I just want to give it up for Miguel Ferrer's in his final performance.. he truly did a great job as Albert Rosenfelt again, but as a more world weary, tired man that really love his friend and colleauge Gordon Cole, yet is pretty fed up with a lot of his strange behavior. i thought it really felt as a natural evolution of the character we saw in the original run. i was suprised to see Ferrer had such a large role to play in this considering his health but he really pulled through and did a lot of heavy lifting. it's sad to think that if we would ever get Season 4 he will never be a part of it again. Rest in peace Mr. Ferrer!
what are some of your favorite lines of Albert's in the new series?
as i mentioned in the ep. 17 thread his observation that electroshocking yourself by sticking a fork in a wall socket is strange even for Cooper was a homerun for me. but there's a lot of other good stuff - "How about a truck load of Valium?" - "CARSICK!!!" or his growing irritation over the beautifully absurd french woman in Cole's room
I felt like we saw a completely different side to Albert Rosenfield in this series. Compare the lingering shots of his now furtive, aged and chopsy face that we get in this season with the rapid-fire, energetic entrance he makes in episode 2 ('Zen...') of the original run. Flanked by bureau agents, he whisks off his sunglasses (something of a trait -- he'll do this many times, in some episodes impossibly many within a few seconds) and gets down to the business of playing the hyper-arrogant urban professional stranded in a 'slip-shod backwater burg'.
He has softened and mellowed considerably in the 25 years hiatus. There's something of a deep melancholy about him now that was not there before. The key scene revealing this is the 'blue' one outside the prison in which he confesses to Cole his correspondence with Jeffries (a confession later reciprocated by Cole regarding Briggs). World-weariness, the guilt of carrying secrets for so long, and a mature profundity and sparseness appear to have slowed him right down. The real-life illness of the actor Miguel Ferrer does not, in my opinion, show through that much; this is simply good acting.
Occasionally Albert's signature quick-fire deadpan wit reignites. It is much more honest now however; less of a defensive affectation or overcompensation. You can tell this because it is not continually present. His rapport with Constance Talbot, who shares some of the wry, pointed humour that typified his younger self (and, I think, which is by pretty widespread convention presented as something of an occupational necessity in working as a coroner), shows us a warmer and more tender aspect to his character. I like to think she reminds him of a less troubled, freer, youth.
'What happens in season two?' has to be my favourite line.
We'll miss you Albert.
As a matter of fact, 'Chalfont' was the name of the people that rented this space before. Two Chalfonts. Weird, huh?
I am sort of thinking at the moment that Albert exists only as a character in the mind or one or more dreamers. Cole's and Diane's I think for sure, as well as Coop's for a brief background cameo appearance. The dreamers intersect throughout. Cole and Diane watching Albert on his date would be one such intersection. I guess this is more for the "dream" thread.
I am heartbroken that his final performance turned out to be a harsh downward arc, but it is a relief that the character, at least, is now in a place to leave it all behind him and heal.
We are first presented with his still vivid affection for Cooper, we see him appreciating and being appreciated by a much wider social circle than in the old show (Gordon ofc, padawan Tammy, old friend Diane, fresh kindred spirit Constance, Cynthia laughs at his jokes, and he is simply "Albert" to Denise). Softer snark and a more relaxed attitude suit him. But right after his delightful light-hearted dinner, Diane's perceived betrayal turns up, and from then on, he's dead inside. His arc is that of an old impassioned pacifist having to shoot a friend (with a shaking hand) and stand by his action. immediately afterwards, Gordon, who personifies his job and the life he's sacrificed his loyalty to, explains how he's lied to him all this time. And he says he is sorry. Cheers to the FBI.
Cooper doesn't even say hello, and now he'll never get a chance. His loss. Cheers to the FBI, again.
I hope Albert can eventually free himself from these weights and shadows, and that he can start to find his old heart again, his strange and difficult path. Traces of it were still there a few days earlier. We all saw it.
That's a great point on Albert sacrificing his pacifist ideals. I really wonder if L/F thought about this, or even remembered that speech.
I was initially disappointed in the more subdued Albert, but I like it now. I've always viewed Albert as a deeply torn man, struggling to find love for his fellow man in his heart, but infuriated by all the incompetence, violence, pain and stupidity he encounters constantly. It makes sense to me that that internal struggle has worn him down over a quarter century.
Last edited by Mr. Reindeer on Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
great character (Like Joe Friday but with no tolerance for the simpleminded) but he was definitely watered/tamed down for The Return (not sure if this had to do with MF's own health problems)
Albert's presence as a "genuine" character in the series is one of my favourite things about The Reurn. So many other Twin Peaks character seemed to be featured in a couple of scenes just for the sake of showing up, like short and pointless cameos in what used to be their own series, I'm really glad Miguel Ferrer got to stay with us for the whole journey.
Albert was fantastic. Slightly different than the one in the original series but still very funny and witty and certainly more mature. My only gripe is that I wanted him and Coop to interact a bit in Part 17. He just stood at Frank's office without saying anything.
If TPTR was a buddy story about Gordon and Albert, I'd want 75% more Albert.
Since FWWM we wondered how Albert in TP could be so cynical after what he witnessed in Philadelphia. His path is a strange difficult one, and it's raining post-toasties.
It seemed like Albert softened a little after his "I love you, Sheriff Truman" scene in the original series. Maybe he hadn't fully grasped, prior to that, the extent to which his brusque manner contradicted his stated ideals and started to give people like Harry (with whom Albert definitely "started it" by needlessly denigrating the town) the benefit of the doubt instead of immediately pigeonholing them as small-minded fools.
