Jake

Twin Peaks Rewatch 45: The Return, Part 10

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I thought that looked like Moby on the guitar and turns out it was, sweet!

I think this was my least favorite episode so far otherwise. It had little to offer that I enjoyed. The Dougie stuff hit a point of diminishing returns by now. I wish they would have cut down on his plot line and made some others more meatier. Like Johnny's and Sylvia's for example. The first scene we actually see her (like, her face) it is solely as a victim, the third in the episode by then. The first victim is solely introduced to be murdered. How convenient that she lived secluded in a trailer! I wish that most of the female characters weren't reduced to victimhood. I am so tired of this by now. It's a far cry from the original Twin Peaks in this regards. It just doesn't track with reality either. While women are still discriminated, they have become more empowered, and violence has been generally on a decline. And still, even if this weren't the case, it doesn't excuse that we don't get to know more of the female characters besides how they were victimized. And where are the female culprits? No Catherine Martell...I miss her. :unsure:

The trio of girls in pink wouldn't bother me otherwise, but they bug me, too, in context.

It was beautiful to see Albert enjoy a conversation with the coroner. Look how he laughs!

The Log Lady is back again! She uttered the four words, though my hope was that this would be the episode that brings Laura back into the narrative. Oh well, we'll have to wait somewhat longer for that again...

Oh, and the picture of Johnny sitting there was great, you know, until the scene went where it went...

You never know what you get with this new season of Twin Peask. In my estimation, this week it was trash.

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Seems a bit of a waste to even bother with code-talk like "Around the table the conversation is lively" if Diane is just going to respond with clear-text status information.

 

I continue to hope that Jerry's drugged ranting has more to it than just being a gag - this week we have him shouting "You can't fool me, I've been here before" apparently to his phone which has no service (and we see that like Agent Preston, he seems to use Twin Peaks UI on his phone).  With any luck there is actually something weird going on in the woods within which he is wandering.  Perhaps, as others have speculated, he will be nearby when Hastings leads the agents to the site of The Zone.

 

More use of music this episode: there was 'Charmaine' playing in the background of Richard's home invasion, and we got some Badalamenti for the Mitchum brothers pondering what to do about 'Mr Jones', as well as the usual Roadhouse music, and more stuff listed on the music credits that I didn't make a mental note of during the episode.

 

Do we think Lucy saw Chad pocket the incriminating letter?  I think she is suspicious of him, but her angle was bad, and I reckon if she'd actually seen him grab it she just would have asked about it point blank.

 

Maybe not my favourite episode so far, but I didn't hate it.  Lot of details I liked: Cole & Preston's giggle watching Albert; Dougie's arms flopping around; "My bitter enemies and business rivals the Mitchum Brothers"; Jacoby's rant...

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This episode felt really scattershot and empty. It's setting stuff up, but the things it's setting up could be arrived at in half the time (though I guess that's not really what you ask for from this series). 

 

Standouts: 

 

-I thought everything with Dougie was super fun. Shredded Kyle MacLachlan is a good time for all, and I think the continued shading on Janey is really giving Naomi Watts room to be a real presence in this show, which I appreciate every time we see her. 

-I don't like Audrey Horne existing in a world with Richard one bit. I don't think Audrey's return is going to be very pleasent. However, I do appreciate in some sense Twin Peaks really dipping back into shitty teens. 

-I'm glad we got some more Log Lady, though her appearence in this episode is more expositional and less potent.

-Rebekah Del Rio! She gave us one of the best scenes in film history in Mulholland Drive and it's nice to see her. If you put much weight in the interlocking universes of MD and TP this appearence might be fun. Rebekah came all the way from Silencio to the Roadhouse! Maybe Janey-E will be triggered into remembering her past lives through a shitty camera phone video of Rebekah's performance! 

-Every week I warm up to Tammy. Her and Cole chuckling over Albert was really nice, and the insecurities that feed into her over-the-top persona have been hinted at enough to make her more fun to watch careening around this show, saucily expositioning. 

