Day Three Hundred and Four - Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episode 22, "It's OVER... It's FINALLY over! *sob*"

THIS IS IT, LADIES AND GERMS!

We've made it at last to the final episode of Twin Peaks (not counting Fire Walk With Me, which isn't available on Instant Stream) and I couldn't be happier!

There's not a lot happening in the mundane world as the grand majority of the episode centers on Coop's travels to The Waiting Room and The Black Lodge, but there are a few things.

Audrey handcuffs herself to the bank vault at the Savings & Loan where Andrew and Pete set off an explosive device left for them by Eckhardt as one last piece of revenge (Pete! No!). No chance of Pete coming back for the sequel if Lynch keeps his hinted promise of returning to Silent Hill-I mean, Twin Peaks-in 25 years when Laura says she will see Agent Cooper again.

Donna packs up and makes ready to leave, but is stopped by her father returning. Due to the charged emotions, thanks to Ben paying a visit, Doc Hayward snaps and pushes Ben down, where he lands face-first into the fireplace stone and possibly fractures his skull.

Andy and Lucy cement their relationship thanks to Andy's pledge to help her bear her child no matter the location or witnesses and they finally confess their love to one another. Just a side note there, I really love the little lilting gasp that Lucy lets out when she hears Andy say it for the first time (at least, in our sight).

That's the mundane world... but the real meat is Coop in The Black Lodge. THIS is David Lynch at his finest and there are a lot of parallels here to the supernatural murder mystery he did for the big screen a few years later, Lost Highway.

At the beginning of the episode, Windham takes Annie behind the Red Curtains at Glastonbury Grove and Coop follows as quickly as he, Truman, Pete, and the Log Lady assemble all the clues. Coop in The Waiting Room and Black Lodge are some of the most mysterious and symbolic sequences from the entire series. Not only does he meet several versions of The Man From Another Place, but also The Giant, Caroline/Annie, Windham Earle, Laura Palmer and her many Doppelgangers, BOB, Leland's Doppel, and Agent Cooper's own Shadow Self.

While there's plenty of mystery, the fun lies in the horror to be found. I just love Laura's Doppelgangers as they scream and flail in reverse and the other Man and his jittering dance is pretty creepy. I especially liked BOB intervening and taking Windham Earle's soul before setting Coop's Doppel on the chase.

I know it shouldn't be funny, but Kyle MacLachlan's gallop when he plays the Doppelganger is so goofy even as it creeps you out. I sort of shudder to think what BOB will do in Agent Cooper's body, since it seems that the Doppel catching Coop means he's no longer in the driver's seat of his own being, but that's half the fun. My own personal theory, thanks to Laura saying she'll see him again in 25 years, is that he's been trapped in The Waiting Room with TMFAP and The Giant for the past two and a half decades, waiting for his vision from that first dream sequence to come true (Laura kissing his older self and whispering the name of her killer).

If there's any justice to the world, Lynch et al. are planning a reunion TV movie (or maybe miniseries) for 2015 that will bring everyone back so that we know what happens, but I'm not holding my breath. The closest we get might be the sendup episode of Psych that aired a few seasons ago (that's available on the Instant Stream~). Either way, there will be no Pete unless they sub in someone in copious bandages. Heh, Pete as the Invisible Man.

You know, despite how rough it could be, there were some truly great moments in the series that really did influence pop and counter culture to a noticeable extend. I mean, you have the aforementioned episode of Psych, but also The Simpsons, The Killing, and many, many more examples all throughout the gamut of media and mediums. Without Twin Peaks, I wonder if we would've gotten X-files or Fringe? Lost or Silent Hill? I doubt it, but that's just my opinion.

In any case, it's been a long, sometimes painful road to this point. October's Couchbound Spooktacular has had many ups and downs... the second season of Twin Peaks being mostly downs... but it's been fun, especially tonight! The Red Curtains always make my day (and frighten me at night). Thanks for joining me and look forward to tomorrow as we get back to our regularly scheduled Couchbound programming with, you guessed it, PONIES!

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Two - Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episode 20, "Pete, you are nothing if not a balm for the soul."

We're at the final three, folks, with just tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday left in our month-long Twin Peaks Spooktacular!

