Almost All The Twin Peaks Answers, Poisoned By Subplots - "Episodes 15 - 19!"

The Good: Some powerful moments and actual answers to big Twin Peaks questions, Acting, Surrealism
The Bad: Powerfully dumb subplots
The Basics: Despite finally identifying Laura Palmer's killer, Twin Peaks begins some cheap subplots that ridiculously place plot over character and undermine the show.


[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, especially when discussing second season 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!]

And then comes the critical turning point for Twin Peaks. After all the foot dragging and suspense, some questions needed to be answered and the resolution to the Laura Palmer murder investigation left a significant gap that was filled like the Three Stooges running through a single doorway. That kind of crazy action of plot bottled up the series and left it mostly stuck until Windham Earl came to the forefront. But that comes later. This boxed set, "Episodes 15 - 19" is a tough one to rate fairly because it has the complexity of some of the series highs (Episode 16) followed by some of the genuine loser episodes of the series.

"Episode 15" opens with Bob having claimed his latest victim and Benjamin Horne is locked up for the murder of Laura Palmer and he turns to his brother to represent him and exonerate him. Cooper and Truman find Leland Palmer singing and dancing his way around the Great Northern and driving erratically as they search for Phillip Gerard to get his take on Benjamin. Pete torments Benjamin with the knowledge that someone unexpected is alive and working against him. And Norma Jennings's mother comes to Twin Peaks and her new husband, Ernie, has a strange connection with Hank Jennings!

"Episode 16" involves the discovery of Bob's latest victim and Cooper's determination of who Laura Palmer's killer likely is. When James proposes to Donna, she accepts until she learns that the creepy neighbor who led her to Harold did not exist. At the home of that shut-in, Donna and Cooper find the final clue; a note from Laura Palmer from the day she died. While Norma struggles with her picky mother and Benjamin Horne is tormented by an unlikely person, signing over Ghostwood in the process, Cooper assembles his suspects. While James flees Twin Peaks in reaction to the recent casualty, Cooper has a vision and correctly identifies who was possessed by Bob!

"Episode 17" finds the show adrift following the end of the first big mystery. Three days after the suicide of Laura Palmer's killer, Twin Peaks is reeling from the news. There is a wake and Big Ed and Nadine attend, shortly before Nadine begins attending Twin Peaks High because of her belief that she is a high school student. Norma's mother reveals her true nature to Norma and Hank and Ernie become involved with Jean Renault. As Cooper prepares to leave Twin Peaks - breaking Audrey's heart in the process - he is set upon by Internal Affairs. Relieved of his duties, he is free to go with Major Briggs into the woods, a visit that has profound results. Also, Richard and Deputy Andy compete for Lucy's heart.

"Episode 18" has James Hurley fleeing Twin Peaks where he meets Evelyn, an abused housewife who needs his help in fixing her husband's car, which she crashed. Agent Denise arrives from the DEA to take over the investigation into Cooper's connection with the drugs running into Twin Peaks and the wedding party for Milford and his young bride happens. As well, in the competition for Lucy's heart, Richard and Andy babysit a young boy who has a cruel streak in him. And Cooper receives a message from Windham Earl, while Benjamin Horne descends into madness and Josie Packard returns to town to tell Harry the truth about her past.

And "Episode 19" has Bobby starting work for Horne, who sets him to tailing Hank. Doug dies as a result of his wife and their honeymoon night, Richard learns more about Nicky - the orphan he is using to try to prove his suitability as a father to Lucy with, and Nadine joins the wrestling team where she takes on Mike, the team captain. Cooper discovers the real culprits bringing drugs into Twin Peaks and Windham Earl makes his first move. Josie bides her time waiting for Thomas Eckhart to arrive and James begins to work on Evelyn.

The problem with this collection of episodes is that they represent some of the highs and lows of Twin Peaks. So, for example, it is truly a thrill to see Laura Palmer's killer be brought to justice and the nature of Bob is very much in the spirit of Twin Peaks. The a-plot in episodes 15 and 16 wraps up the primary thrust of the series in an amazing and worthy way. The difficulty is that it is combined with the severe lows of things like the Nadine superhuman strength, going back to high school storyline and the ridiculous appearance of Nicky and Richard to complicate the lives of Lucy and Andy. Similarly, the addition of the Milfords (Doug and the mayor) and the soap operatic James-helping-Evelyn plot is just painful to watch.

