Spoilers
“Eek! A Spouse”
It just does not feel like Moonlighting.
This episode tried to put Dave and Maddie back into a case, including one of the show’s typical chase scenes at the end of the episode. It just felt different.
Picket Fences’ Lydia (who was Jimmy’s ex-wife) was one of the people involved in the case, as was a former General Hospital actor Gerald Anthony. Outside of that, this was an average hour of the show.
Spoilers
“May the Giant Be With You”
“Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?
Yes! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?“
Leland, with his hair changed to all grey overnight, came out singing this song, to signify that he was ready to move on. Who knew smothering a man to death had such a revitalizing property to it?
Of course, the grey hair was one more hint that Leland was the actual killer of Laura, being possessed by Killer Bob.
This episode was originally promoted as the reveal of the killer, but that was just a promotional trick and what we saw, for the first time, was an image of Killer Bob, which was what the show was giving us. Yes, Bob was the killer, but we wanted the secret to which character was being possessed.
Twin Peaks, which was already fairly mystical, embraced that end of the spectrum starting with this episode, featuring the Giant, a return of the one armed man, and Bob.
There were a couple of quotes from this episode that resonated with me. The first one was from Agent Cooper, who after waking up at the hospital after being shot, and having Lucy run down all the things that had happened that night, Cooper sarcastically said “How long was I out.” That was delivered with such a perfect tone.
The other quote was one that makes me think of my roommate Andy, because Andy loved Pete Martell’s delivery of the line. Pete was suffering with smoke inhalation and he said to Sheriff Truman, “I feel like someone taped my lips to the tailpipe of a bus.” I can hear Andy’s echoing laughter just thinking about it .
Twin Peaks has had a history of violence toward women, which probably wouldn’t work in today’s world. We got one of the more violent moments so far when we get the flashback, via Ronette’s memory, of Bob killing Laura. It is why the strong woman Catharine was such a different character on the show.
This kicked off the second season in a really strong way, and, looking back, it was clear that there were actually a lot of info dropped. More than we even knew.
Spoilers
“The Last Evening”
Part 8
Season one of Twin Peaks came to an end with all of those major storylines I talked about from the penultimate episode of season one coming to a peak in this finale. Except, of course, we did not learn who the killer of Laura Palmer was yet. I know there were some frustration at the time, including me, about when they would reveal the secret. Truth be told, people are just too impatient. It is something I have learned over the years since Twin Peaks’ first season.
We did learn several things. We learned that Jacques did not kill Laura as Leo ditched him before going to the train car. The show went out of its way to show that Dr. Jacoby was not Laura’s killer either, casting him in a more empathic light than we had seen before. And, despite the show kind of playing up Leo in the case, after years of reading comics and watching soap opera, I was sure that Leo was nothing more than a red herring. Twin Peaks was the master of red herrings.
I remember the shooting of Agent Cooper as if it were yesterday. I was so shocked about it that it threw my entire thoughts about the series into overdrive. It was a horrible way to leave the fans dangling over the break, and yet so tasty.
Watching Leland murder Jacques with the pillow was unbelievable at first, but made complete sense in retrospect. At first it just felt like a bad decision from a grieving parent, but, of course, we know now that there was more behind it than just that. This truly begins Ray Wise’s elevation of his performance into season two. When the alarm stops ringing, Wise changes Leland’s facial expressions from his sobbing to one of darkness. It is chilling looking back.
I fell in love with Pete and Catharine in this episode, even though Catharine is still pretty manipulative toward him, but it felt sincere when she asked him for help. You have to admire Pete for heading into the burning mill in search of his wife.
Are there any two characters more likable, but downright stupid as Big Ed and Norma? They are so manipulated by their respected spouses that you would think they would just come out and say what they want, and that is to be together. Thing is, they just can’t seem to get out of their own way and Nadine and Hank know the buttons to push.
Although Hank’s coincidental saving of Bobby’s life with a well placed bullet to Leo’s chest, just before Leo dropped an axe on Bobby’s head, was timed beautifully. I know this leads to one of my favorite quotes from this series of all time during season two. I use it to this day whenever shoe shopping, “New shoes.”