Tonight's episode starts us off pretty much where we left off last night, with Ted Raimi's cold, dead face mugging for the camera as emergency workers attempt to lug him (and his oversized chess piece) off the gazebo. From there, Coop, et al., do their best to try and decipher both the pitcoglyphs that were on the wall in Owl Cave and Windham Earle's deadly chess game, not knowing that the bonsai that was supposedly a parting gift from Josie is instead a bug that transmits directly to Windham.

Can't make it too easy on the boys, now can we?

A lot of relationship solidification in this episode... from Shelly and Bobby making nice (aww, poor Gordon) to Wheeler and Audrey making whoopie in his private jet to Coop and Annie slow dancing at the ball. It's cute, but really serves only to underscore that a lot of shit is about to go down at the Miss Twin Peaks pageant.

There's some silly stuff hovering in the periphery, like Lucy announcing that she will decide who she wants to be the father of her child at the pageant and the mayor's irresistible wife continuing to show she's not quite the innocent maid her introductory episodes made her out to be, but there's a lot of serious bits, too. Not only does Windham kidnap and torture Major Briggs, but Catherine and Andrew grow closer to solving the puzzle box that Eckhardt left them and Coop has a vision of The Giant warning him about something.

This episode also marks the return of BOB to the Ghostwood in a more corporeal form instead of just in visions. It looks like he's about to come out and play, which makes sense from a meta sense, considering we're but 90 minutes away from the season (and, sadly, series) finale.

I think what really bugs me about this episode are Windham's motivations. In true Soap Opera fashion, it's a convoluted, wheels-within-wheels plot that requires Coop's nemesis to have coincidentally been a part of Major Brigg's Project Blue Book before he was an FBI Agent. It's one thing for the character to be a madman bent on revenge... but to give him such a far reaching motive and backstory is so boring and cliche. I would've much preferred to have him stumble on BOB and The Black Lodge in his quest to destroy Coop than have the latter be subterfuge.

As I've mentioned previously, the last minute romances for both Coop and Audrey are just way to quick and easy. They are tediously trite with barely any conflict. While it's nice to see Coop paired up with a well-versed woman who can match him quote for quote, I need some meat to their courtship. The same can be said for Audrey and Wheeler. While it's cute that they manage to catch each other on the tarmac, the only real redeeming moment for their scenes is when Wheeler jets off and Pete consoles the lonely Audrey with an invitation to fish, being more fatherly than any character has ever been in the series.

Still, the episode does have its moments... The Giant, BOB, Windham and Leo in a horse costume, "...love may not be enough...", Ted as a corpse... it just feels a little bittersweet. I definitely want it to be over, thanks to the horrendously bad middle episodes this season, but things are just started to get somewhat decent again.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Ninety-one - Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episodes 9 & 10, "And the beat goes on..."

Seemingly confounded at every turn, Cooper makes a final, desperate play to reveal the true killer of Laura Palmer (and now, Maddie, too). Gathering many players from both sides of the White Hat/Black Hat citizens of Twin Peaks, he hopes that some force... some magic... will show him the way.

And it works.

Leland is unmasked as the host for BOB and, let me tell you, BOB is not happy. Just in time, too, as it looked like Donna was about to meet the same fate as her friends by tempting BOB with an easy target, coming so willingly into his den as she did.

But, it's time for falling action.

Leland/BOB is cuffed and confesses to so many things, vowing to destroy and kill again, then leaves thanks to a cleansing bath of cold water (something someone should write down for future reference), leaving Leland broken and dying and finally conscious as to the crimes he's allowed BOB to commit by serving as a host.

A wake is held and many friends, enemies, and strangers make an appearance... including Tony Jay (one of my favorite voice actors of all time). It's a nice moment where it seems that the only dark juju comes in the form of the Mayor and his brother feuding... which is a nice contrast to the fact that Leland, however redeemed he might be, was still a murderer. I mean, we get BOB and the White Hats get BOB (for the most part), but most of the folks at that wake don't, so it's strange to me that so many folks would be there.

In addition, Albert (Miguel Ferrer) makes an appearance to conduct forensics on Maddie as the investigation winds down and he stays a short while, dropping vengeful lines of dialogue that make me very happy.

