TV Review: Twin Peaks 2.9 “Arbitrary Law” (dir by Tim Hunter)

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Fire, walk with me!”

— Leland/Bob (Ray Wise) in Twin Peaks 2.9 “Arbitrary Law”

Well, this is it.

This is the episode where the “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” storyline was finally resolved. So, let’s jump right into it:

Following the haunting opening credits, the show opens with a shot of the dead body of Maddy Ferguson (Sheryl Lee), still wrapped in plastic. A flashlight shines on her face. It’s a very disturbing shot, for all the obvious reason. It is perhaps not a coincidence that this episode was directed by Tim Hunter, who previously directed River’s Edge, an entire movie that revolves around a lifeless body that is dumped next to a river.

This fades into a shot of Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), Harry (Michael Ontkean), Albert (Miguel Ferrer), and Hawk (Michael Horse). It’s the morning and they are walking through the woods. It’s an interestingly framed shot and the fact that it’s done in slow motion gives it a dream-like feel. It’s as if they’re four gunslingers walking towards some alien version of the O.K. Corral.

Albert is holding the letter “O” that was put underneath Maddy’s fingernail. Albert tells them what they already know. The same man who killed Laura also killed Maddy. White strands of fur, perhaps from a rug, where also found on Maddy’s body.

Harry says that they need to call Maddy’s family. “Leland should have their number…”

NO, HARRY, LELAND’S THE MURDERER!

Fortunately, Cooper speaks up. He asks Harry to give him 24 hours so that Cooper can “finish this.” Albert says that only Cooper knows where he’s going but that he needs to do whatever needs to be done “before this beast bites again.” Albert has such a way with words.

Cut to a restaurant that I don’t think we’ve seen before. Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) is sitting in a booth when James (James Marshall) comes to meet her. Wait — are Donna and James meeting somewhere other than the Double R or the Roadhouse!? Well, just stab Norma in the back, why don’t ya?

Anyway, James is all happy because he went for a drive on his motorcycle. He then gives Donna a ring and says that he just feels that they should be together all the time. Donna agrees but I have a feeling that this won’t last.

Meanwhile, at the Double R, Norma (Peggy Lipton) is probably wondering where Donna and James are. She’s also having to deal with Vivian (Jane Greer), who is eating her food and being just as critical as ever. Norma complains that nothing she does is ever good enough. Vivian, who is pretty obvious M.T. Wentz, gives Norma advice on how to make the perfect omelette.

Andy (Harry Goaz) eats a slice of pie and keeps repeating “I am a lonely soul,” in French. Donna and James walk up to him so I guess they were at the diner all the time. That’s weird because that booth that they were sitting in earlier looked nothing like anything we’ve ever seen in the Double R before. Anyway, they want to know what Andy’s talking about, like it’s any of their business. Andy tells Donna that he’s repeating the words of Harold Smith’s suicide note and that, of course, reminds Donna that she’s essentially responsible for Harold killing himself. Donna says that she needs to find Agent Cooper.

Apparently, she manages to do just that because, in the next scene, Donna is leading Cooper up to the house of Mrs. Tremond. Fortunately, for all of us who had forgotten, Donna explains that Mrs. Tremond told her about Harold Smith and, also, that Mr. Tremond had a strange grandson who performed magic and said the same French phrase — J’ai une âme solitaire — that Harold used in his suicide note. Donna says that the note had to be a message.

(Yes, Donna, the message was probably something like, “Someone who pretended to be my friend totally betrayed me and now I’m dead.”)

Reaching the Tremond House, Donna is shocked when the door is answered by a woman that she’s never seen before. Yes, the woman is named Mrs. Tremond. No, there is no old woman or little boy living in the house. However, this Mrs. Tremond does have an envelope that was left in her mailbox on the day that Harold killed himself. The envelope is addressed to Donna.

And what’s in the envelope? A page from Laura’s secret diary!

Laura wrote that, on February 22nd, she had a strange dream. She was sitting in a chair in a red room, with a small man (Michael Anderson) and an old man. Laura wanted to tell the old man who BOB was but she couldn’t make herself understood. Cooper realizes that he and Laura had the same dream! Laura also wrote that BOB was only scared of one man, a man named MIKE.

On February 23rd, Laura wrote, “Tonight is the night that I die. I know I have to because it’s the only way to keep BOB away from me.”

(If you’re not already totally disturbed by all this, just reminds yourself that Laura is writing about her father.)

Cooper goes to see MIKE (Al Strobel). Doc Hayward (Warren Frost) is there, which is not surprising since Doc Hayward appears to be everywhere. He explains that Gerard/MIKE is in pretty bad shape. Cooper asks how he can find BOB. MIKE says that Cooper must ask the Giant but he is not clear on just how exactly Cooper can find the Giant. MIKE tells Cooper that 1) he has all the clues that he needs and 2) Cooper has “so much responsibility.”

Cooper steps out into one of the Great Northern hallways and sees the old waiter (Hank Worden) carrying a tray that has one glass of milk on it. “I know about you,” the waiter says. “That milk’ll cool down on you but it’s getting warmer now.”

“Getting warmer now,” Cooper repeats before heading over to Ben’s office. Harry is in the process of searching Ben’s office and is super excited because he thinks that he’s found more evidence proving Ben’s guilt. Both Harry and Cooper notice the white fox rug, which would seem to indicate that Maddy was in Ben’s office.

“He killed Maddy here!” Harry says.

As if by magic, Albert pops up and reveals that Maddy died the night before last, between 10 pm and midnight. “That fits,” Harry said, “we didn’t take Ben in until after midnight…”

Cooper nods but you can tell he’s thinking, “Nope, the Giant would totally disagree with you on this point.”

At the Sheriff’s station, Andy approaches Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) and says he wants to talk about “his” child. Not now, Andy! I mean, I think you and Lucy are a cute couple and all but there’s some important stuff going on….

