Jake

Twin Peaks Rewatch 4: Rest in Pain

Recommended Posts

Twin Peaks Rewatch 4:

603__header.jpg

Rest in Pain

Laura Palmer is in the ground, but the reach of her past (and the impressions she has left on people) seemingly only broadens. Join us for discussion of the fourth episode of Twin Peaks, in our weekly examination of the entire series run.

Catching up? Listen to the Rewatch archive.

Bonus Material!

Here is the article from New York Magazine which we discussed in the episode.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Michael Ontkean's reactions at the beginning of this episode help soften the tease from the end of the last episode.  Cooper is just way too pleased with himself!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The continuing adventures of Bobby's dad not quite "getting it." Also, Bobby totally Rikered his way into that chair.

 

The introduction of the Bookhouse Boys and their generations-long fight against "darkness" definitely makes it seem like everyone knows that strange things happen, and justifies the quick acceptance of the rock-throwing session last episode. Cooper's excitement at the prospect of a secret society made me smile.

 

Invitation to Love! As mentioned earlier by Chris (I believe), the soap-opera-named twins Emerald and Jade are shown right before Laura's own "twin" appears.

 

I liked the way Laura's funeral just kind of devolved into slapstick as Leland tried to hug the coffin and the lowering mechanism started to malfunction. (Laura's theme goes dark just as the preacher says he isn't going to "talk too much")

 

Oh, and EVERYONE HAS SECRET COMPARTMENTS. Audrey's hidden space in the wall, Shelly's removable panel in... whatever piece of furniture that thing was, and Catherine's ledger stash. I wish I had a secret compartment somewhere. It would be so mysterious.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was reading a page of quotes someone put together from David Lynch. The page doesn't do a good job of noting which interview the quotes came from, but I liked this bit all the same:

 

"In Hollywood, more often than not, they're making more kind of traditional films, stories that are understood by people. And the entire story is understood. And they become worried if even for one small moment something happens that is not understood by everyone. But what's so fantastic is to get down into areas where things are abstract and where things are felt, or understood in an intuitive way that, you can't, you know, put a microphone to somebody at the theatre and say 'Did you understand that?' but they come out with a strange, fantastic feeling and they can carry that, and it opens some little door or something that's magical and that's the power that film has."

"Film can do amazing things with abstraction, but it rarely gets a chance. People are treated like idiots, and people are not idiots. We're hip to the human condition, the human experience, and we love mysteries."

"I keep hoping people will like abstractions, space to dream, consider things that don't necessarily add up."

 

Quoted from here:

 

http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/quotecollection/abstract.html

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, that funeral scene was huge. Starts out sad, then turns so quickly into Bobby's condemnation of the entire town (this was Bobby at his best, most likeable.. which isn't saying much, but still..) then almost into a fight between Bobby and James and then just straight into crazy, slapstick with Leland hugging the coffin. For me, this was this episode's Tibetan Rock Throwing scene. Sort of encapsulates a lot of what I like about this show into one big scene.

 

Also, YES. The Bookhouse Boys! I had almost forgot about that! :tup:

 

That scene with Bobby and the Major, with Jesus in the room and just the general mise-en-scene, I thought the entire scene was happening inside a church where the funeral would be held. Then the mother said "Are we ready to go?" and I just flipped out. "WHAT?! That's their HOME?! Jesus.."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

that scene with Bobby and the Major, with Jesus in the room and just the general mise-en-scene, I thought the entire scene was happening inside a church where the funeral would be held. Then the mother said "Are we ready to go?" and I just flipped out. "WHAT?! That's their HOME?! Jesus.."

 

Thanks for reminding me to this. The palm leaves were a nice touch. I don't know what that's symbolic of in Christianity or the show. But damn, I thought it was a church or at least the funeral home.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh, and EVERYONE HAS SECRET COMPARTMENTS. Audrey's hidden space in the wall, Shelly's removable panel in... whatever piece of furniture that thing was, and Catherine's ledger stash. I wish I had a secret compartment somewhere. It would be so mysterious.

 

YES! That was amazing. Audrey couldn't just have a run-of-the-mill peephole, but needs a secret passageway for it.

 

The wake scene was comically tragic. I was having trouble accepting that the father of the deceased was so distraught and desperately wanted someone to dance with him, yet everyone else on the dance floor looks at him like, "Go away, crazy guy, can't you see we're trying to have a good time here?"

