Twin Peaks: May the Giant Be With You Rewatch
August 26, 2014 3:51 PM - Season 2, Episode 1 - Subscribe
In the season 2 opener, Cooper experiences a helpful vision as he lies bleeding from a gunshot wound sustained at the Great Northern. Audrey runs into some trouble, and hopes for Agent Cooper's intervention. Albert comes in at the behest of the FBI to check in on a recuperating (ahem) Cooper. Meanwhile, the after-effects of the fire at the mill reverberate through the town.
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, The One-Armed Man, Cooper's Dreams, Realization Time
, The Last Evening
Bonus stuff: Ray Wise performs in Wishes, by Beach House.
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, The One-Armed Man, Cooper's Dreams, Realization Time
, The Last Evening
Bonus stuff: Ray Wise performs in Wishes, by Beach House.
This one has Lynch's imprimatur all over it. Later on in the season, the show will be weird in different ways -- some wholly artificial, such as the very brief story of the devil child, some in interesting but far-afield ways (A Diane Keaton directed episode comes to mind.) But the weirdness here feels indigenous to the material, if sometimes maddeningly so -- the ancient Waiter at the start of the episode continues for just a bit too long, and then comes back and continues for waaay to long, in a scene that alternates between infuriating and hilarious.
Maddy's dream of the blood stain is genuinely terrifying, and a hint at the further terrors in store for her, which I find legitimately upsetting. And Major Brigg's story of his vision of Bobby is about as genuinely sweet and decent as anything I have ever seen on the show, and was one of the reasons I went back and revisited the character of Bobby, who seemed to have been so carefully painted as an unhinged bully, to discover how much of his behavior is rooted in a genuine, if dangerous, love and protectiveness for Shelley and the shock and grief at Laura's death.
There are a lot of really great things set up for the second season in this episode, only one of which really pays off with the revelation of Laura's killer. The Meals on Wheels scenario fizzles with the tortured orchid fan it leads to, but also briefly introduces Mrs. Tremond and her grandson, which will be an outstanding scene and also, I think, one of the legitimately terrifying things in the film. The second season has a lot to enjoy in it, and I think I like it more than most (there's a fashion show at the end of the forthcoming pine weasel story that I am obsessed with), but the storylines fragment to so many uninteresting digressions that it's a shame.
Still, there is Laura and her killer, which takes a fairly long time to resolve itself in this season and is, I think, utterly superlative. The moment of the reveal, when Bob become murderous again, is one of the saddest and most horrifying moments I remember seeing on television.
posted by maxsparber at 12:22 PM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Maddy's dream of the blood stain is genuinely terrifying, and a hint at the further terrors in store for her, which I find legitimately upsetting. And Major Brigg's story of his vision of Bobby is about as genuinely sweet and decent as anything I have ever seen on the show, and was one of the reasons I went back and revisited the character of Bobby, who seemed to have been so carefully painted as an unhinged bully, to discover how much of his behavior is rooted in a genuine, if dangerous, love and protectiveness for Shelley and the shock and grief at Laura's death.
There are a lot of really great things set up for the second season in this episode, only one of which really pays off with the revelation of Laura's killer. The Meals on Wheels scenario fizzles with the tortured orchid fan it leads to, but also briefly introduces Mrs. Tremond and her grandson, which will be an outstanding scene and also, I think, one of the legitimately terrifying things in the film. The second season has a lot to enjoy in it, and I think I like it more than most (there's a fashion show at the end of the forthcoming pine weasel story that I am obsessed with), but the storylines fragment to so many uninteresting digressions that it's a shame.
Still, there is Laura and her killer, which takes a fairly long time to resolve itself in this season and is, I think, utterly superlative. The moment of the reveal, when Bob become murderous again, is one of the saddest and most horrifying moments I remember seeing on television.
posted by maxsparber at 12:22 PM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I always felt like the elderly waiter was intended as some kind of wayward earthly extrusion of the Giant, in sort of the same way that BOB and MIKE have their hosts -- They're both similarly tall and gangly, they both have bow ties, and neither one seems to be 100% there, one way or the other. (For that matter, so does Leland this episode...) Also, IIRC the waiter actually makes an appearance much later inside the Black Lodge, so that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.