And those who follow my reviews know I'm a huge fan of serialized television. As a result, I have a lot of patience with the Major Garland plot that is begun in these episodes and the seeds of the Windham Earl chess match. The whole drug subplot is passable and justified considering that there ought to be consequences for Audrey being rescued by Cooper and Truman and in this case, those consequences are interesting.

Less so is the appearance of Norma's mother and it seems like that is only the justification to introduce Ernie and his involvement with Hank. The result as one might guess from the lack of analysis thus far is simple: Twin Peaks adds a bunch of characters and takes a buckshot approach to the storyline in an attempt to find something that sticks as opposed to telling a coherent narrative.

In other words, character is sacrificed for plot. The plotlines diverge and very little is done with the characters other than move them around. They spend these five episodes so busy doing things that they do not grow, change or develop and the series stalls as a result of that. There are few quiet moments that involve actual development and that lessens what Twin Peaks is. There are exceptions, but almost all of them are in the earlier episodes of this block.

So, for example, in "Episode 17," Cooper explains to Audrey why - outside their ages - he will not pursue a relationship with her and the revelation is an intriguing one that answers a number of questions about Cooper's past and his eccentric professionalism. He is enhanced by the exchange and the viewer comes to empathize with him a bit more.

And poor Audrey for wanting him! Audrey's character takes a turn for the weird in this block as well as she develops a friendship with Bobby Briggs and like the terrible subplot that involves James fleeing Twin Peaks into the arms of Evelyn, it has the feel that now that the Laura Palmer investigation is over, the writers and producers simply had no idea what to do with Audrey.

And that's a shame because prior to this, she had been such a rich an intriguing character, easily one of the bright lights of the younger half of the Twin Peaks cast. In fact, the only prior cast member who benefits in this block is Hank Jennings. Okay, that's not entirely true. Josie Packard is fleshed out quite a bit upon her return. We see her and Truman together and she provides her backstory, setting up the upcoming Thomas Eckhart storyline. The reason I do not go into too much depth on that storyline is simple: Twin Peaks is a fun show and it is filled with twists and turns and surprising developments. The first season finale is a huge episode (reviewed here!) that is fraught with consequences, many of which resonate through the second season. Some of those consequences involve characters who are killed, disappear, flee or are otherwise maimed. Some of those characters, I am forced to discuss - like Nadine - because they become big characters who dominate plotlines (even if they are utterly ridiculous ones!). In order to truly appreciate Twin Peaks, though, you ought to be open to the surprises that come and deeply related to Josie is another character, whose fate was sealed in the first season finale. But rather than reveal too much of that, I avoid ruining the surprises. Pardon the conceit.

Josie's return sets up a storyline that puts Truman in potential danger and it puts Josie in a diminished place. Forced to work for one of her enemies, she reveals her backstory of her childhood essentially a mobster's favored slave, as an act of confession and for the first time, her character truly pops. It becomes more than a soap operatic series of character conveniences that Truman is drawn to Josie and the viewer is left feeling less cheated by that relationship.

Unfortunately, in the parade of new characters, the setup of the Thomas Eckhart plot makes the dangers of characters like Hank Jennings diminished. After all, Hank Jennings's great unspoken claim to fame was helping Josie knock off her husband, Andrew, and then becoming incarcerated for a lesser crime to lie low for a while. Lacking that, Hank is something of a goon and the viewer's appreciation for the menace he might represent is undermined.

But Hank makes a good showing in this section of the series and his relationship with Ernie continues to establish him as a man who cannot be trusted and who has some secrets that are still veiled. Despite the problems of Hank's character, he is wonderfully played by Chris Mulkey. Mulkey, of late seen in about four frames of Cloverfield (reviewed here!), has a natural charisma that he brings to the role that makes it seem very real that he would be able to make the crime connections he does, yet successfully avoid being reincarcerated. Mulkey is smooth and he plays off James Booth, who plays Ernie quite well.

The real treat in this section of episodes is seeing the performance by David Duchovny. Duchovny, best known for The X-Files (reviewed here!) appears in this section of episodes as Denise Bryson, the DEA agent who happens to be a transvestite. Duchovny is given the acting challenge of playing a male who has gender-identified with women and expresses that without appearing to be Duchovny playing a woman. In this case, Duchovny pulls it off and he is quite convincing and deeply human as Denise.

