I am enamored with the writing and presentation of this ongoing series.It feels so well thought out, as if EVERY moment serves a purpose.Even those that would appear as indulgences of the director. If the answer for its inclusion is not immediately understood, I have trust that the piece will fit in to the whole of the puzzle.
This episode gives
Still.....as the theme music kicks in...I can not resist the smile. Is this real or is this dream? How can this be happening after all these years?This show alone is a gift.
It opens abruptly with Jerry alone in the woods.It appears as if it is midday. The last episode ended still in daylight at the Twin Peaks sheriffs station.
Though the closing sequence cut to the Roadhouse at night, with Sharon Van Etten performing her song "Tarifa on stage.Might this song have been just to close the episode and not indicate an actual day has passed.Traditionally , each episode of the original Twin Peaks represented a single day in the town. And the new series seems to be following the same lead.
If or when the series sees a home release, I hope they will have a option to watch an entire disc without closing credits , just flow into the next episode. Or perhaps have a streaming option that presents this. I would definitely watch the entire length of the series in a theater if ever given the opportunity.Something that I am sure will happen at some point even if Showtime never official chooses to do so.
So here we are, potentially still in the same day as the last episode.Someone has stolen Jerry's car. He is lost, and stoned out of his gourd. His car was most likely stolen by Richard Horne after he dumped the truck.
While the interaction between Ben and Jerry (what flavor ice cream would these to be? something with nuts, of course) is not out of the ordinary for Twin Peaks. Its meant to be for a quick laugh.It didn’t work for me. Ive never been a fan of "I’m high" jokes. Jerry’s not here man,and neither is the humor. But it still communicates a potential piece of information.
Next we pull up to the Twin Peaks Sheriffs station. And I am surprised how quickly we are investigating the found pages with Hawk and Truman. I thought for sure this would have appeared later in the episode. But here we are. Three pages found. Believed, as by most watchers last week, to be actual pages from Laura Palmer’s Diary.
But are they?
There are a few continuity issues that raise a few eyebrows.
1) The pages are distinctly yellow ,while both her diary’s were white. This could easily be 25 years off fading and yellowing from hanging around a damp bathroom.
2) The pages are not torn as we were once presented in Fire Walk With Me. Those pages appeared ripped with no care. These pages have been removed from the binding almost intact.With care.
3) The pages contain Laura recalling her dream the next day that featured Annie and her message about the Good Dale. The problem is that in Fire Walk With Me Laura is seen clearly giving her diary to Harold to hide AFTER she finds the pages torn out. and BEFORE the dream with Annie.
So how could she write about the dream in the diary?
Unless it wasn’t in her diary, and she wrote these on paper in her bedroom since she felt the need to write it all down.Or in her public diary and torn them out later.
We do not see every last moment of Laura Palmer’s life.It is certainly possible that she revisited Harold one last time while on Meals on Wheels duty. And while at his door asked to see the Diary one more time.Maybe she wrote her new entries on pages she had around her bedroom and asked Harold to place them inside the diary. She could have mailed them to Harold even,instead of returning to his door one last time and he placed them within the diary.
The diary was important to Laura and if someone else felt it important enough to remove pages she knew it held power.
At Harold’s door she could have asked to see the diary one last time and made the dream entry. The revelation entry that she knows who BOB really is could have easily come from a different day as Laura’s diary had shown she has written things in her diary and couldn’t remember that she wrote them. Even writing in BOB’s voice on occasion and not knowing her hand did that.
For this to happen,it could mean to me that Leland then later went to murder Harold only to find him having committed suicide. In a typical BOB rage, Leland tore up the diary after removing pages that he would then hide later ,with previous stolen pages ,while at the police station.
The page with the Annie revelation would be significant for BOB to read. It is a future event, that has been recorded in the past. It alerted him that at one point the Good Dale would be entering the Lodge, and Bad Dale would potentially be his new way out. All he had to do was wait or help things align that would drive Dale into the Lodge.
We know that Harold sent a last page in the diary to Donna. Hats off to Harold for facing his fear one last time before death, for Laura ,by selecting and placing the page that would lead to a way to defeat BOB in an envelope and delivering them across the way to the Tremond home. One last caring gesture from Harold for Laura.
Side note: I so wish we would have had a driving scene with both Laura and Shelly in the same car delivering Meals on Wheels during Fire Walk With Me.What with Shelly sleeping with Laura's Bobby.That was a missed opportunity of tenseness.