Does anyone remember if there is any significance to Jacoby's memory of the smell of scorched engine oil at the time that Leland strangled Jacques? Is this smell referred to again in any way? I'll gladly take my answer off the air if it's too spoilery, because I sincerely do not recall this detail.
I'm slowly coming around to maxsparber's way of thinking on Bobby, but that may be a function of how his ol' buddy Snake seems to have been completely written out of the show as of the last six episodes. Did they do that to keep us from confusing Bobby/Mike with BOB and MIKE? In any case, Bobby actually seems like he's making his way towards becoming a non-shitty creepazoid.
I also noticed that Andy is the only one this episode to say Albert's full (and variously mispronounced) name. Is this a possible reference to the Rosenfield/Rosenfeld continuity error from last season, or is it just more of Lynch indulging his goofy side. Andy seems a lot cartoonier in general this episode, I'll be curious to see if that persists.
I also loved the visit with the Haywards later in the episode, especially with my aforementioned teenage crush on Harriet and her poetry. It's really too bad Harriet never got to be in any other episodes, but maybe it's best that she never got too involved with all the strangeness going on in town. I'd also completely forgotten about Gersten, who I now see was played by Alicia Witt, AKA Alia from Dune and Gertrude from Mr. Holland's Opus.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:30 PM on August 27, 2014
Does anyone remember if there is any significance to Jacoby's memory of the smell of scorched engine oil at the time that Leland strangled Jacques? Is this smell referred to again in any way? I'll gladly take my answer off the air if it's too spoilery, because I sincerely do not recall this detail.
I'm slowly coming around to maxsparber's way of thinking on Bobby, but that may be a function of how his ol' buddy Snake seems to have been completely written out of the show as of the last six episodes. Did they do that to keep us from confusing Bobby/Mike with BOB and MIKE? In any case, Bobby actually seems like he's making his way towards becoming a non-shitty creepazoid.
I also noticed that Andy is the only one this episode to say Albert's full (and variously mispronounced) name. Is this a possible reference to the Rosenfield/Rosenfeld continuity error from last season, or is it just more of Lynch indulging his goofy side. Andy seems a lot cartoonier in general this episode, I'll be curious to see if that persists.
I also loved the visit with the Haywards later in the episode, especially with my aforementioned teenage crush on Harriet and her poetry. It's really too bad Harriet never got to be in any other episodes, but maybe it's best that she never got too involved with all the strangeness going on in town. I'd also completely forgotten about Gersten, who I now see was played by Alicia Witt, AKA Alia from Dune and Gertrude from Mr. Holland's Opus.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:30 PM on August 27, 2014
Does anyone remember if there is any significance to Jacoby's memory of the smell of scorched engine oil at the time that Leland strangled Jacques? Is this smell referred to again in any way?
Without spoiling anything, I don't recall it being referenced in the show again, but it is referenced in the film.
posted by maxsparber at 8:59 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Without spoiling anything, I don't recall it being referenced in the show again, but it is referenced in the film.
posted by maxsparber at 8:59 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I feel like it is referenced again... maybe something to do with the Black Lodge?
posted by codacorolla at 6:57 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by codacorolla at 6:57 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
I found an online discussion about the oil odor that it spoileriffic but also hilariously suggests that it should be offered as a scent at the perfume counter at Horne's.
posted by maxsparber at 11:17 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by maxsparber at 11:17 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Without spoiling anything, I don't recall it being referenced in the show again, but it is referenced in the film.
It was referenced in the show again, at a particular point where you think it would. (I just watched the episode where it was re-referenced)
posted by Lucinda at 2:58 PM on August 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
It was referenced in the show again, at a particular point where you think it would. (I just watched the episode where it was re-referenced)
posted by Lucinda at 2:58 PM on August 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
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Andy's bear dance after being hit in the noggin' by the plank is one of my favorite parts of the show, especially how strangely long it stays on him.
The giant's clues are also fantastic. People must have gone wild at trying to deconstruct them.
The Horne brothers dancing along with Leland is another wonderful, strange scene.
Every time I've watched I've wondered if the trucker saying "That's DAMN good pie!" was a nod towards the fandom that sprung up around the show. Sort of a fanservice towards one of the most iconic lines of the show.
posted by codacorolla at 10:53 AM on August 27, 2014