In the holding cell, Ben (Ricard Beymer) is visited by Catherine (Piper Laurie), who is still poorly disguised as a Japanese man. (So, I guess anyone can just wander around the sheriff’s station whenever they feel like it?) Not realizing that he’s talking to Catherine, Ben says that he cannot proceed on the Ghostwood Estates deal until he gets a better lawyer and gets out of prison. Catherine then reveals her painted toenails and says that she intends to make the rest of Ben’s “pathetic existence” miserable. Ben signs over the mill and Ghostwood Estates to Catherine, hoping that she’ll give him an alibi for the night Laura was murdered. Catherine says she’ll consider it and then leaves.

(Silly Ben! You should have signed over the Mill first and then held off on Ghostwood until after Catherine talked to the Sheriff. Of course, if Twin Peaks took place today, DNA testing would have already gotten Ben out of jail.)

At the Palmer house, Leland (Ray Wise) greets Donna, who is dropping off a tape of a song that she and Maddy did with James. Donna is wearing a pair of Laura’s old sunglasses. She also lights a cigarette in the Palmer house. Donna’s the best!

Anyway, Donna tells Leland about Laura’s secret diary. Needless to say, Leland is disturbed by the news. Suddenly, he gets a call from Maddy’s mother. Maddy hasn’t shown up in Montana. As Donna listens, Leland says that he took Maddy down to the bus station.

After hanging up, Leland pops a stick of gum in his mouth and announces that Maddy never made it home. (“That gum you like is going to come back in style.”) Anyway, Donna is worried but Leland tells her not to worry. He goes over to a mirror and straightens his tie. BOB (Frank Silva) stares back at him.

Leland goes to get a glass of lemonade. When he returns, Donna is staring at all of the pictures of Laura on the mantle. Leland walks up behind her and — AGCK! — strokes her hair. He tells her that he knows the “cure for what ails you.” He puts some cocktail music on the phonograph and, suddenly, we’re no longer seeing Leland. Instead, we’re seeing BOB and he is pure nightmare fuel. However, Donna still just sees Leland acting like goofy old Leland.

Leland starts to dance with Donna in the middle of the living room but suddenly, he yanks her close to him and violently embraces her.

The doorbell rings. Leland goes to answer it, leaving a very shaken Donna. Fortunately, it’s Harry at the door. He explains that they need Leland’s help. There’s been another murder. Harry says he can’t go into specifics but he needs Leland to go with him. Leland and Harry leave and Donna is able to make her escape.

Donna meets with James at the park. (James rides up on his motorcycle and — well, I’ve defended James in the past but here, he just looks like kinda dorky. Sorry, James.) Donna tells James that Maddy’s dead.

“I gotta go,” James says, “Nothing matters. Nothing we do matters.”

Having discovered ennui, James jumps on her motorcycle and leaves Donna behind.

Night rolls in. Thunder. Lightning.

At the otherwise deserted Roadhouse, Ben sits in a booth. Cooper and Albert sit at the bar. Everything important happens at the Roadhouse, apparently.

Leland, escorted by Harry and Ed (Everett McGill), enters. After telling Leland that they are going to be meeting someone, perhaps the killer, Cooper has all the tables and chairs cleared off the floor. While this goes in, Hawk enters with the catatonic Leo (Eric Da Re) and Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook). Everyone who has been a serious suspect in the murder of Laura Palmer is now in the Roadhouse.

“Hail, hail,” Ben says, “the gang’s all here.”

Cooper then proceeds to do the Agatha Christie thing, announcing that the killer is someone in the room. He talks about his duty as a member of the FBI. He seeks simple answer to difficult questions. (Don’t we all?) Dale says that, after employing all of his other deductive techniques, he is going to try to something new. “For a lack of a better word,” he says, “magic.”

Suddenly, Major Briggs (Don S. Davis) shows up with the waiter. Major Briggs says that he was on his way home when the waiter flagged him down and asked for a ride to the roadhouse.

The waiter gives Cooper a stick of gum. Leland/BOB smiles and says, “I know that gum. I used to chew it when I was a kid.”

(That’s an interesting line, for many reasons. Last episode, Jerry wondered how he and Ben had grown up to be who they were. Leland is now talking about the gum that he used to chew as a child, which presumably would be the same time that BOB was living next door to his summer house. Throughout Twin Peaks, the innocence and hope of youth is contrasted with the dark secrets of adulthood.)

The waiter tells Leland that the gum is going to come back in style, which leads to several freeze frames. Time has stopped for everyone but Cooper, who is now seeing the Man from Another Place dancing in the room with the red curtains. Laura is whispering in Cooper’s ear but this time, he hears what she has to say. “My father killed me.” The Giant appears and hands the ring back to Cooper. The Giant vanishes.

“Ben Horne!” Cooper announces, “I would like you to accompany me back to the station! You might like to bring along Leland Palmer as your attorney.”

At the station, Ben is forcefully led to down to interrogation. Leland/BOB follows behind them. However, once they reach the interrogation room, Harry suddenly shoves Leland into the interrogation room, slamming and locking the door behind him.

Leland/BOB starts to howl like a wild animal while pounding on the walls. Cooper tells Hawk to release Ben.

“Leland?” a stunned Ben says.

“That’s not Leland,” Cooper says.

Cooper then explains that Laura told him that Leland killed her in a dream. Always the master of the understatement, Harry says, “We’re going to need stronger evidence than that.” That’s okay. Cooper’s sure that he can get a confession.

While Hawk aims a gun at Leland’s head, Cooper interrogates him. It quickly becomes obvious that Leland is now totally possessed by BOB. BOB taunts Cooper about something that happened in Pittsburgh and then says that Leland was a good ride but he’s too old and weak now. BOB says that it’s time to “shuffle off to Buffalo…”

(The implication, throughout both the show and the feature film that followed, is that Leland — as BOB — had been molesting Laura since she was a child. Since most child molesters were themselves molested as children, the suggestion that BOB used to live next door to Leland would suggest that BOB previously possessed someone who molested Leland. Twin Peaks has such a reputation for being a “strange” show that I think people overlook just how disturbing its portrait of the “perfect” family truly was.)

Having gotten their confession, Harry, Cooper, and Hawk leave Leland alone in the interrogation room.

