Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 First Watch
June 25, 2017 6:45 PM - Season 3, Episode 8 - Subscribe
Gotta light? (description from Showtime)
Last week I called it as straightforward, plot-driven. This, anything but.
posted by Schmucko at 6:59 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Schmucko at 6:59 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
I have learned a lot of things from David Lynch, like what beautiful songs are just beautiful songs and what beautiful songs are songs to get murdered by, so I did not watch the parts that I knew better than to watch. but can someone with the stomach to watch but the decency to withhold all details tell me if he just pulled their heads off or if there was more to it?
and when the manroach crawled into the girl I had to not only go to a different window but put my fingers in my ears and it was still too much for me. if there is a way to tell me what happened that will not ruin my life, let me know.
p.s. I loved this, apart from that. what kind of monster puts awful old dumb old nine inch nails on a show and then shows you something EVEN WORSE than them, right after? a monster with a lot of moxie is who.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:01 PM on June 25, 2017 [6 favorites]
and when the manroach crawled into the girl I had to not only go to a different window but put my fingers in my ears and it was still too much for me. if there is a way to tell me what happened that will not ruin my life, let me know.
p.s. I loved this, apart from that. what kind of monster puts awful old dumb old nine inch nails on a show and then shows you something EVEN WORSE than them, right after? a monster with a lot of moxie is who.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:01 PM on June 25, 2017 [6 favorites]
I don't have the words to explain how mesmerizing and upsetting this hour of TV was to watch.
posted by Windigo at 7:03 PM on June 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Windigo at 7:03 PM on June 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
queenofbithynia, the manroach at least did not appear to be painful. The skull-crushing looked very painful indeed.
The only thing I can add is that the interior of Pop's Diner looks very much like Chili John's, a shockingly-expensive blue-collar lunch joint in Burbank.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:04 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
The only thing I can add is that the interior of Pop's Diner looks very much like Chili John's, a shockingly-expensive blue-collar lunch joint in Burbank.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:04 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ah! One more thing I can add: this part was so committed to the black and white aesthetic that even the Lynch/Frost and Showtime logos at the end were monochrome; I saw no hue or saturation whatsoever.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:08 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by infinitewindow at 7:08 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I don't have the words to explain how mesmerizing and upsetting this hour of TV was to watch.
of what other show can one say "I was not prepared for the upsetting parts because I was lulled into complacency by the restful nuclear explosions and billowing mushroom clouds"
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:11 PM on June 25, 2017 [40 favorites]
of what other show can one say "I was not prepared for the upsetting parts because I was lulled into complacency by the restful nuclear explosions and billowing mushroom clouds"
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:11 PM on June 25, 2017 [40 favorites]
WELL I'M NOT SLEEPING TONIGHT
WHO WANTS TO HEAD OVER TO CHAT AND TALK ABOUT BUNNIES FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS
*Suddenly remembers Watership Down* AW FUCK
posted by duffell at 7:15 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
WHO WANTS TO HEAD OVER TO CHAT AND TALK ABOUT BUNNIES FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS
*Suddenly remembers Watership Down* AW FUCK
posted by duffell at 7:15 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
oh my god, somebody joked last thread about the shadowy men being jacques and francois from the trapper sketch and now there is head crushing
do you even realize how many more Kids in the Hall sketches there are that could be extraordinarily horrifying beyond belief if done literally
leland palmer IS Dave Foley with quiet shoes from the "Daddy Drank" sketch, jesus christ.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:17 PM on June 25, 2017 [12 favorites]
do you even realize how many more Kids in the Hall sketches there are that could be extraordinarily horrifying beyond belief if done literally
leland palmer IS Dave Foley with quiet shoes from the "Daddy Drank" sketch, jesus christ.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:17 PM on June 25, 2017 [12 favorites]
If you search for the first part of the Woodsman's phrase on google, you get three pages changed today and one DMCA notice from 2013.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:23 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 7:23 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
I guessed the music right: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima.
posted by dnash at 7:27 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by dnash at 7:27 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
I kinda wonder if Pop's Diner is a nod to Riverdale, which Madchen Amick also appears in (or to Archie Comics in general, which feel like something a young Lynch might have enjoyed).
The narrative felt mostly clear, if there were some blindspots for me. A-bomb testing literally opened a portal to the Black Lodge. Bad things came out, including Bob. In response, the Giant busted a metaphysical nut and in his ejaculate was Laura's soul. That was sent to earth, and apparently took thirty or so years to arrive (unless her soul first appeared in one of the kids, who were probably born around 1945). One of the evil things, possibly in possession of the boy's body (that transition implied it), went to the radio station to broadcast a signal (electricity, or the water in the well; the well is the station itself, or the collective unconscious, or something). The people who heard the signal were primed to receive passengers, like Bob. One entered the girl's mouth and presumably possessed her (this reminded me a lot of a bit in an old Alan Moore Swamp Thing, which I presume is Frost's input; earlier bits have seemed kind of Sandman-y, like the device in New York that apparently catches spirit entities). I imagine the girl grows up to be someone we've met before, but maybe not...it could just be an anecdote meant to generally illustrate a thing that was set in motion some decades before the original series.
