Twin Peaks Rewatch 18: Dispute Between Brothers

[LostInTheMovies]

Re: the letter in the spoiler section ("familiars"): another thing Mike says in ep. 14 is that the inhabiting spirits are parasites, which is a very different idea from the Leland's presentation of Bob as being in control. Parasites don't control hosts, they feed off what's already there.

The following doesn't spoil FWWM per se but it is informed by the film's presentation of Leland/Bob so read with caution.

A bit off-topic, but the discussion of what Leland "knows" had me thinking...

I lean toward the idea that Leland lives with pretty severe denial/repression. I don't think it's a matter of being totally amnesiac/unconscious of what he's done as just forcing his mind not to go there. Although I think he may have experienced a complete break after the murder and forcibly blocked that specific memory because it was just too much for him to handle (the abuse probably got somewhat buried alongside it, but less deeply). The strain of this is what causes him to crack so quickly after her death. I don't think he's going to work that morning thinking "I just killed my daughter, I just killed my daughter" but the knowledge is there, flickering just beneath the surface. Sort of like a blackout and/or what probably happened with O.J. I think one of the things FWWM shows

is how this process had been building for years. In that movie we see quite clearly that he is aware of his actions, but that he tries to rationalize them. The film is partly about Laura forcing him beyond those rationalizations to a breaking point.

And then by the time we reach the show he's experiencing a more extreme form of repression - but one which is also a very short-term fix than the more superficial denial he used for years. So essentially, if we stretch from the Teresa flashbacks to Leland's death, we see his coping strategy/rationalization/repression of his own evil become exponentially more desperate, deep-rooted, and unstable over the course of about a year. This is a very Lynchian theme and, based on statements he's made, something Frost is interested in as well. It's a pity it does not come across more clearly in ep. 17.

I'm typing this from my phone so hopefully it came out coherent.

[LostInTheMovies]

Just to clarify/specify what I'm talking about, in FWWM we learn

that Leland compartmentalizes his abusive behavior by treating it as an unspoken shared secret with Laura, suggesting also that he tells himself Laura consents to the abuse. This is apparently a not-uncommon rationalization among incest perpetrators, which has been dubbed the "Seductive Daughter" myth, something Randi Davenport writes about Twin Peaks subverting in her essay "The Knowing Spectator of Twin Peaks" (which I unfortunately can't find online right now but it's worth reading if anyone stumbles across it). This is evident in several of his statements ("I always thought you knew it was me," "how do you know what she likes?") but perhaps most of all when Laura confronts Leland after the traffic incident. He lies to her with the implicit undertone of "you know I'm lying but his is how we play the game, remember? Don't break the rules" which I find to be one of the most chilling moments in the movie.

This and other encounters (and especially the realization that he has driven his daughter into prostitution, a major factor in his murder of Teresa) finally force Leland to fully confront the obvious fact that he and his daughter are not secret "lovers" but rather that he is and always has been her rapist. He deals with this knowledge the same way he dealt with the knowledge Teresa forced him to confront - by killing Laura (who, it should be noted, has taken Teresa's ring - among many other things, this is a statement that she knows what her father is and is not going to let him forget it).

At this point, he can no longer employ the same self-serving rationalizations and private/public split that served him for years. He must instead suppress the knowledge completely (at least of the murder; the abuse is probably too long-lasting and deep-rooted for him to successfully "forget"). This is ultimately impossible, resulting in increasingly manic behavior in which the more he attempts to hide behind his "public" persona (note how he's always wearing a business suit in the second season) and to present a cheerful joie de vivre, the closer he gets to displaying his dark core.

I think Bob is, among other things, a manifestation of this denial/repression/dissociation (although Leland is not conscious of him, certainly not to the extent Laura is - which in itself says quite a bit about the difference between father and daughter). In that sense he is very much Leland's "familiar."

Yeah, I look forward to the FWWM discussion on the podcast as well. And I'm sure that will be a really interesting thread, particularly as first-time viewers respond to the film.

[sclpls]

LostInTheMovies - yeah, I think that's probably the most charitable interpretation available that makes any sense.

 

edit: For clarity's sake, I'm referring to LostInTheMovies' interpretation of Leland's knowledge of his actions.

[LostInTheMovies]

Been re-watching the mid-season and...

Re: Cooper's approach to the one-armed man & general violation of FBI ethics one also has to consider that within a few episodes (really lame spoiler for ep. 22)

Cooper's approach to crisis aversion is to lock a gun-wielding old man into a room with the young woman he wants to murder, and let them work it out. And then when time's up they charge into the room, guns raised just in case (I mean if they are that concerned about his threat shouldn't they maybe NOT have sent him in there with her alone?)

Coop gets away with murder on this show! (Figuratively speaking...) And boy, does season 2 get weird (not in a good way).

[Apple Cider]

RE: Norma and her mom

 

I found this actually really plausible as someone with a really nitpicky/highly critical mother. Norma's mom poo-pooing her food, despite the narrative of the show saying it's really good either implies that Norma's mom is unable to see her daughter as good in any way, even when the evidence very openly presents itself as otherwise, or she's just a really bad food critic. I am opting to see it more like the former, since it also gives me this idea that Twin Peaks requires you to sort of be willing to love the place, like Norma's mom is the anti-Cooper in that way. She's so deluded by her own self-assured taste that she can't see how good the pie is, etc, while Cooper just wholeheartedly stumbles on its greatness because of the way he perceives Twin Peaks with enthusiasm and positivity. 