Meanwhile, Dick Tremayne (Ian Buchanan) shows up to see Andy and … no, I’m sorry. I love Andy and Lucy and I enjoy Ian Buchanan’s performance as the hilariously shallow Dick but now is not that time for the baby subplot. There’s some serious stuff going down with Leland/BOB right now…

(Lucy does say, “I’m going to keep my baby.” Papa don’t preach…I’m in trouble now…papa don’t preach…)

Outside the interrogation room, Cooper reveals that 1) Ben had the wrong blood type and 2) both Leland and the Man from Another Place danced. In other words, it’s a pretty good thing that they got that confession because I’m not sure dream dancing would hold up in court.

Uh-oh, Leland/BOB is shouting in the interrogation room. It’s the fire walk with me poem! That’s never good!

“I’LL CATCH YOU WITH MY DEATH BAG!” Leland/BOB shouts, “I WILL KILL AGAIN!”

Suddenly, the smoke detector goes off and the sprinklers come to life. With water raining down upon him, Leland/BOB rams his head into the door, leaving a mix of blood, skin, and probably brains behind.

Harry and Cooper rush into the room, to discover Leland lying on the floor, dying. Leland, who now seems to be Leland again, cries for his daughter and begs for forgiveness. Leland says that he saw BOB in a dream and that he invited BOB in. And when BOB “came inside” him, he made Leland kill Laura. As Leland died, Cooper tells him that it’s time to walk down the narrow path and enter the light. Leland says that he can see Laura and then dies.

(That may sound silly but I had tears in my eyes. MacLachlan and Wise are brilliant in this episode.)

We cut to daylight. Cooper, Harry, and Albert walk through the woods, where they run into Maj. Briggs. Harry says that Leland was insane but Albert argues that people actually did see BOB in visions.

Maj. Briggs says, “Gentlemen, there is more in Heaven and Earth, than is dreamt of in our philosophy.”

Harry says he’s having a hard time believing that BOB existed. Cooper asks — and this question gets to the heart of the David Lynch aesthetic — whether it’s any more comforting to believe that a man would, of his own free will, rape and murder his own daughter.

Major Briggs asks if it matter what causes evil. Cooper says that it does. “It’s our job to stop it.”

Albert suggests that BOB may have just been “the evil that men do.”

(Meanwhile, the spirit of Shakespeare looks up and says, “I sense that I am being quoted without attribution…”)

“Where’s BOB now?” Harry wonders.

Cut to an owl flying straight to the camera. End with a freeze frame!

AGCK!

Seriously, that was a great episode. I wonder how people reacted to it in 1990. From what I’ve read, a lot of people stopped watching before this episode, which is a shame.

Well, Laura’s murder has been solved. I guess the show’s over now. Thanks for reading everyone and…

What?

Oh. Apparently, the show did go on and we’ve got 13 more episodes to review.

So, join us tomorrow for another review! And until then, why not check out the story so far:

Previous Entries in The TSL’s Look At Twin Peaks:

What do you think, Cooper?

Artwork of the Day: Dear I.R.S.

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Dazzling Erin

By Charles Schulz

Music Video of the Day: Beat The Beat by Chrysta Bell & David Lynch (2017, dir. Sharif Nakhleh)

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

I think I would have preferred to hear more of the guy at the start. Not because Bell is bad. Not because Sharif Nakhleh did a bad job recreating the experience of watching a YouTube video of a VHS rip with hardcoded subtitles. Neither of those things are true. It’s just that it is yet another music video that visually screams David Lynch throughout–despite having been directed by yet another director. We’ve had Chrysta Bell reenacting a scene from Blue Velvet (1986). We’ve had her singing in a Lynch-room and a courtyard. We’ve had her singing while driving on the lost highway in order to have a sex scene. Now we have Bell singing in a nightclub. I guess I want some more variety. Maybe if this were a one-off video meant to remind us of One Eyed Jack’s from Twin Peaks with people living a ho-hum existence that Bell helps infuse with life that causes them to blink out of this bleak version of Fantasy by Aldo Nova, then I could enjoy it. But it’s not.

There’s a nice little description of the video over on IndieWire:

Directed by Sharif Nakhleh, “Beat the Beat” is a look into the cyclical nature of modern life and a “subdued anthem for Kafkaesque and mundane human existence.” The video is described as “a dirty dub VHS tape featuring a slice of Americana with Italian subtitles suggesting it could have been discovered in a second hand shop in Bologna.” The clip shows a grimy bar run by a bored looking bartender until Bell, wearing a black slip dress designed by Nima Shiraz, arrives and gets everyone moving with her hypnotizing voice.

Based on the YouTube comments, people love this stuff. More power to you! Also, if you haven’t watched those other videos, then you might enjoy this.

This one has a big listing of people who were involved:

Director/Editor – Sharif Nakhleh
Producer – Tasha Nesbitt
Cinematographer – Mike Epple
Assistant Director – Jason Halley
Assistant Camera – Lawrence Abad
Gaffer – Steve Griggs
Key Grip – Andy Hoffman
Swing – Sean Ly
Art Director – Garrett Lowe
Asst Art Dept – Aaron Pierce
Asst to the Producer – Spencer Collantes
CB Makeup/Hair Artist – Consuelo Lopez
Cast Makeup/Hair Artist – Nicole Kelleher
FX Supervisor – Ryan Bozajian
Additional FX – Joseph Skorman
Sound – Elliott Harris
Translation – Daniela Viezzer
Bar Fly 1 – Bettina Devin
Bar Fly 2 – Sherman Koltz
Bartender – William Rogue
Biker – Matthew Fuentes
Hillbilly 1 – Christina Meyers
Hillbilly 2 – Dominic Olivo
Punk Chick – Reneja’Net LaChapelle
Tourist 1 – Jessica Etheridge
Tourist 2 – Charles Parker
Drifter – Matt Patane
Bespoke Dress by Nima Shiraz

Enjoy!

A Movie A Day #100: Satan’s Touch (1984, directed by John D. Goodell)

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

She is not in this movie.

Bill Parrish (James Lawless) is an honest, midwestern grocery store owner who admonishes one of his regular customers about her shoplifting habits. When she attempts to blame the devil, Bill reminds her that we all have a duty to resist the devil’s temptations. What Bill does not realize is that not only is the Devil (Paul Davies) listening in but he also looks like a member of the Bee Gees. The Devil gets offended and decides to tempt Bill with a trip to Las Vegas. The Devil gives Bill unlimited luck when it comes to placing his bets, something that gets Bill in trouble when he hits the jackpot on a slot machine that is specifically programmed to never pay off.

