Well, anything was going to be a come down following the remarkable Gotta Light from two weeks ago, but this by Twin Peaks standard outting still contained plenty of intrigue and set many new slices of the puzzle in motion.
Despite losing Bob, dopple Cooper is still functioning and looking to carry out his plans. Wounded Coop grabs himself a wooden weapon from a nearby post. In a tight piece of connecting the dots storytelling, Gordon recieves a call from Col. Davis directing him to Buckhorn S.D. - the place where the Bad Agent Cooper had been reciding in since escaping the black lodge at the end of season 2, and where a local School Principal (Matthew Lillard) was framed for the murder of a librarian at the start of this season. We then return to Cooper who has found his way to a farm, where Tim Roth, Tim Roth! TIM ROTH!! and his daughter greet him. Another hats off moment to Lynch as Roth's appearance was another darkly kept secret which no one outside of the show knew about. Back on the FBI plane Gordon informs a sleepy Albert that they need to go to Blackhorn. In the line of the episode perhaps, Albert looks at Diane, and dryly says, "I know, I know, Fuck you Albert." Gordon hears about Cooper flearing jail and can't resist a little pun. Cooper orders a guy over the phone to get something done, and instructs Roth's character to bump off Warden Murphy, and he gets a extended "wet one" off Chatel, yum? or yuk? I'll let you decide...
Back in the Dougie side of the plot we get more antics from the hopeless Vegas police force as they try to piece thngs together, more bad jokes, and more annoying laughs. Its revealed that Dougie was involved in a car accident years ago which may explain his mental state?.... In a plot collision that could only happen in Twin Peaks the cops lift the finger prints from the hit and run involving Dougie and we are located to the reisdence of Spike guy. Before they arrest him, Spike guy tells someone over the phone that the mission was not a success, the mission to kill Dougie one can only guess. Is this the end of Spike guy's involvement? I'm guessing yes, but who the hell knows in this show. In his brief appearance in this episode, Dougie is seduced first by the American flag, and second by a woman's RED shoes. Am I the only one who thought that Dougie noticed the plug socket which was shot like it was smiling at him?.... Maybe I watch this show too much. Anyway, these small moments are Dougie/Cooper slowly piecing his idenity together I'm sure. The plug socket is a link to how the good Cooper re-entered this world. In further red related image metaphors Lucy and Andy debate which colour chair to buy. Lucy is set on getting the red beige chair as she searches online. There is a back and forth between the pair, with Andy preferring to go with the red choice. Again this is a return to the quirky, oddball Twin Peaks style humour which has largely been missing so far in the return. Its also another nod to growth in technology since the show last aired, as Andy and Lucy go back and forth on dueling computers. The scene sells us on their love for one another once again. Despite Andy giving in to Lucy's wishes, it is later revealed that Lucy goes ahead and orders the red chair. She retains the power in their relationship, and yet is touched by her man giving way, and hey, at least he will get the colour he wants after all. The dual colours is possibley to represent the dilama between good and evil. Or this could be just another random Andy and Lucy scene. Whatever the case. its charming, and I doubt anything in a David Lynch project is ever truly random.
Benjamin's son and Audrey's brother Johnny who is mentally challenged and remember was close to Laura before she was murdered at the start of the original show makes an appearance, and is on the rampage, runs into a wall, and appears to kill himself... I'm not only one to point this out, but how ironic that we have seen everyone from the Horne family so far upon the return, except BLOODY AUDREY!! Stop the pain! The most important plot point of the episode is when Frank, Hawk and Bobby goe over to Mrs Briggs house to ask her about what happened the with her husband and Cooper the night Cooper disappeared. She tells them of a prediction the Major made back then that this day of the three of them showing up at her door to ask about this very thing would happen. The nice twist on the original prediction is that the Major just said, a Shreiff Truman, but at the time it was Harry not Frank in the hot seat. This is another touching scene not just for Bobby, but more importantly it sells the wisdom of his father, something which wasn't such a factor in the original Twin Peaks (Don S. Davis who played the part in the original run, passed away nine years ago). Its a neat detail to bring the 25 years around full circle. Mrs. Briggs tells her son that Major Briggs always had confidence in him. She passes on a box that his father told her to keep for this very day.
