Twin Peaks S02 E21: Miss Twin Peaks

People are dropping like chess pieces. Is this really a good time to have a beauty pageant? On the last episode of “Twin Peaks,” Windom figured out that the cave drawings were a map. Windom now knows the location of the Black Lodge, but he needs an outfit for the Miss Twin Peaks Pageant. What will his disguise be this time?

Bonsai

Leo helps Briggs escape with one request, ‘Save Shelly.’ Why Leo didn’t undo his own chains, we’ll never know, but there was enough decency left inside him to want to save the wife he so brutally mistreated while married to her. What was with the white paint on Windom’s face, or the black teeth? The only answer I could come up with is it made him look scarier. Windom is getting nastier that’s for sure. His punishment for Leo is a basket full of tarantulas and the only thing keeping them from a free fall onto Leo’s face is the string between Leo’s teeth.

While the devious Windom eavesdrops via plant, Cooper tells Harry about his vision of BOB the night that Josie died. Cooper is certain that Josie’s fear killed her and that BOB was not only drawn to her fear, but actually fed on it. Is fear the key to opening the door to the Black Lodge? What is the importance of the Queen in chess? If you capture a queen, the king’s position is weakened. On this episode, Andy actually saves the day twice. He figures out the meaning of the cave drawings which helps Cooper locate the Black Lodge and, he accidentally knocks over the bonsai plant to reveal Windom’s bugging device.

There is an important theory to ponder on Cooper’s recollection of Josie’s death. Was Bob drawn to Josie’s fear? What brought him to that hotel room that night? It is thought in spiritual and psychic circles that evil is drawn to the light. It wants to conquer the light. While Josie was far from innocent, she was alive and had an aura. Her fear was food for BOB who, in my opinion, is a psychic vampire. The psychic vampire can be a living or dead person and, in BOB’s case, a demon. Although they skimmed over BOB’s powers on the show, BOB lived by literally sucking the life from his victims. I wrote about this type of negative energy here.

Windom’s using tarantulas as a method to kill Leo was an insult to our eight-legged friends. Although the tarantulas’ venom is strong enough to stun their natural foods: insects, lizards, mice, birds and even snakes, they are relatively harmless to humans. If Leo just remains calm, even if that string slips from his teeth, the tarantulas are more likely to be hurt from their free fall than Leo is from their bite. He does have to worry about their hairy bodies.

Audrey

Ben is searching for guidance in all the world’s religious books to help him be a good man. It’s easy, dude! Do unto others! Ben is growing up and he is now giving the respect that Audrey deserves. I’m really enjoying this new respect that Ben has for his daughter. I’m sure Ben had always suspected his daughter was a smart cookie, but now that he’s not running a bordello, he has time to see just how smart she is.

Audrey tells him the latest scoop on Catherine Martell’s plans for Ghostwood Estates and that Catherine has a bank in her pocket. Ben plans to use bad publicity to sabotage that deal. Audrey, bless her heart does not want to take part in the Miss Peaks Talent Show, but Ben forces the issue.

Chorus Line to Hell

Here is where I go on a rant, so please humor me on this. Audrey did not want to do the pageant, but good ole dad pushes the issue because he wants her to make a speech about the environment. Rumor has it that Sherilyn Fenn thought the whole pageant idea was complete foolishness and really wanted no part of it. I always loved the Audrey character because the woman playing the part was a smart cookie. She’s not only smart, but she has class. She’ll give the speech, but she’s not doing the talent dance off.

If you watch this episode closely you’ll pick up on blaring clues to the sense of loss in these scenes, like Norma’s, Annie’s and Shelly’s conversation at the Double R. These girls are still recovering from Laura’s death. Laura was a victim of incest and murder at the hands of her father. Norma and Shelly are married to abusive men. Norma is right about the town needing to heal, but the pageant where the contestants are made to wear plastic see-through raincoats, is a hideous reminder of how poor Laura was discovered.

I’m left thinking why the focus is always on beauty and not on beauty with brains. Audrey’s speech on the environment and Annie’s on the trees was a step in the right direction. The only saving grace about the whole Miss Twin Peaks debacle was Lucy’s dancing. She was actually pretty good and much better than Lana, who is like a bad toothache that just gets worse. Donna tracks down Ben during the contest to ask him a very important question.

Cooper in Love

Finally, Cooper is allowed to get his sexy on! Although I had wanted Audrey and Cooper to become a couple, the writers thought differently. Annie isn’t that much older than Audrey, but there was something about her that drew Cooper to her like a politician to a lobbyist.

Her request for help with her speech about trees morphed into a demonstration of the birds and bees. Cooper with all his oddities is still a very handsome man and, in this episode, very romantic.

Weenie File

Did you really think we were free of the Weenie File? Never! Nadine has the honor for this episode along with Lana. What a big waste of time. Mike is still in high school. Where the hell are his parents? Why is Lana in this episode? Curse you, Andy Burns for making me fall in love with this show with your book, Wrapped in Plastic: Twin Peaks. Only kidding, boss!

The Black Lodge

What is the location of the lodge? And, once you find it how do you open the door. Briggs thinks fear opens the door and the cave drawings are definitely the map. Don S. Davis was a true pleasure to watch this whole second season. He plays his Briggs as an honorable man living in a town with Looney Tunes. The most important clues this season have come from him.

Andrew, Catherine and Pete try to open the last puzzle box. Nothing is working until Andrew uses bullets. What’s inside? What does this key open? Catherine keeps the key in plain sight: the cake saver, because…? What makes her think the key is safe in there?

Conclusion

Ben is in a pickle. He has two daughters, but he can only acknowledge one. Donna is a child out of wedlock and from an affair he had with Eileen. The cat is finally out of the bag, for Donna. We fans had already connected the dots several episodes back. What can I say? Life for the women of Twin Peaks is not easy… except if you’re Lucy. I think Lucy made the right choice for her baby. She picked Andy over Dick. Andy is definitely missing a few days of the week, but he is loyal and lovable.

Windom outdid himself with his latest disguise. Not only was he dressed as the Log Lady, but he had his own log, which he used to knock out Bobby. When Annie wins the contest, you see that uneasy look on Cooper’s face. Was he remembering the warning from the giant? Windom is able to capture the queen using a diversion of smoke bombs, explosions and eliminating the only one strong enough to snap him in two; Nadine. She is knocked out by a sandbag. Windom will use Annie’s fear to enter the lodge.

The queen is captured; the king in peril and, the Black Lodge awaits its guests.