This month, I am reviewing films that have a Twin Peaks connection and that is the only reason why I am reviewing this low-budget oddity. In Satan’s Touch, the casino manager is played by Doctor Hayward himself, Warren Frost. What is interesting is that, for once, management is the hero. The manager does not hire a private detective to investigate Parrish out of spite or a desire for revenge. Instead, he is just worried that this man’s luck will cause Vegas to go bankrupt and put a lot of good people out of work.

Originally called Jackpot and made to play on the church circuit, the movie was retitled and released as a horror film in 1984. I rented a copy when I was 12 because there was a picture of an evil-looking woman with ample cleavage on the cover. As long as it has been since I saw the film, I do remember that she was nowhere in it. What I do remember is that Satan’s Touch was slow, not very interesting, and, whenever the Devil got bored, he would say, “I’m getting the Hell out of here.”

A few final notes about Warren Frost: Frost was married to the same woman from 1949 until his death earlier this year. He had three children, actress Lindsay Frost and writes Mark and Scott Frost. Mark, of course, co-created Twin Peaks while Scott also wrote for the show. If you don’t know Warren Frost from Twin Peaks, you probably know him as Mr. Ross on Seinfeld. On that show, his wife was played by his Twin Peaks co-star, Grace Zabriskie.

Artist Profile: Hunter Barker (1918–2010)

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Dazzling Erin

Hunter Barker is one of those artists who I wish I could tell you more about but I couldn’t find much information about him online. Here’s what it said over at AskArt.com:

“Born in Canada in 1918, Hunter Barker studied at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto, the Darlington Art College, Durham, England and the London School of Arts and Crafts, London. Mr. Barker studied and worked with many famous artists throughout his career including Robert Loughheed, Charles Seliger, John Clymer, A. Shore Packer, and Charles Kingham. He spent many years illustrating for national magazines, paperback book publishers and NBC Television in New York.”

I was also able to find a small memorial site for him, that indicated that Barker died in Florida in the year 2010.

Sometimes, after I do one of these artist profiles, a family member or a former colleague will leave a comment and let us know more about the artist. Maybe that will happen in this case.

Below is a sampling of Barker’s work. He was active in the 1950s. While working on this post, I came across many covers that looked like they could have been done by Barker but I have only included work that has definitely been credited as being his:

TV Review: Twin Peaks 2.8 “Drive With A Dead Girl” (dir by Caleb Deschanel)

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“In our world, he’s a shoe salesman and lives among the shadows.”

— Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) in Twin Peaks 2.8 “Drive With a Dead Girl”

As always, this episode of Twin Peaks starts with the opening credits and, after 15 episodes, Angelo Badalamenti’s theme music has never sounded more haunting and the images of life in Twin Peaks — that mix of machinery and nature — has never seemed more ominous. Things that seemed quaintly beautiful when they were first seen — like the waterfall or that bird sitting in trees — now seem threatening.

The opening credits give us time to reflect on what we’ve seen so far. We’ve seen the venal Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) repeatedly ignore his own family in the pursuit of money. We’ve seen Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re) abuse his wife, Shelly (Madchen Amick). As of the previous episode, we now know Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), previously one of the show’s most sympathetic characters, not only murdered and raped his own daughter but then killed his niece as well.

You have to wonder if Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) still considers Twin Peaks to be “heaven,” just because it’s a town where “a yellow light means slow down instead of speed up.”

We open with an exterior shot of the Palmer house. We can hear Maddy (Sheryl Lee), once again, screaming for help.

The next morning, the Palmer house is quiet. Inside the living room, the camera moves over several pictures of Laura. One is of her as a child. Another is that famous homecoming photo. We hear the sound of Leland laughing and immediately notice that there seem to be a lot of golf balls on the floor. The camera pulls back to show us Leland, wearing a suit and looking disturbing cheerful, practicing his golf swing.

James (James Marshall) and Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) knock on the front door. They say that they came by to say goodbye to Maddy but Leland tells them that Maddy has already left. He tells them that she thought they were going to come by the previous night and that she was a little bit disappointed that she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to them. Smiling like a father from a 1950s sitcom (and, at this point, it’s definitely not a coincidence that Twin Peaks, as a town, often seems to be a relic of a decade that is often thought of as being both “the good old days” and a symbol of repression), Leland says that they could write to her in Montana if they want.

(Today, Leland would never get away with this. James and Donna would be texting Maddy like crazy.)

After James and Donna leave, Leland glances in a mirror and sees BOB (Frank Silva) staring back at him. From upstairs, Mrs. Palmer (Grace Zabriskie), who apparently remembers nothing about the previous night, asks Leland to remember to sign them up for “Glenn Miller Night at the club.”

“Don’t worry, dear,” Leland says, with a big and creepy grin, “I won’t forget.”

Before leaving for the club, Leland grabs his golf bag out of the closet. Briefly, we catch a glimpse of Maddy, stuffed inside the bag.

(AGCK! Seriously, Leland/BOB has got to be one of the scariest things ever.)

In his holding cell, Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) wins my sympathy by 1) being an innocent man accused of a terrible crime and 2) obsessively trying to wipe down the bars of his cell. Seriously, that’s one reason why I could never handle being arrested. Put me in one of the filthy cells and I can guarantee you that I’d do whatever I had to do to get out of there.

A cheerful Jerry (David Patrick Kelly) shows up to see Ben and I was happy that he did. Jerry may be one of the most cartoonish characters on Twin Peaks (and that’s saying something!) but, after spending all that time with Leland/BOB, Jerry’s silliness is a relief. Jerry has just returned from Japan and he even has a small Japanese flag pinned to his suit.

Jerry explains that, since Leland has been charged with murdering Jacques Renault, he will be handling Ben’s case personally. (Of course, neither realizes that Leland is also responsible for the murder that Ben has been charged with.) Unfortunately, Jerry doesn’t appear to be a very good attorney.