With BOB temporarily banished and Leland dead, it almost looked like it was time for Coop to leave, but he's the star of the series, so something had to keep him in town... and it came in the form of a suspension instigated by a corrupt Mountie and Jean Renault, still smarting over his brothers deaths and losing the ransom for Audrey... I guess.

It's a soap, so I should have forgiven it for its hammy melodrama, but it just feels like lazy writing to me. I reiterate the same complaint, which I've voiced before, over Norma's and Nadine's storylines. Sure, life goes on and everyone has their little troubles, but in comparison to BOB and the White/Black Lodges, it's all so much filler fluff.

Bleh.

At the very least, it was nice to see Major Briggs and Coop in the final moments of the second episode sharing a contemplative moment about the mysteries of the supernatural goings on in the Ghostwoods. Major Briggs (Don Davis, whom I really enjoyed on Stargate:SG-1) is yet another of my favorite characters. I pretty much love all the elder White Hats... Coop, Hawk, Truman (to an extent), Ed, Albert, Denise/Dennis, and the Major. Great guys/gals.

It's also nice to see concrete confirmation that the doddering old waiter and The Giant are the same being. Well, sort of concrete. I mean, it's all symbolic, flashing back and forth between reality and Cooper's communing visions, but you get the idea.

Still, I can't help but feel that we've past the series' peak and it's all downhill from here. I'm sure there will be a few things worth watching in the episodes to come (there are twelve left, after all), but I don't know that Heather Graham and the encounter at The Black Lodge will be enough.

Bonus extra: Josie's back (and looking a little beat up)~!

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Ninety - Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episode 8, "Chicks and Ducks and Geese better scurry...."

After the violent and mysterious end to last night's episode, it would've been hard to imagine how David could've topped it... and he kinda, sorta didn't.

While nothing was awesome as The Giant's bit of freestyle poetry at the Roadhouse or BOB's terrifying attack on the poor, ill-fated Maddie (whose visions of blood on the carpet were more than a little prophetic), this episode was still fairly decent, packed as it was with more BOB antics, close calls, and almost-got-ems.

BOB is definitely still behind the wheel of Leland's body as every single reflection the audience is privy to reveals BOB's face instead of Leland's, and boy is he taking advantage.

After playing what looks to be a hundred or so golf balls worth of chipping practice in the very same living room he just murdered Maddie in, BOB pops the club bag with her body in it into the trunk of his car and takes a trip to the Great Northern to regale its guests with a dance routine. From there he takes a leisurely drive towards the golf course, only to be pulled over by Truman and Cooper, and seriously tempts fate by offering to show Coop his new clubs.

For just a split second you think he's going to be found out, both when Coop comes around the back of the car and when BOB hefts a driver in an almost menacing fashion behind him. Talk about a tense moment that, for me, was the best of the night.

No, Fortune favors BOB today, it seems as every single person who is investigating Laura's death is none the wiser... save for Agent Cooper who seems to think something is amiss, but can't put his finger on it.

Anyways, Pete visits Ben Horne in jail with a message from Catherine that is just delightful to see. Well, the message is so much blackmail fluff, but Pete's reactions and laughter are just delicious. It's great to see Jack Nance (who plays Pete) get some juicy moments to act out. He's one of my favorite of Lynch's regulars along with Everett McGill. Such a shame that he's no longer with us.

Barely anything from James and Donna, which makes me deliriously happy, but far too much with Hank and Norma. Looks like another subplot is brewing in dirty Hank's mind. Honestly, I think the only reason this new wrinkle was added was to keep Hank fresh in our memory as he hasn't really had much to do the past few episodes. Bleh, I could definitely live without him anyway. At least we know, through heavy hinting, that it's Norma's mother who is the food critic that she's been waiting on. No hint that Norma's caught on, though.

There was one GIGANTIC flaw to the episode, though... and it came in the form of a flashback sequence for Ben and Jerry. It's a weird bit about an older girl dancing in the dark for them as children that is shot in slow-motion and just goes on forevvvvveeeeer. What a complete waste of time for a throwaway sequence. I get that it's supposed to contrast their previous innocence with the dastardly men they are now, but still, a horrible piece of filmwork on behalf of David, et al.