We get a mention of Annie Blackburn. But no indication as to her fate or whereabouts. Sheriff Truman doesn’t even ask after Hawk informs him that she was a girl who went into that place(the Lodge), where is she now?
3 of four page torn out and missing. Still one missing.Have they forgotten about the page given to Donna? was this ever collected as evidence? Or is there a fourth page that contains a message from Laura that we have not heard about but has significant implications to what is going on?A dream we have not heard about? Were there not pages found from her diary near Glastonbury Grove with the bloody cloth? Are the 3 out of the 4 pages accounting for the last known missing pieces after the diary was pieced back together?
Several passages can be barely made out on the unread pages. One mentions Halloween. Another mentions Laura having" a dream about how I went to my safety deposit box and how I saw the drug money there and I had a fantasy about taking it and running away forever. But I
didn't deserve that. I deserved to stay "
Hawk is sure they are from the diary found at Harold’s.So for the moment, I am thinking that Leland somehow found out about Harold (through Maddie letting something slip to Sarah, while he was eavesdropping?) and went to kill him, as he could potentially be someone Laura revealed his true self to. Only to find Harold already done the deed. And in his rage of yet another missed Garmonbozia collection, he destroyed what was left of the diary after removing a few important pages.
Could this mean that Leland left a page in his home?Something that Sarah Palmer might have a vision about its location one drunken , or dare we say, sober night?
Laura's passage about knowing "who BOB really is ", is quite heartbreaking. We SAW what happened on that night to elicit that response.But is it from that same night? Could Laura have had a revelation on a night before and wrote it down, but in her state of mind blocked it out afterwards? Coked it out? Could her drug use in effort to dull the pain have clouded her memory? And then when the pages were gone and her mind fogged and intentionally trying to block the pain of the truth, she forgot the truth? Maybe near the end she was finally seeing through the veil and seeing who BOB really was,maybe glimpses at first before the final explosive reveal on the last day. Or could that particular entry come from the same day she received the picture from Mrs Tremond. The day she saw BOB in her bedroom and then her father walking out the front door minutes later."Its not him , its not him. no..no...no"
But it does create an issue with the moment. Laura writes its 1:30 AM and she cant stop crying because she now knows who BOB really is. For Laura to have written that down in the terror of the moment, she would have needed her diary.Which she had already given to Harold. Unless, she wrote this down in her public diary and removed the pages to deliver them to Harold later. Laura would have removed them with more care than BOB.To hide the fact that pages had been removed.But then that still raises the question about the Annie entry. Could Laura have written that too in her public diary because her actual diary was now not in her hands and removed the passage later? what would prompt her? The pages would most likely have been the last few entries in the public version so she wouldn’t have had to search far to find them. Maybe she sensed they were important.
Hawk theorizes it was Leland who hid the pages.Worried about being frisked while at the police station when being questioned about the death of Jacque Renault. This is plausible
But what if it was MIKE in one of Philip Gerards unmedicated moods, for the same reason. MIKE could have found the pages dropped by Leland outside the Lodge. And collected them for use later in exposing BOB.He would have wanted to plant them on Leland or somewhere that would get Leland in trouble.Once Leland was arrested , BOB would have to vacate or spend the rest of his days in jail inside Leland.BOB would then be without a host and unable to cause more trouble until he found a new sandbox to play in.But after MIKE found himself in the police station,he could have been worried that having torn pages on his person from a recently murdered girls diary would look very suspicious.
Hawk relates the night Cooper came out of the Lodge. Interesting that Sheriff Frank Truman doesn’t ask what all this Lodge talk is about . "What Lodge? " Does he know of the history of the woods? Could his familiarity indicate that a Truman (true man) might enter the Lodge and rescue Dale in the end.(That is, if the Good Dale and the Bad Dale have to both enter the Lodge together to end the conflict.)
Hawk knows that Doc Hayward was one of the last to see the Bad Dale. But does not know about the meeting between Major Briggs and the Bad Cooper.
Frank calls his brother,but backs out of troubling him with this Laura Palmer diary pages discovery due to Harry's sickness."Harry,do me a favor, beat this thing" .....ow . I wonder if the real actor who portrayed Harry Truman is actually sick. If so, this is one hell of a way to convey from old friends that they are with him in spirit when he can't be with them.
