Elen

Asking the tough questions. (Tough questions that the writers didn't bother to ask, sadly.) The Moriarty thing makes sense, but it's kind of a pedestrian plot to begin with and is not executed well at all. The things that make Cooper interesting and cool aren't the same things that make Sherlock Holmes interesting and cool, and giving him an unnecessary cookie-cutter nemesis is a bummer.

I enjoy Albert's Gordon Cole impression and his strong opinions about men's fashion. I also like the scene with Ed, Norma, and Nadine. (I actually enjoy Nadine's subplot in general, God help me.) It's kinda funny that they're finally figuring out who shot Cooper. That feels like it happened a million years ago, show-wise. I appreciated that Keaton was trying to bring her own feel to the show, but the attempts at visual style were executed so, so clumsily. When your actors are being blocked solely to get weird light patterns on their faces, even if that means standing in front of a projector for no reason, that's no good.

That is....remarkable. Like a distillation of the James essence in one little gif.

That gif is indeed excellent. Your point holds for me as I forgot the latter two characters were two separate people for a few minutes.

Hannibal has a Twin Peaks-y kind of sensibility in its lush visuals, deep tone, and overall weirdness. The showrunner, Bryan Fuller of Pushing Daisies, has claimed David Lynch's works and Twin Peaks specifically as huge inspirations.

I can forgive a lot of the dumb stuff that has happened on this show, but not that Leo-Shelly scene. So stupid it's offensive. I'd break down all the ways it fails (writing, directing, etc.) but I start seeing spots and have to take deep breaths. Also really stupid is the further revelations in the Windom Earle backstory. So he murdered somebody, his wife saw him and was put into federal protection so she could be a witness, and her protection was...her murderer husband and his partner? What? STOP WRITING DUMB THINGS, WRITERS. I'm glad the show eventually gets back on track because it would've been too depressing to have it go out with such a whimper.

NYMag did a pictoral ranking of every sweater on Twin Peaks. It's amazing. There is also a Tumblr dedicated to knitwear on the show. I recommend pulling either of those up whenever James is on the screen.

Harry and Josie gross me out. It's not even really a plotline thing; it's so out of their range as actors that it makes me very uncomfortable. I'm sure the plotline is gross too, I'm just so repulsed that my brain shuts off. Mike and Nadine's storyline cracks me up, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I like Wendy Robie's work with such an absurd character. I like the idea of Jean Renault's speech near the end, that Twin Peaks used to be simple, and then a young woman died and Cooper came and brought a nightmare with him. Obviously, the nightmare was already there (see Fire Walk With Me), but that's a cool concept that is genuinely spooky amid a scene that is....not spooky at all. I believe the next episode starts with a pan up of his face, and the first time I watched it I got confused because I thought it was Cooper for half a second. They have that same strong chin!

My goal is to be as Denise is. Look at that picture, man. Wonderful. I have to say, while the entire Josie storyline is gross and pointless, the champagne toast with Pete was great. Piper Laurie purring lines like, "Here's....to me!" is a delight.

If the episodes getting worse means more hilarious YouTube videos in these threads, I can live with that. Those are all amazing.

I love when the Briggs all get together. It's a credit to the actors that they feel like a real, complicated family. Dead Dog Farm is a great name and a good location, I agree. I found Cooper's mention to Diane that

Sorry to interrupt the heady parsing of mythology (which is very interesting), but this: really made me laugh! It is a rather tragic haircut. I'm not sure it's worse than the gelled-down with flipped-up (sometimes frosted!) bangs which was popular with boys when I was a kid, in the late 90s.

Hang in there! This is the worst stretch of the show, but it doesn't get worse than it is right now, if my memory serves. Just have a game of solitaire on your phone or something ready for whenever James's music starts up, and you'll be good to go. There's some good stuff in there, too, and the show gets on a better track in like three or four episodes. Plus, now if you decide to rewatch it you know what parts you can fast-forward.

