Twin Peaks: Episode Seven Review

By: Eric Flapjack Ashley (@flapjackashley)

Just last week, I was complaining that there were too many stray plotlines in this revival season of Twin Peaks, but then episode seven comes along and begins to tie them all together. In my opinion, this is the best episode of the new season yet. Let’s dig in!

Fire Walk With Me

There have been hints and winks this season has made towards the 1992 feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, but this episode really draws the movie into the series. Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) and Sheriff Frank Truman (Robert Forster) discuss the pages Hawk found in the bathroom stall door, which indeed turn out to be missing pages from the Diary of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). Laura wrote about two scenes from the movie: one when Annie (Heather Graham) tells her about the Good Dale being trapped in the Black Lodge, and about discovering BOB was actually her father, Leland (Ray Wise).

We also get a few cameos and name droppings of other beloved Twin Peaks characters. Truman gives a call to his brother, Harry (the sheriff from the original series), to update him, but also leaves with the ominous message of “You’ll beat this.” Is Harry is some kind of health trouble?

Truman then has a Skype call with Doc Hayward (the late Warren Frost, who died earlier this year) who gives his insight to what happened immediately after the series finale ended, finding Cooper in a disoriented state in his room at the Great Northern. Haywood also mentions that Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) had been in a coma after the bank explosion, and that Cooper had come to see her before he disappeared from town.

There’s Something that Definitely Isn’t Here

Agent Albert Rosenfield (the late Miguel Ferrer) updates Agent Cole on Diane (Laura Dern), Cooper’s former assistant, and her refusal to help with Doppleganger Cooper. The interaction between Albert and Cole is absolutely hilarious. Diane is bitter and angry about something, and isn’t afraid to show it, but eventually agrees to help.

Diane’s faceoff with the Doppelganger is perhaps the most deeply disturbing of the series so far. Unsettling doesn’t even begin to describe it. The chilling dialogue between the Doppelganger and Diane insinuates something bad happened between them when he returned and was posing as the real Agent Cooper. Kyle MacLachlan is great playing evil, and Laura Dern’s performance here is emotionally powerful, and she deserves an Emmy. When Diane tells Cole outside the prison that the Cooper she knew wasn’t present in that holding cell, nor was he in her heart…it’s quite tough to watch. But it’s the promise of something more grim to be revealed – when Diane agrees to give Cole some deep hidden secrets of when things went bad – that has me both looking forward to and dreading the future.

Dougie

The Good Cooper, as Dougie, is still mute at work. It’s quite surprising that he can go days with barely saying a word and no one seems to want to commit him. His ball-busting wife, Janey-E (Naomi Watts) arrives just in time to field questions from detectives who come to ask him about his missing car that exploded a few episodes ago.

The contracted little guy who killed three women last week isn’t able to maintain his unbeaten streak as his shooting attempt on Dougie isn’t successful. Dougie takes him down with a stunning show of brute force – something a guy with an FBI background could be trained to do. Is the real Agent Cooper on the way back, finally?? It doesn’t matter to Janey-E though, as she is absolutely thrilled at her husband’s heroic showing. Someone also give Naomi Watts an Emmy.

Room 315

A hotel key that was mailed a couple weeks ago finally arrives at the Great Northern, and Benjamin Horne (Richard Beymer) notes to his secretary Beverly (Ashley Judd) that they switched to electronic cards twenty years ago. It also triggers his memory of that being the room where Agent Cooper had been shot in while he was investigating the murder of Laura Palmer. Beverly is seemingly unaware of who either person is.

Cakewalk

Doppelganger Cooper blackmails Warden Murphy (James Morrison) with knowledge of information pertaining to the Mr. Strawberry and is released, heading to parts unknown. But wherever it is, I’m sure bad things will happen there.

Wrap-Up and Looking Forward

I can safely say that episode seven is the first true Twin Peaks episode to date since its return. This is what I was hoping for a month ago. Not to say the episodes before now have been bad, but they have been trying my patience. Too much Dougie bumbling around and not enough moving on with the story. In this episode, Dougie didn’t appear until past the half hour mark, and it was great. This episode felt like a true ensemble piece, therefore the pace seemed quicker, and the story actually progressed. It brought back many stories that had since gone cold, including a creepy appearance of a shadowy figure who was last seen in the Principal’s jail in episode two. It was like stepping into a warm embrace to see a glimpse of the waterfall and the exterior of the Great Northern hotel. Ending on a nearly two-minute scene of a man sweeping the floor at the Roadhouse is very Twin Peaks.

Looking ahead, this is also the first time I am truly excited to see what’s next. Things are coming together, the danger of Doppelganger Cooper is on the loose again, and the real Agent Cooper is showing signs of finally reemerging. Twin Peaks works best as an ensemble piece, and it’s almost sole focus on Dougie made some episodes just drag on, no matter how good MacLachlan is in the role. This episode was funny, creepy, mysterious, and it went very dark in the scenes with Diane without going over the top. There are theories going about that Doppleganger Cooper harmed not only Diane but also Audrey Horne and possibly Annie Blackburn…which would be both devastating to fans as well as intriguing. Laura Palmer still plays a big part in the mystery, and where that will end up is anyone’s guess.

Episode seven was dramatic when it needed to be, and quirky when it needed to be. As the show draws its loose ends together, it also draws everything back to the town of Twin Peaks, and the people of Twin Peaks, whom I love. I have longed to see these familiar characters again, to see what they were up to, and to see them all brought together again in a new mystery that somehow ties into the old one – and it looks like I am finally getting my wish.

And I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

admin
via The Nerd Machine

http://www.nerdhq.com/twin-peaks-episode-seven-review/