Twin Peaks: Miss Twin Peaks

" I haven't been this excited since I punctured Caroline's aorta..."

Here we are, then: the penultimate episode. An awful lot happens, as we might expect. Some sub=plots approach their dénouement- Donna trying to work out he truth between Ben Horne and her mother; Lucy choosing Andy instead of Dick; that key inside the metal cube that was in turn within the metal box.

But really, it's about the secrets of the Black Lodge gradually unfolding, with Earle listening in as Dale Cooper solves a few puzzles via astrological mumbo jumbo. Leo pays a heavy price, involving teeth and tarantulas, for freeing a heavily drugged Major Briggs who ends up as an important source of clues... but perhaps we should remember that Leo is not a very nice man. And it's perfect that the final piece of the puzzle should come from an eureka moment had by, of all people, Andy.

Then there's the Miss Twin Peaks pageant, an opportunity for much weird comedy as Twin Peaks is much known for. But much else, too, not least of which is long overdue sex between Annie and Coop. Oh, and a sex scene in the dark between Lana and Dick, naturally, the Mayor suspecting nothing.

But the ending is both exciting and visually arresting, as chaos ensues and Windom Earle seizes Annie. It's a whirlwind of an episode, bonkers and fun.

Nearly there...

Twin Peaks: The Path to the Black Lodge

 "

Well, it seems love is in the air... along with weird hand tremors, Windom Earle being a first class baddie, and signs that we may be feeling our way towards some kind of explanation for all this Black Lodge stuff. it's the pre-penultimate episode, and there's an awful lot going on.

But ah, there's love in the run up to Miss Twin Peaks. Bobby straight-up declares his love for Shelley after weeks of being something of a ****. Jack has to fly back to Brazil for a long time, just as Audrey has fallen in love with him... the desperate drive to intercept him at the airport may be a cliché, but Audrey's insistence on losing her virginity to him first is actually rather sweet. As is everything to do with Coop and Annie, both of them delightfully eccentric intellectuals whose flirting casually references both St Augustine and Heisenberg. Less sweet, though, is the Mayor's exploitative girlfriend. 

We also get lots of delicious manipulative evil from Earle, not the least of which is having the Mayor literally kidnapped by a pantomime horse. And he is, of course, running rings around everyone, discovering the map to the Black Lodge. Which, we learn, is an evil place connected with "evil sorcerers called "Dugpas". Groovy.

Excellent stuff, and not long to go now...

Twin Peaks: Variations on Relations

 "When I talk to you, I get a tingling sensation in my toes and in my stomach."

The plot certainly looms large here. Most of younger women in the cast seem set to enter Miss Twin Peaks. The plans of Windom Earle unwind apace, with him getting perhaps the best lines from a particularly dialogue-rich episode. Yet Cooper admits he can no longer predict what his old foe will do.

And so the foreboding mounts, as Major Briggs agrees to look into the relevant details of his mysterious project, footage abounds of the likes of owls and a mysterious hooded figure in the woods. Earle's latest stunt is particularly macabre. Oh, and there's Catherine's little puzzle box. And yet...

This episode is really  all about establishing the character stuff before we head into the final straight. Cooper and Annie have a date on a boat, connect... and kiss! Gordon kisses Shelley... and Bobby sees! Dick presides over a rather amusing little wine tasting. Mike points out to Bobby that, yes, Nadine may older... but there are, er, benefits being with to a woman with sexual maturity and superhuman strength!!!

It's all enormous fun. And not long now until the end...

Twin Peaks: Wounds and Scars

 "I guess the world's just caught up to us..."

Inevitably, Harry is deeply affected by Josie's death in a way we've never seen him before. But he gets his moment of reflection (and catharsis) with Coop, and I assume he'll be back to normal next time.

Soooo much happens, though. The Log Lady reveals that, when she was seven and in the forest, she had a similar experience to Cooper and the Major, receiving a tattoo on her leg. Cooper and Pete struggle with the stalemate game against Earle... it's impossible to play so as no pieces are taken, so people will die. Earle, meanwhile, is angry at the stalemate game, and the fact that Cooper is clearly being helped... so he delivers his own move in a particularly creepy and scary manner. This is brilliant stuff.

So is the sparring between Ben Horne and Catherine, towards the end, just before the inevitable farce (the scene involves Dick, after all) with the pine marten. Like most episodes, there are lots of plotlines moving forwards, there are the guest celebrity appearances we've come to see of late (Heather Graham appears as Norma's sister) and there are a selection of entertaining set pieces. And, as ever, it's utterly compelling. Five episodes to go, and I've absolutely no idea how this will end.

Leo as bullied butler figure, though.... brr!

Twin Peaks: Slaves and Masters

 "The only things I know in Hungarian are paprika and goulash..."

This episode is especially well directed... by none other than Diane Keaton. Yes, that Diane Keaton...

This feels very much like an episode that's there to tie up all these rather odd little mid-season plot threads before the season enters the final stretch. Ben's madness arc climaxes and abruptly ends.... essentially, because Audrey is too clever to allow Jerry to exploit his madness. The sub-plot with James being framed by Evelyn and Malcolm seems, by the end of the episode, to have met a sudden end- mainly via Donna's intervention.

Then we have the disturbing scenes of Earle abusing Leo ("Domestic violence. Well, I am partial to that."), Catherine seemingly about to, rather evilly, just hand poor Josie over to the sinister Eckhart after making her serve them both as maid. Ouch. One can see where the episode's title comes from, while feeling rather more sorry for Josie than for Leo.

