Episode 19

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Gabriel
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Re: Episode 19

Post by Gabriel »

Yeah, Denis/Denise is part of the self-conscious 'wackiness' that throws the show a bit out of kilter for a few episodes.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Episode 19

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So I guess we can assume that Col. Reilly is a co-conspirator to Cole/Dougie/Jeffries/Garland? Too bad he's not on "the list" in TSHoTP. (Also, why is his name consistently spelled "Riley" online when the script names him "Reilly"? Subtitles screwup?) Wish we'd seen this guy again; the actor is great and the character had promise. Wouldn't have minded seeing Tony Burton & Don Davis share a scene or two.

While we're largely drowning in "comedic" subplots at this point, Beymer and Duchovny give by far the finest comedic performances. I hesitate to call either performance "restrained" or even "grounded," but those two somehow feel far more believable than most of the other actors' off-the-wall shitcks, and they're much funnier for it. Also, and I'm pretty sure this is just me, for some reason (and I don't recall this being the case in prior viewings), I really like Ernie on this rewatch. With his bling rings, unceasing nervousness, and delightfully ambiguous '40s-movie-gangster-filtered through-a-Cockney-actor accent, he doesn't feel like he belongs in the world of TP, but somehow feels like less of a betrayal than several storylines involving Pilot characters like Andy & Lucy. There's something I find very amusing about the push-and-pull turmoil at the core of the character. On the one hand, you can tell that this guy has criminal genes in his DNA: there's no way he could ever hold down a legitimate job for more than a day. But on the other hand, I completely buy that he is terrified of being caught with his hand in the cookie jar again. It's a bit like Albert's "pacifist with anger management issues" contradiction: it's not nearly as clever or well-executed, but on this rewatch, I find the Ernie scenes an amusing break from the more baffling misfires.

Speaking of the misfires: The Nadine and Lana scenes in this one are absolutely awful (I'll even take Evelyn over that drek). The Lana stuff is pure character assassination for all the men involved (seeing Doc Hayward in this context makes me cringe in disgust). However, going against popular opinion, I don't particularly abhor the Little Nicky stuff. Is it bad? Absolutely -- but no worse than several other plotlines going on at this point. This subplot was always more confusing to me than embarrassing: obviously the producers were going for some sort of "comedic Omen" thing, but there's NO setup whatsoever. Nicky plays a couple of perfectly innocent pranks on the boys in the Double R in Episode 18, then Dick learns that Nicky's parents died tragically, and then Dick gets unnecessarily paranoid after his car jack falls -- and decides Nicky is THE DEVIL?! It's such a WTF moment, even on my fifth rewatch, that it almost works on some meta level. The other comedic bits are just poorly conceived and poorly executed, and therefore are just flat-out boring. But the Little Nicky stuff in this one is batshit perplexing.

I don't think I've seen this mentioned in the thread, but I love the Ed/Norma scene. While I generally tend to disfavor TP's more "soapy" aspects, these two consistently embody the romance of the series far better than Donna/James, Coop/Annie, or any other couple I can think of. The actors bring out a humanity and sadness in one another that they rarely display in their scenes apart. It shocked me to realize on this rewatch that, with one or two brief exceptions, we haven't really seen these two commiserating together since Episode 5!
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OpeningCreditsBird
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Re: Episode 19

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Mr. Reindeer wrote: I don't think I've seen this mentioned in the thread, but I love the Ed/Norma scene. While I generally tend to disfavor TP's more "soapy" aspects, these two consistently embody the romance of the series far better than Donna/James, Coop/Annie, or any other couple I can think of. The actors bring out a humanity and sadness in one another that they rarely display in their scenes apart. It shocked me to realize on this rewatch that, with one or two brief exceptions, we haven't really seen these two commiserating together since Episode 5!
I totally agree. I loved that scene.
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David Locke
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Re: Episode 19

Post by David Locke »

The flute/Lana scene in the station has got to be the single slumpiest scene of the S2 slump. All in all, this is the most tonally "off" and weirdest episode of the series (though at least 2 or 3 are worse).

I like a lot of things in here though, like the Briggs return at the end (wonderful scene, really), Dead Dog, Audrey/Coop, Col. Riley, even Ernie. And it is a beautifully-lit ep from Deschanel and Byers, lots of flashy techniques being used but never in flashy Keaton territory.
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Jonah
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Re: Episode 19

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I managed to find a lot of scenes in Episode 17 & 18 that I enjoyed, but it's harder here, though there's still a few.