Next we see Deputy Andy hard at work. How the heck did Andy find the truck from the accident so fast?If this is the same day as the accident,then its only been a few hours at best. Did someone catch the plate and report it?Did Miriam recognize the truck?
Andy speaks with the "farmer" who is very agitated and frightened. Begging Andy to please leave now and he will meet him later to tell him the whole story. Why Andy would agree to this is questionable even for Andy’s less than stellar police work we have seen in the past.This car has supposedly been identified in a fatal hit and run. How could he not just drag this man in for questioning? What does it legally take for Dep. Andy to make this man come down to the police station for questioning? Its possible that while the truck was identified, it was also indicated that the known owner of the truck was not seen behind the wheel at the time of the accident.Or maybe its just another truck that matches the description and Andy has stumbled onto a different mystery.
The man tells Andy he will tell him everything. Does he know who was driving his truck? If Richard stole Jerry’s car , then it may not be Richard who this farmer is afraid of at the moment. Richard would be on his way somewhere else after dumping the truck off. As the camera does a full pan around the scene there is a black car in the background behind a structure. Can not tell if it is the same car as Reds seen earlier at the sawmill.If so, it may be Red who prevents the Farmer from making the meeting with Andy.
Sparkwood and 21! A lot of trouble goes down at this intersection.
Up by Jones'(Common enough name, but connecting us to Dougie Jones in some manner?) .
4:30 .....we’ve heard this number presented by the Giant all the way back in the first episode.
DOC HAYWARD!!!
It was so nice to see him one last time. RIP Warren Frost. Of note, this episode aired on Fathers Day. Warren Frost,as I am sure you know, is the father of Mark Frost ,the co creator of Twin Peaks.
The Doc doesn’t know that Harry is sick? But check out that awesome computer set up.
"I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but I can remember that. That morning he was acting mighty strange. Took him to the hospital while he made his rounds, hour later saw him sneaking out of intensive care fully dressed." Doc saw that strange face again ,called out to him and he turned around and walked away. We learn that Audrey was in a coma. And that he thinks Cooper was looking in on Audrey after that awful business at the bank.
While the idea of Bad Dale with a side of BOB sneaking into intensive care to look in on Audrey is disturbing at the implications. I think he may have really been there to see Annie. In the missing pieces and original script for Fire Walk With Me, Annie is found outside the Lodge wearing the Owl Cave Ring. I’m of the thought that the Bad Dale was there to claim the ring for use later in manufacturing "Dougie". And to also finally take the ring from MIKE who has been using the ring to block BOB’s collecting of the Garmonbozia from his victims.(Theresa,Laura,and maybe Annie who MIKE would have though in danger from the Bad Dale/BOB combo)
However, there are more horrifying implications of a BOB/Audrey offspring in the form of Richard Horne. Implying that the Bad Dale finally got a piece of Audrey’s cherry pie while she was unconscious in a coma.
Before we bid the Doc goodbye, we are treated to a take on an old joke that involves Doc Hayward having woke up to find two brown trouts in his pajamas but unable to recall how they got there. Did the Doc just tell us he shat himself? And if he cant recall what he had for breakfast, lets hope it wasn’t THAT trout he made a breakfast out of.
When Warren Frost says ...."So long (and pauses just so, before saying... ) Frank" . I felt that was a little goodbye to us all. Darn it is dusty in here...something in my eye.
Keep working the Sunny side of the river,Doc.
Next we are back to the body in Buckhorn as the military arrives to identify and discover that it is in fact the body of Major Briggs.....but much younger than it should be at this time and place. The body of a man in his forties who should be in his seventies. This tells me that Major Briggs has gone places.Has he been to the Lodge? I am unsure if the Bad Dale has been in and out of the Lodge over the years.It would stand to reason that he has not returned since escaping for fear of being trapped back inside. But has the Major been in and out? Using the Lodge to hunt down the Bad Dale in effort to stop his destruction and return him to the Lodge so Cooper could be freed? Might Major Briggs have lost his head on the last time he tried to return to the Lodge by having the Lodge door close just as only his head had passed the entryway? Leaving his body in the Bad Dales presence and his head floating in the Lodge?
Major Briggs was aware of the Lodge. He was present for some of Windom Earle’s last discoveries.Briggs may have known quite a lot of information about this other place through his research and work. The Bad Dale may have tried to kill him by burning his station down in fire.But Briggs could have survived and pretended that he had actually died so his family would be kept out of harms way while he tracked down the Bad Coop. From which, the Major used the time traveling/teleportation powers of the Lodge to continue the fight. Major Briggs could have entered what is known as the White Lodge to do this.
