Twin Peaks: The Review Run

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Joe Washington, Feb 2, 2010.

  1. Joe Washington

    Joe Washington Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Location:
    Providence, Rhode Island, United States
    Update:

    I've just received Twin Peaks Season 1. But before I post a review of the fifth episode, I'm going to rewatch the first four episodes to clear up my memory of everything that happened in those episodes.
     
  2. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2010
    Location:
    to your immediate right
    I always tell people to watch Twin Peaks up to and including the episode that concludes the Laura Palmer killer arc and then stop-don't watch any of the succeeding episodes and is the greatest miniseries television ever had. But everything after that is just disappointing.
     
  3. Joe Washington

    Joe Washington Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Location:
    Providence, Rhode Island, United States
    Well, my plan is watch the entire series, even the ones that follow the end of the Laura Palmer killer arc. Who knows. Maybe I won't be as disappointed of them as other Twin Peak fans are.
     
  4. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Location:
    I said out, dammit!
    The most unbelievable moment in the whole series was in season 2 when Sherilyn Fenn's character revealed she was a virgin.

    I think I actually yelled "Oh, bullshit!" at the TV.
     
  5. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2010
    Location:
    to your immediate right
    Really? You've never heard of a"tease." ;)

    But, seriously, I think some of that "plot twist" had to do with what I understand was McLachlan's very vocal discomfort behind the scenes over the idea of a thirty year old FBIagent having a romance with someone who was supposed to be a high school senior.

    So, of course, they brought in Annie the waitress, played by an actress who was actually younger than Sherilyn Fenn. ;)
     
  6. Immolatus

    Immolatus Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2005
    I never saw it when it 1st aired and I honestly forgot about it till I saw this thread so last nite I saw the 1st ep and I have to say it's just a murder story so far. who done it. I 'll watch a few more eps to see how it plays out
     
  7. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Location:
    I said out, dammit!
    What was it Giles said to Wesley at the Sunnydale senior prom as he drool over Cordelia? "She's 18 years old, and you have the emotional maturity of a raspberry scone. Have at it." :)
     
  8. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2010
    Location:
    to your immediate right
    But Coop was an old soul.
     
  9. Joe Washington

    Joe Washington Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Location:
    Providence, Rhode Island, United States
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQKKj_qeOBQ

    1x05 “The One-Armed Man”

    (NOTE: I want to point out I made an error in my last review about Hank’s talk about a person having more than one soul. I typed the wrong name. His name is actually Hawk. But the one actually named Hank is someone I’ll be talking about in this review.)

    First off, this was a decent episode. It wasn’t as strong as the first four episodes. I think the reason for that is because this is a table-setting episode meant to set things up for next episode. But developments did occur in “The One-Armed Man” that has me very interested.

    Cooper and Truman seem to be taking Sarah Palmer’s dreams about Bob and the necklace seriously enough to be used as a guide for their investigation. I am interested in Donna’s reveal that Laura had the kind of dreams as her mother. It leads to a question on my mind: has Sarah always been psychic or did it started after Laura’s death? As much as I enjoy Sarah making a contribution to the investigation of her daughter’s murder, it doesn’t seem to be able to rally her and Leland together in joint cause. Their marriage remains in a state of grief-stricken decay. I doubt it’ll be improving fully anytime soon.

    A while ago, I wondered what was the purpose of Twin Peaks’s show-within-show Invitation to Love. I think I figured out what it is. I think the show is David Lunch’s way of poking fun at the soap opera elements of the show like the scheming that is going on between Catherine and Ben, and the secrets being kept between several of the characters. I suspect Lucy is one of them. I think she is keeping something big from Andy which is why she is keeping him at a distance. I feel sorry for Andy being so lost about why Lucy is acting this way. I hope this drama between them is resolved soon. I think they make an adorable couple.

