Day Two Hundred and Eighty-three - Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episode 1, "Value-sized for extra enjoyment!"

After the cliffhangers of the season 1 finale, it's nice to have a little bit of resolution as to the fates of most (not all) of the folks of Twin Peaks whose health and well-beings were in question. As you may recall, Catherine and Shelly were trying to escape the Sawmill fire, Leo was shot by Hank, Nadine OD'd on pills, Audrey was about to come face to face with her pimp father at One-Eyed Jack's, and Agent Cooper was shot point blank by persons unknown.

The premiere opens where we left Agent Cooper, lying on the floor of his hotel room at the Great Northern in a quixotic sequence where an elderly waiter (who seems more than a little senile) delivers Coops warm milk but does nothing to help the wounded agent... even coming back several times to give him a thumbs up.

Of course, it just gets weirder from there as, once the coot leaves (or does he?), Agent Cooper is visited by a vision of the Giant (played by Carel Struycken, whom folks should recognize from Star Trek:TNG and The Adams Family). Like the Man from Another Place, The Giant has several quixotic clues to impart to Coop in his quest against BOB. It's nice to finally get some more supernatural goings-on as the season 1 finale was barren of them.

Anyways, Coop is saved by the timely arrival of Truman & Co. and taken to the hospital... where he is informed that Leo's in a coma, Shelly and Pete are hospitalized with smoke inhalation, Catherine and Josie are missing, and he's only been unconscious a few hours. Talk about your eventful nights.

Meanwhile, Audrey fends off her father's amorous advances while maintaining her anonymity by playing games with curtains, pillows, and even a porcelain mask to hide her identity, managing to keep him at bay until other matters call him away. This leaves her in Blackie's bad graces and a bit of a prisoner at One-Eyed Jack's.

Lots and lots of things that were hanging over our heads from the previous season were resolved, but plenty of mysteries (and ghostly shenanigans) are still afoot... such as BOB, MIKE, Ronette's visions of the train car as she comes out of her coma (and suffers PTSD flashbacks), The Owls, and so on.

It's kind of funny to see Leland revitalized after a little spat of premeditated murder, even if his hair turning white overnight gives everyone around him pause. In addition, there's Maddie's vision of blood at the Palmer house to sate more of my thirst for the supernatural.

I'm a bit bummed that Josie and Catherine didn't make a single appearance. Catherine, I understand, as there's no mention from Shelly as to whether or not she got out of the blaze and it's more of a mystery if she's missing (possibly a crispy critter), but Josie's friendly note to Pete leaves me a bit disappointed. While I like its playful tone and see through the deception (thanks to all of the other audience knowledge we have concerning her, Catherine, and Ben Horne), I still wanted to physically see her on some set, somewhere... anywhere.

But, maybe that's just because Joan Chen is too adorable. I probably would've fallen for whatever she said/wrote just as Harry and Pete seem to do.

This episode marks the return of one of my favorite characters, Albert (Miguel Ferrer), along with his acerbic wit... and features one of the goofiest moments that I have yet to see from Andy. The acting is both frighteningly awkward and endearingly weird. I especially love it when Albert cracks up during Ed's story about how Nadine lost her Eye.

At the end of the day, the season two premiere was very satisfying and I look forward to charging through the remaining episodes as the month goes on. I'm definitely going to have to pull extra duty a few of these days and pump out double episodes as there are but thirteen days left in which to watch 21 episodes, so look forward to that (I know that I do :D ). Great, great stuff. Feeling very full, entertainment-wise.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~