My Thoughts on Showtime’s Twin Peaks Episode 5
After two weekends of two-hour blocks of “Twin Peaks,” Showtime’s revival has scaled back to a more standard one-hour episode, which is supposedly their plan from here on out. That being said, this is a David Lynch-led series and the network has openly stated that they are open to trying more “out there” ideas for this season. So while I’m thrilled by this new time frame (let’s be honest; two hours of David Lynch at his most Lynch is exhausting, no matter how wonderful and magical it is), I’m not taking it as the standard until the 18th episode ends.
For those of you who haven’t read my thoughts on the previous two blocks, you can do so here and here so that you’re all caught up. But now, let’s dive into the fifth episode of Showtime’s “Twin Peaks” revival, which only adds more mystery and questions to the story.
https://youtu.be/k3b1T4ieFv4
We open in Las Vegas, where we are re-introduced to the men that were trying to kill Dougie in the third episode. They phone their boss, a woman with a bruise on her chin, to let her know that Dougie is still alive, which they believe since his car is still in the driveway of the home where he slept with Jade the prostitute before being sucked into the Black Lodge and replaced with Dale Cooper. The woman is furious at this news but becomes terrified when she has to relay the information to her boss, someone we do not meet. She does this by text messaging the number “2” to an unidentified number listed as “Argent.” We cut to a different location, where a black box with two small red bulbs light twice in response to the text message. That’s it, nothing more and nothing less.
Later in the episode, these men will pass by the car again to make sure that it’s still there. After they roll by, a black muscle car also passes, the people inside leering at Dougie’s car, suggesting that they wish to boost it. We’ll get back to them later.
Back in South Dakota, the pathologist is discussing the decapitated body that was found in a previous episode. In the victim’s stomach was a gold ring with Dougie’s name inscribed on the inside.
We then go to Evil Cooper, who is lying in his cell. Somehow, he correctly predicts when food will be arriving. Taking the tray inside, he goes to wash his hands. After doing so, he looks in the mirror, and the show cuts to old scenes of Evil Cooper laughing with Bob in the Black Lodge, followed by the famous scene of Evil Cooper smashing his face into the mirror. Back in the cell, Evil Cooper still looks at his reflection, which then takes on elements of Bob. He acknowledges Bob’s remaining presence with pleasure and, strangely, relief.
As in the previous episode, Dougie’s wife is having trouble getting him to do anything he’s supposed to. Outside their house door, Jane does his tie for him while he looks at “his son,” a tear rolling down his face as he smiles gently, obviously moved by seeing this young boy. She then has him get in the car, and she takes him to work, a large building with shaded seating out front and a statue of a cowboy holding his gun in a shooting position. He walks into the building, where he eventually follows a coworker who is holding a lot of coffee. He’s given a cup that was meant for his coworker Frank, and he drinks a lot of it, proclaiming, “Damn good joe!” at the suggestion of his coworker. Clearly, this is a reference to Cooper’s famous line, “Damn good coffee!”
It turns out that Dougie works for an insurance company and isn’t exactly the best employee there. Nope, that honor goes to Tom Sizemore, who looks suspiciously like Robbie Rotten. His hair is dyed perfectly black and he obviously goes to a tanning bed once every, oh, I don’t know…12 hours? We meet Sizemore’s character when Dougie has to sit in a staff meeting. Sizemore begins discussing the claims he has worked on and how a couple need to be paid out because they are legitimate. Then, a strange light flickers across his face, which causes Cooper to blurt out, “He’s lying,” a claim that doesn’t sit well with Sizemore or the boss of the company, who demands to see Dougie in his office. As they talk, certain words clearly resonate with Cooper, such as “agent” and “case files,” but he’s still not done battling whatever shock the time he spent in the Black Lodge has left him in. When the workday is done, Cooper waits…and waits…outside next to the cowboy statue.
Back in the casino where Cooper won 30 jackpots, the boss is getting beaten for allowing such a large amount, $425,000, to be won. The man beating him is Robert Knepper, who has Jim Belushi as an aide. After the boss is fired, Belushi tells him to leave town and never come back, a sinister warning both in physicality and psychological fear. The floor manager is promoted and told to alert them should Dougie ever return.
We are then taken back to Dougie’s car, where the boy in the house across the street is still looking out the window while his mother (sister?) is passed out from drugs and alcohol. He goes outside and is about to tamper with the charge placed under Dougie’s car when the black car from earlier pulls up and three men jump out and shoo him away. The men try to steal Dougie’s car but set off the bomb and three of them die in the explosion. The boy runs back into his home, perfectly safe and fine.
Across town, Jade the prostitute is getting her car washed when the attendant hands her the Twin Peaks Great Northern Lodge key that was in Cooper’s pocket from the third episode. She puts it in a mailbox after seeing that it should be mailed back in case it gets lost.