Diane recieves a message which appears to be from Dopple Cooper something about "We're having fun around the diner room table." Tammy is given the role to question the framed William Hastings (Lillard), and he breaks down. Discussing his affair with school librarian Ruth Davenport, Hastings talks about a blog he set up 25 years ago called 'The Search for the Zone' which was all about alturnative dimensions and paranormal phenomena. In a neat touch this blog actually exists, and does look like it was set up back in the 1990s. Hastings and Ruth somehow managed to travel to another reality, where they encountered Major Briggs. The major told Ruth and William that he needed to move to remain safe, and further instructed them to access for him a set of coordinates from a secure military detabase. Ruth noted down the coordinates on her hand. Upon giving Major the coordinates, he floated into the air, repeating, "Cooper. Cooper. Briggs not the first character to do that this season (the Giant in Gotta Light). Following the Major's disappearance, Hastings was attacked and forced to give of his wife, Phyllis. He then awakes at home. As we already knows Ruth's severed head and Major Brigg's decapitated body was found in Ruth's appartment a few days later. William signs and dates a picture of Major Briggs, confiriming to Tammy than that was indeed the man him and Ruth incountered in the Zone. The team piece together that the head had been discovered in the same area that Cooper and Briggs were 25 years previous.
Jerry is still out in the woods and still freaking out. A bug like creature talks to him in a sinister voice, but again this could be in his head? Back at station, Bobby reveals to Frank and Hawk that he knows how to open the box pasted on from his Dad. As it turns out Major Briggs would bring boxes like it home all the time during Bobby's childhood. In another warm character beat, the camera takes an extended shot on Bobby's face, as we take an extended in take of breath, and almost as powerful as Bobby breaking down over the picture of Laura early in the season, the image of his face lighting up with a joyful smile is another iconic moment for the character. In another typically TP like turn, the scene moves from one of pathos to random simpliticity as it Bobby reveals that the way to open the box is to simply throw it hard to the ground! Inside, a set of directions points them towards, Jack Rabbits Place. This is a make believe place that father and son Briggs went to when Bobby was young. William passes onto Tammy the numbers from the coordinates.
Back at the Great Northen there is more flirting between Beverly and her boss Benjamin. The low rumbling is still bugging them. Beverly attempts to seduce Benjamin. Again in the an episode about the changes in certain characters the last 25 years, its striking that the old Benjamin Horne would more than likely have giving in to pleasure, but this one calmly tells Beverly that he can't. Back at the Bang, Bang Bar two girls meet, and the blonde one is stressed out, about losing her job and about a rash which seems to be bothering her more and more. A painful final moment of the episode, as we cut to the stage and end on a live performance.
Episode MVP: Bobby Briggs
This episode was not only a fond tribute to the Major and the man behind him Don S. Davis, but was the one that dremostrated how Bobby, the young, greasey haired punk who first showed up causing trouble in the pilot episode 27 years ago has come full circle. He's an important part of the town's fabric, and important to the current case. I had mixed feelings on Dana Asha's role in the original Twin Peaks. He was a watchable enough asshole, and I was semi-engaged with him because of his link to Shelly, and because next to Leo Johnson he was like a saint. Like a few of the old names, Bobby has matured and moved with the times, and it seems like Asha has done the same. It would be hard not to be moved by his childlike energy and street smarts in this episode.
Verdict
The more this episode washes over me, and the more I think about it, the more I enjoy it, and am engaged with the mystery unfolding. For big character moments it wasn't the most dramatic, oddly, the likes of Dougie, Janey, Diane and Dopple Cooper were muted, with their gazes carrying the most power. However, this was one to start to bring the fragments of the dual Cooper plots back together with those characters still in Twin Peaks. It was an episode of reflecton, like an in take of breath before we move these characters forward and see what the second half of season three has in store for them. Of course Lynch and Frost introduced some fresh elements which may or may not be a part of the bigger picture. I know I'm still hanging on their every word.
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