Jake

Twin Peaks Rewatch 25: Wounds and Scars

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OH MY GOD SO MANY DISGUISES IT TURNS OUT

Twin Peaks Rewatch 24:

 

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Wounds and Scars

Major Briggs and the Log Lady have a secret. A deeply unsettling man threatens the Hayward family after paying Donna a visit alone. It sounds like Twin Peaks again, until you get to drunk Sheriff Truman, the fashion show, the wild ferret attack. Twin Peaks is coming back to life, but it's not quite back yet in "Wounds and Scars."

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This to me is where Twin Peaks starts to come back. Yes, I know it has the pine weasel riot. And Billy Zane's embarrassing serenade.

 

And it DOESN'T yet have

Gordon Cole or Cooper in a suit.

 

Also - Good Lord, Michael Ontkean cannot perform grief. "That's the good thing about the law IT DOESN'T BREATHE YOU CAN'T KILL IT!" (It's hard to imagine how any actor could have nailed that particular line, but it's also hard to imagine how anyone could have done a worse job with it!) Then again, no scene that makes me laugh this hard can be all bad.

 

For many people, Annie is also worth a demerit although she kind of works for me.

 

But for whatever reason, this is when I start to actually enjoy watching Twin Peaks again. Not in some train-wreck-fascination way but actually genuinely have a good time (at least until the last 10-15 minutes or so). The actors actually feel like they're enjoying themselves for the first time in a while. The story actually seems to be going places (the Log Lady & Maj. Briggs single, or double, handedly revive the listing mythology and start pushing it in a direction other than Maj. Briggs showing up at the station and saying "something something White Lodge confidential"). The mindnumbingly awful storylines such as Evelyn, Little Nicky, and Josie's endless shenanigans are finally over. I actually like Windom's scene in the Hayward house, in which he's finally subtle rather than flamboyant as a villain, and most importantly, he's beginning to threaten the townspeople and not just be this isolated madman-in-the-woods who has dropped in from another show. Even the silly stuff, like Nadine & Mike checking into the hotel, has a bit more spark to it. And I really like James Foley's direction (ok, the early 90s bleary drinking montage is a bit much, but even that charms me). For the most part it is very economical yet impressive, with clean camera movements rather than standard cross-cutting and tasteful lighting and compositions which are a relief after the garish over-the-top quality of last week's efforts.

 

I think for many viewers, this may not really feel like a comeback but give it a week. If the next episode don't feel like a relief, you probably won't care for the last few episodes BUT sit tight for the finale, because that one will blow your mind. And the mediocrity of the show's second half will only make it stand out more (even compared to other Lynch episodes, it's an avant-garde mindbender but coming after Miss Twin Peaks - that's in the episode, right, and not a spoiler - and John Justice Wheeler it's like someone dropped a sugar cube of acid into the weak tea of early 90s TGIF-type programming). Mid-season 2 makes late season 2 a relief in a respite in my opinion, but the finale reminds you of how just good the show could be.

 

God, Lynch has got to come back for 2016.

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Sulking Truman is the worst. They also overdo the film noir-ness in the opening segment.

I can't wait for Billy Zane to leave the show. He's hard to bear. I can't even bother to memorize the character's name I care so little for him.

Windom Earle...it's weird, I remember that I was intrigued by him the first time around, but was frustrated that his storyline took so long to get properly started. This time around, though...I don't get much from him.

Annie on the other hand I appreciate more now. I didn't like her on first watch. She seemed to get in the way of a Coop/Audrey romance. We know the reasons behind the scenes why it didn't happen, but in front of them they're not clear, really.

Otherwise this episode is a step in the right direction. Twin Peaks continues to lack a central drive that pushes the story forward. Sadly it's too clear that the showrunners at this point still had no clue where they were going with all this.