There is also a real ick factor with Benjamin Horne on his way to see the “new girl” who just happens to be his daughter Audrey. I remember watching this the first time and just having no idea how Audrey was going to get out of this.
Andy stepping up as the hero, only to find out that Lucy is pregnant, was really a tough blow. You felt for both of them.
This was an epic season one and spent a lot of time building these strange people in this mysterious little town. The central mystery of Laura Palmer’s murder was iconic and created a huge water cooler show.
Spoilers
“Realization Time”
Part 7 of the Twin Peaks series moved quickly through several of the plotlines, but really worked over all.
So many threads in this episode including…
There are a bunch of things going on in this penultimate episode of season one. There is also the iconic moment of Audrey Horne and the cherry stem. If you know, you know.
There was so many threads set up for the season finale that it amazes me that I ever thought that they would answer the mystery in that episode.
Spoilers
“Cooper’s Dreams”
I just love Laura’s Theme. I swear I whistle every time they play in on Twin Peaks. It is such a lovely piece of music by the late Angelo Badalamenti. It creates such a tone for the series, which is able to jump between tones better than most series.
The Log Lady appeared in this episode. Her name was Margaret. She was such an eccentric character, but became so iconic because of this show. She makes the first metaphor of owls, which as we all know, are not what they seem.
There were a couple of really great scenes in this episode. Starting off with the family therapy with the Briggs family, especially when Jacoby singled out Bobby and spoke to him about Laura. This was the first time we saw more in Bobby than just some crooked kid. His emotions over Laura was really well done and Dana Ashbrook did an excellent job.
The next scene that was great was Leland and his attempt to get back to normal and ended up dancing, while barely holding himself together. What really made this scene amazing what Audrey Horne’s sad crying out of sight watching Leland breaking down while Catharine tried to make it look like he was just dancing. That was sad and just beautiful.
By the way, Leland looked just like the midget from the red room when he was dancing at first .
Hank was out of prison and causing trouble immediately. There are so many cruel and wicked men married to sad and put upon women on this show that it really looks like a statement.
The story of One Eyed Jacks is starting to amp up and how it was tied to Laura’s murder.
Spoilers
“Tracks of My Tears”
This one was hard to watch.
Maddie is on her way back to LA on a train, still unsure about what she wants with David. She has a series of dreams with Pat Boone guest starring as a much more mature David Addison. Along the path, she meets Walter, a nerdy man played by Dennis Dugan.
Maddie drops the bomb that David was not the father of the baby that she was carrying (even though later on they retrofit that).
This show wrote the character of Maddie so poorly during this stretch of time. Moonlighting is practically unrecognizable during this time frame. It really was a rough stretch.
Everything just felt so cruel, so mean-spirited. It felt like it was just not the show that I loved so much.
Spoilers
“Traces to Nowhere”
“Zen, of the Skill to Catch a Killer”
“Rest in Peace”
“The One-Armed Man”
The Twin Peaks series was all about tone/mood. It established it constantly, from the story to the characters to the music/soundtrack. These episodes would expand the mystical elements of the area, and brought the idea of visions and dreams to the forefront. All this adds to the remote location of Twin Peaks and the environment around it.
When you understand how David Lynch initially had intended to not solve the mystery and let the case fade into the background among the eccentric characters of Twin Peaks, some of these oddball scenes make more sense. Nadine and her silent curtain runners, the appearance of Hank from prison, Lucy and Andy, and the relationship between Big Ed and Norma, none of which had anything to do with the Palmer case.
Knowing the truth behind the Laura case, it was fun watching Leland. The metaphor of him cutting his hand with Laura’s picture where Leland literally had blood on his hands felt like it was obvious that he was the killer. Yet, it made perfect sense in the context of the episode.
The arrival of Maddy Ferguson, the cousin of Laura Palmer, still played by Sheryl Lee, shook up the story.
Cooper’s dream is iconic in the world of Twin Peaks. The dancing midget, the Laura doppelganger, Killer Bob, Mike the one-armed man, all found inside the red room. This scene is vital to the remainder of the entire series.