However, Jerry is impressed by the fact that Ben has bunk beds, which leads to an odd flashback of Ben and Jerry, as children, watching a woman named Louise Dombroski dancing in their bedroom while holding a flashlight. (Even as children, Ben wore suit and Jerry wore a bowtie.)

“Lord,” Jerry says, from the top bunk in Ben’s jail cell, “what’s become of us?”

Meanwhile, Lucy’s (Kimmy Robertson) back! She shows up with her sister, Gwen (Kathleen Wilhoite), who is telling a long story involving a rusty nail and a purple toe. (I tuned her out because rusty nails freak me out.) Lucy asks Hawk (Michael Horse) if he’s seen Andy (Harry Goaz). Gwen, meanwhile, worries that Hawk “must hate all of us white people after all that we’ve done to you.”

(Did I mention that Gwen had a crying baby with her and how much I was hoping that Gwen would only be around for a scene or two? She’s kind of annoying.)

At the Great Northern, Harry (Michael Ontkean) and Cooper have just finished talking to the One-Armed Man. As they walk past the lobby, they see Leland dancing with a golf club.

(Over the course of watching Twin Peaks, one thing that I’ve really grown to enjoy doing is spotting all of the strange guests who appear to stay at the Great Northern. This episode, the guests appear to be a cross-section of gruff fishermen and Catholic schoolgirls.)

When Harry approaches Leland, Leland apologizes for creating a commotion with his dancing. “Just call me Fred,” Leland says, which might be a reference to Fred Astaire but could just as easily be a reference to the fact that, at this point, Leland has been possessed for so long that it’s debatable whether Leland Palmer even exists at this point. He’s either BOB or he’s Fred but he’s definitely not Leland.

Harry tells Leland that they’ve arrested Ben. Leland says that they’re must be some sort of mistake but then promises Harry and Cooper that he will allow the law to handle it. Leland stumbles out of the lobby. As soon as he’s away from prying eyes, Leland starts to cry but then starts laughing. He is nearly caught by Cooper, who steps up behind him and asks Leland to let him know if he can remember anything unusual about Ben’s behavior on the night of Laura’s death.

(Ray Wise, by the way, gives an absolutely amazing performance in this episode. I don’t care if this episode aired nearly 30 years ago, give that man an Emmy.)

Harry and Cooper return to the sheriff’s station, where they watch as Doc Hayward (Warren Frost) draws blood from Ben’s finger. (Twin Peaks was obviously made before DNA testing became commonplace.)

Jerry is there, protesting Ben’s treatment. It’s obvious that everyone is enjoying making Ben’s life difficult, which actually makes me feel even more sorry for Ben. Cooper reveals that Jerry graduated last in his class, passed the bar on his third attempt, and that his license has been revoked in several states. Hey, Cooper — that’s fine and all but Jerry is absolutely right when he says that Ben is being deprived of his constitutional rights.

Cooper tosses Laura’s diary down in front of Ben, demanding to know if Ben knows what it is. Cooper reads from the diary and tries to goad Ben into confessing. It’s interesting to watch this scene because it’s hard not to feel that the normally upright Cooper has a hidden agenda here. Cooper has become a father figure to Audrey and here’s his chance to get rid of Audrey’s actual father. Twin Peaks is full of bad fathers, both literally and figuratively.

At the Johnson house, Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) listens to that microcassette that he found during the previous episode. It’s a recording of Ben hiring Leo to burn down the Packard Mill. Bobby is excite because this is his chance to blackmail Ben. Meanwhile, Leo (Eric Da Re) spits up all over Shelly and her pretty blue nightgown. BAD LEO!

At the Double R, Norma (Peggy Lipton) is shocked when her mother, Vivian, suddenly shows up! Not only does Vivian appear to be rich but she’s played by Jane Greer, who starred in the classic film noir, Out of the Past. By her presence alone, Greer serves to remind us of the huge debt that Twin Peaks has always owed to the conventions of film noir.

It turns out that Norma’s mom is very critical of both Norma’s cooking and Hank (Chis Mulkey). It is also revealed that Norma’s mom has married a man named Ernie (James Booth), who appears to still be stuck in the 70s.

Norma says that she’s feeling nervous because there’s a food critic coming and that, with Shelly having quit to take care of Leo, she’s short of help. “That’s why you made the place look nice,” her mom says. (Passive aggressive for the win!)

At the Great Northern, the One-Armed Man (Al Strobel) wakes up when his armless shoulder starts to twitch. “He’s close….” he says. Unfortunately, the only other person in the room is a nurse and she doesn’t really seem to be paying attention. The One-Armed Man asks her for a glass of water. When she leaves the room, she passes a deputy.

Now, we’ve never seen this deputy before so I assume that he’s mostly there so he can be killed later on. He walks into the One-Armed Man’s room and the One-Armed attacks him from behind. Bye bye, Deputy Redshirt. “I’m so sorry,” the One-Armed Man says before climbing out a window.

(Actually Deputy Redshirt is just knocked to the floor and doesn’t die but you can still be sure that this would never have happened to Hawk.)

Hank finally shows up at the Double R Diner, apologizing for being late. It turns out that Hank has been missing for a few days. Norma gets mad at Hank but seriously, Hank is the most charming ex-con in Twin Peaks. Hank gets Norma to forgive him but then realizes that Vivian is working in the kitchen. Uh-oh!

Pete (Jack Nance) comes by the sheriff’s office and catches Harry birdwatching. As Pete talked to Harry, I noticed that Harry has a large picture of the other Harry S Truman — the mafia-connected President, old Give ‘Em Hell Harry — hanging in his office. Pete tells Harry that Josie has left Twin Peaks. Pete and Harry both talk about how they both loved Josie. Harry laments that he stood there and watched as Josie left with her assistant. Pete realizes that the “assistant” was probably Catherine in disguise. The fact that Harry has yet to realize any of this gives us some insight into why the FBI has basically taken over the role of law enforcement in Twin Peaks.

Andy finally returns to the sheriff’s station and is shocked to see Lucy, holding Gwen’s baby. Andy sees the baby and, assuming that Lucy somehow gave birth to a 4-month old baby over the weekend, he promptly faints.

