Jake

Twin Peaks Rewatch 2: Traces to Nowhere

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I have messaged an admin. Maybe he can still see it. Can't find it listed anywhere.

 

Thanks for pointing out the spoilers.

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I like how when Cooper comments on the donuts by saying something like "you guys are 3 for 3" to Truman, Truman looks confused for half a second and then the scene moves on without comment.

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Yes, the entire first bit of this episode was gold. From Cooper hanging upside down, to the classic coffee line to everyone eating donuts at the station, Truman not getting a word in with his mouthful. Loved it!

 

Aside from that I thought the episode was a bit underwhelming, especially coming after the excellent pilot.

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The place setting in TV shows with a central murder mystery is very obvious. Shows like Twin Peaks are much better served by being able to watch every episode in a row without stopping. There's a lot of important information revealed in this episode, but I know it's important because I've already seen the show. I'm sure that if this was my first viewing, and I didn't immediately watch the next 5 episodes after seeing this one, that I would also be underwhelmed.

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There's a lot of important information in the episode, but also like, not very much set in motion in this one compared to other stuff from season 1. I think people finding it underwhelming is fair.

 

There's a lot of James in this episode though, and he is easily my least favorite character on the show (I find him impossibly boring), so that's my bias.

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Yeah, I have watched this before, so I'm looking for stuff I remember being important. But my memory doesn't serve me very well, so I don't actually remember much of it apparently.

 

And god damn it, yes.. that James. Cannot. Stand Him.

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Whenever I see James on his bike going down a lonesome curving, stretch of road, I think, "Ugggggghhhh, we get it. He is a loner."

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She's literally introduced by taking over a factory and shutting it down.

This just isn't true. She doesn't "take over" the factory, she inherits it, and unless I'm misremembering something, it isn't suggested that that occurs in a devious or domineering way. And she doesn't "shut it down", she temporarily pauses production—in general out of a shared sense of civic grief, and specifically because one of her employees has a daughter who is still missing. It is a purely humane act, not the work of a hostile foreign takeover, and I think it's tough to read it otherwise. Obviously there are less sympathetic and more exoticized elements to her character that are introduced as the series go on, but I don't think this is one of them. You might be referring to this parts? But since you said "literally introduced" I assume not.

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Default Human, I think you are talking about episode 3 (sometimes known as episode 2).

 

This thread is about episode 2 (sometimes known as episode 1).

 

This is not confusing at all.

 

EDIT: From the wikipedia page:

peaksepisodenumber.png

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Post hidden, Dium, many thanks. I had the dumb. I'll keep in mind to offset.

 

I kind of hate most of the characters so far (but those I enjoy make up for it). I have to disagree about Josie, though. At least it's the fault of the writing and not necessarily her performance. It's not that her grammar is bad as much as they seem to be hamfisting the word swap slips, reminding themselves to insert those so we remember that she's a foreigner.

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This just isn't true. She doesn't "take over" the factory, she inherits it, and unless I'm misremembering something, it isn't suggested that that occurs in a devious or domineering way. And she doesn't "shut it down", she temporarily pauses production—in general out of a shared sense of civic grief, and specifically because one of her employees has a daughter who is still missing. It is a purely humane act, not the work of a hostile foreign takeover, and I think it's tough to read it otherwise. Obviously there are less sympathetic and more exoticized elements to her character that are introduced as the series go on, but I don't think this is one of them. You might be referring to this parts? But since you said "literally introduced" I assume not.

 

I'd agree with that, and I'd say that she's subverting the anti-Asian (predominantly anti-Japanese) tropes that were established in the 80s even while the structure of the character was being informed by those influences.

 

Although, as far as the inheritance goes (big spoiler if someone hasn't seen the show before):

She inherits the factory because she is one of the integral parts of a plot to kill her husband, having hired the man who actually committed the murder. And she only ever married him under the orders of Thomas who wanted to destroy Andrew's life and business. Her ultimate culpability is questionable, as she was living in fear of Thomas killing her and was arguably as much a victim as she was a criminal, but I don't think it can be said that her inheritance was without devious elements.

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Isn't she Chinese? What anti-Japanese tropes is she subverting as a Chinese character?

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Because Americans are dumb and from what I remember of the anti-Japanese sentiment in the 80s it was often generalized as being anti-Asian.  To be fair I was a kid, so both my perception and my memory are probably not perfect.

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Because Americans are dumb and from what I remember of the anti-Japanese sentiment in the 80s it was often generalized as being anti-Asian.  To be fair I was a kid, so both my perception and my memory are probably not perfect.

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as if I was disagreeing, if I did. I completely believe what you're saying. I was more just trying to figure out where it was you were coming from. I feel sort of awkward having to ask, since I've long been enamored by Japanese culture (mostly in nerdy avenues, OF COURSE), and even lived there for half a year at one point. D:

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So you guys talk about the traffic light as if it were random but in episode one (I believe) Cooper comments on the fact that the town is a place where a yellow stoplight still means slow down not speed up, and there was some thematic juxtaposition going down.

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So you guys talk about the traffic light as if it were random but in episode one (I believe) Cooper comments on the fact that the town is a place where a yellow stoplight still means slow down not speed up, and there was some thematic juxtaposition going down.

 

I think that if someone were to describe the stop lights in some sort of observable system, then I would be more interested in them. Failing that, I see them the same as the shots of the swaying pines. They are nice segways that remind you of the isolated nature of the town? There is so much going on in the show that I choose not to go down that road. So, I don't think they are not meaningful, but I leave it to others to interpret.

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I think that if someone were to describe the stop lights in some sort of observable system, then I would be more interested in them. Failing that, I see them the same as the shots of the swaying pines. They are nice segways that remind you of the isolated nature of the town? There is so much going on in the show that I choose not to go down that road. So, I don't think they are not meaningful, but I leave it to others to interpret.

In all honesty I've only watched up to episode eight before, so I have no real authority to comment beyond how I already did. I've seen passing reference to other interpretations but, you know, its Lynch. Of course there are interpretations. It could just be a transitional piece of filler. Wouldn't be surprising.

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Chris and Jake, have you guys considered doing 2 episodes a week? I want to keep up with your pace but this seems like the kind of show that would benefit from, if not a straight up binge watch, at least an accelerated schedule. Just curious.

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I selfishly agree since I haven't watched the show before but am having to restrain myself from getting too far ahead. If not two a week, it could cover two episodes, though that sort of screws with the theme, particularly for the non IT folks. If it sticks to one a week, I suppose I'll just have to develop discipline.

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I think if we took on two episodes per week (either as a single podcast episode or two) per week, we'd be setting ourselves up to slip as soon as we're ever slightly too busy. We know from experience (the Idle Book Club) that taking on secondary podcasts can be dangerous, and we'd rather have a fully achievable schedule that we rarely or never miss, rather than an ambitious schedule that causes us not to meet expectations.

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Haha, I misspelled segue up there and didn't even think about it. Segway is now spelled segway for all intents and purposes in my mind.

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Weird, I haven't noticed these traffic light shots that you guys have been mentioning at all.

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Chris, I totally get why you are only doing it once a week. I actually like conceptually the idea of spoiler chat. I will probably blow past the pace of the show, and then I get bonus content that I can listen to.

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