Twin Peaks: Beyond Life and Death

 "You and I have an appointment at the end of the world..."

Wow. That was extraordinary. And that final scene, with Kyle MachLachlan giving a very different and hugely unnerving performance... perfection. And so is the whole episode.

Oh, I suppose the end of the series feels rushed. Most of the side plot threads are resolved only perfunctorily, if at all. Nadine's sudden recovery of her memory, only to see her life ruined, is tragic. The sudden love between Lucy and Andy is adorable. Andrew's explosive comeuppance is delicious, and Audrey's act of civil disobedience is so very Audrey. And... is Ben Horne dead? Is Pete?

But the rushed nature of all that pales in comparison to the extended and delightfully surreal, indeed literally Lynchian, sequence in the Black Lodge, with image after image, event after event, all of which defies description. It's not really narrative as such, just David Lynch being a true master of mood, atmosphere, imagery and unsettling weirdness. Does it make sense? That feels like such a banal question.

So much to ponder, though. I realise the Log Lady intros were made later, but this one is gloriously weird, with the close-up into Margaret's eye, a deliciously Lynchian touch. But we're left realising that Earle arrogantly tried to control forces far greater than himself, and paid the price. We end with Bob, unleashed again...

Utterly superb.

Twin Peaks: Lonely Souls

 "Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Ah, you can always tell when David Lynch directs an episode himself. The dreamlike quality here was through the roof, from the shooting from above in the hotel lobby early on to that extraordinary final scene in the bar. A surprising amount happens here, much of it gloriously weird.

I won't recount every aspect of the complex unfolding plot, from the shock for Shelley of suddenly being broke and having to look after Leo, her vegetable of an abusive husband "New shoes!") to the unfolding effects of Harold Smith's suicide or even the admittedly weird nature of Nadine's age regression, with the added squashing of a knickerbocker glory. And no, those last few words are not ones I ever imagined myself typing.

No: after the revelations of the One Armed Man last episode things have moved up a gear. Audrey has got her creep off a father to confess to her his doings at One Eyed Jack's and with Laura, and we end up with him being arrested. But we also have not only the Log Lady but also, on stage, the Giant, warning Agent Cooper that, in the Giant's words, "it's happening again"... and, just before she was planning, to leave Twin Peaks, Maddie is attacked by Leland, possessed as per the One Armed Man's explanation, seeming to kill her, having just suddenly killed his wife for good measure...

And the whole ending, the mood and the texture of it, is absolutely peak David Lynch.

Twin Peaks: Demons

 "I find the adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasaonable."

Just when you think Twin Peaks can't get any more delightfully bonkers, it does. I mean, a guest role by David Lynch himself playing Agent Cooper's boss (how very meta) complete with comedy hearing aids...? Yes please.

Lots happens, of course, but it'sall so delightfully weird mixed with real feeling. Harold Smith generally is devastated at Donna's betrayal and what that says about human nature. The scenes between a recovering Audrey, who knows everything, and her slimy father are enormous fun. Yet again we have mutual respect between Cooper and Harry, despite their being pretty much total opposites. And we have the mutual blackmail between Josie and Ben, very nicely done, and Harry's desperate confession of love before Josie seemingly moves to Hong Kong. It's weird, but the characters feel real, even if the events quite pointedly don't.

Then there's the taunting of Leo, who deserves all he gets, and Ben's business dealings- he's essentially a properly moustache-twirling villain at this point. But things only get to maximum weirdness at the end, when the One Armed Man reveals that vhe has an inhabiting spirit called "Mike"... and "Bob" is another such spirit who can onky be seen by "the gifted and the damned".

Brr. That's creepy as hell. And gripping. Twin Peaks is now making what seems to be a more overt shift towards the fantastic. I love it.

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?

Twin Peaks: Laura's Secret Diary

 "He never exercises. He never washes his car. And he doesn't even own a sports coat!"

By Twin Peaks standards, this is a fairly par episode, despite the fascinatingly surreal opening. And yet there's so much happening.

Oh, there's plot. Harold Smith openly tells Donna about Laura's secret diary... and Donna confides in love rival Maddy of all people. Ben Horne persuades Agent Cooper to handle the ransom for poor Audrey, luring him to his death. We meet a delightfully eccentric judge. Josie is up to something with her cousin from Hong Kong. And then there's Hank abd the bizarre fight at the end.

But there's also pathos. Leland feeling such unbearable grief that he killed Jacques Renault, who wasn't even Laura's killer. There's weirdness, with Audrey's only scene being shot very trippily, with Jean shooting his colleague suddenly. Jean is quite the character, to put it mildly.

Yet what lingers in the mind is the humour, the subtlety of it. Lucy's love troubles with Andy and Dick, our twoabsurd comedy characters, are quietly hilarious. And then there's the little sub-plot of the secret restaurant critic. 

I very much suspect we're not exactly going to see all the threads drawn together. But I'm still loving this.

Twin Peaks: The Man Behind the Glass

 "I love you, Sheriff Truman."

Less weirdness this week, possibly not unconnected to the fact that David Lynch doesn't direct.  Instead we have a series of events, clues and plot developments. However, it's amusing to see Agent Cooper matter-og-factly tell both the bluthely accepting Harry Truman and the ever-cynical Albert about the giant. And the confrontation between the Sheriff and Albert may itself count as weird.

Elsewhere, a song raises Nadine from her coma, but she thinks she's eighteen.because this is the Twin Peaks definition of "not weird". There's a bizarre triangle developing between Donna, James and Maddy. We meet Harold Smith, much younger than expected although asweird aswe might expect... and his house is full of orchids, symbolising beauty and fertility so, yeah, "not weird"...

In other developments, Leland is arrested for Jacques' murder. Audrey is being filmed in a plot to blackmail Ben... and kill Cooper. Lucy has a very pretentious and odd boyfriend, Ben, who seems to be the father of the child growing in her belly. And Harold seems to have known Laura well, we (and Donna) think at first... until we see that he has her diary in his possession...!

Even without the direct Lynchian stuff, this is gripping, and just weird enough. I don't know where it's going... but that's not the point at all. I'm loving this.