The first two episodes of this block involve some great performances by the person who plays the character possessed by Bob and that individual gives an amazing performance once they are revealed.

But the series still largely revolves around Dale Cooper, despite the ever widening circle of ridiculous plots. Kyle MacLachlan is wonderful as Cooper, infusing a deeper sense of humanity into the characters - especially once he is relieved of his FBI duties. MacLachlan consistently plays Cooper as something of a genius with a weird formality to him and in this section, they give him some choice scenes with Don S. Davis who has a similar characterization for Major Briggs. MacLachlan illustrates a profound sense of understanding that his character is not just weird of esoteric and that allows him to make Cooper shine as an intriguing protagonist.

But these episodes are the start of the plummet. The first two reach a crescendo and from there, the viewers are dashed to the proverbial rocks below with the splintering of the show into subplots that are plot heavy and character weak, involving ridiculous characters and ideas like Nicky, the psycho child and Richard who Lucy may have been impregnated by . . . these are turns that do not follow the logic and reality of the first season of Twin Peaks and depart it - surprisingly fast - from what made the show so great to begin with.

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

For other works with David Warner, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Titanic
"Chain Of Command, Part II"
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Tron

5/10

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

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Day Before The Long, Deadly Night Falls On Twin Peaks With "Episode 6!"

The Good: Excellent acting, Story, Great character development, Sense of purpose/tension
The Bad: Minutiae
The Basics: In the penultimate episode of the first season, Cooper and his team head to One-Eyed Jacks while the local kids follow their own leads into the death of Laura Palmer!


[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!]

Twin Peaks, by the point it has gotten to the seventh episode ("Episode 6," as the pilot was outside the numbering system) had abandoned any casual viewers and those who might want to collect Twin Peaks on video or catch it on DVD and are reading these reviews to decide if it is worth it or not are likely to find themselves with a bit of a problem; it's all in its own little world by this point. Twin Peaks is a place all of its own and because the show is heavily serialized, "Episode 6" represents a point where it is virtually impossible to leap into the series and be satisfied. Or understand all that is going on. Twin Peaks is one of the truest serialized shows that ever graced television and it is uncompromising in a way that commits to its storyline without inviting those coming late in a way almost no other series' even attempt to do. In fact, only Babylon 5's third and fourth seasons leap to mind as committing as fully without being accessible to latecomers as the first season of Twin Peaks (and much of the second as well) did.

Talking Audrey out of her embarrassing position, Cooper returns to the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department with an idea of how to get what is possibly the only living witness - outside the killer - to Laura Palmer's murder to talk. Given that the witness is a bird with limited speech capability, Cooper leaves it in a pleasant environment with a voice-activated tape recorder while he and the others prepare go up north to One-Eyed Jacks. Unfortunately for them, Leo Johnson has survived being shot at and he comes looking for the bird. Convinced more than ever of the need to find Jacques Renault, Cooper, Truman, Big Ed and Hawk go north to One-Eyed Jacks to find him.

Meanwhile, Maddy, James and Donna have begun a parallel investigation, one that indicates to them that Dr. Jacoby may well be Laura's murderer and they go in search of evidence. Using Maddy, they lure Dr. Jacoby away from his office. Audrey, in the meantime, has discovered that the perfume counter is a launching place for girls to begin careers at One-Eyed Jacks and, missing Cooper, decides to go on alone into that dangerous territory. She schemes her way into a job as a girl in the illicit half of the establishment! Catherine, for her part, learns that Josie Packard has taken out an insurance policy on her life and she suspects that Benjamin Horne has betrayed her in his attempt to seal the Ghostwood Estates deal, a betrayal that insinuates that she will not survive the night that has just fallen, a suspicion made almost certain by the fact that Hank Jennings is working with Josie.

"Episode 6" is where all of the pieces begin to move and there is a great sense of action on every front. On the Ghostwood plot, Benjamin Horne works to seal the deal with the Icelandic delegation and learns from his brother that the funloving Europeans would like to sign off on the project somewhere more recreational, which moves Horne up to One-Eyed Jacks. The significance of this cannot be lost on the viewer as it makes him inaccessible to Catherine, who now believes he has set her up to be killed, and Josie who may well be pulling the strings needed to get the mill burned down for a profit and collect insurance money on it, with or without Catherine being killed. The thing about the Ghostwood plot is that at this point, it has fallen into something of a free for all with Benjamin, Catherine and Josie all moving pieces - manipulating thugs and hired help - that seem to put them all at cross purposes. It's completely up in the air who will end up with what and how they will go about getting it. It is quite rare for a television series to be able to maintain a genuine sense of surprise and shock, but "Episode 6" develops in such a way that on the secondary plot, it's anybody's guess where it will go and how it might resolve itself. Indeed, all we have is the sense that a fire is coming, but who will get burned remains a mystery waiting to burst into being.