Pete sneaks into the holding cells and plays a tape for Ben. Ben listens to Catherine (Piper Laurie) explaining that she’s alive and that she remembers that Ben was with her on the night that Laura Palmer died. Catherine is willing to provide an alibi but only if Ben signs over both the mill and Ghostwood Estates over to her. Pete starts to giggle like a maniac. (Pete! I thought you were a nice guy!) As an angry Ben tears apart his jail cell, another deputy that we’ve never seen before stares in at him.

Meanwhile, Leland is happily driving down a street. He’s singing. Sorry, I’m not going to look up which song that he’s singing. He’d driving rather recklessly, which will certainly bring him to the attention of Cooper and Harry, who are currently driving along the same street. Cooper is even whistling the same song that Leland is singing, a reminder that Cooper is not quite as upright as everyone thinks. He has secrets of his own.

(I was tempted to point out that the scenes of Leland driving are shot in much the same way as the driving scenes in Lost Highway but, seeing as how David Lynch did not direct this episode, I’m going to assume it’s just a coincidence. That said, Caleb Deschanel does a good job of recreating Lynch’s unique visual style throughout this episode.)

Just as I predicted, Leland nearly collides with Harry and Cooper. They pull him over, right next to the golf course. As the three of them talk, we hear the sound of golf balls being hit in the distance, and we are reminded that there is a golf bag in Leland’s trunk and that Maddy is currently in that bag.

Leland lies and says that, on the night Laura was murdered, Ben got a phone call and had an angry conversation with someone about a “dairy.”

“A diary?” Cooper corrects him.

“That could be!” Leland says.

Lucy calls for Harry. While Harry goes back to the police cruiser, Leland asks Cooper if he’d like to see his new golf club. Leland leads Cooper to the trunk of his car. While he’s getting the club, Harry shouts that the One-Armed Man has been found. Cooper looks away from Leland just as Leland sneaks up behind him with the golf club raised…

AGCK!

And yet, I have to admit that I laughed when I saw Leland about to bash the unsuspecting Cooper with that club. It all comes down to Ray Wise’s brilliant performance as Leland/BOB. Wise does such a good job of playing the role that we totally believe that he could successfully fool everyone in town. We know that he was fully capable of killing Cooper at that moment but no one else would ever suspect such a thing to be true. Even though everyone knows that he killed Jacques, everyone still thinks of him as being Leland Palmer, the somewhat goofy 1950s sitcom dad.

At the police station, Andy has recovered. Gwen is talking to him about a time that she fainted in the produce section. “People want terrible things to happen to you,” Gwen tells him, “I know.” Meanwhile, Hawk leads the One-Armed Man through the police station.

In the interrogation room, Harry, Cooper, and Jerry watch as the One-Armed Man walks in a circle around Ben. The One-Armed Man announces that “He’s been close but BOB is not here now!” Jerry demands that Harry either charge Ben or let him go. That may have been a mistake because Harry promptly steps forward and charges Ben with murdering Laura.

Cooper pulls Harry outside and says that they’re “saddling the horse before we’re ready to ride.” Now, suddenly, Cooper thinks that Ben is innocent. Harry tells Cooper that they can’t base the entire investigation on dreams and giants. They need hard evidence and, what little evidence they have, all points to Ben Horne.

At the Great Northern, Vivian is eating dinner with Norma, Hank, and Ernie and critiquing all of the food. OH MY GOD, could Vivian be M.T. Wentz!? While Norma and Vivian excuse themselves to go to the ladies room, we discover that Hank and Ernie were in prison together. Ernie used to be a gambler but he says that he’s “out of it” now.

That night, in his hotel room, Cooper talks into his tape recorder. He says that Ben Horne is in custody and that the investigation is nearly done. The trail, Cooper says, is narrowing but the last few steps are always the most difficult and dangerous.

Someone knocks on the door. No surprise, it’s Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn). She wants to come in and talk to the man who will be her new father figure if Ben is sent to prison. Audrey asks if Cooper arrested her father. Yep. Did he do it? That’s for a court to decide. (Awww, Dale. Your faith in the system is so touching, if misplaced. Never change.) Audrey says that all she ever wanted was for her father to love her and not be ashamed of her.

I watched that little scene with tears in my eyes, becoming so overcome with emotion that it was a bit of a relief when Cooper’s phone rang. After answering it, a suddenly alarmed Cooper orders Audrey to go back to her room and lock the door.

At the waterfall, the police are in full force. Maddy’s body, wrapped in plastic, has been found.

Between Ray Wise’s brilliant performance and that haunting final shot of Maddy, this episode left me exhausted. As uneven as the second season was, this episode (and the one that preceded it) are as strong as anything seen during the first season.

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Artwork of the Day: Amazing Stories

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Dazzling Erin

By Robert Fuqua

Music Video of the Day: Night Ride by Chrysta Bell & David Lynch (2016, dir. Joseph Skorman)

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

It’s another driving music video for a David Lynch collaboration. I could understand if they were both done by the same director, but they’re not. I’m Waiting Here was done by Daniel Desure, and this one is by Joseph Skorman. By the way, Skorman is the guy in the trunk.

I found the CGI holes at the end to be humorous. It was also interesting to see a music video shot in my neck of the woods. I’m not sure exactly where in the East Bay the windmill part takes place. Given that they drove over the Bay Bridge, I’m going to assume that’s it’s the Altamont Pass Wind Farm near Livermore. It makes more sense to me than her driving around the Birds Landing/Collinsville area just north of Suisun Bay, off of Highway 12.

According to the description on YouTube, the following people worked on this video:

Jonathan Mindes – Producer
Mike Revolvalcke – Director of Photography
Juan del Rio – Second Unit Director & Aerial Cinematographer
Hillary Andujar – Production Designer
Sam Sarraf – Visual Effects Director
Tony Lew – Camera Operator
Joe Mullen – Gaffer
Connor Vickers – Best Boy
Louis Shah – Key Grip
Ally Grace Esparza – Art Director
Consuelo T. Lopez – Makeup Artist/Hair Stylist
Joseph Skorman – Editor/Concept/Graphics/Visual FX

IMDb has some more people who worked on it. It also has a summary of the video by producer Jonathan Mindes:

To accompany the newly released “Night Ride”, the driving and darkly sensual track by David Lynch and Chrysta Bell, director Joey Skorman has created a cinematic world reminiscent of a modernized 1950’s monster movie. The lustful “Black Widow Queen”(Chrysta Bell) has a nasty habit of taking night rides in the country during which she seduces young drifters into her car and proceeds to feed on them. Danger is dressed in red lips, lapel pins, a motorcycle jacket, and a blood-stained back patch. We are given a glimpse of somewhere in-between lust, smoke, exhaust, steamy breath, burning rubber and burning desire. What tangled web has been woven with one question remaining… what is it that you desire?