Nostalgia strikes hard when we are whisked away to Twin Peaks and the Double-R diner. Norma is doing paperwork and Amanda Seyfried’s character, Becky, comes in to drop off what looks like a basket of baked goods. Shelly is there and Becky begins talking to her, obviously in distress. Shelly hands Amanda a little bit of money, relying on her tips and pulling out her purse to get more. Norma obviously isn’t thrilled by this, going to Shelly’s side after Becky leaves. Shelly and Norma are obviously still very close, both of them judging the young man, played by Get Out‘s Caleb Landry Jones, that Becky gets into the car with. As they pull around to the back, we find out that this young man is addicted to cocaine, which Becky is okay with taking after making a show of being upset at how much he’s had in one day. High on drugs, Becky allows herself to be smitten with this young man, who is clearly a loser.
We then visit Dr. Jacoby’s trailer, where we see him running a live stream where he’s become a patriotic radio/video host. Ben Horne is watching on a tablet in the forest, smoking a joint, and Nadine Hurley, still wearing her eye patch, watches too from her home. Jacoby plays a pre-recorded message where he tells people to shovel their way out of the shit and into the truth. Turns out he’s selling those gold-painted shovels we saw previously for $29.99. He is nothing more than a scam artist, at least that’s how he’s being presented right now.
Adding to the list of locations we’ve been to is the Pentagon, where we meet Ernie Hudson as Colonel Davis. He is told that Major Garland Briggs’ prints have been found for the 16th time in 25 years, this time in South Dakota. He orders the woman who told him this to fly out there and investigate, stating that if it leads to anything, the FBI must be notified immediately.
As is becoming custom in these episodes, we go to the Bang Bang bar. A band plays a hypnotically rocking song while a guy smokes under a No Smoking sign, flicking his ashes on the table with disregard and disdain. He’s told to put out the cigarette by someone clearly high up, and a bouncer comes to take care of the situation. The bouncer is given the pack of cigarettes, which he opens to reveal a wad of money. There’s clearly some arrangement at play here.
After this happens, a young woman asks the smoker for a light for her cigarette. He tells her to sit beside him, and after she does, he grabs her and pulls her in, groping her chest and hissing sexual phrases into her ear while her friends try to calm him down. She is clearly distraught and it’s a deeply uncomfortable, disgusting, and unpleasant moment. Whoever this guy is, he’s a prick.
At FBI Agent Tammy Preston’s desk, she is looking at an image of Dale Cooper. She compares it to the mugshot of the doppelgänger as well as comparing fingerprints. Something draws her attention and gives her cause for concern, although we are not given information as to what that might be.
Back in prison, Evil Cooper is given his phone call by Warden Murphy, a call that we know Agent Gordon wants monitored and recorded. Evil Cooper is left alone but makes it clear that he’s aware of Big Brother’s watchful gaze. He mocks the Warden, asking if he should call Mr. Strawberry, which causes Murphy to cover his mouth with his hand in disbelief. Suddenly, Evil Cooper beings dialing numbers, too many to be a phone number. The prison’s alarms go off, sirens blaring, lights flashing, confusion breaking out in the security office. The monitors, which previously showed the interior of the prison, are now showing television shows. In the midst of this chaos, Cooper talks into the phone, uttering the simple phrase, “The cow jumped over the moon.” When he sets the phone onto its cradle, everything returns to normal in the blink of an eye. The Warden and his men don’t know what happened and didn’t get any information. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, we go back to that black box from earlier, where it blinks twice before mutating into a small black pebble.
To start with, what I loved about this episode is that it proved the list of cameos doesn’t mean these characters will be tossaways. In fact, it seems that David Lynch and Mark Frost have made sure that every person that comes into this series is important and meaningful, adding something to the charm and mystery that we’ve all come to know and love. Some may be terrifying (Knepper and Belushi), while others could be troubled and clearly in a bad spot (Seyfried), but each of them is fascinating.
So, what do we make of this episode? As always, there are more questions than answers given here, if any of the latter were even offered. With every new character, there emerges curiosities and questions on how they all will come together in the tapestry that is “Twin Peaks.” With 13 episodes remaining, there is a lot of time to explain everything, but I’m beginning to think that we’re not going to get a cherry-on-top ending. If anything, the mysteries will continue on but will be given a more dignified exit.
Sorry, I went on a tangent there. But I guess that’s what the world of “Twin Peaks” and the minds of both David Lynch and Mark Frost will do to a viewer. Watching their work means that you have to forfeit playing by standard rules. Patience is required, as is giving the show the utmost of attention. The smallest piece can be the largest clue, and to use this show as background noise or not give it the regard it deserves is a disservice not only to the show but to the viewer’s experience. “Twin Peaks” doesn’t play by the rules, so we have to learn them as we play along. Personally, I find that to be one of the most exquisite and exhilarating aspects of the show.
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