***Turn back if your log is afraid of spoilers***
Last week’s episode of “Twin Peaks” was arguably the worst of the revival, wheels spinning when we were ready to go somewhere, our collective foot on the gas when Lynch had the parking brake on. But we’re moving again in a jam-packed hour that played heavily to nostalgia, provided some curious information that naturally only brought up more questions, and buzzed along with same electric hum that could be driving the town of Twin Peaks mad. Let’s dive in.
In Las Vegas, the party hasn’t stopped for Dougie (Kyle MacLachlan, the real Dale Cooper) and the Mitchum Brothers (James Belushi and Robert Knepper), who literally dance into Lucky Seven. But crooked insurance agent Anthony isn’t celebrating when he sees that Dougie is still alive. He acquires some poison that he puts in Dougie’s cup of coffee, but when Anthony’s dandruff distracts Dougie into giving him a shoulder massage, Anthony aborts his plan, dumps the poisoned coffee down the toilet (“that bad, huh?”), and confesses his list of crimes to the amazingly-named Bushnell Mullins. Still, in Nevada, the detectives receive Dougie’s prints back, but they match up with a recently-escaped prisoner (check) and a former FBI agent (check, check). They decide that can’t be right and in the trash they go.
We then head over to Montana where Bad Cooper (also Kyle MacLachlan) arrives at the Farm, ready to have it out with Ray, the associate who tried to kill him. But it won’t be so easy. He’ll have to arm wrestle ganglord Renzo, and apparently, Renzo is very, very strong. But not too strong for Bad Cooper, who teases him a bit before finally beating him and then punching him hard in the face. With Renzo out of the way, Bad Cooper pulls some thought-provoking answers out of Ray. He was hired by Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie) or someone acting as him to kill Bad Cooper because “you got something inside that they want.” Ray had also been told to put the green ring we’ve seen before on Bad Cooper after he was dead. But Bad Cooper told Ray to put the ring on and then shot him. Ray and the ring both disappeared from the Farm and landed in the Red Room, which must have been where Phillip Jeffries wanted Bad Cooper if everything went according to plan. Does Phillip Jeffries run the Red Room? Are we thinking it’s becoming more plausible that Bowie will pop up before this is all over? The rest of the criminals at the Farm watch the activity from another room, and among them is none other Richard Horne (Eamon Farren), who takes an awfully close look at Bad Cooper through the security camera and he may be looking right back at him. Is it just evil sniffing out evil or is Richard picking up on daddy vibes?
At the Double R Diner, Norma (Peggy Lipton) receives some news about her businesses—yes, plural. It seems she has a franchise on her hands, but other locations are doing better than the original profit-wise. That’s because Norma is, per their agreement, making sure the pies are made the way she sees fit, with locally-grown ingredients, spending too much money to make them. She says that the word on the street is that the pies from other locations don’t taste as good, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t. She’s given the exact same instructions with the list of ingredients that should be used and maybe they simply aren’t being followed. Norma’s “a real artist, but love doesn’t always turn a profit,” her partner tells her. My first thought was that this is David Lynch writing metaphorically about the creation of his own revival, pondering questions about the ingredients and formula for a show that he knows will no doubt be compared to the original. Then, another thought: Why are the pies at the original Double R so good? Could this have to do with the locally-grown ingredients, or more where they’re grown, when the other Double Rs can get them wherever they want?
We also check in on some other characters we touched down on last week. Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) is enjoying her cigarettes and booze and violent boxing, but it’s not the who in this scene, it’s the what, and that is a buzzing and popping coming from her electricity. Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn) isn’t doing too well either and we get some clarification about why her introduction in the revival felt so “off” last week. She’s still spinning in circles about a “story” and says that she doesn’t know who she is anymore. “Now are you gonna stop playing games or do I have to end your story too?” her husband Charlie (Clark Middleton) asks.
The performer at the Roadhouse this episode is a very familiar face: James Hurley (James Marshall), singing a song “Twin Peaks” devotees should easily recognize from the original series. “Just You” was the moody tune James played with Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) and Maddie (Sheryl Lee playing Laura Palmer’s cousin) as his backup singers before Bob (Frank Silva) crawled over the Palmer household couch to get to Maddie. But the credits don’t roll during it like they normally do, and instead the show lets him finish. We end on “Big” Ed Hurley (Everett McGill) sitting alone in the dark at Big Ed’s Gas Farm, eating a very sad dinner and presumably pining away for Norma. But he’s also doing something else that’s probably not advisable, certainly as a character in this show or as the owner of the local gas station: he’s lighting matches and then blowing them out or you could say he’s playing with fire. But if you too were waiting for the Woodsmen to show up (gas station!), you’re not alone.
See you next week!