LT Knox is surprised to discover that the prints were not lifted from a crime scene from an actual body. Major Briggs fingerprints have appeared on at least 16 previous crime scenes. I wonder if Major Briggs left them there to help connect the dots for anyone who was watching?To help track the Bad Dale and his handy work ?
Coroner confirms that the prints came from this body and the mans age. Knox makes a phone call to her superior Coronal Davis to reveal that the body is Briggs.As she conveys that the head is missing the eerie music starts and a shadowy figure appears in the far background walking towards camera. The sound that the Giant said to listen for can be heard as the figure steps forward. It is unclear if Lt Knox actually sees the figure approaching her, but she certainly senses him.No one takes notice of him as he passes the morgues open door.The man appears to be the same filthy burnt man we saw in the adjacent cell of William Hastings that faded up and away.
DAVID LYNCH WHISTLING A RAMMSTEIN TUNE!!
This show just keeps giving ( and I now have this as a ringtone)
Albert returns with less than good news from his meeting with Diane.
"No fucking way" . If you notice, Gordon Cole has a painting on his wall of a head of corn. This corn has not been creamed......yet
I am surprised that we are rewarded with the next scenes so quickly. I was sure that Lynch would make us wait an episode or two before the confrontation. Since each episode is implied to be a day in the world of Twin Peaks, this movement of events is fast. Thank goodness for FBI flights. But what was that weird light pattern on the windows.Its intentional special effect. Is it covering up something seen inside from the original footage as this is a borrowed shot?Or is there a code to be broken? I wonder if it is a musical message?
At Diane’s place we make some discoveries about her. She has had a younger male guest.An intimate time together has been implied. Has Diane become a prostitute after leaving the FBI? was she one before? Red lamp against the wall.
Diane is cold and ready to shut them down.She has not coffee or cigarettes.She is clearly in emotional pain and holding it back.
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED??!?!
To make her so unwilling to have anything to do with Cooper?
FUCK YOU,GORDON! FUCK YOU, TOO ,ALBERT !
Diane responds to the news of Dales federal imprisonment with a hard "Good"This news seems to change her attitude (even though that "is none of our fucking business")and she steps out of the room to get some coffee. Did she decide in this moment that she would see Cooper? Knowing that he was behind bars and could not physically touch her
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED BETWEEN HER AND COOPER?
Did she meet the Bad Dale?
We learn she was always a tough cookie.So what could have her shaken so?
Diane can still make a damn good cup of coffee.
Cole and Albert tell Diane what they need. They need someone who knows Cooper extremely well to speak with him and then afterwards tell them what she thinks. Gordon indicates it not only extremely important but it has something to do with something she knows about (and that’s all he is going to say about that). Could this mean as Dales secretary she was aware of the Blue Rose cases Cooper may have worked on?
Diane needs a drink , for the flight or are her nerves shook for other reasons?
Fuck you, Albert.and for good measure. Fuck you Tammy!
She listens in to the FBI agents conversation about Cooper. The backwards very is brought up.Backwards fingerprints are discussed.The phrase the Bad Dale said to Gordon is repeated in whole.With where the backwards very would fall being connected to the spiritual mound.
I cant stop watching Diane’s reactions.She reacts to the fact that Coopers house was bought by a girl from Ipanema.Does she see this as a callback to Coopers type of idea of humor?Connecting this unknown man even closer to the Cooper she knew? or is it all a bad joke to her and shes saying to herself -for fuck sake?
"The man we met in prison" gets a reaction out of her as well. There is such sadness in her eyes at this moment. Is she thinking about how far he may have fallen? And this thought makes her heart ache? Of what has been lost?
I’ve never believed that there was anything of a intimate relationship between the two. Cooper was just out of a disastrous relationship with Caroline before coming to Twin Peaks.And shortly after arriving Dale became involved with Annie. Cooper never seemed to be the love them and leave them type so its very unlikely that he and Diane had a sexual relationship.
I believe that Diane loved Coopers heart.
He may have been the only man in her life who she ever trusted, completely. Trusted to never hurt her because a man like that would never do that.
