“Twin Peaks” is like a stay at an insane asylum where the shock treatments aren’t working. On last week’s episode of “Twin Peaks,” comatose Leo avoided a trial; Harold refused to part with Laura’s diary and Cooper saved Audrey. On this episode we have a special guest.
Betrayals
Maddy and Donna have totally pissed off Harold. After raking his cheek with a garden tool, Harold refused to part with the diary, even after James comes to the rescue. What I found strange about the whole diary incident is that Harry, when Donna told him about the event, wasn’t as concerned as I expected him to be. Why not?
Why would Cooper take Audrey to the Bookhouse if she’s been given a lethal dose of heroin? Did anyone think to take the kid to the hospital? Oh, wait! Now that I think of it, if we want Audrey to get better, the Twin Peaks hospital is definitely off limits.
As a woman, and a romantic, I did notice the way Cooper waited at Audrey’s side. There is a connection between the girl and the man, but Audrey is too young for our handsome agent. Too bad, because I think Cooper and Audrey would’ve made a great detective team. Think Nick and Nora Charles of the classic The Thin Man films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.
I didn’t think it was possible to hate Ben Horne any more than I did, but when Cooper returns Ben’s suitcase, Audrey is only a secondary concern. Not even Cooper’s mention that Audrey almost died from a drug overdose gets Ben to rush to his daughter’s side. Audrey made it quite evident that she wasn’t as happy to see her father. I don’t blame Audrey for wanting Cooper to be the one to take her home. The good news is that Cooper and Harry know that the ransom was ruse to kill Cooper.
Leo
I’ve seen suitcases handled at airports more respectfully than Bobby handles Leo’s wheelchair. Shelly and Bobby pretend that they want to care for Leo, but when the insurance agent hands over the check, the jokes on them. Welcome to the real world, kids. The health care in America sucks big time and, that measly check won’t be enough to party on.
Gordon
We finally get to meet with Cooper’s boss and it is no other than David Lynch. I’m guessing that Lynch is a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo shots, or maybe Lynch is a control freak. I have to hand it to Lynch because his portrayal of FBI Regional Bureau Chief, Chief Gordon, is downright comical. Lynch’s Gordon is almost completely deaf and his conversations with Harry and Cooper are executed in true Abbott and Costello fashion.
Since Albert isn’t coming back, Gordon brought back the test results: Fibers found at the scene of Cooper’s attack are from a Vicuna coat; the syringe left behind by the one arm Gerard contained some very strange drugs; papers found at the train site were from a diary. What happened between Cooper and his former partner?
Nadine
If nothing else, Wendy Robie is having a ball with her character, Nadine. I can just picture this actress showing up on the set and being handed the script. In my head, the conversation would go like this: Lynch, “Okay, your character: has an obsession with quiet drapes; loses one eye during a freak accident on her honeymoon; her husband is having an affair with her high school rival; she downs a bottle of pills, winds up in a coma, wakes up thinking she’s a high school senior. Think you can handle this?”
Nadine was a distraction from what was happening with Josie. I never trusted Josie. She’s a con artist, who killed her husband. When Josie tells Ben that she wants her money, Ben tries to blackmail her. He has a key to the safe that holds damaging information. Josie has a bigger key and, she’s better at extortion. She walks away with a five million dollar check. Well played, Josie! Unfortunately, the only victim with this brood of vipers was Harry. This lovesick puppy never expected Josie to just up and leave.
Conclusion
Since Laura Palmer was already dead in the first episode of “Twin Peaks,” lead character, Sheryl Lee, would have had one of the shortest roles in drama series history, if the Donna character hadn’t been written into the script. Watching Maddy deal with Laura’s death was the only way we could glimpse snippets of Laura. Maddy showed us a ‘Laura’ that would have existed if she hadn’t already been the unfortunate victim of Bob through her incestuous father, Leland.
Sure, we had the video of Donna and Laura dancing and we had the diaries, but it was the Maddy character that we used as the measuring stick to learn about Laura.
Watching “Twin Peaks” for the very first time, I’m amazed with all the comedy that is featured in this series. Don’t get me wrong, I like it. Maybe it’s because I’ve always felt that my own life was one big sitcom. When a show is listed as a drama, we expect the normal tension that a drama promises to deliver: good vs. evil etc., etc., but when a drama offers heaping servings of comedy; it throws the viewer off balance. We don’t know what to expect.
I do believe that David Lynch is a closet stand-up comic. He is “Twin Peaks” version of Jerry Seinfeld. He took the serious events of episode six: Audrey’s knowing of her father’s lack of moral conscience; Leo winding up as an insurance scam for Bobby and Shelly; Harold clinging to a dead girl’s diary; Harry losing the love of his life. These are sad topics, especially, the rift in the father daughter relationship of Audrey and Ben. But, Lynch made us see the humor hidden in the tears.
Lynch needed to lighten up the story so he made Gordon a caricature of a federal agent. Yeah, Gordon’s hearing problem is funny, especially, with all the loud talking… but Gordon cares about his agents. He knows that Cooper can get too involved and, worries when Windom Earle sends Cooper a message disguised as a chess move.
Like a juggler keeping all the balls in the air, Lynch knows how to mix drama with comedy. This is why he has Leland doing an impromptu lounge act while Ben tries to do business with Mr. Tajamura. That scene was funny, especially because we know who is under the Tajamura disguise. Lynch saved the punch line for last and he fooled us into thinking Gerard’s interrogation would also be funny.
Possession! That, my friend, is one hell of a scary word and, no one is laughing when Mike takes over Gerard and tells our crime fighters just how evil Bob is. Mike gives Cooper a clue. We need to look for a large house in the woods; the Great Northern Hotel.
Once again, Lynch leaves his viewers confused, but wasn’t that always his plan with the “Twin Peaks” series? Well played, David Lynch!
Filed under: cult, Marie Gilbert, television, Twin Peaks Tagged: abbott and costello, Agent Dale Cooper, Alfred Hitchcock, david lynch, jerry seinfeld, laura palmer, myrna loy, nick and nora charles, possession, the thin man, twin peaks, Wendy Robie, william powell