I'm sure there's some significance to Harry Truman being the president who decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I liked the Nine Inch Nails song. It reminded me a bit of "The Pink Room" from Fire Walk with Me -- same repetitive dirge-y-ness. I presume it's something Reznor wrote for Gone Girl, though, from the title.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:28 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
The narrative felt mostly clear, if there were some blindspots for me. A-bomb testing literally opened a portal to the Black Lodge. Bad things came out, including Bob. In response, the Giant busted a metaphysical nut and in his ejaculate was Laura's soul. That was sent to earth, and apparently took thirty or so years to arrive (unless her soul first appeared in one of the kids, who were probably born around 1945). One of the evil things, possibly in possession of the boy's body (that transition implied it), went to the radio station to broadcast a signal (electricity, or the water in the well; the well is the station itself, or the collective unconscious, or something). The people who heard the signal were primed to receive passengers, like Bob. One entered the girl's mouth and presumably possessed her (this reminded me a lot of a bit in an old Alan Moore Swamp Thing, which I presume is Frost's input; earlier bits have seemed kind of Sandman-y, like the device in New York that apparently catches spirit entities). I imagine the girl grows up to be someone we've met before, but maybe not...it could just be an anecdote meant to generally illustrate a thing that was set in motion some decades before the original series.
I'm sure there's some significance to Harry Truman being the president who decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I liked the Nine Inch Nails song. It reminded me a bit of "The Pink Room" from Fire Walk with Me -- same repetitive dirge-y-ness. I presume it's something Reznor wrote for Gone Girl, though, from the title.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:28 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
Please let me not sleep with my mouth open tonight.
posted by southern_sky at 7:31 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by southern_sky at 7:31 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
the nine inch nails are awesome and the among the least "dumb" of all the other rock bands of their era.
the song she's gone away was from their ferocious EP from last year Not The Actual Events, highly recommended.
posted by JimBennett at 7:33 PM on June 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
the song she's gone away was from their ferocious EP from last year Not The Actual Events, highly recommended.
posted by JimBennett at 7:33 PM on June 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
I imagine the girl grows up to be someone we've met before, but maybe not
oh man I heard so much crunching through my fingers in my ears I was sure the little eggbeast ate its way out of her. glad to hear she is alive. I guess. when I first saw her in shadowed b&w I thought it was Shelly's actress before I remembered she is 25 years older now. so if the timeline allows it to be Shelly's mom then I call Shelly's parents are a woman and a hideous eggbeast. really puts her high school dropout status and bad boy choices in perspective, you know. could have been a lot worse with a background like that.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:34 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
oh man I heard so much crunching through my fingers in my ears I was sure the little eggbeast ate its way out of her. glad to hear she is alive. I guess. when I first saw her in shadowed b&w I thought it was Shelly's actress before I remembered she is 25 years older now. so if the timeline allows it to be Shelly's mom then I call Shelly's parents are a woman and a hideous eggbeast. really puts her high school dropout status and bad boy choices in perspective, you know. could have been a lot worse with a background like that.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:34 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
If that single hour was all we got, and there wasn't an entire season, I'd still call the reboot a success. Thaat was astounding.
posted by codacorolla at 7:36 PM on June 25, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 7:36 PM on June 25, 2017 [24 favorites]
Never before has a tv show caused me physical pain. Every muscle in my body is so tense right now.
And there's no new episode next week, right? What an infuriatingly perfect time to leave the audience adrift.
I was so hoping the Sparkly Lady was Audrey.
I'm going to go do some shoulder rolls until I can fall asleep. I bet my dreams will be interesting tonight.
posted by Ruki at 7:39 PM on June 25, 2017
And there's no new episode next week, right? What an infuriatingly perfect time to leave the audience adrift.
I was so hoping the Sparkly Lady was Audrey.
I'm going to go do some shoulder rolls until I can fall asleep. I bet my dreams will be interesting tonight.
posted by Ruki at 7:39 PM on June 25, 2017
That was the weirdest anti-smoking campaign ever.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:52 PM on June 25, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 7:52 PM on June 25, 2017 [25 favorites]
Holy shit.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:17 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 8:17 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
I am watching from my parents' house with really horrible internet and it keeps stopping to buffer. I am only halfway through and you can imagine how infuriating it was during the scene immediately after the bomb test.