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Also - Good Lord, Michael Ontkean cannot perform grief. "That's the good thing about the law IT DOESN'T BREATHE YOU CAN'T KILL IT!" (It's hard to imagine how any actor could have nailed that particular line, but it's also hard to imagine how anyone could have done a worse job with it!) Then again, no scene that makes me laugh this hard can be all bad.

 

I lost it at this week's 'GET OUTTA HERE!!!'

 

I hope this is the last time we hear him say that, haha

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I liked Ben and Catherine's back and forth; this show hasn't let characters just talk like that in a while.  Uh, unless you count Truman and Cooper this episode.

 

Cooper did almost nothing of consequence this episode.  He recapped the plot with Hawk and Pete.  He hugged Truman.  But as Lost in the Movies said the supporting characters finally get more than nonsense.

 

Except Leo, who is still being beaten with a flute.

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This is so different than the show Twin Peaks once was, but it is immensely more watchable than the past few weeks. I hesitate to say it is good though.

Edit: I like many of you am really surprised how much I enjoyed that scene with Mike and Nadine at the Great Northern. That Pine Weasel scene though....oof.

 

I'm glad I'm now looking forward to watching the rest of the show, especially for what I think is next episode?

Gordon Cole kissing Shelley in front of Bobby is a real treat.

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I'm with LostInTheMovies, this is when the show starts to pick up again for me. Yeah, this episode has some dumb moments, but at least it sets up something of consequence, and there are some genuine character moments rather than just constant nonsense. I don't think Truman's actor does a great job, but I kind of like his scenes. He's hammy and dumb but it actually works for me in these few episodes. Also, after disliking Nadine and all her nonsense for the entirety of the show, I actually liked the scene with her and Mike at the hotel. It's just fun. Finally, I think we're past the point of saying, "just wait it out." 

 

I agree with you gormanate; these last episodes are not good in the same way as the original season. They're quite different, but I still find them entertaining in their own right. It might just be what they're following up, though. There are a lot of things that would look damn good after what we just went through. 

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Really loved when this show suggested that being arrested twice for prostitution made Jose a hardened criminal and not a victim of horrible circumstances. Where did all the previous care for the women characters go?

 

Back when I first watched Twin Peaks, a friend suggested that I stop after Heather Graham shows up. So I watched all the mid-season 2 garbage and then quit right before this episode and have only seen the finale. My friend gave me very bad advice as I mostly enjoyed what I saw in this episode. Even Earle manages to be a little creepy and threatening (although, how nice of the Man Who Murders People to maintain an honorable chess code that he must obey because he is such an honorable MURDERER).

 

Annie is the Dawn of Twin Peaks.

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Yeah I agree with LostIntheMovies' assessment of the episode. It certainly doesn't feel like a comeback episode when you're watching it, but after you've seen the whole arc of season 2 you definitely recognize this as an important turning point if for no other reason than so much garbage has been jettisoned.

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Something I'm surprised no one's mentioned yet is the ending to this episode which, despite enjoying most of this episode, I found so terrible! Remember that Eckhardt guy you don't care about? What if his assistant got in bed with Harry! I thought we were done with that whole thread!

 

As much as I haven't cared about Thomas Eckhardt's role in the show, and continue to not care about his assistant coming in, the box will lead to what I think is one of the most fun to watch scenes of the show...the bank in the finale

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During the podcast you and Chris asked: who was that guy who got knocked out at the Bookhouse? I thought, "Oh, that's the officer Cooper and Truman assigned to keep an eye on Harry." But I think I just made that up.

Also, it's interesting that you refer to weaselcam as a Sam Raimi shot in the context of episodes 27 and 28...

It isn't interesting.

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Wait Chris and Jake...in this episode you were so hung up on how awful it was for Cooper to call Josie a "hardened criminal". Except that's what she is. First off, she shot "Mr. Lee/Cousin Jonathan" in the head and it's obvious it wasn't her first kill because normal, emotionally healthy people have an instinctual aversion to taking a human life. Not saying he wasn't a scumbag and she wasn't just trying to survive but still But she fucking shot Cooper three times in cold blood with no reaction at all because, in her own words, "he came here".

