Monsters of Television

You know, sometimes it’s hard to turn off your inner critic. I’ve discovered recently that I tend to have a million questions running through my mind when I watch a show, from where it was filmed to how much special effects might have cost to who the guy is playing the second extra from the left. That kind of inner monologue can be distracting and can even ruin the viewing experience.

The kind of thoughts you want to have while watching a show are more along the lines of: why did that character say that? What is the significance of that item? Whodunit? And, boy howdy, I’ve been having lots of those questions with Twin Peaks.

This episode gives us a heap of new information, doing what the show does best by twisting and adding on to what we already know while adding new things to the mix.

“I didn’t get too much sleep last night.”
“Yeah, you do look a little peaked.”
“There’s a large group of insane men staying on my floor.”
Harry was worried about Cooper’s appearance, you guys. THE BROMANCE CONTINUES.

A sleep-deprived Cooper joins the continuing investigation at Jacques Renault’s apartment, with Cooper and the Twin Peaks sheriff’s department – with an assist from Doc Hayward – scouring the place for clues. They find plenty, from the naughty magazine tucked in a light fixture to the picture of a cabin in the kitchen. After so may episodes of set up, it was nice to see the pieces beginning to fall into place as Cooper determines that it was Jacques’s blood on Leo’s shirt, that Laura had an ad in the magazine, and that she had been at Jacques’s cabin.

One thing I adore about Dale – and appreciate the show doing – is that Cooper always seems to be a few steps ahead of everyone else, knowing things no one else has figured out. And we rarely get to see how he knows. Oh, we get his explanation after the fact as to why certain things have to be, but we never see him working it out on his own. He just comes in and he knows. It shows a certain level of respect for the audience. We don’t always have to be told why – figuring it out on our own is part of the fun.

Everyone has their own special brand of crazy. Cooper is no exception, and his oddness is part of the reason why he fits into Twin Peaks so well. But we don’t always understand other people’s crazy. For as much as Cooper seems to understand more than everyone around him, he’s baffled by Log Lady. When the group – Cooper, Harry, Hawk, and the Doc – make the trek to find Jacques’s cabin, they stumble across another: that of Log Lady. She invites them in for tea and cookies, and to hear What Her Log Saw (name of my next album: What Her Log Saw). Cooper and company find out that there were three men with Laura and Ronette the night of Laura’s murder. We also find out that Log Lady lost her logger husband to a fire the day after their wedding. And now her crazy makes sense.

Meanwhile, the Icelanders have landed in Twin Peaks, Brother Horne is in love with an ice goddess named Heppa, Audrey threatens her way into a job at the perfume counter at her father’s store, and Hank Jennings returns home.

Hank, my friends, is much creepier than Leo because while Leo’s a blatant scumbucket, Hank hides his skeezy nature behind a mask of contrition and false sincerity. The similar creepiness makes sense, though, when we find out that Leo is Hank’s protege and took over the business when Hank went to jail. Hank isn’t too happy about Leo’s changes, though, and lets Leo know… with his fists. Leo then crawls back in the house and barks at Shelly to get him a beer. He knocks her down, so she pulls the gun she’s been fondling recently and shoots the bastard with it. At least, we assume she shot him. She pulled the trigger, there were moans of pain, the kitchen light flickered, but that’s all we know. Since she threw away the gun immediately after using it and covered her eyes in fear, we got the stylistic choice of the audience also not being able to see what happened. Bummer.

Also, Doctor Jacoby cracks Bobby like a walnut. Apparently, Laura Palmer wanted to die, was plagued by the dark side of life and the people around her, and used her wiles to break people. Like Bobby. Whoa, whoa, whoa, Doc. Let’s not blame Bobby’s asshaberdashery on Laura. That’s going just a bit too far. She may have supported it, even triggered it, but that kid is owning it. Tut, tut.

The big reveal of this episode, of course, is when the forest trotting quartet finally arrive at Jacques’s cabin. What they find there tells the story of both Laura’s murder and Cooper’s dream: WALDO, THE BIRD! RED CURTAINS! “There’s always music in here”! TWIN! A BROKEN POKER CHIP! Oh dear, whatever will this come to?

We’ll have to wait until next episode – or longer – to find out.

Cooper, however, returns to his room at the inn, desperate for sleep, only to find the Icelanders at it again. He also finds his door cracked open, so he enters cautiously, gun drawn, and demands the person in his bed to turn on the light. AND THAT PERSON IS AUDREY, who pleads with him not to make her leave. Y’all, the look on Cooper’s face when he sees that it is Audrey? CLASSIC. Oh, man, it kills me.

The really big reveal of this episode – for me, at least – is Jocelyn Packard showing up in Benjamin’s study. With Catherine’s cooked book. And letting him kiss her hand. JOSIE AND BENJAMIN, YOU GUYS? WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO? Oh, Josie, if you break Harry’s heart, Cooper will have to get in line to eviscerate you.

Notes:

• “I can’t believe you were ever my age.” “I’ve got the pictures to prove it.” Things just got unnecessarily kinky up in here.
• POSTMARKED GEORGIA. OF COURSE. The bearded guy in lingerie is from Georgia. OF COURSE. “He’s no Georgia peach.” Oh, Harry. You win at life.
• I am so over this Shelly/Bobby romance. All talk. No action. Little brains. Lots of stupidity. On the flip side, I really want Ed and Norma to work out, if only because I want Ed to be happy. <3 Ed. And while I like James a lot, I’m not so fond of Donna. Go figure.
• LOG LADY! “C’mon, then. My log does not judge.” I want this emblazoned on something: a shirt, a messenger bag, a scarf, whatever. “Shut your eyes and you’ll burst into flames.” I LOVE LOG LADY.