It even comes with its own tagline:

Buried desires and a buried love slave come out for a ride in this B-horror-style night journey through the web of a demonic Black Widow Queen.

For me, the summary and the tagline are more interesting than the video. What’s also interesting is it appears that the majority of Joseph Skorman’s work has been as a post-production engineer on TV Shows such as I (Almost) Got Away With It, My Strange Criminal Addiction, Sex Sent Me To The Slammer, and Wives With Knives. It’s almost like he tried making a music video based on the TV Shows he has worked on. I approve–even if I didn’t care for the video.

I have one last thing to mention. Just like he did on I’m Waiting Here, Tom Breihan over on Stereogum is still not happy that Lynch isn’t directing all the videos for his music:

Now that David Lynch is making music, it drives me absolutely fucking nuts that David Lynch is not directing his own music videos.

He does go on to say that he enjoyed the video regardless of the fact that Lynch didn’t direct it. I just love that he seems to be so passionate about it.

Enjoy!

A Movie A Day #99: A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer (1964, directed by Richard Beymer)

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

In 1964, having starred in several movies, including West Side Story, Richard Beymer put his acting career on hold and spent the summer in Mississippi, where he was one of several activists who worked to register blacks to vote and who taught at Freedom Schools. He brought a Bolex camera with him, filmed what he saw, and later edited that footage into a 30-minute documentary called A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer.

Set to a soundtrack that is a mix of rock and roll and the blues, A Regular Bouquet is a heartfelt and often angry portrait of day-to-day life in the Jim Crow era. Over footage of black women and children working in a cotton field, a woman explains how, every year, she picks more cotton and gets paid less money for her work. There is positive and hopeful footage of young black children learning at a Freedom School but, at the same time, the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner hang over the documentary. One of the documentary’s most strongest moments is a montage of still photographs that illustrate how far the authorities were willing to go to try to stop the civil right movement from reaching Mississippi.

A Regular Bouquet is available on YouTube. If some of the footage looks familiar, that is because it has regularly been reused in other documentaries about the civil rights movement. If you only know Richard Beymer as the evil Ben Horne on Twin Peaks, A Regular Bouquet is an eye-opening movie.

TV Review: Twin Peaks 2.7 “Lonely Souls” (directed by David Lynch)

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Who killed Laura Palmer?

That was the question that made Twin Peaks famous and it was also the question that proved to be the show’s undoing. It is easy to forget that each episode of Twin Peaks only covered a day in the investigation of Laura’s murder. On Twin Peaks, it only took two weeks for Cooper and Harry to solve the mystery. But, in the real world, it took David Lynch and Mark Frost seven months to finally reveal the identity of Laura’s murderer. Today, audiences take serialization for granted and even appreciate shows that take their time to tell a complex story but that was not the case in 1990. In 1990, most television dramas still featured mysteries and plots that could easily by resolved in an hour. Viewers were intrigued by Twin Peaks but, when it became apparent that neither Lynch nor Frost were in any hurry to provide a solution to its central mystery, the ratings started to fall.

Laura’s killer was finally revealed on October 10th, 1990, during the seventh episode of the second season. Mark Frost wrote the episode. David Lynch directed it. It is an episode that nobody who has seen it will ever be able to forget.

The episode starts with Harry (Michael Ontkean), Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), Cole (David Lynch), MIKE (Al Strobel), Andy (Harry Goaz), and Hawk (Michael Horse) standing in the lobby of the sheriff’s station and drinking coffee. Since Cole is nearly deaf, he politely yells at everyone before leaving.

At the Great Northern, all of the guests have been led into the lobby so that MIKE can look at them and try to determine whether or not they are possessed by BOB. For some reason, half of the guests are in the Navy. MIKE does not see BOB in any of them. Ben (Richard Beymer) walks into the lobby and MIKE starts to have a seizure.

At Harold Smith’s house, Hawk arrives and discovers that the house has been trashed and that Harold has hung himself in his greenhouse.

At the Palmer house, Maddy (Sheryl Lee) is drinking coffee with Leland (Ray Wise) and Sarah (Grace Zabriskie) while Louis Armstrong’s haunting What a Beautiful World plays on the phonograph. Maddy tells them that, tomorrow, she is going to go back home. Leland and Sarah tell her that they understand and that they appreciate all of her help. This scene is shot as if from the point of view of someone (BOB?) hiding in the room and eavesdropping on the conversation.

Back at Harold’s house, Harry and Cooper are heading up the investigation into his apparent suicide. While Hawk comes across the secret diary of Laura Palmer in the debris of Harold’s house, Cooper and Harry discover a note pinned to Harold’s body. “J’ai un homme solitaire,” it reads. I’m a lonely soul.

At the Johnson House, Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) and Shelly (Madchen Amick) discover that, after paying bills and even with the insurance money, Shelly is only going to have $42 left over for the month. Bobby and Shelly argue while Leo (Eric Da Re) sits at the table with oatmeal on his chin. Leo suddenly starts yells. “He’s alive!” Shelly screams. “New shoes,” Leo says.

At the Great Northern, Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn) tells Ben that she knows all about One-Eyed Jack’s. She tells Ben that she saw him there. “Remember Prudence? I wore a little white mask.” After trying to play dumb, Ben admits that he owned One-Eyed Jack’s for five years but he denies ever encouraging Laura to work there. Audrey also gets Ben to admit that he had an affair with Laura.

“Did you kill her?” Audrey asks.

“I loved her,” Ben replies.