    Speaking of couples, I foresee a heartbreaking future for two couplings on the show: Ed/Norma and James/Donna. On the Ed/Norma front, there’s the threat of Norma’s husband. I’m not convinced that he is a changed man and there’s something about his obsession with that one domino he twirls around that seems crazy to me. I think Norma may be drawn to whatever residual feelings she has for Hank from their history together or at least the possibility that Hank may have changed for the better. I fear she will be sorely disappointed and Hank being released from prison fills me with a foreboding sense of doom. On the James/Donna front, there’s the threat of Laura’s cousin Madeline. The threat she posed isn’t in her nature as a person but in her resemblance to Laura. James couldn’t take his eyes off her after seeing her for the first time. Her looks and his grief over Laura may draw James away from Donna’s reach and into Madeline’s arms.

    I find it a bit hypocritical that Bobby feels wronged by the fact that James was seeing Laura behind his back when he was seeing Shelly behind Laura’s back. I think it has something to do with his need to pump up his macho image. But, oddly enough, Bobby is rising to be one of my favorite characters. His mixture of bay boy attitude and underlying vulnerability is compelling to me. I find myself rooting for his plot to remove Leo from Shelly’s life to succeed. It was clever of him to use Leo’s bloodied shirt to give Cooper and the police proof of a connection between Leo and Renault. I look forward to see how that turns out.

    Bobby and Shelly sure make a sexy pair. But I wonder if he and Shelly would grow up to be Norma and Hank. Hank has some of Bobby’s bad boy nature and Norma is like a grown up version of Shelly who wised up to the folly of falling for a bad boy but a part of her can’t help feeling drawn back into that attraction. I got a mother-daughter vibe from Norma and Shelly during their chat about their troubles with the men in their lives.

    Seeing the Red Corvette Dr. Jacoby said belonged to one of the men Laura had spoken to him about turning out to be in Leo’s possession makes me curious about how much he and Laura were involved and in what way. This and his partnership with Ben increased my interest in Leo. Ben being partners with both Leo and Catherine makes me think this guy sure gets around. But, based on the way Ben talks to Leo, I think Ben sees him less as an equal like he does with Catherine and more as a thuggish child that needs to be guided to get things done the smart way. The subplot about the factory fire scheme is one of my favorite storylines in the show. Watching it to progress this episode has me thinking about Josie’s secretiveness. Why doesn’t Josie tell Truman what’s going on with Ben and Catherine? Is she afraid he wouldn’t believe her or that there isn’t much he could do without any solid proof? Or that he is too busy with the Laura Palmer investigation? And there’s another thing that has me puzzled about Josie: her connection with Hank. Josie seems to be very afraid of him. Could she and Hank have ben lovers before she got involved with Truman? And is Pete hitting on Josie? I don’t blame him, having Catherine for a wife. But I’m assuming he doesn’t know about her and Truman. Maybe I’m misinterpreting things.

    Audrey is an enigma of a character. She can be a bitch sometimes but I fear for her as she goes about taking matters into her own hands tracking down Laura’s murderer. Her reason is less about justice and more about winning over Cooper. I think Audrey is walking some dangerous ground with her investigation into Laura’s death. I believe her inner Horne keeps her safe. I saw some of it rearing its head during Audrey’s manipulation of her father to get a job in the department store.

    I like to end this review with some random comments and observations. Coming back from my long hiatus, I enjoyed seeing the Cooper-Truman friendship again. Hawk says the most beautiful, thought-provoking things. And I wonder who Cooper was talking about when he spoke of having met someone who helped him understand commitment and taught him the pain of a broken heart. Will we learn more about her or see her in person in a future episode?
     
  10. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2010
    Location:
    to your immediate right
    Pay close attention to what Hawk says. It's some of, if not the, most important foreshadowing in the series.

    Yes, but it's a letdown, that ties into the abortive plots towards end of the series.
     
  11. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2010
    Location:
    Annwn
    Don't miss the episode where Windom Earle encases a guy in a giant papier-mache chess piece after luring him with promises of free beer, then shoots him with a crossbow.

    "Hey man, when I am I gonna get that beer?"
     
