Edward Copeland's Tangents: Twin Peaks Tuesdays: Episode 22

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Twin Peaks Tuesdays: Episode 22

By Edward Copeland
Let's all have a rousing chorus of "Hallelujah!" With this episode, following last week's apparent end to the little Nicky nonsense and (I hope) the finale of the Mayor Milford vs. Lana struggle, Twin Peaks may finally have arrived at the point where they are prepared to jettison their deadweight storylines and concentrate on the intriguing ones, particularly Windom Earle. As an added bonus, this week's episode was directed by none other than Diane Keaton, who at least displays some nice style as we nip some of these missteps in the bud. Most importantly, I think viewers are finally going to be allowed to leave noirland as that horrid James storyline appears to be over at last. Hip hip hooray!

As the "widow Marsh" tells her tale to the police, Malcolm senses some reluctance on her part and reminds her that he doesn't like nervous co-conspirators. At the bar, James and Donna try to figure out what to do and blockhead James is convinced that he can convince Evelyn to tell the truth.

Back in Twin Peaks, Bobby and Shelly are questioned by Truman and Cooper about Leo and other issues and Bobby volunteers that he saw Hank shoot Leo. They let the teens go and they run into Albert as they leave who shouts, "Get a life, punk" before giving Harry a big bear hug. It seems Windom Earle has brought Albert back to Twin Peaks. It seems Earle has been sending fake bombs to law enforcement places across the country, each containing an article of clothing related to the late Caroline's wedding dress. Albert makes a point of pulling Dale aside and tells him that replacing the casual elegance of a business suit with the muted earth tones he's wearing now is form a fashion suicide but, call him crazy, on Cooper it works.

At the cabin, Leo is waking up and Windom is playing a flute, which he also likes to wield as a weapon, something he explains samurai learned to do when they were disarmed once. He reveals that he's learned all about Leo Johnson, taking particular glee at the notation of domestic violence. When Leo tries to bolt, Earle shoves him to the floor and tells him he has plans for him. He's removed "the proverbial thorn from his paw" and then attaches a shock collar to Johnson, so he doesn't stray too far from Cooper's former partner.

Ed and Norma share a welcome afternoon in bed at Ed's house, recalling the 20 years they've lived in a "world of hurt." Then they hear Nadine coming in the house. She enters the bedroom, taking the door off with her, carrying a trophy and proceeds to climb into bed with the other two. She's depressed. Apparently, she didn't realize a particular wrestling move was illegal, so she was disqualified from a tournament and had to make do with a lesser prize. She apologizes to Norma for beating up Hank, but Norma assures her it's OK. Then Nadine gets out of bed and heads out of the room before pausing, turning around and admitting that she knows about Ed and Norma, but she's cool about it because now she won't be so guilty about lusting after Mike.

Truman and Cooper go to visit Josie and question her about Jonathan's death, but she denies involvement. Truman asks for a moment alone and Cooper goes into the other room where he runs into Pete lugging garment bags. He says they belong to Josie and picked them up for her since Catherine is running her ragged. As the phone rings, Pete dumps the bags onto Cooper who sets them down on a table until something catches his eye. He takes a few threads from a coat and absconds with a pair of gloves as well. Pete tells Josie the call is for her and it is Eckhardt. Catherine is listening in.

Ben's Civil War fantasies are growing even more elaborate (and even involve the long-unseen Johnny Horne). Jerry suggests that perhaps there are advantages to leaving Ben in crazy town, seeing a chance to pursue some projects of his own. Audrey corners her uncle and let's him now that if Ben stays the way he is, control reverts to her so he better get on board with getting him help. "What's happened to the man is a tragedy," Jerry decides. In noirland, Donna confronts Evelyn at the bar, but the widow Marsh is unmoved and Malcolm grabs Donna by the throat and warns her that if she doesn't get out of town, he'll kill her. Albert has done some tests on the strands and gloves that Cooper took from Josie's garments and finds an exact match to the fibers found outside Coop's hotel room when he was shot. Albert concludes, "Either Josie pulled the trigger or she's loaning her winter wear to the wrong type of people." Dale begs Albert to keep it to himself until they know for sure because of Harry. Albert agrees saying he thinks their sheriff has a problem with his girlfriend. They also learn that the dead transient Earle left in Truman's office shared the same last name as Caroline's maiden name. They figure that every time a chess piece is lost, Earle will kill someone so they seek a chess expert and Harry tells Cooper they have one of the very best and his name is Pete Martell. Pete agrees to help Coop play the game to a stalemate losing as few pieces as possible.

Norma welcomes Shelly back to her job at the Double R, now that Shelly doesn't have to care for Leo. Truman also informs Norma that Hank will be heading back to prison for good, not only for parole violations but for attempting to kill Leo. "Good," Norma says. Catherine invites a special guest for dinner and Josie is unhappy to see it is Thomas Eckhardt and that Catherine is openly bargaining for what Thomas will give her in exchange for Josie. At the Marsh estate, James breaks in on Evelyn asking her why she did it. She asks what he expects: An apology? A heart of gold? The moron starts making out with her anyway and Malcolm come in and knocks him unconscious. At this point, James has become such an annoying idiot, you almost hope they get away with it.

Jacoby decides that the time has come to employ the "Appomatox scenario" and he plays Ulysses Grant to Ben's Robert E. Lee, trying his best to surrender. First, Ben gives Patton's speech in front of an unfurled Confederate flag. On the sidelines, Bobby asks Audrey if he's wrong about thinking the South lost the Civil War. Audrey hits him. After the papers are signed, Ben collapses to the floor. When he awakes, he says he had the strangest dream and they were all there. Yes, Ben Horne appears to be back. In the cabin in the woods, Windom is putting on a disguise and forcing Leo to write a note for him, asking, "Who will be my queen?" We see that he is sending the note to Donna, Audrey and Shelly. In noirland, Donna runs in and tries to help James. Malcolm shoves her down and then Evelyn kills Malcolm and starts plotting about her possible story now. Mother of mercy, is this the end of the worst storyline in Twin Peaks history? One can hope.

At the Great Northern, Cooper doesn't notice the disguised Windom Earle as he passes by him on the way to the elevator, though Earle does make note of a postcard of owls. In Cooper's room, he finds a gift from Earle: a taped message placed beneath a death mask of the late Caroline telling Dale that it's his move.