The real gem of this episode is in getting Big Ed and Agent Cooper up to One-Eyed Jacks. Big Ed has been neglected some and with his wife's silent drape runner obsession, he's seemed more like a tangent to a joke than a viable character. Here Big Ed portrays a sense of realism seldom seen in television; he is not a cop. As one of the Bookhouse Boys, Truman asks Cooper to use him on their illegal mission to One-Eyed Jacks, which is in Canada. Cooper and Big Ed become the primary "inside men" in the casino and after much schooling on his undercover backstory, Big Ed realistically blows it at the first questioning by a pretty woman. Coming off dealing with Nadine's rejection at the Patent Office, this reads as very real on a character level.

So, too, do the actions of almost all of the young people in the secondary plots. Donna, James and Maddy have become obsessed with Laura Palmer's death and their belief that Laura's tapes implicate Jacoby. On a plot front, their harebrained scheme to lure Jacoby out seems ridiculous, but on a character front, it makes perfect sense. So, too, does the reunion of Bobby Briggs and Shelly Johnson. Bobby commits to Shelly in a way that we had not thought the punkish character would be able to and the only thing that throws his devotion to her is what he believes is the appearance of the deceased Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks!

But the real character journey in "Episode 6" is once again illustrated in the strong, manly friendship of Dale Cooper and Sheriff Truman. Truman begins to suspect that Josie's intuition about Catherine trying to run the mill into the ground may be accurate and he wants to investigate, but he has no real jurisdiction. Truman confides in Cooper and asks for his help in a way that makes the sheriff very vulnerable. Cooper, similarly, opens up to Truman with the sharing of his ritual to give himself a little gift each day; this day, they share a cup of coffee together at the Double R Diner. And here we have the sense that the two men who are very different in many ways - Cooper is very complex to Truman's simplicity - have developed a bond that is incredibly strong.

In fact, one of the only real faults of this episode is the moments the details contain ridiculous conceits. So, for example, Audrey is doing her homework on One-Eyed Jacks and needs to hide in her boss's closet in order to glean details from a conversation he is having. The closet door has the vents in it (the technical term is escaping me at the moment, like built in Venetian Blinds made of wood common in doors made of hardwood) that was the style of the time and Audrey stands right next to these slats smoking a cigarette. It's pretty ridiculous for a clandestine action and that she is not caught as a result is somewhat insulting to the intelligence of the viewer.

All of the acting this episode is wonderful. The young cast and old mixes perfectly and Dana Ashbrook and Machden Amick continue building their on-screen chemistry perfectly. Similarly, Lara Flynn Boyle, James Marshall and Sheryl Lee play off one another in a way that lends their scenes a real credibility as their characters go off in a direction that could appear very contrived otherwise. The adult cast is phenomenal as well, with people like Chris Mulkey (Hank Jennings) finally coming into their own and making their characters seem vital through the stature of their performance. Mulkey, for example, insinuates a sense of danger and a rebellious quality into every scene he is in, making Hank one of the characters to watch. And Michael Ontkean and Kyle MacLachlan play off one another beautifully as Truman and Cooper in this episode.

But the real winner is Piper Laurie as Catherine Martell. Laurie has one huge, significant scene and she rocks the episode with it. In a simple conversation between Catherine and an insurance agent, Laurie must make clear that Catherine understands the machinations going on around her without saying them aloud. With a strong sense of vocal and facial control, Laurie moves her body with simple grace to portray the slow build to a true epiphany over the course of the scene and there is no word for it other than "masterful!"

"Episode 6" and the significance of many of the actions in it are likely to be lost on those who are not fans of Twin Peaks already, but for those who have entered this strange and wonderful world, this is the last step to the cliff's edge before we are shoved off!

[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 Sherilyn Fenn, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Gilmore Girls - Season 7
Gilmore Girls - Season 6
Friends - Season 3

8.5/10

For other television reviews, be sure to check out my Television Index Page!

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