Welcome to our biweekly roundtable of Twin Peaks where we are working our way through every. Single. Episode. Some of us are regulars and some of us newbies, but none of our experiences are the same. So get yourself a damn fine cup of coffee, watch along with us, and feel free to chime in on the comments section. Say anything you like, our log does not judge.
Even doing this two episodes at a time, Season Two is brutal. But I watched them, I live-blogged them, and here they are. Do you see the things I do for you, dear reader?!
Episode 15: Slaves and Masters
The credits say this was directed by Diane Keaton. Diane-First-Wives-Club-Keaton? According to her IMDB, yes, she did direct this episode of Twin Peaks.
One of the worst parts of these last few episodes is Cooper’s wardrobe. He needs to put the suit back on. By the way, men: Never tuck your shirt in unless you’re in a suit or a tuxedo. And now he’s in long johns. Men: Also never wear long johns. It screams, “I’m a time-traveler from the old West and I am gross.”
There is an eagle picture in black lodge: It’s a bird of prey, a designation of the dark energy inside it. I wonder if the white lodge has a corresponding picture of a dove.
Windom uses the flute and necklace as weapons; a perversion of their intended use.
Norma and Ed discussing all of the time they missed spending together and the gifts they never gave each other is heartbreaking. Nadine must be aware Ed is having an affair, and her teenage regression was partially created to avoid dealing with it. In the situation she has created, she can create her own high school romance to mirror what Nadine and Ed have.
There was an owl art piece on the wall behind Catherine while she was eavesdropping on Josie’s phone call. If it were season one, I would try to read something into that, but these episodes feel slapdash. It’s like whenever the writers weren’t sure if a scene was good enough they threw an owl in for good measure.
It feels like this episode is trying too hard at being surreal. The three cops walking out in unison from the widow’s home, the policemen lined up in the bar listening to opera, and the drummers in a row seem like desperate attempts to keep it weird.
Thomas kissed Josie’s hand. Great. Another person is violating Josie’s personal boundaries.
Ughhhh. No more of James and the widow. James stepping out from behind the sliding door was so lame.
The relationship between Leo and Windom feels a bit like a Frankenstein plot. Leo is being trained and controlled by Windom and seems to look up to him like a father figure. I wish that Leo and James had been written out of the show by this point. They’re either boring, disturbing, or somehow both at once.
Episode 16: The Condemned Woman
Josie up and fainted with that bad news. I’ve always envied people that faint in stressful situations. If I could do it convincingly, I’d faint all the time just to avoid reacting to upsetting news.
Billy Zane! I didn’t know you were hot! He’s cast as John Justice Wheeler, Audrey’s new romantic interest. I forgot about this happening, but I am okay with it.
Nadine says that she and Mike Nelson are in love. We haven’t seen Mike in two episodes, and it isn’t clear if this is a delusion to avoid the pain of Ed leaving her or if maybe they’re really an item.
“We have to call a spade a spade,” Nadine said (another reference to a black game piece).
How does Josie not find that gun in the bookcase suspicious?
Ben Horne’s tracksuit is to die for. My parents went through a phase in the early 90s when they both wore tracksuits everywhere. Sometimes they were downright glamorous. I remember once they put on matching sets and speed-walked around the neighborhood.
Ben wants to save the Little Pine Weasel. Everyone assumes it’s to thwart the Ghostwood Retail Development, but I think a part of him is changed after his mental breakdown. He never explicitly states that his end game is to take over the real estate. I think he really is concerned about the Pine Weasel. And he’s running for senate!
I’m glad to see Shelly back at work. She seems much more happy and light at her job.
Windom’s invitations look like they were written by a kid. And look, he’s a survivalist. Of course he is.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me,” isn’t an apology, James.
There is a lot of discussion over “ownership” of Josie. She needs to get away from these people.
Billy Zane has beautiful, mysterious eyes!
Agent Cooper practicing fly fishing on his hotel bed is another example of the writers trying to hard to be whimsical. It felt contrived.
Josie fainted again. She sidestepped another sticky situation.
Oh, it’s Bob. And the dancing man.
Is Josie trapped in that nightstand? That’s way worse than jail.
Oh no… I just started to watch all the seasons of X-Files with the new episodes coming out (I’ve only caught a few episodes of it before). Are the last two seasons as brutal as these TP episodes have been?
Yeah, because David D. was having issues with like getting paid enough or something and so Mulder and Scully end up being replaced by two new actors (including the T-1000) and the show just doesn’t cut it without Mulder and Scully. Kate and I are also making ourselves finally watch the last two seasons for the revival!
Someday Romona, I will finish the second half of season two. It feels like how I felt about the last two seasons of x-files like I must see it through, but it’s so painful…and boring.