  12. Joe Washington

    Joe Washington Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Location:
    Providence, Rhode Island, United States
    Is she this Annie woman Cooper falls for in S2?
     
  13. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Location:
    I said out, dammit!
     
  14. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2010
    Location:
    to your immediate right
    No. And It it wasn't Duchovney either
     
  15. Joe Washington

    Joe Washington Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Location:
    Providence, Rhode Island, United States
    While you guys are waiting for the next Twin Peaks episode review, let me ask you all a question:

    Who is your favorite Twin Peaks character?

    I'm torn between Dale Cooper and Bobby Briggs.
     
  16. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2010
    Location:
    to your immediate right
    I think my current avatar answers the question for me
     
  17. Kirkman1987

    Kirkman1987 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2008
    Location:
    Missouri
    Cooper...Twin Peaks without Cooper is a wagon with all the wheels missing.

    I also like Gordon Cole and Pete.
     
  18. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Location:
    I said out, dammit!
    It's been WAY too long since I've seen it to remember most of the characters.
    But... Sherilyn Fenn. Oh my.
     
  19. Joe Washington

    Joe Washington Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Location:
    Providence, Rhode Island, United States
    COMING SOON: a double special review covering the last two episodes of Twin Peaks Season 1.
     
  20. Joe Washington

    Joe Washington Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Location:
    Providence, Rhode Island, United States
    (Before you guys get the double special review of the last two episodes of Season 1, here’s a single-episode review of the lead-in to those final episodes)

    1x06 “Cooper’s Dreams”

    Like last episode, “Cooper Dreams” is a decent episode that leaves me a bit disappointed. Through the most of it, it felt like the show was spinning its wheels, continuing to set things up and build up to events that haven’t yet reach to a place of fruition. But there was some payoff to one of the show’s subplots and I’ll get to that later.

    I find the nuisance of the Icelandic guests disrupting Cooper’s mood hilarious and relatable. How many of us have been tormented by noisy neighbors? He was back in his chipper mood after some coffee and donut only to be put back out of it near the end of the episode by that same nuisance. At least, he has something else to distract from it: a naked Audrey in his bed.

    Audrey. Audrey. Audrey. You continue to be quite the multi-layered enigma. You can be ruthlessly determined to get what you want (a quality you obviously gained from your father) which became clear in the scene with the head of the Horne store. You sometimes come off as an impish troublemaker with your twisted sense of humor. But there are moments of humanity in you, three of which I have counted in this episode. The first is the temporary look of displeasure on you when you saw your father getting inmate with another woman. You laugh afterwards; perhaps to push down the hurt you felt about that and telling yourself that was typical Dad. The second moment of humanity is when you saw Leland falling apart in the house party. Unlike your father, you didn’t treat Leland’s pain as a troublesome inconvenience. You cried for him which is the perhaps first time I saw you cry. And the third moment of humanity is the look of desperation on you face when you were found in Cooper’s bed. You didn’t want to be alone or rejected by Cooper. You want to be loved and I’m thinking Cooper is the type of man you wish your father was more like. Heroic, good-hearted, and doesn’t use people. But what Cooper thinks of you is a mystery. I can’t tell if Cooper is genuinely attracted to you or just indulging you. We’ll see soon in the beginning of next episode.

    I can’t believe Ben has a wood carve of his first name on his own desk. Self-absolved much? And why is he so uncomfortable dealing with Leland? I would think having a daughter himself, Ben would be more sympathetic to Leland’s loss of Laura.

    The confirmation of Renault’s blood on Leo’s shirt removes Leo as a suspect in Laura’s murder and so does what the Log Lady’s log saw the night of Laura’s murder. Cooper thinks the two girls in the log’s vision are Laura and Rennet (the girl recovering in the hospital after suffering the same injuries as Laura) and Sheriff Truman thinks the two men are Renault and maybe Leo. The third man, the one passing by afterwards, must be the murderer.