As someone else pointed out, this is "Twin Peaks - The Sitcom Episode".

There's very little good here.

The Nadine stuff is pretty bad, though I think I warm a little to the Nadine/Mike romance later on.

I'm disappointed in the character of Hawk here. He's made out to be really foolish and just completely out of character. I know this is all meant to be due to Lana's appeal, but still - it's disheartening.

Definitely the weakest episode to date.

I think the Evelyn/noir plot, as weak as it is, might have worked a little better on paper - i.e. not seemed so poor in script form. But I can't see any justification for the Lana stuff - its just awful.

The farm location is okay. The real estate agent feels like she's stepped in from "Northern Exposure".

The Dick/Little Nicky stuff is awful. I sort of like Dick, though, and I think Ian Buchanan does a good job portraying him - I just wish he was in a different show or kept to a minimum like he had been previously, as Lucy's suitor.

The mentions of the White Lodge and Briggs' disappearance continue, but any power they might have had are lost in the shuffle here I think.

I like the throwback to Audrey's spyhole and I think an attempt is being made here to make Audrey back into the character she was in the first series, but it just doesn't play well. Not to mention it really undercuts all her character development since her experience at One Eyed Jack's.

And of course Ben's Civil War stuff begins here.

Catherine and Pete remain very watchable, but the Josie as maid story isn't great.

All the Lana stuff in the Sheriff's Station is awful. Again, if this was a different show, maybe it would be more amusing, but it's just depressing here.

The highlights here are probably -

Cooper speaking into his recorder to Diane, while holding the Bookhouse Boy patch, and the rest of this scene - where Audrey appears and meets Denise Bryson, though I think the "they have female agents?" line doesn't fully work. I don't like seeing Audrey being naive. I know it's played for laughs - but still.

The brief Norma/Ed scene in the diner is good.

I like Denise too, despite the Ernie stuff.

And the final scene in the Brigg's living room is wonderful, Bobby relaying the story of the major's dream to Betty, then the return of Major Briggs. And the final shot of the lightning in the sky is great too.

All in all, a much weaker episode than the last few - but there's still a handful of scenes that are pretty good.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Firewalkwithme91
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Re: Episode 19

Post by Firewalkwithme91 »

Upon rewatching this episode: Why doesn´t Andy cry when they find dead Milford? Instead of that he just wears a creepy sex-mask. :)
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Re: Episode 19

Post by claaa7 »

the entire episode is completely out of character for the series. it's like a bizarro world of TP.

i know some people dislike the direction Lynch and Frost took with The Return but compared to what happened in these episodes of Season 2 the way The Return was set up is way more in line with what Twin Peaks was and is to me. it must have been tortorous waiting week after week for the next episode to be met with this type of BS.. all of the important storylines are pushed way to the back while some truly god awful stories are introduced. i can't stand the Civil War stuff with Ben, the Nadine strongman stuff makes me cringe, Little Nicky is unfathomable, i don't even want to comment on Lana Milford's story... compared to all of that ugly stuff i never got why the James/Evelyn subplot keeps being singled out as the worst. it's really cheesy and overacted, but at least it had some good music and occassional interesting visuals.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Episode 19

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

claaa7 wrote: compared to all of that ugly stuff i never got why the James/Evelyn subplot keeps being singled out as the worst. it's really cheesy and overacted, but at least it had some good music and occassional interesting visuals.
I'm guessing it's because it's the one storyline that feels like conventional television. The Lana/Nadine/Nicky stuff is SO bafflingly misguided that you can't help but be fascinated by what possessed the writers who crafted the first season to go these directions. The Evelyn material is just flat and boring.
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Jonah
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Re: Episode 19

Post by Jonah »

Anyone catch Mike call Donna Doona at the lockers? Almost like he starts saying donut, then switches to Donna. Weird.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Episode 19

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

Calendar trivia: Per my calculation, this episode takes place on St. Patrick’s Day (Friday, March 17, 1989). Given that St. Paddy’s is generally associated with luck, it’s funny that the theme of this episode seems to be curses: Irene believes Dead Dog Farm is cursed, Dwayne believes Lana is cursed, Dick believes Nicky is cursed. It feels as close as any TP episode ever has to actually having a uniting theme running through all the storylines.