Quick shout-out to Andy and Lucy for telling her busybody sister to shut-up... particularly Andy. It's not often that he sticks up for himself, but when he does it's grand! Another quick mention for Maddie's body in the plastic in a direct repeat of Sheryl Lee as Laura's body in the opening episode... just with dark hair instead of blond this time. Good symmetry.

So, to sum up, not as great as last night, but that's a high bar to reach. Still, pretty darn fun (save for that one bit), if I do say so myself.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Eighty-nine - Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episode 7, "J'ai une âme solitaire"

It's finally happened! BOB has been revealed... or, at least, BOB's host has been revealed. It only took, what... fifteen episodes (some of them being double-sized, like the pilot and second season premiere)?

That's not the full measure of the night, though, as the reveal (and subsequent murder of Maddie) only occurs in the final minutes. No, there's still plenty of other stuff to pad out the majority of the afternoon and evening's revels.

Leo gains a small ability to communicate despite his brain damage while Shelly and Bobby worry about bills and their lives as potential caretakers. Maddie spends her last day in town with her relatives and Norma is let in on the fact that Nadine thinks they're all teenagers again thanks to the post-suicide attempt regression. Audrey confronts her father about One-Eyed Jack's and immediately goes to Cooper, whose own investigation into Harold's suicide reveals parts of Laura's secret diary... which seems to hint at Ben Horne as being BOB, but oh, that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

I especially liked that we get a second big reveal... that Catherine finally feels safe enough (with Ben arrested and Josie gone to Hong Kong) to let Pete know that she's alive and has been masquerading as Tojamura.

But... BOB... now that's the revelation that we've all be waiting for. That it comes at the cost of Maddie is a shame, as I would rather she'd just have been able to go back to Montana, but it works as a morbid statement of murderous symmetry.

It's a brutal and experimental sequence, to say the least. I liked most of the mirror bits, though I could've done without BOB's face matted over Leland's for that giggle session. It was much more effective when the device was just BOB in the mirror and the two of them smiling. It's pretty much the same problem that I have with the chase around the living room. They do a pretty terrible job matching up the positions of both actors (Ray Wise and Frank Silva) as Lynch tries to go for a duality, flipping back and forth between personas during the sequence. Additionally, the spotlight was a terrible choice of symbolism, making it feel like a stage play instead of a mystical murder. For her part, I think Sheryl Lee did a fine enough job as the victim... though she could've fought back a bit more.

To be honest, I think what really did it for me in the episode was everything that went down in the Roadhouse.

We've got Coop, Truman, and the Log Lady staking out the joint because the Owls are in play there somehow, Julee Cruise is performing several haunting tunes, James and Donna are sharing a private moment, and The Giant comes a'calling. Lots of great stuff happening.

For one thing, I think the only adorable moment for the James/Donna love affair is Laura Flynn Boyle lipsyncing Julee Cruise. Then there's Carel Struycken's despondant warning, which Coop can't understand. The icing on the cake, methinks was the fact that both Bobby and Donna seem to have had their own visions or brushes with someone walking over their grave as Donna bursts into tears and Bobby looks like he's about to. I have to wonder what they saw, felt, or heard.

Great mix of the supernatural and the mundane here. Sure, there were a few boring bits (Leo, Nadine), but overall this is one of the strongest, most intense episodes of the series... high up there on the entertainment factor. It's a bit sad, really, as it's arguably all downhill from here. Final bright spots/reflections: no more Harold, no more Maddie, lots of supernatural shenanigans, good times had by all (save for Maddie).

But what was with that horse, man? Sometimes you just have to wonder about Lynch.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Eighty-four - Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episodes 2 & 3, "Relationships are HARD! Everything's HARD!"

It's Friday, here at Couchbound and we're continuing our month-long Halloween Spooktacular with a double dose of Twin Peaks. Due to how many episodes we have left to go and how quickly the month is moving by, I think every Friday will be a twofer from the series.

Anyways, We've finally moved past the intense action and drama of the first season finale and second season premiere and are dealing with the fallout of all that was left unresolved which, since it's Twin Peaks, is a lot!