The Renault brothers and One-Eyed Jacks story comes to the front of the story with a slight connection to the Laura Palmer case.
Leo Johnson is a horrendous person. He’s one of those characters that I want to pay. The scene where he beats Shelly is truly horrible even if we never saw anything graphic.
The Laura Palmer funeral was so much wonderful chaos that is was shocking. Not only for Bobby Briggs’s behavior but seeing Leland fall on the coffin top was just amazing. Having Sarah Palmer say to Leland not to “ruin this too” in retrospect was quite the comment.
I intended on watching one episode this afternoon which exploded into four. It is just such a compelling and intelligent show. It was certainly far ahead of its time as the TV landscape of the 1990s was nothing like this. Without Twin Peaks, I am not sure you get series like The X-Files, LOST, Picket Fences or anything else that dealt with something weird or mysterious.
Spoilers
“Pilot”
It was just a matter of time before I started in on the Twin Peaks re-watch. Today turned out to be the day!
I loved Twin Peaks. I would even consider myself a Peaks Freak. When I was in college, I went to a fan event at the Iowa City Memorial Union when it returned to ABC. Deputy Andy was there. Ironically, Killer Bob was supposed to be there too, but he was sick with the flu. I was obsessed with the show.
David Lynch was the creative force of the show. Lynch wrote it with Mark Frost. The first season was a short one with only 8 episodes. It became such a massive hit for the network, providing such a series people could talk about over the ‘water-cooler.’
Lynch has said before that he did not want to reveal the killer of Laura Palmer and let the show develop into a show about the town with the eccentric characters and their relationships taking the front. I can’t imagine setting up a series with this major murder mystery and planning on not solving it.
This episode does a fantastic job setting up this mystery. Having Pete Martell find Laura’s body “wrapped in plastic” as he says on the phone to the sheriff, is genius. Pete is a likable guy who you get an idea about with the few seconds we see him on screen. And that line delivery is iconic.
The pilot becomes special when Agent Dale Cooper shows up driving his car, speaking to Diane on a tape recorder, and raving about the beautiful trees (Douglas furs, by the way). Cooper is one of the most original characters that we have seen on television maybe ever. Kyle MacLachlan becomes this character and he is so good in this role. There is a reason why Cooper is as beloved as he was.
We get the beginning of one of the best bromances on TV. Cooper and Sheriff Harry S. Truman are the perfect team up. You can see the friendship forming. Truman starts out doubting Coop a bit, but you see the groundwork being laid.
I remember being a Donna Hayward fan when I watched the show in the 90s, but I found her fairly whiny here. I was much more of a fan of Audrey Horne this time than I was then.
The number of weird characters inhabiting the town including Dr. Jacoby, Log Lady, Nadine, Andy & Lucy, among others. Cooper’s line when he met Jacoby for the first time, “He’s a psychiatrist?” was hilarious.
This is one of the best pilots of all time. It absolutely grabs your attention, does an amazing job setting up the mystery and the setting. I love this show so much and I am excited about doing this re-watch.
I love donuts too.
Spoilers
“Piper Maru”
“Apocrypha”
A two-part X-Files episode that reignites the government conspiracy into UFOs and introduces us to one of the series’ best recurring ‘creatures’, the Black Oil virus.
It served to do several key storyline developments too, including the return of Alex Krychek, the case of Scully’s sister’s murder, and the secret cabal that included Cigarette Smoking Man and Grey-Haired Man.
These mythology-based episodes tend to be fairly strong, even if they are frustrating. I have never had a TV villain that I would like to see shot in the head more than CSM and it amazes me that Mulder hasn’t done it by now.
The addition of the Black Oil is awesome. It ties directly into the UFO stories that the X-Files made the cornerstone of the series and kept the mystery of the truth and the eeriness of the creature a major component. The image of the black oil swooping across the eyes of the infected is a cool visual.
Gillian Anderson was excellent again in this two-parter. Her pain over the loss of her sister and her desire for justice controlled her actions and yet she still made time to protect Skinner with a ferocity of a parent. The shooting of Skinner led to the apprehension of Scully’s sister’s shooter, even if the end results were less than ideal.