-David Lynch video effects struck again!

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Dougie's sex scene was hilarious, but IMO Dougie didn't and maybe couldn't consent. I think we're building up to Coop's eventual awakening in Dougie's life and finding he quite likes it - but something, of course, will go wrong. I just read My Life My Tapes and every single one of Coop's relationships or flings ends in death, destruction, mental illness, and/or general heartbreak - in addition to the fate of Annie and Caroline in the show. 

 

I don't think Diane is straight up collaborating with Dopplecoop, but maybe has her own agenda, hasn't realized (or admitted to herself) that it's not Real Coop, or is being manipulated in some other way.

 

I'm a little confused as to how much Dopplecoop is supposed to be 100% Bob in Coop's clothing, Coop-turned-evil with an added dash of Bob, or what. Is he some twisted evolution of Coop's personality or is Bob controlling him all the time? I always though the implication with Leland was that it was a Multiple Personality Disorder style switch between Leland and Bob, with Leland experiencing blackouts, confusion, suspicion at something being wrong when he sees Bob in the mirror, etc. I guess it doesn't really matter, but I keep getting stuck on this when trying to figure out what Diane is up to.

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2 minutes ago, marfy said:

I'm a little confused as to how much Dopplecoop is supposed to be 100% Bob in Coop's clothing, Coop-turned-evil with an added dash of Bob, or what. Is he some twisted evolution of Coop's personality or is Bob controlling him all the time? I always though the implication with Leland was that it was a Multiple Personality Disorder style switch between Leland and Bob, with Leland experiencing blackouts, confusion, suspicion at something being wrong when he sees Bob in the mirror, etc. I guess it doesn't really matter, but I keep getting stuck on this when trying to figure out what Diane is up to.

I don't think we've been given any real insight into Doppelcoop's motivations, but I think the line where he seems to be checking if Bob is still with him would indicate that whatever Bob's role is currently, he probably isn't in control.

Also, depending on what the hell was going on with the woodsmen and Bob's face on the blob they remove, it may be that Bob is not even with Doppelcoop any more.

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This episode was so frightening and so funny. I can't believe it all worked so well together, but Lynch and co have someone managed to pull off some of the most incongruous tonal shifts. Richard Horne is a truly great villain, both because how believably monstrous he is but also because of how vulnerable we've seen him. Given how Candy's scene went earlier - where I was excepting the Mitchum brothers to react violently to her remote control incident - I similarly thought that maybe Richard's scene with his grandmother would play out along the same lines. Instead, Lynch goes all in on making you really uncomfortable and sad, focusing so much on Grandma Horne prone on the floor, while her grandson violates her home and her son. It was brutal to watch.

 

I was initially skeptical about this season being as long as it is, but at this point, my skepticism has completely worn off. The pace is amazing and I want to live in this world for as long as possible.

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They are making Richard so evil that I have to imagine that the theory he is Evil Coop's son has to be true.

So it seems that Evil Coop is the billionare behind the box? If that is what we are supposed to believe, does that mean him and his croneies have spent the last 25 years robbing banks or something?

As for the Dougie stuff, I'm pretty certain that what this is all leading to and what will be what kickstarts Cooper waking up, is going to be the death of Janey-E and Sonny Jim, probably at the hands of the hitmen after him. In the past couple episodes with Dougie it built up a connection with him and his son, and this episode built a connection between him and Janey-E. Their deaths is probably going to trigger something in him.

 

I'm also really into this weird relationship between Candy and the Mitchum brothers.

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15 hours ago, MechaTofuPirate said:

That was kind of the first episode I've been disappointed in so far. It was pretty short and not a lot seemed to happen?

 

That was pretty much my reaction.  There was no real plot development in this episode, and huge amounts of time were given over to developing Candy (don't care), Richard getting money (don't care!), and Chad getting the mail (really don't care!).  Janey-E mirin' on Agent Coop was pretty funny, and Albert and Constance out on a date was cute, but nothing actually happened this episode.

