Eulogize_MBG

Wow. After the Turkey Twizzlers that is season 2 we have the full steak dinner that is Fire Walk With Me. This film is a stunningly human horror. The closest I can equate it to is Jacobs Ladder which although very different also focuses on the downward spiral that is a persons fractured psyche. In many respects I think that the oddly discontinuous tone of the film is one of it's strongest assets. You never have a chance to settle into the narrative because the structure, much like Laura's internal life, is so intensely complex. It is also odd that a 2 hour film can feel more complete than a full TV series, at least for my money. I guess that may just be down to the compression factor that you get with a film. However, I do think it is also about the film being far better written and paced than much of the show, which in comparison is a whole lot baggier and ill mannered. In that respect I agree that Twin Peaks needs FWWM far more than the film needs the TV series (I actually saw the film before watching the show for the first time and never felt like I was missing anything substantial by viewing it that way round). The film has always been what I instinctively think of when I think about Twin Peaks, which is a bit odd when I try and envisage what a third season could actually look like. Given the darker, more involved nature of TV shows nowadays I can only wonder at the possibilities of getting a more full blooded version of Lynch on TV. Less, Days Of Our Lives, if you will, and more The Sopranos with added backwards talk and pie.

True, but it ultimately felt cheap, particularly in how it is brushed off in literally the last few moments of the show. Just a bit throwaway for such a big shift in his character. I will admit that I really struggled to enjoy the back half of season 2, however, so my judgment may be more than a bit coloured by that.

Hmm, well, it's finally over. TBH, I don't really think I missed much by not making it to the end of season 2 the first time I watched the show. This finale is such a mess. There are some nice moments in the red room (rabid, strobing, dead-eyed Laura screaming her deaths lament is one hell of an image) but even then it goes on for far to long (this sequence is nowhere near as concise or effective as the ones from earlier in the show) and ends up little more than a parade of cast members past and present. The end beat of Cooper/Bob in the bathroom didn't work for me at all. It comes across like a last ditch pitch for a third season but feels shallow and an obvious attempt to spawn headlines. The prevailing sensation I'm left with is that of disappointment. In general I'm kind of amazed at how bad the writing is in season 2, something this last episode does nothing to redress. I must say that my memories of this show have been sorely tested by this second watch through. Here's looking forward to watching Fire Walk With Me, which while a very different beast I've always thought much more highly of, and after sticking out these last few episodes will be a very welcome palate cleanser.

I guess I see what you mean. Considering that I had previously only watched Twin Peaks up until Leland's exit it has been quite a shock to find out just how bad season 2 gets. I have fond memories of watching the show the first time around, but weak sauce sure does taste like Tabasco when you've not had it for a while!

I'm a little behind but felt I had to sign up (yep, first post - hi all) to comment on this particular episode. I was really surprised to hear/read how everyone was so universally down on Diane Keaton's direction. Given the level of direction in the second season as a whole (read, mostly BAD), and the general quality of the script (read, treading water like its life depended on it) I thought that Slaves And Masters was one of the better episodes since the end of the main Laura Palmer arc. For me there has always been two distinct sides to the Twin Peaks coin. On the one hand you have the weird Lynchian thriller that is season 1 and the main Laura Palmer murder mystery. Then you have the whole meta narrative on American TV that is more to do with the substance of the production than its actual content. It's this side that - for me - mostly fails because it never goes quite far enough (with only Lynch himself hitting the high points), and it is here that Keaton succeeds where others take a much more conservative approach. And yes, she does this by doing the things that everyone here is pointing and laughing at - packing every scene with overly self concious scene setting and over exaggerated character moments that constantly call your attention back to the production and the whole ridiculous artifice that the show has become. I'm sure that the decision to take this approach was aided by seeing that the script was so damn weak (at this point in the show the plot is essentially a vacuum), but I think it's worth saying that given what she had to work with Keaton manages to generate interest where there was none and create content where there essentially wasn't any. It helps that to my eyes she is having a lot of fun! The show at this point is almost a parody of itself and taking itself far to seriously. In these terms Keaton's episode made me think of the brilliant Acorn Antiques - it's OTT-ness being its real joy. Although nowhere near the full blooded parody that Acorn Antiques is, Slaves And Masters does play as fast and loose with the cliché that Twin Peaks has become by this point in season 2 and is all the more refreshing as a result. In a show that has increasingly become bereft of any real content Keaton does just what is needed - fills the episode with a multitude of visual gags, over-amped character beats, and direction that is more about highlighting the contradictions in the shows format rather than slavishly serving what there is(n't) of the plot. Granted, this is nowhere near up at the level of Lynch himself (Keaton doesn't do subtle) but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this episode overall, and given that much of that enjoyment was down to its direction how confused I was to then find out that no one else shared my delight in it!