At the diner, Shelly tells Norma (Peggy Lipton) that she’s going to have to quit her job so that she can take care of Leo. Norma tells Shelly that it’s okay and that her job will still be there whenever Shelly is able to return. They have a sweet moment, that it is ruined when Ed (Everett McGill) and Nadine (Wendy Robie) enter the diner. Nadine still thinks that she is a teenager and Ed is supporting her delusion by telling her that her parents are in Europe and that Norma has only been working at the diner for six months.

At the Johnson house, Bobby and the other Mike (Gary Hershberger) taunt Leo. Bobby has figured out that “new shoes” refers to Leo’s boots so he and Mike rip them apart, searching for drugs. Instead, they find a small audio tape hidden under the sole.

At the sheriff’s department, Cooper goes through the shredded remains of Laura’s diary. He tells “Diane” that he has found repeated references to BOB, littered throughout the diary. Laura wrote that BOB was a friend of her father’s and, two days before death, Laura wrote, “Someday, I am going to tell the world about Ben Horne.”

At that exact moment, Audrey steps into the conference room. She tells Cooper about her conversation with her father, revealing that Ben and Laura were having an affair and that Ben owned One-Eyed Jack’s. Cooper tells her not to say a word about this to anyone and sends her home. Obviously, Cooper feels that he may have just discovered the identity of Laura’s killer. Cooper tells Harry that they need a warrant. “A warrant for the arrest of Benjamin Horne.”

That night, at the Great Northern, Ben is talking to Mr. Tojamura and happily agreeing to accept Tojamura’s proposal to invest in the Ghostwood Development. Just as Tojamura hands over a contract for Ben’s signature, Harry, Cooper, Hawk, and Andy enter the office. Harry orders Ben to come with them. He’s wanted for questioning in the murder of Laura Palmer. When Ben tells them to leave, Hawk and Andy grab him and drag him out of the office.

Handcuffed but defiant, Ben is taken to the station and deposited in a holding cell. As Harry and Cooper watch Ben being led off, the Log Lady (Catherine Coulson) appears behind them.

“We don’t know what will happen or when,” the Log Lady says, “but there are owls in the Roadhouse.”

At the Martell house, Mr. Tojamura meets with Pete (Jack Nance) and it is revealed, just as Lisa Marie predicted three episodes ago, that Mr. Tojamura is actually Catherine (Piper Laurie) in disguise!

At this point, there’s only 15 minutes left in this episode. These 15 minutes are some of the most intense in the history of television. Suffused in dread and danger, these 15 minutes constitute David Lynch at his absolute best.

At the Palmer house, Sarah crawls down the stairs, in the throes of another vision. Lying on the floor, Sarah sees a white horse standing in the middle of the living room. The horse vanishes and Sarah passes out. Suddenly, Leland is standing in the living room, staring at himself in the mirror. He ignores Sarah.

At this point, everyone watching the show says, “Oh shit, something terrible is going to happen.”

At the Roadhouse, Julee Cruise sings an upbeat song. Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) meets with James (James Marshall). Donna is feeling guilty over Harold’s suicide. James says that it wasn’t anyone’s fault. He says that Harold was a sick man.

“Everybody’s hurt inside,” James said and I’d make the obvious REM joke but, right now, I’m too worried about what is about to happen at the Palmer house.

Cooper, Harry, and the Log Lady step into the Roadhouse, searching for the owls. They grab a table and watch Julee Cruise.

“Tell your heart, don’t let me die,” Julee sings.

There’s a shot of the dead Harold Smith (Lenny von Dohlen) bartending. It’s such a quick shot that I had to go back and make sure that it was actually him.

Suddenly, everyone but Cooper freezes. Julee Cruise disappears. The Giant stands on stage and looks directly out at Cooper.

“It is happening again,” the Giant says.

Everyone watching the show says, “Oh, shit!”

At the Palmer house, Leland stares at himself in the mirror but — HOLY SHIT! — it is BOB (Frank Silva) who he sees reflected back at him. Leland smiles. His face turns into the laughing BOB and then transforms back into smiling Leland.

Leland looks towards the front door. He reaches into his suit and pulls out rubber gloves.

Maddy runs downstairs, shouting that it smells like something’s burning. She sees Sarah lying on the floor and Leland staring at her. Leland turns into BOB and then turns back into Leland. Maddy runs screaming from the room and Leland chases after her.

The next four minutes of this episode, in which Maddy is murdered by Leland/BOB, are among the most nightmarish that I have ever seen. Even by the standards of 2017, it is a shocking scene and I can only imagine how people in 1990 reacted. While attacking and killing Maddy, Leland and Bob constantly switch places. Leland sobs while Bob laughs. While Maddy struggles to breathe, Leland holds her body and dances in a circle with her. “Laura,” he moans. The BOB who Laura wrote was molesting her was never a friend of her father. Instead, BOB was her father. Even though I knew it was coming and what was going to happen, rewatching this scene for this recap still left me feeling emotionally drained.

Sheryl Lee, Frank Silva, and Ray Wise are all amazing in this scene. Three version of this scene were filmed. One featured BOB chasing Maddy while another featured Leland attacking her. The final scene was created by editing those two scenes together. The third version, which was filmed just as a decoy, featured Ben attacking Maddy. According to David Lynch, Richard Beymer was relieved to later discover that he was not actually playing the murderer but Ray Wise was very upset by both what he had to do in the scene and the revelation that Leland had been a child molester.

After killing her by smashing her into a picture frame, Leland places an O underneath Maddy’s fingernail.

At the Roadhouse, the Giant still stares at Cooper. Finally, he vanishes. Julee Cruise is back and singing a much more somber song.

The same elderly waiter (Hank Worden) from the Great Northern approaches Cooper’s table. “I’m so sorry,” he says.

Sitting at the bar, the previously unseen Bobby starts to cry. At her table, Donna starts to cry. On stage, Julee Cruise cries. Everyone knows that it has happened again, even if they do not know what it is.

Cooper stares into the distance as the scene fades into a shot of the red drapes.

It has been nearly 27 years since this episode was originally broadcast. It is Twin Peaks at both its best and most disturbing.

Tomorrow, Lisa will review the 8th episode of season 2, Drive With A Dead Girl.

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