After the first of the three prophecies that The Giant gave him while he lay wounded come true, Agent Cooper is convinced there's more to Laura's slaying than Leo and Jacques' drug and sex trade angle. This idea is confirmed when he finds the other two prophecies coming to pass as well. Meanwhile, back in Canada (*shudder*), Audrey makes a move of her own at One-Eyed Jack's which manages to put her in even more jeopardy.

Now KISS!

I'm so happy that there's more supernatural bits going on. Whether it's a second visit from The Giant or Maddie's visions it's all grandly entertaining stuff. Let me tell you, seeing BOB (Frank Silva) come at you with his slow, dangerous pace... like a panther stalking its prey, crawling over furniture in a POV shot... it's actually pretty terrifying! This is why I love Twin Peaks (well, one of the reasons) and am always happy when the weirdness takes a more prominent role. Honestly, why was it absent from the Season 1 finale?

These episodes also feature a bit more of my favorite forensics expert, Albert. There's just something about Miguel Ferrer's matter of fact delivery of such viciously sarcastic lines that brings an instant smile to my face... even when he defends himself as a pacifist who idolizes Gandhi and King. Plus, seeing Albert and Truman grab each other by the shirt collar is a hoot!

I've married a monster!

There are some silly subplots on display, like Lucy's pregnancy by a melodramatic menswear salesman and, of course, the love triangle between James, Donna, and Maddie (which I could totally do without), but overall there's a great deal of progress to be found in these two episodes... especially when it comes to getting the word out about BOB via his sketch and revealing the identity of Jacques Renault's killer.

One final mention... the hospital scene where Nadine wakes up thinking she's a teenager again after breaking steel chain restraints? The look of sheer terror on Ed's face (and, believe me... that's TERROR, not confusion) is bloody priceless! Kudos to Everett McGill. Best moment of the night for me!

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

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~

Day Two Hundred and Seventy-seven - Twin Peaks: Season 1, Episodes 4 & 5, "Welcome to the Bookhouse Boys, Coop."

Our journey with Agent Cooper continues today during Couchbound's Halloween Spooktacular as we review two episodes and draw ever closer to that first season finale.

Halfway through season one and Coop is still only getting dribs and drabs of evidence and information, either forensic or supernatural, to help him discern the identity of Laura Palmer's killer. That doesn't stop the intrigue in Twin Peaks from beginning to boil over, though, as life (and the dangers it presents) begins to go on for its residents even as they try and deal with Laura's absence by finally laying her body (but, perhaps, not her soul) to rest.

As everyone gathers for the funeral, lots of things are happening in the background.

Sheriff Truman and the rest of the Bookhouse Boys alert Agent Cooper about the existence of, then invite him to join, their secret society. It seems that they're hot on the trail of the drug connection in Twin Peaks, which might have something to do with Laura's death. This puts Leo and several other local Black Hats on alert.

There's also more drama concerning Ed/Nadine/Norma with the fact that Nadine is all lovey-dovey again and Norma is dealing with her soon to be paroled husband... as well as continuing plot that deals with the sawmill and the affair between Ben Horne and Catherine.

For such a small town, Twin Peaks certainly has more than its fair share of Soapy melodrama.

As per the norm, everything is connected. Ben and Catherine are having a trist (that Josie is shadowing) at the same motel that Coop and Truman confront the one-armed man... but is it their one-armed man or just someone who looks like Mike from Coop's dream (a fact which will resolve itself in episodes to come).

I love how Andy is your typical small town goofball cop who drops his gun and cries at almost every situation. It's a sweet sort of "Aw, Shucks" character that you can't help but love purely out of pity... especially during his mopey moments where Lucy gives him the cold shoulder.

There are also more Audrey moments to love, like when she sits down with Coop at the breakfast table only to be easily caught out (via her handwriting) that she wrote him the mysterious letter cluing him into One-Eyed Jack's. I especially loved how she tried to play hard to get by saying she's busy, but instantly fell for Coop's perfume compliment and stayed anyway. I can't say I'm all that thrilled with her "please let me be your daughter again" act for her father, but I really liked the bathroom scene at the high school where she and Donna compared notes about their separate investigations.