For the moment, I am picturing that Diane was suicidal, and on that important night at her house ( I don’t recall it being stated that it occurred before or after Cooper went to Twin Peaks) , Cooper did what Cooper does best- He spoke with Diane, listened to her all through the night .Held her, Made no demands of her like so many men before( recalling the Audrey in his bed moment). I picture Dale telling Diane how he sees her through his eyes."Look at me" Every wonderful thing he noticed about her. And as we know, Cooper notices everything. Diane knows Cooper as well. And she can sense in a moment that this man before her is not the man she knows from that night. This is heartbreaking for her. "Cheers to the FBI" and what it did to that wonderful man she knew. Losing Cooper for 25 years.Yet another abandonment from a man that Diane has most likely experienced before, now this time from the one who made her feel good about her self.One she trusted absolutely. And so soon after he saved her.
Cooper: I’ll always remember that night.
Diane: Same for me, I’ll never forget it.
But the Bad Dale's response to Diane’s question about the last time they saw each other " At ...your...house" is very ominous. When she asks if he remembers that night, he says he will never forget it.But doesn’t give any details. Neither does she. She will never forget it either.
There is no confirmation that it took place after Cooper went to Twin Peaks and the Bad Dale ran away.
This interaction causes her to take a closer look at this Cooper.Asking him to "Look at me" Pleading even, as if she needs the real Cooper to see in this moment,to prove what she is feeling is wrong.Diane’s second ,pleading request for "Cooper" to "Look at Me" makes me think that the last time took place BEFORE he went to Twin Peaks.This does not feel like the request of a victim to have her attacker see what he has done to her.How his actions have hurt her.This feels like an old friend asking for their friend to acknowledge how their absent has effected them personally.To even say sorry. But he doesn’t because Cooper is not there.This Cooper does not see. And she knows this now.The complete absence of what is Coopers core shakes her to hers and she cant wait to get away from this abomination.
At this next moment from the second she spoke, I was in tears. Bravo Laura Dern on your performance.The vulnerability in this moment.The desperate attempt to hold back the ugly cry that is just a word away.Bravo.
"That is not the Dale Cooper I knew.It isn’t time passing or how hes changed or how he looks its something here something that definitely isn't here."
"Who are you?" who are you really?"The pages of Laura’s diary where she declares she knows the truth are in the same episode where Diane asks Doppelcooper to " Look at me! Look at me! Who are you? Who are you?" Laura FWWM/Diane TP-The Return Assault by a evil in the face of a loved one?
Dern’s performance in the interrogation and her later, even more emotional interaction with David Lynch’s Agent Cole (“you and I will have a talk sometime”) doesn’t reveal what happened on that night.Whatever has happened since Coopers disappearance,and potentially connected to that fateful night,Diane is now an alcoholic and as Albert (Miguel Ferrer) says to her, no judgment there.
4:30 comes to pass,the sound of classic Twin Peaks music is in the air.Andy’s meeting has been cancelled.The truck remains where we last saw it so the farmer has not made a break for it.An ominous low noise can be heard coming from the open door of the farmers house.Something has happened. And its not likely good. Are brains being served up for Red? The Farmers disappearance or death could take Richard's troubles away.But, as we know ,Richard was spotted by Miriam so hes not free of it yet. I bet we will hear that the farmer is dead by an apparent suicide and the town will write it off as because of the guilt.However,Miriam will say, he wasn’t the driver. Did the guy call Richard and ask him what the fuck did you do? and Richard in his anger returns to kill him?
The Bad Dale is returned to his cell and makes a request to speak to the Warden. Again, he makes mention of a mysterious Mr Strawberry. This disguised threat leads to a meeting in the Warden's office. The Bad Dale speaks of dog leg and what was connected to the rest of the dog. This instantly strikes a chord with the Warden.Dale confirms the Warden is thinking about this piece of information and its Information if revealed or used could result in a visit from two people the Warden doesn’t want coming around. The Warden has secrets.Secrets that have placed him in a no win situation. A name,Joe McClusky knocks the Warden off his feet.It's reasonable to suspect that the Warden has been involved in a murder.One that if revealed would place him on the other side of the bars next to the inmates he oversees. This single name reveals to the Warden that the Bad Dale knows his secrets and the Warden immediately caves and asks what he wants. The Bad Dale requests a car, a friend in the glove compartment, and a 1 am escape that evening ,smooth and safe, for him and Ray Monroe.Ray being the one who has obtained information of want from William Hastings secretary.
