Twin Peaks: The One-Armed Man Rewatch

August 12, 2014 11:49 AM - Season 1, Episode 5

As Ben Horne and Catherine Martell scheme, Josie plays detective. Truman and Cooper get leads about the mysterious man with one arm, and pick up his trail. Jacques Renault enters the equation, and Sarah Palmer describes her vision of Laura's killer.

Scheduling: new episodes posted every Tuesday and Thursday. Both re-watchers and new viewers are welcome.

Watching: available for streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and for free on Hulu and CBS's site.

Previous Episode Threads:
Season One: Pilot, Traces to Nowhere, Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer, Rest in Pain

Bonus Stuff: Twin Peaks trading cards! With likes, dislikes and accomplishments. Memorable quotes. Notable locations. Significant objects. Collect them all!

posted by codacorolla (9 comments total)

I must say I have always been struck by how good Al Strobel, who plays Mike the One-Armed Man, was in the show. There were a few actors on the show who just genuinely seemed in sync with what the show needs, and he was one of them. Here's an interview with him and the Log Lady:

"I always wondered why everybody thought it was offbeat or strange. I've lived in the Northwest quite a while," he said. "That's how people are here. Every character they came up with, that was somebody I know."
posted by maxsparber at 1:41 PM on August 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

More random Peaks-iana:

Kotaku: What a Twin Peaks Video Game Might Have Looked Like
posted by Strange Interlude at 4:37 PM on August 12, 2014

Yeah, Mike is great. Especially as the character develops.

"I'm going to go give little Elvis... a bath," While holding up a, well, little Elvis. I've always wondered about that.

The interior of the Twin Peaks High girls' bathroom: decorated by the same guy who worked on the Overlook Hotel.

The first signs of trouble in Lucy and Andy's relationship, which I think is the start of a really sweet and fun side-story.

Ugh, and Hank. Easily one of my least favorite characters in the show.

Leo, keeping a shirt with blood all over it, with his name sewn into the collar! A low level hump, indeed.

I could definitely do without the "women are mysterious, magical creatures" male bonding moment... but I guess it does sort of fit the characters.

I love Audrey playing up to Ben's vanity. "You have to start to think about the future, Daddy, just like I am!"

The close-up of the Tennis game before they raid Jacques' apartment... such a great little detail.

Anyway, another peach of an episode. It moves all of the pieces around satisfactorily, furthers the investigation, and moves smoothly from scene to scene. What great story telling.
posted by codacorolla at 7:31 PM on August 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

My favorite scene from this episode is the non-sequitor poem from Deputy Hawk.

Cooper and Truman fire six shots. Truman hits the button to return the targets.

HAWK
One woman can make you fly like the eagle, another can
give you the strength of a lion. But only one in the cycle
of life will fill your heart with wonder and the wisdom
that you have known a singular joy.

This stops the group.

HAWK (CONTINUED)
I wrote that about my girlfriend.

COOPER
Local gal?

HAWK
Darlene Shapiro, PHD Brandeis. Legal counsel for the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Cooper whistles in appreciation.

posted by naju at 10:24 PM on August 12, 2014

I forget. Jacques Renault doesn't have an accent, does he? A Quebecois accent, I mean. I remember Bernard having a thick accent, don't remember about Jean.
posted by Elly Vortex at 11:21 AM on August 13, 2014

He does, a bit at least. I think the thing I remember the most is him saying "Bite the bullet baby," with a pretty thick accent later in the series. I don't think it's all that consistent.
posted by codacorolla at 11:35 AM on August 13, 2014

Do they really think that Jacques was the one who jumped out of that window and ran away? He's not the nimblest looking fellow.
posted by gnuhavenpier at 1:10 PM on August 13, 2014

More of my random bulleted observations, this time about Episode 5:

• I don't remember noticing it before, but the vet's office bears the legend "Aid To The Beast Incarnate", which sounds like it might be a quote from something. Nothing I've found online gives a source other than Twin Peaks, so it must be an original. In any case, MIKE and BOB seem to both be demons of a sort, but the phrasing seems a bit high-flung and ominous for a small-town pet doctor.
• Notice that Philip Michael Gerard's sample case only contains right shoes, to go with his intact right arm. I don't think there's any other relevance, but it's an amusing detail.
• Up until now, I thought that Shelly might have known about Bobby's dealings with Leo, but it sure seemed like she was in the dark about Leo/Bobby/Mike's little cocaine ring. She clearly believed Bobby's frankly preposterous story that Leo was both transporting it and selling it at the high school, even though we know that it had to have been Bobby + Mike dealing it at TPHS.
• Coop's awesome eagle-eye: 4 shots in the eyes, and one in each nostril. Classic.
• Is the "SAY NO TO GHOSTWOOD" flyer posted at the diner the first time that name is referenced in the series? I don't remember it being named until Season 2, but it looks like the groundwork has been laid.

posted by Strange Interlude at 7:30 PM on August 13, 2014

Audrey: "Ever hear of One Eyed Jack's?"
Donna: "Isn't that a western with Marlon Brando?"
posted by koeselitz at 10:51 PM on November 16, 2014 [1 favorite]