Monsters of Television

I’m not sure what to say about this episode.

Part of the Twin Peaks formula – a necessary evil considering its large cast – is that there is very little in the way of resolution to plot lines. Instead, we have a continual stream of intricately connected stories, each becoming the connection for another link. This can be good, because it allows for big stories to build up in their own time, but it also means little stories can get lost in the shuffle. It also means that sometimes we have to have a filler episode, where nothing important happens but many things are set up for the future.

“Drive with a Dead Girl” is most definitely filler.

Leland has been revealed to be full-blown crazycakes and is headed in the right direction to make Ray Wise forever disturbing to me. Leland/Bob spends the episode covertly rubbing everyone’s faces in the fact that they don’t recognize him for the killer he is. He dances around the Great Northern, golf club from the bag in which he has stuffed Maddy’s body wielded like a cane. He snickers with delight after he is told that Ben Horne has been arrested for his daughter’s murder. He careens along mountain roads without regard for life or limb, cheekily offering to show Cooper his new golf clubs, which he pulls from their place in the trunk – stuffed in the bag atop Maddy’s bloody form.

Meanwhile, Ben Horne is questioned, blackmailed once by Catherine, set up to be blackmailed again by Bobby with the tape from Leo’s boot, and charged with Laura Palmer’s murder. The evidence is against him and his only alibi lies with Catherine, who is willing to testify on his behalf – for everything he owns. Y’all, Catherine is a bitch, but she’s a damn smart one. I am, however, not so pleased with how gleeful Pete is about the entire thing. She screwed you over, too, Petey! Don’t be taken in!

Whether Catherine’s testimony will be necessary is up in the air since Maddy’s body is pulled from the river at the end of the episode – while Ben is still in jail. All this feels suspiciously like set-up for the reveal of the real killer.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Norma’s mom comes to town, hauling her new hubby along, a man who just so happened to be in the pokey with Hank, who smiles devilishly throughout their friendly dinner. Aw hell, y’all. We do not need more superfluous links. I’m going to bet that IF this particular information comes into play, it’ll be part of whatever shenanigans they create to keep Cooper in Twin Peaks after Laura’s murder is solved. Because, let’s be honest, if they don’t have shenanigans, there’d be no reason for him to stay.

Meanwhile meanwhile and also, Josie’s stories are unraveling, and I just bet you money that’ll weave its way right back into Catherine’s plot, and there we’ll be again.

So really, this entire episode is a diversion, a side-step, a set-up for what is to come. Ben to Leland and Laura’s (and now Maddy’s) murder, Catherine and Josie and Ben and all that land that can’t possibly be worth all this hassle, and possible futures where Hank is *still* alive and around for some reason.

Is there a overall theme to this show? I don’t even know anymore. I’m just waiting for the next episode that’s going to warrant a giddy review like the one a few episodes back. That’s what I’m here for.

Notes:

• Gwen is hilariously oblivious and incredibly annoying. Lucy and Andy, however, are so many adorbs. LUCY AND ANDY AND A BABY AND ANDY FAINTING. So. Adorbs.
• Hawk! I love you!
• “You see, people want bad things to happen to you.” This is really a show about human nature, you guys, it just tends to curve more toward the bad side than the good.
• I love love love that Coop is humming the same song Leland is singing when they pass on the roadway.
• A fracture has appeared in the bromance. THIS WILL END IN TEARS. PROBABLY MINE.
• Seriously. Why is Hank not dead? CURSES.
• Oh, Audrey. I get the feeling that your time in the sun is over and you’ll now fade into the background.
• No Donna this episode! Thank heaven for small mercies.
• “In another time and culture, he might have been a seer, a shaman priest. In our world, he’s a shoe salesman and lives among the shadows.” Classic. <3