Season three has been top to bottom, excellent. It has featured some of the best mythological episodes while tossing us some of the best in the humor episodes. I know some big time episodes are still coming in season three, which, so far, is my favorite season of the show.
Spoilers
“Fetal Attraction”
This episode of Moonlighting kicks off the whole baby arc of the show leading to Dave and Maddie coming back to the same city, at least. Sure, Maddie has been pregnant for awhile, but the show started by tossing characters into Dave and Maddie’s orbit to add question to what would happen.
In this episode, we meet Terri, played by Brooke Adams, just as Maddie was preparing to return to LA from Chicago. She was a pregnant mother who Dave goes through Lamaze class with in order to get ready with the baby.
The relationship between Dave and Terri felt really pushed, as by the end of the episode, Terri was changing her tune about wanting a man in her life. Dave was understandably confused, but this still felt like a weak storyline.
Structure of this episode was weird too. We did not see Maddie show up until almost half way through the episode, which felt like it was only going to be between Dave and Terri.
Terri never stood a chance as a character on this show because she just did not belong on Moonlighting. The show was Dave and Maddie and not other characters shoehorned into the show. Brooke Adams is remarkably likable and a solid actor, but the fact is that she was here just as a way to get through the season with some conflict.
Maddie will soon meet Dennis Dugan (probably next episode) and that tosses things even more into chaos.
Knowing the end result of Maddie’s pregnancy makes these scenes, especially those with her parents, to feel all more more tragic, if not downright empty.
Spoilers
“Part Six”
The fourth season of True Detective came to its conclusion tonight on HBO Max with an extra long episode that wrapped up the storylines well and left some ambiguity in what happened with Navarro.
The show moved at a rapid pace throughout. They had a lot to cover.
The story of what happened to the frozen naked people was something else. I never would have guessed about what the answer was to the mystery. I am not sure if this felt like a cheat or a clever way to keep it unexpected.
Top notch performances tonight from Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as they were stranded together in the blizzard with Raymond Clark, who was able to provide us with some answers (sort of).
The case was a nice mixture of real world and supernatural as everything made sense, but the mysteriousness of the setting remained in tact.
Was that Navarro’s spirit or real live body visiting Danvers at the end? I know what I think, but we will never know for sure.
A really enjoyable season with a very strong finale. I was really pleased with True Detective: Night Country.
Spoilers
“Syzygy”
“Grotesque”
Two great episodes in a row. One where we see Mulder and Scully being affected by the planets, amplifying some of their deeper seeded character traits and another where it sure seems as if Mulder has lost his mind and has become a copy cat killer.
In that second episode, “Grotesque,” we actually find out Special Agent Bill Patterson, someone Mulder knew when he was at the Investigative Support Unit at Quantico, was working the case. Performed by Kurtwood Smith, it turned out that Patterson, who had been chasing the killer for three years of his live, diving into the darkness of the killer’s mind, had become the copycat himself and he had requested Mulder be assigned this case as a way to stop him.
Kurtwood Smith was also the surprise killer, Cupid on Picket Fences, making it a specialty of Smith being a hidden murderer. Honestly though, this episode takes a look at mental illness and the darkness that these FBI profilers envelope themselves with in order to ‘get into the head’ of the serial killers.
Smith and Duchovny both gave excellent performances in this episode.
Meanwhile, the first of these episodes included the planets causing Scully and Mulder to be at each other’s throats the whole episode. At first it was pretty subtle, but as they continued to act unlike themselves, it became more obvious what was happening without them ever coming out and saying … hey, why are we acting like jerks?
This episode was meant to lean toward the humor that the show has been including every once in awhile, but most of this humor, with the exception of the bit about why Mulder always drives the car, was not the best of the series.
Spoilers
I binged the Amazon Prime adult animated musical series last night and this morning. It was a real easy binge as the episodes are all around 25 minutes.
I started off with the pilot on YouTube. It was posted four years ago and has been very popular on YouTube. That pilot led to A24 and Prime and a big budget. Eight episodes of the series arrived on Prime.