What did she know that is so important,still, to the Bad Dale?The Bad Dale warns of any double cross."Remember the dog legs and no one will hear of Joe McClusky or your late Mr Strawberry." Was that the Wardens dog? or an actual person? Is this Frost/Lynch's subtle way of telling us the viewer that we will never hear the rest of this story? How is the Warden going to explain the Bad Dales escape? Will the FBI really believe whatever story he tells because they know the Bad Dale to be a capable person?
Cut to Las Vegas where we find Janey-E outside waiting for "Dougie" to get off work. The Good Dale is inside the lodg.....insurance company , entranced with a drawing he is making on a report that extends then onto his desk.Is he drawing a part of the owl cave petroglyph?
The Good Dale gives no notice that Anthony is paying him a visit.
No doubt he is here,prying into "Dougie’s" meeting with the boss ,Bushnell.Anthony definitely suspects he is in trouble.But as soon as some police arrive, he loses all his bravado and suddenly has somewhere else to be.
"Dougie’s" behavior throughout all this really boggles the mind that everyone is so tolerant of his condition. I am sincerely beginning to believe that he has had episodes to this extent before.
Detectives Fusco? not Detective Fusco,singular. So are these three detectives brothers? "Badge" is really ringing the bells inside the Good Coop.
In walks Janey-E to save the day. Considering the nature of the police visit, it is quite striking how they let Janey-E answer all the questions about "Dougie’s" car. They never once inquire about his condition. We get a confirmation that the individuals who went KABLOOEY in "Dougie’s" car were just members of a car theft gang and not associated with the plot to kill "Dougie". Another example of Coopers good luck having a bad side effect for others.For every plus, there is a minus.
Its strange to think that this episode is still part of the same day as when Janey-E payed off "Dougie’s" loan sharks. So much has happened.
I love Janey-E. The realistic way she focuses on whats happening, The details of what kind of car they could have afforded if "Dougie" hadn’t gambled money away. Shes wrapped up in thoughts of the mundane day to day. No big mystery .
And that’s when Ike the Spike makes his entrance. But before anyone can be hurt, Coopers internal instincts kick in and save the day as he moves Janey-E out of the way and restrains Ike. Cooper's FBI training is present in a moments notice. And oddly ,so is the evolution of the arm. But is this the Doppleganger arm? What purpose does this serve the Lodge?Is it to stress the severity of the danger that Cooper is potentially in and that if lost in this moment, the Lodge will be lost as well?
Crossing over into Coopers vision, the arm instructs Dale to use severe force."Squeeze his hand off" Which Cooper does.One could say the Arm....lends a hand
This act is sure to draw attention. There will be Ike’s fingerprints on the gun, which are sure to connect to other crimes. Perhaps an FBI file.Not to mention, there is part of his hand that is still attached to the gun.Could this possible be similar or in fact the exact piece of flesh that we saw in the trunk of William Hastings car oh so many episodes ago? If yes, how did it get from here to there? And why ? And if so, does this mean that the Bad Dales timeline is weeks ahead of the Good Dales? And sometime after Coopers incident with Ike, the Bad Dale comes into possession of this piece of evidence? But then, why leave it in the trunk of the car? Mysteries wrapped in enigmas.
The media is drawn to the incident and many who witnessed the attack have a sensational story to tell. One that could very easily result in "Dougie" appearing on nightly news looking exceedingly Dale Cooper-ish in his black suit.Someone is bound to take note.
Coopers own fingerprints are on the gun and if entered into a data base as part of the report could ring a bell at the FBI. Cooper reacts to the sirens.
I love that Janey-E joins in on the fight and chokes Ike.This woman is bad ass. Depending on how events play out, it could be quite sad for Janey-E if/when Cooper returns to his own sensibilities and has to return to his actual life. But, this could all be setting the scene for Janey-E becoming someone who we as viewers would be quite happy with Cooper staying with in the end. She is smart, strong, caring, and extremely capable to the challenges of being at Dale Coopers side.
Night falls, and we see the water falling outside the Great Northern. Inside, Ben and his new secretary are tracking down a strange humming noise coming from the wood. It seems ot move from side to side of the room depending on which side you are on. Might this be Josie Packard trapped in the wood? Is she drawn to the key to Agent Coopers room. The room where Josie shot Cooper. Ben even mentions this fact out of many others that could be mentioned about Dale Cooper. He connects this moment to Josie.