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Note: David L. Lander actually is playing the same Tim Pinkle character we've seen before selling the "Leo-lifter".  The character seems to be a Jack-of-all-trades. According to the two-page [mock] ad in the Lynch-Frost-penned Access Guide, Tim and his blind brother also operate Tim & Tom's Taxidermy ("We'll drive anyone, anywhere. We'll stuff anything, even a bear.")  In an earlier episode Pete shows Truman a trout he'd just gotten "back from Tim & Tom's Taxidermy." This also explains the stuffed weasel that "Squiggy" proffers to Dick in this episode...

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Why did the Wheeler guy (cowboy song guy, he's Wheeler right?) introduce himself to Audrey by saying "I remember when you were in diapers" but now he's kissing her? How old is the character suppose to be?

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To be fair, he'd only have to be five or six years older than her to remember that. It is a weird opening line, though.

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To be fair, he'd only have to be five or six years older than her to remember that. It is a weird opening line, though.

 

Oh right. Somehow I got the impression he's suppose to be somewhere around 30 years old.

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Ugh. For the past 2 months I've been busy, and didn't have time to listen/watch the cast or the series. So. I last week I caught up the since ep. 18. Perhaps binge watching the whole series makes it easier, but dear god a weekful of the worst Twin Peaks has to offer is pretty darned awful. In fact it is so bad Dick is now my favourite character. Listening to Jake and Chris struggling to enjoy the show didn't really help either.

Urgh.

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My dad came home while I was watching this one. Watching his face of utter bemusement was a lot more fun that watching the episode.

"What is it, what's going on and why!?"

"I don't know dad. I don't know... It gets better."

"You mean youve watched it before!? And youre watching it again... Why?"

":("

Elders react to twin peaks.

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I think this was quite a good episode really. Much more enjoyable. 

 

Emotional Truman was expected (I think coop sums it up nicely about people who love rarely). I could have done without the ott nwar music and Josie montage (it seemed like he enjoyed the bits where he was played or gross too). 

 

I really liked all of the scenes with Windom Earle. He was really menacing and clever through out. I especially liked his Donna scene because of how he weedled his way in with vague but precise details (I wished it wasn’t the normal jazzy music though, undercut the scariness and highlighted a goofiness). I also liked that Earle spotted cooper’s deception (and coops underestimation of the situation - although I believe coop should have seen this). 

 

Dick is a dick. Good on the weasel. 

 

I find everything about wheeler gross. In this episode his pseudo James dopeyness and his inability to take off his jacket and hat. 

 

Hello I represent your mortal enemy who you killed please take this non suspicious box. 

 

So a weid thing about Margaret’s tattoo is that in the secret history it’s actually the same as garlands. Weird. 

 

I like how donna drinks a coke like she’s smoking a cigarette. Nice touch. 

 

It occurs to me that ed wanting to divorce nadine here is really bad. I mean, does it count if she can’t tell that she’s getting divorced?! What happens if she returns to 38 year old nadine? Jacoby is also bad here. 

 

Horne and donnas mum!!! This looks too blatantly bad to be bad. 

 

I loved loved loved shellys little bit about the pageant. 

 

Cooper seems to just follow his willy. Such a dog. 

 

Sometimes i I really hate how this show views women and I think coop talking to truman is really gross. Essentially all crimes by Josie are fine (including shooting coop - why does she shoot him really?) except... she’s arrested for prostitution. That makes truman stop. Bad bad bad. 

 

I did like how coop hugged truman down though. 

 

More horne (Ben - seems more like a horne than a Ben) is firing on all cylinders and some bonus Catherine Ben banter- please more!

 

who was the guy in the bookhouse? We needed to watch that twice to work out it was truman. Really odd scene from nowhere and apparently to nowhere. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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