Charlie Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer and princess of Hell, is hopeful and loving (and very musical) and organizing a hotel where she wants to help demons find redemption and go to Heaven, a way to prevent the overcrowding of Hell.
This is such a awesome series. It is absolutely not for kids. There are curse words, sexual situations and innuendo, and adult situations.
The characters are amazing. Charlie is the main protagonist and brings the heart to the show. She is vital to making this a real series. I think of her like Luffy from One Piece who is the center of the show and provides the heart. Charlie’s friend/love Vaggie has a secret background that may destroy their relationship. Angel Dust is the first resident of the hotel who is a porn actor. Alastor the “Radio Demon” was an overlord who comes to watch the events unwind at the hotel. Sir Pentious is a former villain whose pathetic life led him to the hotel. Husk is the straight shooting bartender. These characters are way deeper than I ever expected to be. I really love how these characters grow and their arcs are truly strong.
The music is so epic. Not only catchy and fun, but are used to inform the characters. These songs are way more engaging and fun than they have any right to be.
The animation is spectacular and remarkably unique. The colors and the character designs are exceptional.
Plus, the story of Hell and Heaven is brilliantly developed and you can not guess where things are going. The angels are just as horrible, if not more so, than the demon characters. And there is a definite question about what going to Heaven or going to Hell means.
The finale is just so masterful, and I sure hope there are plans to continue to season two. This was a real treat.
Spoilers
“War of the Coprophages”
Cockroaches.
This is a great X-Files episode that involves what appears to be killer cockroaches. It is written by the same X-Files writer that penned “Humbug” and “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” which meant that this episode had a humorous tone that worked so well with so many X-Files episodes.
One of the best parts of the first half of the episode was how Mulder would call Scully with a potential death from killer cockroaches and she would de-‘bug’ it over the phone. The interaction between the two agents on the phone was really hilarious. The writing is so very clever and popped off the screen.
I found the episodes of The X-Files that used humor to be some of my favorite of the series. This is almost a self-parody and it showed how people can become engrossed with hysteria and how that can affect their choices. This episode was inspired by H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds.
The resolution of the episode was somewhat lacking as we do not really find out anything that was going on, plot wise, which, in itself could be a parody of X-Files episodes. There is an implication that cockroaches had some tie to aliens, but it is only rampant speculation. There was also some hints that these insects had been part of a government conspiracy, but that is debunked immediately.
Scully’s snarky responses toward the character of Dr. Berenbaum, who was working for the Department of Agriculture studying cockroaches to develop more effective methods of pest control. Scully’s snark was directed at her first name, which turned out to be Bambi. Her snark felt almost like jealousy.
This had some great lines and felt like a successful episode even if nothing mysterious was really going on.
Spoilers
“Revelations”
A young boy appears to be a stigmata, attracting a man who is killing fake stigmatics. Mulder and Scully are on the case to try and protect the boy from the evil force. However, in this episode, because of the religious implications of the case, Scully was the believer, the one with faith, and Mulder was the skeptic, the naysayer. It felt weird.
The little boy was from the Air Bud movies, actor Kevin Zegers. He is effective in the episode opposite Gillian Anderson, who does some excellent work. David Duchovny though just did not feel right. Mulder believes in everything, but having him so anti-religion felt against the character. Not that he had to believe in God, but how he was so dismissive to everything was so unlike Mulder that it was jarring.
And when Scully came up with the answer where Kevin had been taken, Mulder did not go with her. I found that to be hypocritical of him, since she has followed him through how many potentially hairbrained ideas before. I wanted him to go with her, even if he did not believe she was right. That would have shown that he believed in her.
I did like how Mulder’s refusal to believe in the religious moments of the episode led to Scully having a crisis of faith and ending up in a confessional.
Our evil killer was played by the excellent Kenneth Walsh, who was Windham Earle from season two of Twin Peaks. He was Simon Gates in this episode and he was creepy and eerie with his religious zealot persona.
Some of the events that happened in the episode were shaky. Some coincidental things that could have been tightened up more, but overall, I enjoyed the episode and I liked the focus on Scully’s personal beliefs.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 