 

The only plot development we got at all was:

  • Bad Cooper is definitely behind the Glass Box (thought so!)
  • Diane is definitely working with Bad Cooper (boo! hiss! do not want!)

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Still really, really do not want Bad Coop to be Richard's father. Maybe Billy Zane is the dad??

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Everyone's criticism to this episode is almost exactly the way I felt about episode 9, but I actually liked this one quite a bit. It does sadden me that Coop has now been catatonic for over half the season. I was cool with it for longer than a lot of people but it's just a bummer at this point.

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The line "Laura is the one", was also said in the Log Lady intro for the pilot. Didn't expect those to be referenced this season!

 

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1 hour ago, purps said:

I'm also really into this weird relationship between Candy and the Mitchum brothers.

 

I was contemplating if Candy has always been this aloof? The fact that she smacked him in the face and hard trying to swat a fly seems like a big maybe. And after all the genuine seeming tears and remorse when she's back in the casino, she's doing the same nonchalant hand wave thing from an earlier episode. But the way she's not paying attention to them seems like it could also be a new thing, by the way it's increasingly aggravating to them. And the Mitchums seemed to indicate if they fired her she'd have nowhere else to go? I doubt any of this is significant but it's enough to make me curious as to what her deal is. Impressive how they can make a background character somewhat compelling with just a few scenes. I think part of my interest could be because she's already had more screen time than a few main cast members from the original run. Yet she may not appear again in the series for all we know.

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Everything involving Candy and the casino subplot has the feel of a Coen brothers' comedy. It's heightened absurdity with a low-level hum of danger/potential violence. 

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1 hour ago, purps said:

They are making Richard so evil that I have to imagine that the theory he is Evil Coop's son has to be true.

 

The reason I'm not taking this as a given is that BOB was shown to be born from the evil humans can do. Which to me, says that we're plenty capable of being evil without the involvement of mystical spirits that feed on pain and suffering.

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18 minutes ago, SuperBiasedMan said:

 

The reason I'm not taking this as a given is that BOB was shown to be born from the evil humans can do. Which to me, says that we're plenty capable of being evil without the involvement of mystical spirits that feed on pain and suffering.

 

I'm curious - if Evil Coop possessed by BOB fathers a child, does it look like Cooper or BOB?

 

Because right now Richard Horne mostly looks like if young Matthew McConaughey was having a coke bender on the Jersey Shore 

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2 hours ago, scrub lover said:

Everyone's criticism to this episode is almost exactly the way I felt about episode 9, but I actually liked this one quite a bit. It does sadden me that Coop has now been catatonic for over half the season. I was cool with it for longer than a lot of people but it's just a bummer at this point.

 

With each episode, I'm becoming more and more confident that we don't get Cooper back until the last episode. There's, what, 8 episodes left? I can totally see it taking 7 more episodes to do whatever it takes to snap Dougie out of it, at the pace this show moves.

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Run Silent Run Drapes is such a good and dumb name for Nadine's store. Exactly the type of silly yet still fitting pun or reference some small specialty shops can't help using, the sort of thing that'd be at home on The Simpsons with all their background sign gags, but even better. 

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Bandwagon jump: I didn't like this one.

 

It had its moments, but this was almost "get some potatoes" level of unnecessary.

 

Characters are being dragged around by lore, instead of likely motivations.  The plot is piloting the characters.  For the FBI, that's fine, since that's literally their job.

 

But why isn't the TP sheriff's office in full Law-&-Order-mode on The Nameless Kid That Got Run Over, instead of fucking around with mystical Lodge Lore?  Because plot!  And instead, that character runs about and piles up more violence, making TNKTGRO even more exploitive and meaningless.

 

 

 

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I've been fine with most of how it's playing out, but no one investigating the hit & run on the kid is seriously bothering me. That was 4 episodes ago now? And barely any followup from Andy.

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NUMBER TALK LUNACY TIME!