 

On palm leaves - I'm pulling this from childhood memory and not doing research, but in Christianity (as well as other cultures, I believe), they represent eternal life. In Christianity, this is from Palm Sunday, Jesus's arrival to Jerusalem (leading up to his crucifixion). He rode on the back of a donkey and those who believed that he was the messiah honored him by laying palm leaves across his path. The gesture is similar to throwing your jacket across a puddle for a lady, in that it doesn't necessarily accomplish anything, but is a representative honorific. Palm leaves had practical significance, being durable, but also were also a very useful plant. In the funeral scene, it could represent eternal life, sacrifice, inevitability, etc. [edit: Felt a little guilty talking out of my ass. The scriptures are pretty vague and some interpret them as meaning that palm fronds were waved. In any case, same basic meaning. Victory, royalty, eternal life, etc.]

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Laura's mother and father both have deeply disturbing scenes of grief. Many TV shows and films just want you to UNDERSTAND that a character is experiencing grief, the camera won't stay on their tears for long. Lynch wants you to just sit and squirm and feel all the emotions associated with loss. He's a master of making things deeply resonant in relatively simple ways.

Edit: looking at it more, Lynch didn't direct this episode. But his influence is obviously there.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Laura's mother and father both have deeply disturbing scenes of grief. Many TV shows and films just want you to UNDERSTAND that a character is experiencing grief, the camera won't stay on their tears for long. Lynch wants you to just sit and squirm and feel all the emotions associated with loss. He's a master of making things deeply resonant in relatively simple ways.

Edit: looking at it more, Lynch didn't direct this episode. But his influence is obviously there.

 

  I remember watching the Palmer family's reactions in the first episode and thinking "Ugh, this is hard to watch. But the show can't feature uncomfortable grief forever, so this is probably the last we'll really see of this."

 

 I don't, however, remember the exact moment I realized how ridiculous and naive that notion was.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, I love the the camera work on Bobby's scene with his father. I don't know much about film-language, but it seems like a very rigid framing around his body. It's probably mostly just to do with his posture, and the fact that he's full front to the camera (although not addressing the camera), which is unusual in TV. It feels very regimented and strict, as appropriate for the character.

 

Since the whole frame is taken up with him and Bobby, Bobby seems even slouchier by comparison.

 

Also, is it bad that when I think of Bobby, I basically just mentally replace him with this:

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I actually really like Bobby as a character. He's an ass for sure, but his freakout with his dad in this episode is amazing, like the barking in the police station holding cells. He's doing the stereotypical teenage douchebag thing, but a little crazier, a little more unpredictable. It's tough to get a read on how much of his emotion is genuine and how much is an act. And I like how the cheating on Laura/running drugs side of his plot gets balanced out by his being genuinely protective of Shelly and put in opposition to Leo, a way bigger scumbag. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I actually really like Bobby as a character. He's an ass for sure, but his freakout with his dad in this episode is amazing, like the barking in the police station holding cells. He's doing the stereotypical teenage douchebag thing, but a little crazier, a little more unpredictable. It's tough to get a read on how much of his emotion is genuine and how much is an act. And I like how the cheating on Laura/running drugs side of his plot gets balanced out by his being genuinely protective of Shelly and put in opposition to Leo, a way bigger scumbag.

But, in classical airhead teenager fashion, his protectiveness goes as far as "If he does this AGAIN, I'll do something about it."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I see Bobby as Judd Nelson's character from The Breakfast Club complete with the loosely tied boots.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Also, is it bad that when I think of Bobby, I basically just mentally replace him with this:

 

Haha. "Did you just say dick cream?"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, I love the the camera work on Bobby's scene with his father. I don't know much about film-language, but it seems like a very rigid framing around his body. It's probably mostly just to do with his posture, and the fact that he's full front to the camera (although not addressing the camera), which is unusual in TV. It feels very regimented and strict, as appropriate for the character.

 

Since the whole frame is taken up with him and Bobby, Bobby seems even slouchier by comparison.