The Dead Dog Farm stuff has a decent mood to it (and it’s one of the few California exteriors on the show that really feels like Washington to me, due to the more washed-out look, as opposed to the sun-drenched warmth they usually favored). In fact, I like all the Cooper stuff (with Reilly, Denise, Audrey, etc.), as well as the brief Ed/Norma reunion. But other than that, this episode has absolutely nothing to recommend it...until that final scene, which we’ll get to shortly. This might be as weak as the show ever got, with wall-to-wall sitcom crap and Evelyn melodrama, outside the Cooper scenes and the ending.

Here we have a young Molly Shannon playing a character named Judy! In the same episode where Garland returns from his vision quest, AND Dougie Milford is permanently taken off the board. Could there be more to this innocuously lightweight character than meets the eye? Is it possible that Dick is actually on to something, that Nicky is an agent of evil sent by Jowday to destroy our beloved lawmen before they can confront her with Briggs’s help? (I’m joking, I think.)

It’s really an absurd coincidence that Cooper stumbles upon the Dead Dog meeting while looking at realty, and in our world Denise’s first reaction would simply be that Cooper planted the cocaine to frame Hank & co. and exonerate himself, which is by far the most logical takeaway. But of course, this is TP, and Dale’s Jungian intuition is his greatest superpower.

It’s such a small thing, especially in the episode with the “devil thought balloon,” but it really bothers me when Andy opens the door and Hawk falls backwards while bragging. All the Hawk/Lana stuff feels so cheap to begin with, and that gag is such a dumb obvious sitcom trope to pull on such a dignified, iconic character. Bleh.

What are the odds...for the second episode in a row, I find myself bothered by a car jack scene! I know Dick is supposed to be an absolutely bungling parent figure, but what idiot would leave a child inside a car while it’s up on a jack!

Henrys Hair pointed out (in response to my Episode 18 post) that this seems to be the one episode where Pete does appear to be drinking alcohol. Generally he has milk instead, presumably in deference to Nance’s addiction issues. He pours champagne in this scene, but (like Cooper whenever he has a drink) the edit doesn’t show him ever taking a sip.

That final scene. I’ve always liked it a lot and considered it easily the highlight of the episode. But holy mackerel, in light of Garland’s fate and how little time he has left with his family, I’m not ashamed to say I wept like a baby this time as Betty and Bobby were talking. I’m assuming that Garland gained his knowledge of Judy during his time away, and I got the sense from his final line that he has at least some inclination that his path is soon going to take him far from everything he loves forever. The way Don Davis delivers that last line breaks my heart now.

Dale’s Diet:
— Cooper has coffee in a green mug (he’s presumably no longer authorized to use his FBI mug in light of his suspension!), and is chewing something as he looks at realty options with Irene Littlehorse in the conference room. A nearby plate has three donuts: a sugar and a glazed which both appear to be untouched, and a chocolate which has several bites and is presumably what he’s eating
— Coffee in the same green mug when talking to Col. Reilly in Harry’s office
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Henrys Hair
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Re: Episode 19

Post by Henrys Hair »

Well, this seemed the least-essential episode so far. It's not without good bits - Ed & Norma, Dead Dog Farm, Cooper, Audrey & Denise and the Briggs family scene - but the balance is skewed to comedy that doesn't always work, wackiness and the Evelyn Marsh subplot with characters who don't have any reason to care for (these guys are all suspicious, James - just get that $11 out of your bank account and get outta there!). Overall, though, it just feels there's a lack of a main story to focus events and provide some forward momentum - the stakes never feel high enough for the Cooper-being-framed plot since, well, he's so obviously being framed. A few stray thoughts...

Why was anyone still inside Dick's car while it's propped up on a jack?

Molly Shannon!

Cooper & Bobby Briggs (at least in the Missing Pieces) have an uncanny ability to detect baby laxative.

Hank's domino has changed from 3/3 to 3/4 - is there any significance to this or just a continuity error?
mtl
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Re: Episode 19

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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Episode 19

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

Henrys Hair wrote: Why was anyone still inside Dick's car while it's propped up on a jack?
Haha I complained about this in the post above yours as well! Plus the prior episode with Evelyn leaning on the Jag while it’s up on a jack. Production carelessness or some weird subtle running gag?
Hank's domino has changed from 3/3 to 3/4 - is there any significance to this or just a continuity error?
I think Mulkey has said they lost the original and so just grabbed another one without bothering to make it match.
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