Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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Jonah
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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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eyeboogers wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 5:07 am Maybe someone has read an interview with Carel Struycken and can share if there was a logistical reason for him not being in the feature, but regardless I think that it is for the best. As a viewer I think it works much better that he is introduced in the second season, as yet another being from the other place, but someone that most likely outranks the others (except for Judy). It escalates the stakes, and as a superior being he don't have time to participate in secret meetings about division of Garmonbozia. He is only called in when something goes mayorly wrong and balance needs to be restored.
I really like this interpretation - I also like how he first appeared in the first scene of the Season 2 premiere, then also appeared in the opening moments of The Return. Felt like a callback in a way.
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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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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eyeboogers wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 5:07 am Maybe someone has read an interview with Carel Struycken and can share if there was a logistical reason for him not being in the feature, but regardless I think that it is for the best. As a viewer I think it works much better that he is introduced in the second season, as yet another being from the other place, but someone that most likely outranks the others (except for Judy). It escalates the stakes, and as a superior being he don't have time to participate in secret meetings about division of Garmonbozia. He is only called in when something goes mayorly wrong and balance needs to be restored.
In the Twin Peaks Archive interview he says he would have loved to be in FWWM but was never asked.
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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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Mr. Reindeer, as I know you've been reading a lot of the usenet archives, what was the general consensus on there about this episode?

I must check to see what the contemporary reviews were like from newspapers and critics.
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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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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Jonah wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:00 am Maybe Lynch was going for the spirit of Laura really coming through as a haunting force in this episode more than previously - Donna feels her (perhaps due to wearing her sunglasses), and begins acting like her, and Maddy feels her too and starts dressing/acting like her as well, even furiously breaking her own glasses and saying she "hates" them. It really is like Laura is taking them both over - almost - at different points. And even in the closing moments of the episode, Ronette is haunted by her image too. The more I think of it, the more I feel Lynch was going for this. They are not literally being possessed by Laura, but it's almost like they are, and thematically it feels right.
On rewatching this, I noticed that Maddy is wearing Laura's sunglasses just before she breaks her own glasses. Donna starts smoking just after wearing them and later acts funny while wearing them. The implication that Laura might be possessing them through the glasses or her presence is felt and influenced through them is pretty strongly implied.

Other little things I noticed:

The shots of the burned mill at the beginning look like a photograph or very static somehow. Actual photograph filmed to look like it's a real scene or an early attempt at CGI?

The Log Lady mentions pitch gum in her intro, and in this episode she's seen spitting it out in the Double R.

I think this is the first time I noticed the backdrop used outside the sheriff's station (when the one-armed man enters) - though I'm watching it on a streaming service and think I've seen it in higher quality on Blu-Ray (not sure if one is 720, the other 1080, or if they're both the same - the streaming service says highest quality is 720 but it looks higher to me, but I'm not big into home theatre beyond that so I don't know, though I notice the boom mics that were edited out of the Blu-Ray release are present so does that mean they've taken it from the DVD, not the Blu-Ray?).

When he sees Hank in the diner, Bobby has a flashback of Hank shooting Leo, but is this a slight retcon? Did he actually see him if he was on the ground with his back to the TV? Although, as I type this, I dimly recall he looked up and saw him. I'll have to check this whenever I rewatch that episode.

I've said many times that I love the slow pan over the coffee table of the donuts and the interspersed footage of the trees, the light at Sparkwood and 21, and other images and flashbacks, but it just occurred to me if this had been a non-Lynch directed episode featuring a similar sequence (directed by Diane Keaton or someone else), we'd all probably accuse it of trying to be too Lynch-like or over-the-top including images of trees and stuff superimposed over donuts, or dismissed it as an unnecessary summing up. Of course, it would probably be done much less stylishly by other directors and some aspects of this episodes, including all the recapping, has been criticized so we do point out flaws in Lynch's aspects, but the thought still occurred to me.

When The Giant says "you forgot something", is he referring to Audrey's note, something else (and if so, what?) - or both?

I mentioned before, as The Giant disappears, he sends a glowing ball of light towards - and, seemingly, into Cooper's face - which reminds me of the glowing orb he has in Season 3 featuring Laura's image. Is it the same orb?

Even though viewers were frustrated back in the day when the killer wasn't revealed during Season 1, and doubly so when it still wasn't revealed in this episode, didn't they sort of think it was revealed - it's pretty clear Bob (who'd already been hinted during Season 1) killed her in the closing scenes? Did many viewers not assume at this point that a drifter called Bob had just been revealed as the murderer and the mystery had now shifted from who killed her to who the drifter was and why he killed her? (After all, there's no indication at this point that he's a spirit inhabiting the real killer and by the end of the episode, it seems pretty clear he's the "third man" and, while there might be more to it, it would seem unlikely surely to many viewers that it would take a supernatural turn and reveal another killer at this point.)
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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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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Jonah wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 6:10 pm Mr. Reindeer, as I know you've been reading a lot of the usenet archives, what was the general consensus on there about this episode?

I must check to see what the contemporary reviews were like from newspapers and critics.
I think it was pretty positive on usenet. Lots of speculating/looking for clues. Lots of fascination with the Giant. A little frustration from some, a little confusion about what identifying the killer even means in light of the ending scene with Bob.
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Jonah
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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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Thanks! I imagine the more general reviews in the media were more mixed or negative, about the slow opening scene, the lack of the killer being revealed, etc.
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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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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Jonah wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 6:55 pm On rewatching this, I noticed that Maddy is wearing Laura's sunglasses just before she breaks her own glasses. Donna starts smoking just after wearing them and later acts funny while wearing them. The implication that Laura might be possessing them through the glasses or her presence is felt and influenced through them is pretty strongly implied.
I always remember this being discussed at length on the usenet group, especially in addition to FWWM's scene in which Laura admonishes Donna for wearing her "stuff", reminding her that she's told her not to many times before. This could have something to do with why that is.
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Re: Episode 8 (Season 2 Premiere)

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Yes, I think something along these lines was Lynch's intention either directly (ghost, spirit influence) or implied (more metaphorically). Which is why it first appeared in Episode 8 (co-written by Lynch, but possibly also improvised?) and then carried over into FWWM.
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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