    Another layer of Cooper’s vision in 1x02 is revealed when the red curtains in that dream are the same type of curtains used in a cabin where Laura posed for a magazine to attract older men. There’s a patch of blood in the cabin. Could that blood may be Renault’s blood? He was bleeding enough to get some of his blood on Leo’s shirt. He must have been wounded at that time. But by what or who? The cabin also gave Cooper another clue in the investigation: a One-Eyed Jack chip. Hopefully, Cooper will stop by there in the next episode.

    James’s reveal about his mother has me thinking that his feelings for Laura may have been fueled by a need to fill in the void created by his mother’s troubles. That need seem to be flaring up again during James’s interactions with Madeline despite how things are going with Donna. Donna sees James’s eagerness to please Madeline and seems a bit fearful of it. I think she’s afraid he’ll fall for Madeline because of how she looks like Laura. Well, Donna, you may be right on the money about that based on the enthralled looks James gives Madeline. So Madeline’s involvement in James and Donna’s personal investigation of Laura’s murder is going to make things interesting. She already found an important clue in the form of a tape found in Laura’s hiding place. What could be the tape be a recording of? A confession? A secret meeting? Blackmail?

    Dr. Jacoby’s session with Bobby was quite revealing. For a moment, the sad boy that lies underneath his tough guy exterior is exposed. What Bobby said about Laura was quite an insight into the depth of Laura’s self-loathing and personal turmoil. Stuff like that doesn’t come out of nowhere. Something terrible must have happened to her to twist her up so much inside. I also think Laura made Bobby felt like he couldn’t do much good in his life and might as well accept it instead fight the cruel inevitable. She even made him sell drugs so she could have them. It sounds the two of them had a toxic relationship despite appearances. Shelley, on the other hand, seems to be the light against Laura’s darkness. She isn’t pure like a fairy tale princess and she makes Bobby feel like he can be more than what Laura made him felt like. I now see why Shelley isn’t some fling to Bobby.

    Norma’s ex-husband Hank continues to be his creepy self. I think he’s just full of shit and standing in the way of Norma and Hank having the life they dreamed of having together. Him and Hank’s sense of obligation with Nadine. I was surprised that it turns out Hank is Leo’s boss when I thought all this time Leo worked for himself. I did enjoy someone beating the crap out of Leo instead of the other way around and that isn’t the last of Leo’s karmic punishment which brings us to the payoff I spoken of in the beginning. The tension between Leo and Shelley finally comes to a head. Earlier, the way Shelley was looking at Norma and Hank was like she was thinking to herself that if she doesn’t get rid of Leo, that she might be end up like Norma-still tied to a man she doesn’t love and refuses to leave her life completely. So Shelley decides to change that future by shooting Leo. Unfortunately, Leo isn’t dead. But at least he’s wounded and it sounds painful :)

    Random observations and thoughts:

    Madeline had a feeling Laura was in trouble the day before she died. Could she have a psychic gift similar to Laura’s mother’s?

    Catherine is jealous of Ben sleeping with other women? I thought their relationship was purely sexual. Maybe Ben pursuing other women threatens Catherine’s ego. She tends to carry herself as a woman with balls and the top dog in her relationship with Pete.

    The roughneck in Twin Peaks’ show-within-show Invitation to Love reminds me of Leo. Was that on purpose?

    I wondered if the Devil the Log Lady’s husband met may have been the mysterious Bob, and if the log the Log Lady cherishes was made by her husband and so she holds onto it, partially as something to remember him by. Or, and this is a troubling thought, what if the Devil aka Bob turned the Log Lady’s husband into a log as some kind of twisted joke and that is why she brings it with her all the time?

    Leland’s meltdown at the hotel party seems to have been triggered by music. Come to think of it, music was also the trigger for the meltdown Leland had in the dance back at the bar. Connection?

    Josie’s working with Ben? Are they sleeping together? Is Josie cheating on Truman? Ben told her where to find the accurate financial records of the mill Catherine was hiding from her and Pete. Why would Ben need them? To blackmail Catherine?