I liked that, too. I also liked the babysitter flashback earlier in the season. Ben's stuff is very goofy sometimes, but sometimes there's a real pathos as he reflects on how corrupt he's become. As for Denise, I was pretty struck by how respectfully she was treated, especially for 1991 or whenever. Duchovney doesn't camp it up and while some of the reactions of the townsfolk aren't great, the character looked at as a sort of moral arbiter, Cooper, more or less rolls with it and seems more interested and in happy wonderment rather than weirded out.

That's really interesting. Everything in your post is fascinating, but that part stands out. I did not call the food critic reveal the first time around, probably because I couldn't care less about the food critic subplot. I don't hate it, I nothing it, to bastardize a Scrubs quote. Respectfully disagree, but probably because I am secretly Audrey while watching this show, getting all gooey and "You're perfect!"

Ah yes, the weirdest funeral scene ever. I have to believe that the town (aside from Sarah Palmer and maybe Ben Horne) don't know the truth about Leland, because otherwise...what the hell? They're just hanging out and chatting?? That aside, there were some good character moments this episode. Sarah Palmer gets a nice scene and a little character development, and I think the scene between Cooper and Truman is very sweet. I like that he wears the lure on his lapel for a few scenes afterwards. Oh, and Audrey and Cooper have a heart-to-heart where we learn some of Cooper's backstory.

I agree, I was thinking the same thing after that scene, when she's walking away from Leland's house, and then, you hear the sound of a motorcycle, and you know James is gonna be terrible. Yes, agree absolutely with all of this. I like the revelation that Cooper and Laura have dreamed the same dream. (Did they talk about that before? It's all kinda blending together...) I also thought Leland's method of death was another kind of shockingly brutal moment for the show, with clumps of bloody hair sliding down the door.

I have to admit, Leland's death scene doesn't quiiiite work for me. I know many people find it very touching, but to me it comes across as a bit overwrought. I do like that Cooper once again displays almost superhuman powers of compassion. (Shallowly, I like the fire extinguishers because Kyle MacLachlan is a very handsome man who is somehow even more handsome with his hair all wet.)

I like that Cooper is shown whistling a snippet of "Surrey With the Fringe On Top", emphasizing his psychic connection with the killer. (Fat lot of good it does him, but still...)

That record skipping sound haunts my nightmares. I love that scene. Norma and Shelly have a very sweet, supportive relationship- maybe the only really supportive relationship in Shelly's life.

Oh good, I hope we get an episode about The Missing Pieces. There's so much good stuff in there. I particularly like . They're both really sweet without feeling cheap.

Well, I wasn't expecting to laugh aloud when reading this thread, but there you go! I watched the series for the first time a few months ago. I think any modern TV viewer has seen some pretty explicit, violent content, but the gravity and brutality of Maddie's death was still shocking. I found it deeply upsetting, but for the right reasons, if that makes sense. It didn't seem like Lynch was going for shock-value, it seemed like he was trying to get across some bit of the horror about this thing that happens every day, around the world. In that way it's a real precursor to FWWM. That whole scene and setup in the Roadhouse, just....it's too good. I feel a little overwhelmed when I think about it and that makes it hard to articulate why I love it. (Thankfully, many people already have.) A big part of that is the actor playing the Giant, too: his delivery is so solemn and sad as he explains that "it is happening again". Because of course it is, and there's nothing anyone there can do about it except weep.

That's neat! Did you get to meet him at all? I was finally able to listen to the podcast, and I have to say, you guys are making me reconsider my stance on Harold a little. I found him so glaringly creepy (who collects teenage girls' romantic memories for non-skeevy reasons?) that sympathy fell by the wayside, agoraphobia notwithstanding.

Same here. The way I read it, he was being sincere. I think that was to make the audience less uncomfortable with the situation and remind us that Bobby isn't 100% a bad egg. I would agree that the extent of his sincerity feels out of character, but the intention seemed to have been to play it straight.