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Twin Peaks Rewatch 26: On The Wings Of Love

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Twin Peaks Rewatch 26:

 

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On The Wings of Love

As we approach the series finale, Twin Peaks has returned to Twin Peaks, and we're pretty pleased about it. On the other hand, Lost has also come to Twin Peaks, and we're sort of confused about that. In any case, we had fun with episode 26, "On the Wings of Love"!

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Oh my gosh, Gordon Cole and his counter Esperanto are one of my favorite things in the whole show, let alone this latter run of episodes. "I FEEL AS THOUGH MY STOMACH IS FILLED WITH A TEAM OF BUMBLEBEES", indeed. I like seeing Shelley get some unqualified, open admiration by a non-loser.

I also think the Annie stuff is cute, if sappy. That penguin joke might be the worst joke ice ever heard, bless. The problem I have with Annie (aside from Heather Graham being a bit stiff in the role) is that there's a lot of talking about how quirky she is and not a lot of actually seeing her be quirky and unique.

Was it you, LostInTheMovies, who mentioned that the writers have fallen into the habit of telling instead of showing? For me this is most apparent with Annie and makes her more of a missed opportunity than a compelling character in what should be an important subplot. Thankfully it's fun watching Cooper be giddy and lovesick even if Heather Graham is a bit wooden.

Was Cooper wearing glasses in that one scene in his spelunking gear, in Truman's office?

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Not me, but I agree! Especially evident in the original script for the finale.

And yes, he is wearing glasses in the station - and not when he's actually in the dark cave. Go figure...

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I'm just gonna say it: I really like this episode and that extended sequence in the Diner is one of my favorites in the whole series. I'm not generally a fan of Annie/Cooper, but I think they're delightful together here. Even Harry is great. And Gordon and Shelley are magical. I love the whole thing.

And yes, I think the penguin joke is genuinely funny.

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I'm just gonna say it: I really like this episode and that extended sequence in the Diner is one of my favorites in the whole series. I'm not generally a fan of Annie/Cooper, but I think they're delightful together here. Even Harry is great. And Gordon and Shelley are magical. I love the whole thing.

And yes, I think the penguin joke is genuinely funny.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Love this scene so much. There's been so little of Cooper just being himself lately. And Gordon is always hilarious; I especially love his scene with Shelley next episode. 

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I agree with everything people have said here...seeing Cooper and Gordon Cole interact feels like we're seeing the Coop we were introduced to that hasn't really been around in a while, and the diner scene was a delight.

 

The beginning and ending to this episode though were pretty bad. Evil seductress sent to kill Truman out of sexual jealousy? A wacky cave at the end?

Despite not loving everything in this episode, it definitely feels like the show is moving in a direction now.

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It's striking how closely Billy Zane resembles Nemo with those lips and wearing that sweater. Well, okay, his lips are fishier than Nemo's.

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Having a chubby, rough-voiced bartender in this episode made me think of Jacques Renault.  As if this guy talking to Annie was a White Lodge doppelganger or something.  He didn't tell Heather Graham to "bite the bullet, baby," so that's good.

 

The actor Jack McGee has thirty years of steady television credits!  But I'm pretty sure this is the only time I've seen him.

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Why was that woman undressing?! 

 

Because of sexual jealousy, obviously.

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Sometimes a viewer can tell when the actors are having fun. The diner scene is one of those times.

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Just finished the listening to the podcast. The Indiana Jones connection is definitely strong (though I didn't totally register just how closely it echoes the plot points of Raiders until you pointed that out). Definitely pretty cheesy (especially the fake-looking owl and the wall that looks like a bunch of stagehands are shaking it) but I hind it pretty fun. It helps where it's placed in the series: at this point it's a relief to get any real lore, and as you note Lynch is able to make some surreal use of it eventually.

A couple clarifications:

- The gap in Twin Peaks timeline was actually only 3 days, not 3 weeks! Which means we are about 28 days past Laura's death at this point, not even a full month. Yes, that is crazy.

- Apparently ABC demanded this the population on the welcome sign read 51,201 because they believed TV audiences would not be interested in a town that was too small. That seems strange to me - aren't small towns (like Mayberry) a TV staple? But it's deinotely been reported many times (most recently in Reflections I think) so it's either true or one of those David-Lynch-was-directing-Wild-at-Heart type myths that even the people who were there come to accept. Anyway the Twin Peaks Access Guide (which was published around the time of this episode) makes a humorous attempt to fix this, claiming that the sign painter goofed up and the actual population is...5102.1.

