There’s still something a little odd about Albert acting as the straight-faced mouthpiece for all this mythological mumbo jumbo. I know, people have justified it by saying every supernatural investigation team needs a Dana Scully. But he doesn’t come across as a Scully in S3 — in the original show, he was an utter cynic whenever Coop would bring up the supernatural, confining his findings to the Planet Earth. In S3, however, he spouts this stuff without reservation, seemingly fully believing it. I guess a lot can happen in 25 years, but it’s an odd 180-degree turnaround. One of Albert’s many contradictions, I guess. His path is a strange and difficult one.
I love Beymer, but I’m not quite sure what to make of his performance in this one. Ben’s grief over Richard’s crimes feels like it is supposed to play as sincere in the context of the scene, but the performance comes across like Ben is play-acting (it feels a lot like the S2 scene where Ben unsuccessfully attempts to show emotion after Cooper rescues Audrey from One-Eyed Jacks and gives him that wonderfully awkward hug). He’s fun to watch in the scene, but none of his reactions come across as honest. I guess maybe that’s just who Ben is?
The comment about Richard not having a father is interesting. It doesn’t seem like any of the townspeople suspect Dale of rape (we certainly don’t get the impression from this scene that Ben believes that). So who does Ben think is Richard’s father? Wheeler? For that matter, Wheeler himself would have no reason not to believe he was the father. Presumably Audrey and/or Ben would have contacted him. One never really knows, of course, but he came across as a pretty upstanding guy (err, aside from his seduction of an 18-year-old HS student)...but I guess he turned out to be a heel once a child came into the picture? I can’t think of any other explanation why he wouldn’t have been part of Richard’s life.
I’ve been generally opposed to the idea of continuity flubs in S3 and TSHoTP being intentional, but Ben bringing specific attention to Miriam’s last name here really caught my attention. I still think that “Hodges” on the envelope was a prop error, probably. But maybe DKL noticed and liked the ambiguity, and added this line? Whether intentional or not, the work is ours to interpret now, and I think this does play into the idea of malleable reality/subjective memory on a global scale that
I have speculated DKL and (especially) Frost may be toying with.
I really think Clark Middleton gives one of the funniest performances in all of TP history. I can’t get enough of Charlie.
I love to imagine Harry receiving that room key. I really wonder why we couldn’t even at least hear his voice on the phone at some point, given that Ontkean was originally gung-ho to return.