 

I didn't like 10, so I'll talk about ep. 3 instead. I have been rewatching the latest season (recommended).

 

Okay! Numbers!

So Coop is sucked out of an electrical outlet which originally had a 15 above it, but then 3. Everyone seems to be saying 15 and 3.... that's 315, his old room number!   Well almost, I guess. 

 

But 15 and 3 are also the same number, on a clock.

 

The plug was ready to suck him back into his federal government job (which might be inclined to use military time!).  That would have swapped Coop with BadCoop as planned.  But instead he was led away by eyeless woman, who flipped an electrical switch in space.  When he returned to the plug it was 3... which is 3pm to civilians, like Dougie.  

 

So the eyeless woman was working for BadCoop (maybe against her will), and helped redirect Coop to where BadCoop wanted him to go!

 

That tracks.

 

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6 hours ago, BonusWavePilot said:

Seems a bit of a waste to even bother with code-talk like "Around the table the conversation is lively" if Diane is just going to respond with clear-text status information.

 

 

Minor nitpick but I think Albert described her reply as "heavily encrypted."

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I didn't mind this episode so much. Not sure how long it will take to get the image of Dougie's 'O' face and flapping arms out of my eyes though. 

 

On the topic of Richard Horne- It seems more complicated to just assume Bad Coop is the dad. I think more that he is Bob's. Bob was using Leland to rape Laura for years, and it was revealed in her diary that she was pregnant. Bob seems to be using Bad Coop as a bridge/connection to be outside of the lodge for the last 25 years since he hasn't possessed anyone else(that we know of) and to me most likely used his body to rape Audrey. Then Audrey actually had the baby. This makes me curious about the baby that Laura would have had. Bob seems to have this large end game reaching across the country and maybe that involves spawning more demon babies? They have had their prostitute ring running out of the Bang Bang Bar for decades think of all the evil Bob babies that could be out there. Although Bob seems more selective and have purpose with his victims since we only know that Laura and Audrey became pregnant..

 

My other big take away from this season so far has been that throughout all of this seasons surreal visuals and moments, nothing has seemed more unsettling to me than Jerry Horne being a scared old many screaming for help in the middle of the woods(I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM), or seeing poor Johnny tied to a chair, with his mouth wired shut, and staring at a fucked up looking teddy bear robot repeating the same phrase over and over. They both seem to be prisoners trapped in their own minds and bodies and I felt incredibly uncomfortable watching it. 

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I loved the weird intensity of the casino brass. Just loved how the actors and the direction/editing/score presented their frustration and vengeful determination. Very funny.

 

Also how the guy delivering the "Jones is your enemy" message anxiously delayed his exit, as though he expected them to declare on the spot "then we'll assassinate Dougie Jones!"

 

How did people read Candy's behavior in her later scene, when she's sent to retrieve the messenger guy? I wasn't sure quite what was going on, but there seemed to be some defiance or passive-aggression in there.

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Naomi Watts has been brilliant all season and this was a really great ep to cement that, not just her discovering HotCoop but the full news coverage clip (I think it was cut off before). 

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After watching this episode and the new episode of Game of Thrones back to back, I've realized that plot progression is the probably lowest form of entertainment. The most profound sensations it can instill are the momentary pleasure gained by seeing what happens and the compulsive desire to know what's next. Essentially, a show like Game of Thrones is no more emotionally or philosophically complex than a game of peek-a-boo, except it's worse because it's drenched in bombastic sound cues and reaction shots which feel like they're designed to prod the viewer into feeling a certain way: aren't you so shocked about what just happened? Wasn't that such a clever twist? Just leave me alone and let me watch your stupid show! I'm glad that Twin Peaks is so ambivalent about moving the plot forwards and unraveling its own mystery, instead choosing to bask in the moment and establish an emotional tone of dull terror and low key dread. I hope Cooper never wakes up and I hope we never learn the truth about anything. This episode was great, it gave me nightmares. By the way, can we all agree that Janey E raped Cooper?

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