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Guess I was a little at odds with Jake and Chris on this episode.  I liked the Owl Cave stuff because it finally felt like something interesting was happening.  And I was kind of grossed out by the Gordon Cole-Shelley stuff.  I've never been able to see Cole as not David Lynch, and the whole thing came off as very casting-couch-y to me.  I don't think Lynch is that kind of guy, but I just couldn't shake the feeling.

 

And man, Annie.  She's as bad as Billy Zane's character.  They are both just nothing characters.  The idea of Cooper and Audrey as an item never sat right with me, but to see them both end up with pretty, soulless mannequins is maybe worse than an FBI Agent dating a high schooler.  Maybe.

 

And LostInTheMovies, I really enjoyed your YouTube Twin Peaks series.

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Great podcast episode as always! I enjoyed the actual episode quite a bit more than anything in the past few weeks. The half-assed police investigation of the cave was really strange, but (unfortunately) I have come to accept this sort of sloppy stuff at this point of the show.

 

Really looking forward to the final episode discussion and to seeing Fire Walk with Me for the first time.

 

Apparently ABC demanded this the population on the welcome sign read 51,201 because they believed TV audiences would not be interested in a town that was too small. That seems strange to me - aren't small towns (like Mayberry) a TV staple? But it's deinotely been reported many times (most recently in Reflections I think) so it's either true or one of those David-Lynch-was-directing-Wild-at-Heart type myths that even the people who were there come to accept. Anyway the Twin Peaks Access Guide (which was published around the time of this episode) makes a humorous attempt to fix this, claiming that the sign painter goofed up and the actual population is...5102.1.

 

That is bizarre! I have never heard anyone being less interested in a show because it is set in a small town. And in any case, I find it hard to believe that anyone would be fooled by the sign saying that the population is significantly larger than it appears to be.

 

I like how the web player shows the episode length as 0:42:60. Precise stuff.

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Guess I was a little at odds with Jake and Chris on this episode.  I liked the Owl Cave stuff because it finally felt like something interesting was happening.  

 

Agreed.

 

And I was kind of grossed out by the Gordon Cole-Shelley stuff.  I've never been able to see Cole as not David Lynch, and the whole thing came off as very casting-couch-y to me.  I don't think Lynch is that kind of guy, but I just couldn't shake the feeling.

 

Well - it kind of was casting couch-y, according to Lynch himself on the Slice of Lynch feature on the Gold Box/blu-rays (in which we also learn that he doesn't know what Baywatch is). I think Lynch definitely had a thing for Madchen Amick. For one thing in Fire Walk With Me, a good deal of the cast was cut from the film yet she gets two (honestly pretty much irrelevant) scenes. However, it seems to have been fairly harmless flirtation. And God, is it a relief after all the drag-y character interactions on the previous episodes. Speaking of which...

 

And man, Annie.  She's as bad as Billy Zane's character.  They are both just nothing characters.  The idea of Cooper and Audrey as an item never sat right with me, but to see them both end up with pretty, soulless mannequins is maybe worse than an FBI Agent dating a high schooler.  Maybe.

 

I'm probably in the minority with this, but I'm kinda ok with Annie (Billy Zane...no). It's forced - especially when you realize she was pretty much a last-minute replacement for Audrey - but has a certain charm to it I think. I like that their interactions are so damn awkward, almost unapologetically so (the comment about them digging up an ex-nun to find someone as childlike as Cooper is pretty accurate). It's one of the late-season developments, like Owl Cave, that I'm easy on because it feels a bit more alive than so much of what's been happening. Josie, you are not missed.

 

And LostInTheMovies, I really enjoyed your YouTube Twin Peaks series.

 

Thanks! I hope I have a reason to make a Part 5. :/ #SaveTwinPeaks

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And I was kind of grossed out by the Gordon Cole-Shelley stuff. I've never been able to see Cole as not David Lynch, and the whole thing came off as very casting-couch-y to me. I don't think Lynch is that kind of guy, but I just couldn't shake the feeling.

I had that feeling a little when I first watched it, but there's a DVD extra with Lynch talking to Madchen Amick (and MacLachlan) that kinda out my mind at ease. They half-joke around that it was a total casting couch thing, but Amick very genuinely seems to have had a blast with that storyline and the filming. I like those scenes a lot so it was nice to be able to enjoy them fully without feeling icky.

