Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Next Morning In The Murder Investigation - Twin Peaks Episode 1!


The Good: Interesting characters, Wonderful sense of mood and setting, Acting, General plot
The Bad: Very hard to start here without the pilot, Feels very much like part of a whole
The Basics: Agent Cooper begins his full investigation into the murder of Laura Palmer while Twin Peaks reels from the news of her death and many plotlines are woven!


[IMPORTANT NOTE: As I proceed through the episodes of Twin Peaks with reviews, it is absolutely impossible to discuss some of the episodes without revealing some of the surprises I will work hard to keep while reviewing earlier episodes. No matter how careful I am, it is impossible to write about some of the later episodes without letting slip that some of the characters were (ultimately) not the killer of Laura Palmer or killed, etc. I shall do my best to minimize that, but given how serialized Twin Peaks is, it is almost impossible to do even a minimal plot summary without some nuggets slipping out. These reviews may be ideal for fans of the series who are sitting down to watch individual episodes and want to have a guide as to which episode did what, because Twin Peaks episodes do not have names, just episode numbers!]

One of the most frustrating aspects of beginning Twin Peaks on DVD was that it begins with "Episode 1." "Episode 1" is not the first episode, there is the pilot movie that preceded it (reviewed here!) and it is in that episode that FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper comes to Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of Laura Palmer. "Episode 1" begins with the next morning and in this way the old VHS's were helpful as the video set started at the beginning before going onto "Episode 1." But even for those who have not snagged a copy of the "Pilot," "Episode 1" is fairly accessible as it quickly reintroduces the principle characters, reacquaints the viewer with one of the oddest places on earth, and progresses the Laura Palmer murder investigation and Packard Saw Mill plotlines.

Agent Dale Cooper awakens after a restful night's sleep at the Great Northern in Twin Peaks to a fine breakfast with amazing coffee and the entrance of Audrey Horne. Audrey is clearly attracted to Cooper and she expresses an interest in helping him with his investigation. Cooper politely puts her off before going to the police station where Doctor Hayward gives him and Sheriff Truman the preliminary medical report on the body of Laura Palmer. Laura, killed by blood loss and exposure, had been quite active the night of her death, apparently having sex with three different men.

Cooper releases James from jail, along with Bobby and Mike, who are fretting their freedom because they are short drug money for Leo Johnson, money Laura had when she was killed. Leo is in possession of a bloody shirt, a broken alibi and a sock with soap to beat his wife with. As Cooper investigates the obvious trail toward the identity of Laura's murderer, Benjamin Horne conspires with Catharine Martell to acquire the mill, Hawk follows a one-armed man in the hospital, James Hurley meets Donna's parents as her date for dinner and Sarah Palmer is given a vision of the man who killed her daughter!

"Episode 1" might well be the last possible point one could enter Twin Peaks and not be totally lost. The series is heavily dependent upon what comes before to make sense of what comes next and this episode may be the last chance for those who are looking to get into the series to get in and not need an extensive primer on what came before (which is not on the tapes). All of the key players are in place and in this episode, we see Leo Johnson instead of just hear about him.

This episode is also fairly daring in its presentation of Audrey Horne and the effect she has on Agent Cooper. Cooper is not immune to her charms and when she flirts with him, it is obvious that he has some interest, though his professional ethics restrain him. Audrey here is characterized as capricious and flirtatious as opposed to spoiled and bratty like she might have seemed in the pilot. This is a nice alteration to her character that makes her instantly more likable and it seems more plausible that there might be chemistry between her and Cooper. This level of realism plays well for the series and the episode as the supernatural elements continue to creep in.

The most notable supernatural element is the vision Sarah Palmer has of a strange man at the foot of the bed, a crazed man she believes is Laura's killer. Her husband, Leland, still very much shattered from Laura's murder, is of little help to her in their mutual time of woe and it is easy to empathize with Sarah Palmer. Despite her brief part and how heavy and complicated the plot is with all of its layers, the David Lynch wisely keeps the focus on the characters and their actions as much as possible. And Sarah Palmer is a lost mother and it is impossible not to watch her scenes and feel sorry for her loss.

