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: Masked Ball

 "Let a smile be your umbrella!

It's fascinating to see the season continue to branch out after the Laura Palmer mystery is solved- was the second season supposed to last only as long as the first season did, with the rest of the season added on? Because, I have to say, it sort of feels like that... but absolutely not in a bad way.

The Major's disappearance isn't dwelt on, but I like Hawk's bit about the White Lodge and the Black Lodge. Then there's the subplot with poor Josie, as we learn about her past, only for her to be cruelly entrapped into being Catherine's maid... and then, the cliffhanger, her husband is not only alive but in league with Catherine and using his own wife as bait!

Then there's James, whose motorbike riding is always accompanied by rock 'n' roll, meeting a femme fatale in a bar. There's more school antics with Nadine, a very surreal wedding, and more passive aggressive rivalry between Dick and Andy, which Andy seems to be winning by niceness. I'm loving the mixture of the weird and the comedic with, for now, more emphasis on a lightness of tone. Although Ben Horne, for one, isn't having a good time in this episode.

Indeed, even the investigation into Agent Cooper, a seeming frame attempt, goes into the direction of a trans investigator played by none other than David Duchovny with some very 1990 attitudes to LGBT plus issues, albeit with no nasty culture war bigotry. Yeah... it feels so recent, but it was a different time!

Twin Peaks: Arbitrary Law

 "One chants out between two worlds... fire walk with me!"

Wow. This episode is a hugely satisfying resolution to the question of Laura's murder, but... we have twelve episodes to go.  How can this not be the end?

We knew it was Leland, possessed by Bob. But the way an admittedly clueless Agent Cooper finally solves the mystery by the use of visually awesome "magic", utilising all that imagery of not only his own dream, but those of Laura, is hugely satisfying. Bob's been possessing Leland, and using him to kill, for a long time. Yet Leland- even if Bob seemingly flies away as an owl(!) dies in peace at the end...

Well, as far as that may be said for one who has headbutted oneself to death on a cell door!

Laura accepted she had to die, in order to not herself be possessed. Wow. And the Major... he knows things. Also impressive is how Harry slowly, sort of, comes to terms with these supernatural things. Andthe shocking revelation that the old woman from a couple of episodes ago, with her eerie grandson, to whom Donna has been delivering meals for years, has been dead for years... brr!

Other things happen, too, of course- Catherine forces Ben to sign away his rights in return for nothing, and the saga of who is the father of Lucy's baby continues. But this episode is a massively satisfying conclusion to the central mystery.

So... what next.

Twin Peaks: Drive with a Dead Girl

 "Ben... as your attorney, your friend and your brother, I strongly suggest that you get yourself a better lawyer."

This episode, perhaps, may not stand out as much as some, but it's as engaging as ever as the many subplots continue to unfold. We see Leland's disturbing behaviour after last episode's events, but whenever he looks into the mirror... it's Bob. I love the many golf balls at the start! Still, those glances in the mirror aside, this episode is unusually devoid of the supernatural. Indeed, Harry even pushes back at Agent Cooper on this a little.

So much happens here, as ever. Hank's old cellmate Ernie marries Lorna's mother. Andy tells Lucy that he may be the baby's father. Ben is being set up by Catherine, unless he signs over all but the hotel. Both Harry and Pete are worried about what happened to Josie. Maddie's body is found. 

Interestingly, though, we're eight episodes into this season which, unlike the last one, has the then regulation 22 episodes expected by American network television, whereas last season was over at this point. There aren't clear signs of it yet, but I do hope this doesn't lead to unnecessary padding. Time will tell.

Twin Peaks: The Orchid's Curse

 "I'm a whole damn town!"

Pretty much a bog standard episode here, with plot threads progressing and mysteries unfolding amidst a cornucopia of suspense, humour and pathos, but this is Twin Peaks and that's no bad thing. 

There's so much going on, The Judge does some pre-hearing stuff, granting Leland bail and deciding not to try Leo on account of his being a vegetable. There's some slapstic about installing the hoist for Leo as Shelley and Bobby make out, as no doubt they'll take pleasure in doing in front of Leo. Lucy is away for a bit. Andy's sperm count is suddenly back up... but is an abortion on the cards? 

But there are two particular areas of focus here. There's Donna and Maddy with their attempts to steal Laura's secret diary from Harold, despite the fact that Donna like him, weird though he is. There's this delightfully symbolic and highly sexual scene between the two of them with the orchids... "Too much moisture is an invitation to disease"? Well, that sentence is doing a lot of work, to put it mildly. But that ending... ouch.

Then there's Harry and Agent Cooper on theor weird but seemingly successful mission to rescue Audrey. During which we see some owls... are they what they seem? Why is the Judge emphasising the local forest to Agent Cooper? Who is Diane? We asak the questions but, well, the answers are not really the point, are they?