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Ahh, thanks for easing my mind with that Cole-Shelley stuff Lost and Elen.  I'll probably be able to enjoy that more the next time I see it.

 

 

Thanks! I hope I have a reason to make a Part 5. :/ #SaveTwinPeaks

 

Hear, hear.

It's been heartening to see lots of the old cast shooting little home videos in support of David Lynch.  Sherilyn Fenn's with her kid was especially cute.

 

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I had that feeling a little when I first watched it, but there's a DVD extra with Lynch talking to Madchen Amick (and MacLachlan) that kinda out my mind at ease. They half-joke around that it was a total casting couch thing, but Amick very genuinely seems to have had a blast with that storyline and the filming. I like those scenes a lot so it was nice to be able to enjoy them fully without feeling icky.

I was a little worried that it might be creepy, but I also thought about it as "Holy crap these actors must also be having a blast with Lynch back on set, because he's the one who hired them for these roles, and then directed them amazingly, and then disappeared to let them flounder in a bunch of garbage storylines that they clearly didn't care about... and now he's back and doing one of the more entertaining scenes in months." It seemed like they were all getting a genuine kick out of it compared to some of the incredibly flat performances we've lately been getting out of some of the show's traditionally strongest actors. But yeah, if he was forcing that scene on anyone that would be a bummer. Glad it sounds like that's not the case.

Also the next ep's pre-discussion thread is live. Sorry for missing it yesterday!

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Jake, Ontkean was in SLAP SHOT, not Snapshot. Gosh! (I've seen Slapshot, somehow. Before Twin Peaks, oddly.)

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Jake, Ontkean was in SLAP SHOT, not Snapshot. Gosh! (I've seen Slapshot, somehow. Before Twin Peaks, oddly.)

I knoooowwww I was looking right at the movie's IMDB page when I was saying its name, but I totally mispronounced it and didn't notice and moved on. Worsttt.

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- The gap in Twin Peaks timeline was actually only 3 days, not 3 weeks! Which means we are about 28 days past Laura's death at this point, not even a full month. Yes, that is crazy.

Specifically, the "Three days later" jump took place between Leland's death and the day of his funeral and wake. An especially odd choice, as we skip over the grief and shock of both Maddie and Leland's deaths, as well as the tremendous revelation to the town about Leland's "relationship" with Laura. It was, after all, just this sort of thing that introduced us to the town in the pilot and first few episodes. As it is, these monumental events are largely, disturbingly, brushed off.

I read somewhere (it might even have been from Joel "LostInTheMovies" in another forum) the suggestion that the shaky plot developments in the 2nd half of the season would've done well to tie into the Leland/Laura drama. Ben's Civil War tangent might have suggested roots in shock and guilt Ben felt upon discovering the truth about Laura's plight and Leland's transgression. Would've given it some 'meat' and better tied it to the previously established theme of the "whole damned town."

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Hell... even James could've acknowledged to Evelyn that the "girl who died" had been - as he now knew - also a victim of abuse. Perhaps his guilt over being unable to help Laura could've been established as his motive to try to help Evelyn.

Alternately, they could've just developed better 2nd season plot-lines to start with.

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Does anyone understand the meaning behind Earle using the same drugs as Gerard? I get that on the surface it's supposed to tie those characters together - and therefore tie Earle to the Black Lodge and Bob - but what does it actually mean in the world of Twin Peaks? Gerard used the drugs to suppress to Mike, but Earle used them to appear crazy. That's some amazing drug, apparently. Also, how do you fake being crazy??

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Does anyone understand the meaning behind Earle using the same drugs as Gerard? I get that on the surface it's supposed to tie those characters together - and therefore tie Earle to the Black Lodge and Bob - but what does it actually mean in the world of Twin Peaks? Gerard used the drugs to suppress to Mike, but Earle used them to appear crazy. That's some amazing drug, apparently. Also, how do you fake being crazy??

 

While I was watching the next episode or two, I made up a reason for this:

 

Earle somehow got a taste of a Black Lodge spirit but wasn't permanently inhabited. (Or, he went on an unhinged id rage and liked it.) He tried to use the drug more to control a spirit rather than suppress it, but then lost the spirit completely.  He's trying to get into the Black Lodge to get a spirit back!

 

There is no basis in the show for any of my rationalization.

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