 

Also, is it bad that when I think of Bobby, I basically just mentally replace him with this:

 

 

Haha! That's awesome, how have I not seen this!?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think I need to rewatch this episode, I had it on last night while I was doing stuff, but I was zoning out as it was sort of just a plot thread linking episode. Also for whatever reason, I recalled this embrace of the supernatural stuff not even happening until Season 2. Don't know how I mixed that up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When Cooper retells his dream to Lucy and the Sheriff (It's not really a spoiler, but if you haven't seen the European pilot and don't want to know anything about it, then don't read)

 

A lot of the details that he gives are from the events in the European pilot. Mrs. Palmer seeing the face of the killer and Hawk drawing him, the one-armed man calling Cooper, etc. The first time I watched this show, I just assumed the discrepancy between Cooper's dream and how he tells it was an intentional comment by the writers on how hard it is to accurately remember our dreams, but now it seems more like a weird leftover of having basically written the end of the show for the European version well before the American episodes had ended.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When Cooper retells his dream to Lucy and the Sheriff (It's not really a spoiler, but if you haven't seen the European pilot and don't want to know anything about it, then don't read)

 

A lot of the details that he gives are from the events in the European pilot. Mrs. Palmer seeing the face of the killer and Hawk drawing him, the one-armed man calling Cooper, etc. The first time I watched this show, I just assumed the discrepancy between Cooper's dream and how he tells it was an intentional comment by the writers on how hard it is to accurately remember our dreams, but now it seems more like a weird leftover of having basically written the end of the show for the European version well before the American episodes had ended.

 

Also can't really be called a spoiler, but to play it safe:

Not having seen the European pilot, to me this came off as a well-executed manifestation of the way you just know certain things in dreams, seemingly inexplicably.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One thing I'm surprised no one brought up is how ridiculous it is that they recast Laura as HER COUSIN and then made her an almost central character.

Thats a thing I love about Twin Peaks. Its chock full of meta-moments that absolutely confound me but mean almost nothing to the characters. All interactions on why Maddie looks exactly like Laura just with dark hair end with, "Yeah, huh, how about that."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One thing I'm surprised no one brought up is how ridiculous it is that they recast Laura as HER COUSIN and then made her an almost central character.

Thats a thing I love about Twin Peaks. Its chock full of meta-moments that absolutely confound me but mean almost nothing to the characters. All interactions on why Maddie looks exactly like Laura just with dark hair end with, "Yeah, huh, how about that."

 

I think the creators/writers of the show meant it as a soap opera trope whereby people would often play their twin. So, in soap opera terms, it wouldn't have been surprising to see someone reprise a similar role even though they had been killed off in a previous episode.

 

Additionally, as a young actress, the fact that she played Laura Palmer wouldn't have gained her anything on a resume, because she only played dead. They probably had to pay her anyway, regardless, cause her image is everywhere. So, it worked to her advantage to bring her back as a "cousin."

 

EDIT: Laura Palmer did play brief snippets in flashback.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Something that confused me about this episode: why was there only a burial service for Laura and not a larger funeral? Every funeral I've ever been to has a funeral service inside a church, synagogue or funeral home, and then a smaller burial service at the gravesite. Is that not a standard thing?

 

Relatedly, you guys mentioned the weirdness of Shelly being at the funeral. During the rock experiment in Episode 3, they mention that Shelly was friends with Laura.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is definitely a standard thing, but I guarantee it's for no reason other than it's a TV show, and there is only a certain amount of time in an episode, and money for shooting on location.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

In that screengrab it looks like James walked in and sharted. 

 

Also, my favorite interaction of the episode was Leo and Cooper. (Cooper: Leo, is that short for Leonard? Leo, snarky: "That's a question?")

 

Just the way Leo responds I find hilarious. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Did anyone else find it a bit odd and unnerving when the priest (can't remember if I'm using the exact right word here...) talking at Laura's funeral first said vague good things about Laura but then spent a while talking about how she was impatient and wanted life to catch up to her. It seemed really weirdly dark to be brought up so casually because it was clearly the struggle that lead to her spiralling out of control. I'm a bit unsure what to think though, whether it was a good way to highlight how everyone understood what was happening with Laura but didn't acknowledge it or was it too much to have the priest drawing attention to it with a crowd of silent people standing around passively.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is definitely a standard thing, but I guarantee it's for no reason other than it's a TV show, and there is only a certain amount of time in an episode, and money for shooting on location.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I was just a bit disappointed. For me, at this point, the series is much more about the impact of Laura's death than the search for her killer, so I would have liked more funeral time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now