 

The irony in this is that Norma's mom has apparently bad taste in men.

[BobbyBesar]

RE: Norma and her mom

 

I found this actually really plausible as someone with a really nitpicky/highly critical mother. Norma's mom poo-pooing her food, despite the narrative of the show saying it's really good either implies that Norma's mom is unable to see her daughter as good in any way, even when the evidence very openly presents itself as otherwise, or she's just a really bad food critic. I am opting to see it more like the former, since it also gives me this idea that Twin Peaks requires you to sort of be willing to love the place, like Norma's mom is the anti-Cooper in that way. She's so deluded by her own self-assured taste that she can't see how good the pie is, etc, while Cooper just wholeheartedly stumbles on its greatness because of the way he perceives Twin Peaks with enthusiasm and positivity. 

 

The irony in this is that Norma's mom has apparently bad taste in men.

 

Just catching up on podcasts, and this was generally my interpretation. Norma's mom is just shitty to Norma. It isn't that she won't give Norma a falsely good review just because she's her daughter, she's overly critical and won't ever give a good review _because_ she's her daughter. Nothing is ever good enough for her. Don't they also imply that they're somewhat estranged when her mom shows up? I imagine that Norma has a sister who's the "good daughter" who always screws up, but her mother dotes on her and always bails her out regardless.

 

Earlier, Norma described herself and Ed as basically, people who sit at the bottom of the hill while shit rolls down on them (paraphrasing). Norma's mom gives a peek at how her personality could have developed that way.

 

For the record, it didn't occur to me that Norma's mom was the critic (partially because the critic storyline was horrible and I just wanted it to go away), but also partially because the dynamic of her mom being overly critical of the food is just a dynamic that I can accept as a mother-daughter thing. (Although there was enough specificity that I wondered vaguely if Norma's mom had run the diner previously).

[LostInTheMovies]

Forgot to post it when the episode was current, but this blog post really captures the misfires of the wake scene, especially in the captions for the pictures: http://entertainmentguidefilmtv.blogspot.com/2014/04/twin-peaks-days-20-26.html

[mistercrayon]

Calm down everyone take a chill pill cooper’s going on holiday!

 

the episode opens with some kind of weird nonsense where cooper absolves Leland completely. It’s really odd that he invokes Laura’s forgiveness for some reason (he has no knowledge of this I feel) when Leland has done little to earn it except show a quantum of sadness as he dies. Also there’s some nonsense about apologising to sarah which sounds like a complete fiction by cooper (if my memory is correct). 

 

The way Sarah is comforted feels also uncomfortable to me. Essentially she forgives the monstrous Leland because he did some nice things (probably in service to facilitating the monster). 

 

I can’t get on board with this. 

Series 3 stuff

Spoiler

If this is the last we see of Sarah maybe some of monster Sarah is showing here. Not the cold mad monster but a calmer one. Still I don’t believe monster Sarah is actually here yet.

 

Is this the the first time we see Dougie Milford?

 

The wake was weird. So much food and hank is such an ass. He assumes Sarah wants Waldorf salad and lays on the smarmy charm like an ass. 

 

Speaking of which bobby is so greasy in this episode. And that’s just his hair. The suit and everything is horrid - but his whole (reference to a British show only fools and horses) “this time next year Shelly we are gonna be millionaires” is so lame in contrast with Shelly actually working her ass off for her husband. The little top pull that bobby does with his finger is just a poo on top of the cake. 

 

Series 3 stuff. 

 

Spoiler

This is probably, possibly, the nadir of bobby. It’s hard to imagine how he goes from this to deputy cop while Shelly stays almost exactly the same. Maybe bobby’s rock bottom causes a bounce while shelly gets into a rut of okayness

 

 

I felt gutpunched by the whole cooper leaving and when Truman gives him the bookhouse badge. Argh. Heartbreaking to see cooper leaving and the affection he’s gained from twin peaks police in a short time. 

 

Its a shame hes sacked and it comes at this point in the story because functionally him being relieved of duty is no different to him departing. (Ironically it keeps him in twin peaks I guess). It feels like a less bad thing than it should I feel.

 

i loved the Audrey and Cooper interaction. Audrey is so good in this show (and the way she handles bobby is really great). 

 

Series 3

 

Spoiler

Man when she says she’s gonna catch up with him when she’s old and to see this never ever being fulfilled 25 years later makes me really sad. Coop Audrey is the absolute best in this show for me and Audrey especially. To see her have lost so much feels so sad and such an interesting choice. The characters are people that have been through stuff in the intervening years - they aren’t characters to move around simply for our pleasure. 

 

Will one of the asshole men get Lucy from putting up the light. I think this scene is an encapsulation of jake or Chris saying that the men in this show are useless dolts while the women are realer humans. 

 

Lazy bum Ben is great for the one second we see him.