Things are really rolling in Twin Peaks right now as the crew is finding details about Laura’s murder.
Ronette is awake, but not speaking. Her reaction to the sketch of Bob is horrifying. Leland recognized the sketch of Bob and told Sheriff Truman and Agent Cooper. Jacoby was hypnotized to remember seeing Leland murder Jacques.
I have to say though that Cooper’s inability to find what happened to Audrey is troubling. Especially since the not is below his bed.
The Giant returns and gives Coop some help. Major Briggs brings message from space for Cooper, including his own name among it.
Maddie has a vision of Bob crawling across the couch that is really scary. The look of Bob is truly a scary thing and it is amazing that they were able to stumble across the actor.
“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.
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.
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…
Undercover at One Eyed Jacks with Blackie.
Audrey starts off the episode naked in Cooper’s bed.
Waldo’s murdered. Shot by Leo. The blood got on the donuts.
Audrey is making her way to One Eyed Jacks
A plan hatched by James and Donna to use Maddie to gaslight Jacoby.
Who’s watching them from afar?
Nadine down in the dumps when her silent runners were rejected.
Catharine discovers the life insurance policy
Harry wants to help Josie, but he does not know what she is up to.
Leo discovered Bobby and Shelly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 