Edward Copeland's Tangents: Twin Peaks Tuesdays: Episode 17

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Twin Peaks Tuesdays: Episode 17

By Edward Copeland
For the first time in the history of Twin Peaks, there has been a gap of time. As words say over the screen in the first scene, it's "THREE DAYS LATER" as in three days after it was revealed that Leland Palmer killed his daughter and his niece and subsequently died himself. The day we rejoin the story takes place at Leland's wake, where the town has gathered to support Sarah by being there and with ample food. Doc Hayward is ready to inject Sarah with a sedative to help calm her down, but she refuses. Leland had kept her drugged all these years and now she wants to be there and make sure she remembers. Agent Cooper takes a moment to personally speak to Sarah and tells her that the Leland she knew did not do these things and that he believes, from what he was saying in his final moments, that Leland had found peace and had been reunited with Laura, who forgave him. The spread of goodies is huge and Hank appears to be pigging out, though he offers one of his plates full of food to Sarah as he spots Ed and Norma talking in a corner. Donna's mom, Eileen Hayward (Mary Jo Deschanel) tells Sarah that at times like these, people naturally come together and she and Audrey do their best to act as a comfort for the grieving widow. Donna asks Ed if he's heard from James yet since he left town, believing he was partly responsible for all the tragedies. Ed tries to assure Donna that James will come back, he just needs time.

One person who has returned following his recuperative trip to Hawaii is Dr. Jacoby. Two guests at the wake are behaving less than appropriately. Mayor Milford (John Boylan) is fighting with his estranged brother Dougie (Tony Jay) over Dougie's impending nuptials to a woman much younger than him. (As Pete describes it, "it's one of those January-December things.") Apparently, the brothers have been feuding for more than 50 years, but no one thinks they even remember why, though they recall the year when newspaper publisher Dougie came out against his brother's election as mayor even though he was running unopposed. Everyone is curious what will happen to Agent Cooper, since with the case's end it seems clear there's nothing to keep him in Twin Peaks. Dale says he has accrued a lot of unused vacation time and this might be a good occasion to cash some of it in. Major Briggs invites him to a night fishing excursion to which Cooper responds, "Aces!"

With Jacoby back in town, he accompanies Ed on a most unusual mission: To try and convince Twin Peaks High School to admit 35-year-old Nadine as a senior, since she still dwells in the land of the teenager. As Cooper packs for his fishing trip at the Great Northern, Audrey pays him a visit. He reiterates that while he considers her a friend, there can never be anything romantic between them given her age and her involvement in a case he was working on. Audrey speculates that a woman must have hurt Cooper very badly, but he corrects her that no, someone was hurt by him. "What? Did she die?" Audrey asks. Cooper responds in the affirmative and tells the story of Pittsburgh when he was assigned to protect a witness and fell in love and when the attack came on her, he wasn't ready. He was wounded, she was killed and his partner, Windom Earle, lost his mind. Still, Audrey tells him that one day she'll be grown up and he better watch out and that there is only one problem with the FBI agent: He's perfect. At the Johnson household, Shelly is beginning to go stir crazy and begs Bobby to take her out for a change and find some way to get Leo a sitter. Bobby says once he gets in with Ben Horne, their problems will go away.

Catherine pops in to Harry's office and the sheriff asks why she isn't dead? Catherine asks if she's under suspicion in the mill fire and then explains what happened to her after the fire. She believes a guardian angel helped her. She found herself scared for the first time in her life and wandered for miles in the wood before finding herself at her family's old cabin on Pearl Lakes, which was fortunately well stocked with food, and she waited for whomever was trying to kill her to come finish her off. Harry asks why she came back. "I ran out of tuna fish." Dick comes to visit Lucy, telling her that he's quit smoking and begun acting as a big brother to a "homeless waif" named Nicky. Cooper arrives to bid farewell to the gang at the sheriff's station. Harry presents him with two gifts: a greenbutt skunk fishing lure he made himself and a patch indicating that Cooper now belongs to the Bookhouse Boys. "I'm honored beyond my ability to express myself," Dale says.

As he says his goodbyes to Hawk, Andy and Lucy, two men come in the front door of the sheriff's station: FBI Agent Roger Hardy (Clarence Williams III) and a Canadian mountie (Gavan O'Herlihy) to announce that effective immediately, Cooper is suspended from the FBI without pay. It turns out Canada has filed charges against Cooper for his excursion to One Eyed Jack's to rescue Audrey, claiming he disrupted a lengthy sting operation to get Jean Renault, and accusing him of possibly stealing some cocaine. Hardy tells Cooper he has 24 hours to prepare his defense and the DEA will be sending someone to investigate the drug allegations. Cooper turns in his badge and gun. Hardy tries to get Harry to talk, but Truman refuses unless he comes up with a subpoena.

At the Great Northern, despite Audrey's attempts to help, Bobby can't get in to see Ben, who has his guards roughly escort him out, though Audrey saves him from their clutches. She says he knows he's up to something and Bobby says he owes her and asks what she wants. Audrey tells him to buy her ice cream. "Cone or cup?" Bobby asks. "Cone," Audrey says. "I like to lick."

Having succeeded in getting Nadine enrolled, Nadine gives an energetic tryout for cheerleading, amazing the judges with her flips and then lifting one of the male spotters off the ground and hurling far into the air. Meanwhile, Shelly is busy brushing Leo's teeth when Bobby calls to report his lack of success with Horne. While on the phone, Leo's wheelchair rolls forward and Shelly says, "Bobby, Leo moved." At the Double RR, Norma is reeling from a bad review the critic gave the diner, even quoting it, though Vivian corrects her. Norma says she didn't bother to memorize it and Vivian admits that she is the critic. Norma is appalled that her mother could do such a thing, but Vivian says she couldn't violate her ethics, but Norma isn't buying it and tells Vivian to go back to Seattle and leave her alone. Vivian's husband Ernie on the other hand is being shown a fine time by Hank at One Eyed Jack's, where Hank introduces him to his new boss, Jean Renault. Also present: the mountie. Hank tells Jean that Ernie is a whiz with numbers, so much so that he could "make a $1,000 a night hooker blush like a nun." Jean is in need of some emergency laundering and also needs to unload a suitcase full of cocaine, though he leaves some of the coke for the mountie to take to plant on Cooper.

At Harry's cabin, a figure can be seen slumping against his window. He gets his gun and opens the door, only to find an exhausted Josie, who slumps into his arms. Cooper and Major Briggs head to the woods for their night fishing excursion. Cooper's mind is on his legal problems and Briggs notes that fear makes one vulnerable to darkness. He then asks if Cooper is familiar with a place known as the White Lodge. Dale says he feels the call of nature, but he's curious to hear more about this White Lodge. While Cooper is off relieving himself, he spots an owl in a tree. Suddenly, there is a bright flash of light and Briggs yells "Cooper." Dale runs back and sees a shadowy figure in the bright light, but when the light disappears, so has Major Briggs.