And for the series, that might be one of the tremendous themes of the body of work; the effect of loss and how murder changes people. In this case, the whole town is affected. Cooper charges in as an outsider and quickly comes to love the way everyone in the community is touched by the death of Laura Palmer. Doctor Hayward is unable to get through the preliminary medical report without breaking up. Over the course of the series, there will be a body count and how desensitized the community becomes to death seems to be the statement of the series. But here in "Episode 1," there is trauma and the single death has shaken the entire community.

Despite the wild plot and the overwhelming number of characters - in "Episode 1" there are at least twenty characters who have significant air time to begin developing their stories! - the episode is completely engrossing because the two principle characters, Cooper and Truman, are intriguing. Cooper almost instantly recognizes that Sheriff Truman is in love with Josie Packard when the two go to interview her. Cooper's observational skills combined with Harry S. Truman's "aww shucks" kind of attitude make for a great buddy cop combination. As they investigate the murder, Truman is most like the audience, frequently wondering what is going on inside Cooper's head. Cooper seems to operate on a level very different from most people and he has no difficulty in taking leaps that go past logic into an instant understanding of the supernatural.

But it is Truman who most frequently takes the extraordinary and makes them sensible. Truman lost jurisdiction in the Laura Palmer murder investigation to Cooper when it became apparent that parts of the crime happened across state lines, making it a federal issue instead of a Washington state one. But where most law enforcement officers might begrudge being usurped in this fashion, Truman accepts it and seems grateful for it when it seems he is out of his league. His realism in trusting makes it perfectly understandable that he would begin to trust Cooper and still be able to maintain connections with the locals, like the wounded Big Ed, James's uncle.

Michael Ontkean sells Harry S. Truman perfectly as an unassuming, smart, but out-of-hit-league Sheriff. Ontkean plays the disbelief of his character wonderfully and it is artful how he expresses his character's shock when Cooper realizes he loves Josie. And he does comedic as well as empathetic with him and Kyle McLaughlin (Cooper) doing a wonderful shtick when Pete serves them coffee percolated with a fish in the percolator bowl! Ontkean has a great sense of physical presence that makes Truman realistic and well defined even when he does not have many lines.

But it is Sherilyn Fenn who steals the show. Fenn plays Audrey Horne and she lights up the screen every moment she is on it. As the character most frequently introduced by her legs - in the second season especially, one will know Audrey well before the camera gets to her face - Fenn has a confidence and physical presence that makes her electric on screen. Indeed, in "Episode 1" she plays a scene where she is quietly dancing alone for over half a minute before she is disturbed and she does a slow, sensual contortion that is absolutely dripping with youthful sexuality. Fenn rocks her brief scenes.

Anyone who likes a good murder mystery and enjoys stories that involve a very complex sense of time and place will like this episode. After all, while there is the a-plot involving Cooper investigating the murder, there is the primary b-plot (saw mill) and at least four other plot/character lines progressing as the episode progresses, making it seem very real in terms of setting. After all, there are thousands of people (supposedly) in Twin Peaks; their lives did not all stop when Laura was murdered. They have ambitions and plans and the series wisely takes a buckshot approach to give the sense that many of the characters are simply off doing their own thing. Anyone who likes stories that have a supernatural kick to them will find Twin Peaks worth their time and "Episode 1" sets the bar high.

Fortunately, the episodes keep getting better and better!

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Twin Peaks - The Complete First Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the groundbreaking debut season reviewed here!
or check out the entire series, available in the Gold Box Definitive edition, reviewed here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Ray Wise, be sure to check out my reviews of:
X-Men: First Class
The West Wing - Season Seven
"Who Watches The Watcher" - Star Trek: The Next Generation

8.5/10

For other television show reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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