introduced to in Twin Peaks itself, who are definitely providing the show's seedy underbelly? For lack of a better way to phrase this thought: I would just love to see everyone get to be a part of that rich well menace by the time we're said and done.

[tenia]

Part of me fears that the main plot only is "Will Cooper get his mind back?"

[mfunk9786]

Yes - you said it better than I could in one sentence. If Lynch decides to wrap up that component of the plot within the next couple of episodes, I'll be able to totally forget that I ever worried about that, but if we're still in Dougie Jones-land 6 more parts from now, it'll be pretty deflating.

[teddyleevin]

Regarding stakes in the Dougie plot:

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knowing he's the next potential victim of Ike "The Spike," who we saw swiftly dispatching three people in mere moments, the stakes for his safety have greatly risen. We've seen his possible fate first-hand. That scene was one of the most terrifying murders I've ever seen in film/tv.

[hearthesilence]

Nice to see Sharon Van Etten as the musical guest, but seeing how she was listed on the released cast list months back, I'm guessing Trent Reznor, Eddie Vedder et al will be appearing in the same capacity rather than playing characters in the show.

[hearthesilence]

Part of me fears that the main plot only is "Will Cooper get his mind back?"

That part of the show is coming perilously close to a tedious Saturday Night Live sketch. If you're familiar with SNL's long history, one of the standbys of that show is a one-note sketch where a character will be blatantly strange and unusual, and while his oddity may be acknowledged, the conceit is that everyone else in the world goes on business as usual, so as to milk as many gags as possible from the central character's peculiarity. Sometimes it turns into comic gold ("Mr. Short Term Memory," "Massive Head Wound Harry") but more often than not, the concept is driven deep into the ground.

[flyonthewall2983]

I'm guessing Trent Reznor, Eddie Vedder et al will be appearing in the same capacity rather than playing characters in the show.

I figured as much right away because Reznor's wife (and sometimes-bandmate) Mariqueen and long-time NIN live guitarist Robin Finck were on that big list that came out awhile back.

[med]

I'll admit the extreme passivity of the Dougie character was starting to wear on me in the previous episode, but part 6 has contained my favorite Dougie moments to date: the business of the elevator, the entire sequence with the boss, and the scene

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where Janey sees the photo of him and Jade.

[terabin]

My first impression too is that the Dougie plot is going achingly slow but I realized after last night's episode: what about the amazing little moments? Without Dougie we wouldn't get:

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Naomi Watts dressing down those thugs and we wouldn't get Dougie putting a potato chip on his son's lap as he puts him down for bed and we wouldn't get MIKE shouting "Don't die" over and over again from the Black Lodge and we wouldn't get all of these wonderful people (coffee grab guy and the security guard) trying to help Dougie out in really gentle and compassionate and slightly exasperated ways.

I understand the concern about where is this all going but isn't this new season the ultimate exercise in learning to live in the moment as only Lynch can teach us?

[med]

Honestly, after last night, I'd take a 10-minute scene of Dougie and his son clapping the light on and off.

[terabin]

Exactly. And I still have Dougie's hello-oh-oh-oh! ringing in my ears.