Twin Peaks continues to confound in its second two-episode installment. As Bad Cooper’s plan to evade the Black Lodge comes to fruition, the FBI catches wind of his presence. But is Bad Cooper’s plan merely survival?
Spoilers, of course, follow.
The Case
As Coop continued his journey through the various levels of the Black Lodge, Bad Cooper began his journey to the eastern end of South Dakota. But at 2:53pm (presumably Pacific Daylight Time), the Lodge began pulling Bad Cooper back into its plane of existence. In an explosion of Garmonbozia, Bad Cooper rolled his car and nearly returned to the Lodge via the car’s cigarette lighter.
But just as all this was happening, Dougie Jones of Henderson County, Nevada finished up an afternoon delight with a sex worker named Jade. As she was showering, he also began to issue Garmonbozia and switched places with both Coopers in the Black Lodge. Coop emerged in his place, still wearing his FBI duds, but seemingly missing his mind. Jade gave him a ride to the Silver Mustang Casino where the Lodge lead him to a number of slot machines ready to pay out. Despite winning “thousands and thousands” of dollars, all he wanted was to “call for help.”
Meanwhile in the Black Lodge, Dougie turned into a tiny, golden Phantasm ball which Mike collected. He also placed the distinctive Black Lodge ring on a black marble table.
Coop’s winnings were advantageous as Dougie owed enough money to get a hit called out on him. Presumably, that someone must be the same unseen terror in Las Vegas mentioned in last week’s installments. The next morning, Mike attempted to tell Coop that he has been tricked, but a cup of coffee — thanks to Dougie’s wife Janey-E (Naomi Watts) — appeared to help him get closer to remembering himself.
Bad Cooper’s crash put him on the radar of FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole (David Lynch) and two of his subordinates, Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) and Tamara Preston (Chrysta Bell). The latter was the FBI agent tasked with the reading the dossier in The Secret History of Twin Peaks. The former was the curt, but brilliant forensic pathologist. After chief of staff Denise Bryson (David Duchovny) warned Cole not to get involved with Preston, the three flew to South Dakota to interview Bad Cooper. Cole immediately twigged something was terribly wrong with his old friend and Albert revealed something he held back for years.
Preston also briefs Cole and Albert on the incident in New York. The digital files from that case produce exactly one photo of the entity in the box.
The Updates
It makes all the sense in the world that Michael Sera is Wally Brando, the son of Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) and Andy (Harry Goaz). That he’s trying so hard to be like is namesake is just icing on the cake.
Other goings on at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s department: Frank Truman, Harry’s older brother, has resumed being sheriff. According to The Secret History of Twin Peaks, Frank was the sheriff in the mid-80s, recruiting his brother, Hawk and Andy as deputies. The Trumans also later recruited one surprising person to the force — Bobby Briggs! Twenty-five years later, a photo of Laura Palmer can bring him to tears. Upon hearing about Hawk’s investigation, he reveals that Cooper was the last person to see Major Briggs alive. The Major died during a fire at his station on Blue Mountain shortly after the Miss Twin Peaks Pageant. Meanwhile, in the forest, Dr. Jacoby’s shovel order takes on a stranger turn as he spray-paints each one gold.
The Questions
- Will we see the purple rooms of the Black Lodge again?
- Why is Ronette Pulaski in the purple room? Why is her mother such a threat?
- How did Bad Cooper “manufacture” Dougie?
- How much did Major Briggs know about Blue Rose cases?
- Who is “Mikey?” Could it be Donna ex-boyfriend Mike Nelson? Or Mike’s doppelganger.
- Who do the Joneses have to pay back? And why would they name their son “Sonny Jim?”
- Why doesn’t Janey-E notice that Coop draped a tie on his head?
- Why is Bad Coop’s voice distorted when he talks to Cole?
- What was improper about Bad Cooper’s greeting to Cole?
- Who do Albert and Cole need to contact regarding Bad Cooper?
Not about Judy
Bad Cooper claims to be working undercover with Phillip Jeffries. He offers to tell Cole “all the twist and turns” if Cole will debrief him. After the interview, Albert admits that he authorized Jeffries to tell Cooper who “our man in Columbia” was. A week later, that man was dead.
Apparently, this happened “years ago,” but it is unclear when it happened. From Cole’s point of view, Jeffries has been missing long enough that Bad Cooper’s claim to be working with him appeared to be a surprise. One key to unraveling this part of the mystery lay in whether or not Jeffries resurfaced after the events of the Laura Palmer case.
And to further deepen the mystery of Judy, actress Joan Chen revealed a letter to David Lynch in which she refers to Josie Packard’s twin sister Judy; a plot point in early drafts of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, but eventually dropped. As the new episodes have shown, doubles abound on the edges of the Black Lodge, so Judy could be that simple. Chen is, unfortunately, one of the handful of still-living cast members not invited to return, so the Jeffries mystery may have nothing to do with Judy at all.
Redacted
The Lodge sequences are pure Lynch visions and nightmares. As such, it is hard to say which images will have relevance to the overall narrative or the ongoing mysteries. In some ways, it is easier to latch onto the rare snippets of dialogue in those scenes. But this has always been true as Twin Peaks is often a writer — usually Mark Frost — attempting to make sense of the images relayed to him by Lynch.
Michael Sera’s scene as Lucy and Andy’s son, Wally Brando, is one of the funniest and most awkward things filmed in the last fifteen years. A truly stellar moment that exists almost entirely out of context. A perfect free-floating unit of Twin Peaks.
Lynch continues to tease the audience as Cooper is both closer and farther from the Twin Peaks than ever before. At the same time, the mysteries of the Black Lodge also seem more accessible even as they introduce new imagery to confound us. But then, the mysteries create something exhilarating in their wake as we try to unravel something that may have no solution.
What do you think of Twin Peaks so far? Is it too obtuse or just the right level of complexity and weirdness. Log your opinion in the comments below.