Twin Peaks is ever filled with breadcrumb after breadcrumb. In the meta-sense, I know that it won't be too long before certain parties are revealed and things get even wackier, but just trying to judge it as if this were my first viewing of the series, I'd like to think that there's plenty enough to keep my attention thanks to the wide, wide variety of storylines that all crash into each other, creating events you can't entirely predict.

I mean, sure, it's easy to see that something was going to happen between Bobby and James at the funeral, but even with his odd behavior, you wouldn't expect Leland to jump on top of the casket... let alone break the bloody thing!

And the Bookhouse Boys... what a weird development. Who'd've thought that there'd be a small organization of White Hats to combat the obviously organized Black Hats around town. Everyone just seemed so small town folksy at first, but Lynch gradually made them all complex as time wore on. It probably would've felt more natural for Truman and company to vet Agent Cooper a bit more before letting him into their playhouse, but oh well.

One final note... look out for the first appearance of The Owl (at least, I think it's the first... I've already been wrong before). Important, important creature!

And I think that will do it for our first week of Twin Peaks for our special Halloween Spooktacular Month. Tomorrow and Sunday we'll be taking a brief break from Agent Cooper, et al, to watch some horror flicks, then it's back on the trail of Laura Palmer's killer (and all that entails) fresh on Monday.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Seventy-six - Twin Peaks: Season 1, Episode 3, "What the hell kind of two-bit operation they running out of this treehouse, Cooper?"

Wheels within wheels within wheels... we get to see a whole lot of plot concerning all of the various goings-on around town, but there's so much concerning so many people that it's hard to see just what it means in the grand scheme of things that revolve around Laura's murder.

To be frank, nothing directly does... but the very event of her murder has repercussions that have influenced this entire town and everyone in it.

For example, because Laura was murdered, Audrey's father lost a major deal with "the Norwegians," and needs to blow off steam with his brother (played by David Patrick Kelly of The Warriors fame) at One-Eyed Jack's, a casion/cathouse across the border in Canada. Also, Laura was holding ten grand for Bobby who owes Leo the dough for a cocaine shipment. Plus Ed sports wounds from his fight last episode because he was staking out the roadhouse.... all because of Laura's death.

It's all connected... everything and everyone in town is pushed in some direction thanks to Laura's murder, and that really makes you think, doesn't it?

This episode also marks the first time that we get something truly supernatural... though, it's confusing as hell... because this is the first time that we're introduced to The Red Room. Now, thanks to the Tibetan Baseball sequence, The Red Room could've easily just been written off as a dream of Cooper's in which his unconscious state was sifting through clues and giving him enigmatic answers in return. With the inclusion of Mike and Bob, though, in eerily related messages directed at who knows who (Mike, the viewer, Agent Cooper), there's no doubt that these visions are of Outsider Spirits (or, perhaps, some combination of the two).

It's been pointed out to me that episode 2 wasn't the first time we see Bob... if you pay attention to the brief shots of Laura's mother screaming at the end of the pilot, you can indeed see a long haired figure in the mirror. I always thought it was Laura, as her mother has a habit of seeing her face wherever she wants, but the internet research I've done does confirm that it was Bob (or, rather, his actor, Frank Silva).

To be honest, I could've done without the Mike and Bob bits... particularly Bob and his promises about catching you in his "Deathbag." Silva's delivery is very, very rough. I could handle the ham and cheese from Mike, but Bob was sort of the straw that broke the camel's back. Thank god it ended quickly and we're taken back to The Red Room.

The Red Room... man... so many ships have sailed, creatively, because of that single set piece.

And let's not forget Miguel Ferrer making his first appearance as the rude forensics expert, Albert Rosenfield. He was one of my favorites in the series, along with David Duchovny (who plays Denise... we'll get to him later).

You know, I think that... aside from Bob... the only thing that really annoyed me about this episode was the cutesy puppy love scenes between James and Donna. They don't last long, though, so I lived... obviously. Plus, the comedy scenes like Tibetan Baseball and Nadine's silent runners make up for it.

And, I think that about does it for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more Twin Peaks (possibly two episodes) before heading into our first weekend of Horror Movies here on Couchbound, so stay tuned as our Spooktacular continues!

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~