It never crossed my mind before, but in light of TR, I’m starting to wonder if Garland’s previous disappearances which Betty refers to weren’t also trips to another realm. I’d always assumed this was the first time he crossed over, but perhaps he’s already been back and forth gaining knowledge of the Lodges, etc.? (BTW, this is the first episode where Garland’s first name is ever spoken onscreen.)
I really love what an understanding, loving and equal relationship Garland and Betty have, and that comes through once again with Betty’s appearance in TR. That might be the only healthy marriage on the show!
Given TR’s absurd revelation that Denise is actually an FBI agent acting undercover for Gordon infiltrating the DEA (or something?), it makes sense that Gordon might have pulled some strings to have his woman on the inside be the one to handle Dale’s case. We can assume he’s playing coy on the call when he talks about the DEA going through sock drawers, when he actually knows full well Coop will be handled with kid gloves. I think Gordon’s “umbrella” comment is Gordon letting Dale know he doesn’t have to worry, leading to Dale’s subsequent calm demeanor. Lynch is really funny throughout that call. I love the way he yells, “storming a whorehouse?!”
Dale’s speech to Roger about what lies beyond the darkness etc. sounds like a Blue Rose mission statement.
It’s really a shame that the Nadine crap in this stretch is the first time we’ve been at the high school since maybe the Donna-Audrey bathroom scene in Episode 4? I love the feel of the school scenes in the Pilot and the first few episodes of season 1. It’s crazy that on a show where four main characters are in high school, we almost never spent any time there (Bobby and James’s attendance has become completely nonexistent at this point; Audrey and Donna don’t seem to be doing a whole lot better, what with their respective adventuring at One-Eyed Jack’s and with Meals on Wheels/Harold).
Hideout Wallie’s is a pretty tacky set, but I do love that Angelo Badalamenti’s “I’m Hurt Bad” (last heard in the Pilot) is the #1 jukebox hit for angsty teenagers everywhere. There is something so surreal and otherworldly about what qualifies as “popular” music in 1989-era Peaks. Maybe TR did lose something by bringing in more traditionally mainstream acts, as much as I like most of the Roadhouse performances. The original series almost seems to take place in a world where rock never took off and pop developed in a more jazz-oriented direction.
For those who don’t know, Coach Wingate is played by the late Ron Taylor, also the voice of Bleeding Gums Murphy on The Simpsons.
The Little Nicky stuff is really dumb, but that diner scene does have one auspicious moment: Andy’s line about White Tail Mountain is the first time one of the titular Peaks has been named in onscreen dialogue! (Harry referred to Blue Pine Lodge in Episode 8, but not the mountain itself).
I was really bothered this time by Evelyn leaning on that Jag while it’s up on a jack! That is SO dangerous. It would have been hilarious if it came crashing down mid-scene, right after she talks about Jeffrey’s “perfect toys,” destroying the car and sending them both into panic mode. Oh, what could have been...
Beymer is so good in this one, whispering the speech from Richard III (Ben loves his Shakespeare...is he comparing himself to King Edward?!), flicking his tongue like a lizard, caressing his mother on the screen. By all rights we should despise this character after all he’s done, yet Beymer makes him both sympathetic and hilariously funny all at once. His wardrobe just kills me. Does that tie have school-buses on it?! And has there ever been a relationship between actor and prop as perfect and as intimate as Beymer and that cigar?
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I can’t figure out where (I thought it was on this thread, but I don’t appear to ever posted on this thread before). Ben’s mom seems to be wearing either a veil or a breathing tube in the old footage of the groundbreaking. I had convinced myself with certainty that it’s a breathing tube going into her nose (making Ben’s dad seem like a complete asshole for smoking cigars around her)...but now I’m thinking maybe it’s a veil? I can’t decide. Any other opinions? (Also note right before the footage cuts off, young Ben appears to again have a cigar.)
Note that, while the Access Guide says Ben’s father was Benjamin Joseph Horne (making our Ben a Junior), the sign in the home movie says “JJ Horne Developments.” The Access Guide and TSHoTP also contradict the series by saying the Great Northern opened in the 1920s, long before Ben was born.
Dale is positively LA-chic at the wedding reception, with no tie and the top button of his short undone! He looks great, as always, but it just feels wrong.
Similarly, Margaret is embarrassingly out of character, but I still love the awkward little interactions between Nance and Coulson on a real-world level.
There appears to be champagne in front of recovering alcoholic Nance, but given that this is a wedding reception, there is probably champagne at every place setting for the toast. Generally, Pete is always drinking milk at functions where most people have alcohol. Josie mentions buying him ginger beer in a note in Episode 8, but most ginger beer is nonalcoholic (like root beer). I’ve always imagined Pete is also a recovering alcoholic like Nance, but he may just be a teetotaler.
And in one of the soapier and stranger endings in the series history, beloved town patriarch and all-American local boy, former boy scout, Andrew Packard, literally wanders out of the woodwork, speaking with a flawless Oxford accent.
I have to say, I really do love Angelo’s Packard theme.
This episode in Dale’s Diet:
— Coffee in his FBI mug in Harry’s office
— Cooper on the food at the Great Northern: “Denise, you’re in for a real surprise”
— Coffee at the Great Northern bar while talking to Denise at Dougie’s wedding reception