Then we have the rather delicious scene of Nadine casually finding Ed in bed with Norma, lots of random owls, and more intrigue in the battle of wits between Earle and Cooper. It's a good enough episode, although... is it me but, for an episode of Twin Peaks, the weirdness level seems a bit lower than usual!

Twin Peaks: Double Play

 "I will return. Until that time, I will be in the shadows until you need me."

Relatively speaking, I suppose, Twin Peaks is undergoing a bit of a lull. Yet we still have so much cool stuff going on. Cooper's explanation of the backstory behind the "genius" Windom Earle, and how he ties in with Coop's lost love. The slasher movie type jump scares as the recovered Leo menaces Shelley. Leo, in the woods, ending up in a cabin with Earle. And the owls.. oh, the owls!

We also have some comic relief sub-plots, with the Black Widow and Little Nicky, to lighten the tone. But so much is happening... Pete learns that Andrew is alive, Josie doesn't know, and Josie is bait for Eckhart, who has just arrived in Twin Peaks... and he's David Warner!

Then there's the revelation that James was always going to be set up for the abusive husband's murder. The magnificent weirdness of literally everything Major Briggs says. Ben Horne continuing to be completely hatstand... although it's notable that, in 1991, it was not yet beyond the pale to support the South in the American Civil War because, you know, yes it was literally about slavery and only slavery.

The season is treading water a bit- 22 episodes always was too many- but I'm still having fun.

Twin Peaks: Realisation Time

 "Once a day, give yourself a present!"

Oh, whetre to start? There's just so much going on in this penultimate episode. I can't keep up with you, neither can you or anybody else, but it's all so compelling and immersive. The direction, the cinematograpjy, the weirdness... the characters.

We begin with Agent Dale Cooper finding Audrey in his bed... and acting the perfect gentleman, refusing to take advantage, making it clear that he does like her but has principles, getting her something nice to eat and drink, and makes time to listen to her. Unsurprisingly, she fancies him even more.

Cooper is a nuanced character- strait-laced, moral, weird, eccentric, trustworthy, competent, several contradictory things, but he fees coherent, a testament to the writing and acting. He's the still point around which all revolves, disliked by no one. 

But so much else happens! Leo survives his shooting, and has Shelley terrified. Bobby is determined to kill him (and James!), yet Leo manages to shoot the mynah bird... but not before a recording of its voice suggests Leo hurt Laura. Leo, Laura, Ronette and Jacques Renault were all in that room from last episode? This calls for an incognito visit to One Eyed Jack's... yet Cooper is in his element even playing blackjack.

So much else. Audrey scheming to get into One Eyed Jack's. The plot to burn down the mill. The Icelanders. The plot to get the tape from Dr Jacoby. I have no idea what's going on. But damn, this is good.

Twin Peaks: Cooper's Dreams

 "My log does not judge."

Wow. Where to start with this one? There's so much going on.

So let's see... the Norwegian investors sent packing by Audrey have been replaced, much to the chagrin of Agent Cooper, by a load of boisterous Icelanders. And Cooper and his police posse explore two log cabins, the second of which offers lots of tantalising clues (I'm not following the facts around Laura Palmert's death very well at this point, of course, but that makes me no different from all the other viewers), but the first of which is the highlight of the epidsode.

It's the Log Lasy, for a sustained period of time, and the Sheriff and his deputies clearly respect her, gloriously and magnificently weird though she is. She gets all the episode's best lines, all within this one scene.This scene alone makes the episode a triumph, and is wonderfully David Lynch.

Yet there are so many other plot points. Audrey blackmailing her way on to the perfume counter. Hank coming home to Norma from prison, being nice... but still secretly involved in crime. The Log Lady revealing a third man besides Jacques Renault ad Leo. Bob's weird confession to Dr Jacoby that "Laura wanted death", and her bleak phiolosophy that people only end up doing evil despite trying to do good. Hell, that's dark.

But what en ending, with Shelley, scared, shooting Leo. And a certain lady in Cooper's bed. This is sizzling stuff indeed. I can't wait to devour the rest.

Twin Peaks: The One-Armed Man

 "In real life, there is no algebra..."

Bums. Just belatedly realised that, because of how the episodes are displayed on the DVD, I inadvertently missed the third episode, so the last one I blogged was ion fact the fourth. Aaaargh. That's incredibly annoying. I'll blog the third one next, then onwards.

Anyway...

I think, given how damned complicated things are getting- although, I'll note, it's not that hard to follow, which is a triumph of storytelling- I'm not going to be too thorough about discussing plot developments in these blog posts. So many characters, so many connections between them, so many secrets... and the point is not so much the endless mystery as the mood, in any case. And plenty of it.

Leland's chat with Leo is a surprise, though. And it's interesting how multiple characters are now having seemingly precognitive dreams. There's feeling here, too: Shelly's domestic abuse by Leo isn't treated lightly. We meet Hank, unexpectedly successful in his parole hearing, which is going to cause problems.. 

But mostly this is where the weirdness creeps in a little more. The goings-on are becoming more and more absurd. I'm minded of how the investigation takes a turn towards parrots and mynah birds. The absurdity, of course, is by no means a bad thing. This is the world of David Lynch. So much weirdness, so many symbols. Does any of it mean anything? Does it matter? I'm engrossed.