How did the Key get there so fast? Jade only dropped it into a mailbox a few days ago.Is this another indication of the separate timelines we are viewing. The Good Dale living weeks behind the events occurring in Twin Peaks. The Bad Dale, occurring weeks ahead of the Good Dale,literally one step ahead of the Good Dale? All of our characters are actually in different time zones.
Who is Laura Palmer? That ,my Dear, is a long story.
This is a wonderful way to illustrate that to outsiders the story of Laura Palmer is not still on everyone’s mind.Life has gone on. Newcomers to the town, and the show, are not buried in the history.While Laura's suffering was extreme and impacted the town dramatically back in the day. No one thinks about her or cares anymore. Even Ben's reaction to Laura’s name is more a stating of a fact then a emotional remembering.
I noticed that Benjamin is still wearing a wedding ring.Up till now,he has been hands off with his new secretary.Behavior that is not typical of Mr HornE. She clearly enjoys his company. But she returns to her own home to a husband who is terribly ill and in pain.Her husbands caregiver mentions to the wife that he misses her. This is stressed a bit more when Tom asks her why she was late and she casually responds she had some things to do. To him,in his state of what appears to be slowly dying,I imagine he has difficulty understanding what things could be so important to keep her away from him when every last painful second of his life is precious. Beverly has been the one to return to work so they could both survive. But at the price of being away for long hours.She doesn’t need the guilt."Do not fuck this up"
We leave these two and go to the Roadhouse for one of the longest filmed demonstrations of how to sweep a floor ever to appear in a program.At least Booker T & the MG' s "Green Onions" plays in the background.
So shall we talk about the floor-sweeping scene?
This is like Lynch meditating on film.TV induces various types of trance states.
At first,we have a brief sensation that the show is coming to a close and the credits will be crawling.However, the guy just continues sweeping methodically, carefully,uninterrupted by anything.
Causing the the viewer to eventually grow bored with the proceedings.
Then irritated.
This ever going to end?Will something,anything happen?Let that phone ring!
Then slowly, the sweeping almost becomes a story unto itself. You pay attention to where he's pushing that pile of detritus. Can he keep the pieces together? (Not unlike the state of mind when one IS actually sweeping)
Are the pieces coming together? After this episode, it would appear that several narratives have moved forward and closer to connecting.
This scene is rife with typical Lynch timing:always just a little longer than your mind is used to from typical media.Past comfort to discomfort to transcendence.He has placed us in a kind of trance and...
Then the phone rings.
But,this almost now reads as not something FINALLY happening but as an interruption.
The new Renault,Jean Michel takes a call.Seems not only have the Renault’s owned the Roadhouse for some 57 years, but they have also always been in the prostitute business.Though there may be trouble. The unidentified person on the phone is making a call for someone else.Someone who requested two blondes which Jean Michel provided.But there may be an issue with their ages.The two girls might be high school straight A whores.Might this be Chad calling for Richard Horne.And might those two blondes be the ones we saw in the booth next to Richard in the previous scene from a episode ago.The one where Richard payed Chad with the cigarette money and then moments later one of the girls was in Richards lap.Oddly not resisting as much as one should when he became aggressive with her.Maybe she was the original deal, but one of her friends joined in and so now Richard owes Jean for two.
This scene also seem to serve a few other purposes for me.
1) it establish a time of night in Twin Peaks. The Roadhouse is closed and empty of patrons.So it must be after 1 or 3 am .Where does one go after hours? Why to the Double R for some damn good cherry pie and a good ol’ cup of wake me up.
2)the Roadhouse pacing is a complete opposite to the pacing of the scenes we see a bit later at the Double R. Those shots in the diner seem to strongly indicate that each camera cut is a different night in Twin Peaks.Essentially moving us forward in the narrative by a few days. The slowness of the Roadhouse scene it meant to draw attention to the passage of time, so that we more readily take note a few minutes later at its passage in the Double R.
The episode ends at the Double R. Shelly and Heidi and Norma are all at work. What time of day is this? Is it early morning after the bars have let out or early before people are off to work. Still dark out. As the camera cuts from side to side of the the counter the people in the Double R change.Instantly. Its to noticeable not to be intentional. So many people change in this space that this can not simply be a continuity issue.Something has happened with time. Have we jumped ahead a few days with each cut?
We may find out more in the next episode.
Last thoughts :
We are treated to another instrumental song.This one is called "Sleep walk" by Santo & Johnny. Madchen Amick was in a movie called Sleepwalkers.
Is that Bobby Briggs off duty talking to Heidi in the corner booth? or is that Red?