Also I read the comments and I'm wondering if I should watch the rest considering I have to sleep in their camping trailer outside in the driveway tonight. :(
posted by elsietheeel at 8:19 PM on June 25, 2017
Also I read the comments and I'm wondering if I should watch the rest considering I have to sleep in their camping trailer outside in the driveway tonight. :(
posted by elsietheeel at 8:19 PM on June 25, 2017
Let's just say the first half is the 'chill' half.
posted by Windigo at 8:21 PM on June 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Windigo at 8:21 PM on June 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
That was the weirdest anti-smoking campaign ever.
ought to have something to do with Richard Horne lighting up right in front of the no smoking sign two episodes ago, but fuck if I know what. maybe just a reminder that cigarettes are for bad men whereas coffee and alcohol are for good men. that's a point that can't be made too often.
(women are exempt from this dichotomy, as primordial creatures from the Beyond, and may smoke as they like without it affecting their morals. david lynch's gender issues aren't exactly the same as mine but I feel like I thoroughly understand them.)
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:26 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Your comment plus your username does not inspire confidence. Especially since the Anishinaabe word wiindigoo has its origins in an older Algonquian word that means owl.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:30 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 8:30 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
I guess that guy never saw Miller's Crossing.
posted by kenko at 8:41 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by kenko at 8:41 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Actually that wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I also watched the first season of Preacher last night so I might be a little desensitized to gore at this point. Also the black and white helped.
So...did David Lynch lock Mark Frost in the basement this week?
posted by elsietheeel at 8:53 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
So...did David Lynch lock Mark Frost in the basement this week?
posted by elsietheeel at 8:53 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Haha hey remember last week when a guy swept a floor for five minutes and we were all "oh that David Lynch, so weird"
posted by jason_steakums at 8:56 PM on June 25, 2017 [39 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 8:56 PM on June 25, 2017 [39 favorites]
Also I'm pretty sure those woodsmen (plus BOB of course) are The Owls.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:00 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 9:00 PM on June 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
Ok, so I posted my comment above after Boop woke up; my comment on the entire episode is OMGWTFBBQ.
posted by kenko at 9:25 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by kenko at 9:25 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Honestly I can't give it a full assessment until I get home tomorrow, watch it on real internet, on my nice monitor, while not hopped up on Ativan after a four hour drive into the high desert.
But all things considered, I really enjoyed it. Simply because it was the weirdest fucking thing he's given us since the purple room with Naido and the American Girl. He turned the Lynch dial up to 11 and I'm looking forward to hearing from the people who are going to either complain or nope out completely (elsewhere on the internet - I don't think people here are under any delusions of what they're in for...).
posted by elsietheeel at 9:36 PM on June 25, 2017
But all things considered, I really enjoyed it. Simply because it was the weirdest fucking thing he's given us since the purple room with Naido and the American Girl. He turned the Lynch dial up to 11 and I'm looking forward to hearing from the people who are going to either complain or nope out completely (elsewhere on the internet - I don't think people here are under any delusions of what they're in for...).
posted by elsietheeel at 9:36 PM on June 25, 2017
If you look closely at the Mother when she's spewing all that stuff while floating in the void (this really is a delightful episode to discuss, btw), she's got these little antennae, so her head is the shape on that playing card Cooplicate had, and it seems like the Owl Cave symbol may be a stylized version of her head.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:48 PM on June 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 9:48 PM on June 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm... astounded. It's basically an entire hour of the kind of shit that had water coolers buzzing because of the really short Red Room scene in Episode 3.
Can this even be dissected? We're not going to have any of this explained to us. It's just going to exist. And we all have to live with it.
posted by hippybear at 10:00 PM on June 25, 2017 [6 favorites]
Can this even be dissected? We're not going to have any of this explained to us. It's just going to exist. And we all have to live with it.
posted by hippybear at 10:00 PM on June 25, 2017 [6 favorites]
the Mother when she's spewing all that stuff while floating in the void
not like I can ever go back to look at it again and check, the fear would take hold, but the image of that did look just like the cover of Julee Cruise's Floating Into the Night, right? more or less. I assume that does not mean anything except that a blurry female figure floating in the cosmic depths is a mental picture Lynch enjoys often
posted by queenofbithynia at 10:00 PM on June 25, 2017
not like I can ever go back to look at it again and check, the fear would take hold, but the image of that did look just like the cover of Julee Cruise's Floating Into the Night, right? more or less. I assume that does not mean anything except that a blurry female figure floating in the cosmic depths is a mental picture Lynch enjoys often
posted by queenofbithynia at 10:00 PM on June 25, 2017
You'd think someone who was such a devoted practitioner of TM wouldn't have such disturbing things he'd want to film.
Apparently seeking inner peace doesn't mean you won't give millions of people nightmares.
posted by hippybear at 10:13 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Apparently seeking inner peace doesn't mean you won't give millions of people nightmares.
posted by hippybear at 10:13 PM on June 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
NO NO OH GOD MAKE IT STOP OH WHY AM I WATCHING THIS JEEBUS
posted by hippybear at 10:20 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:20 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Apparently I really heavily associate Carel Struycken with my childhood, which makes sense considering I very nearly wore out my tape of the Addams Family movie, but for some reason that really didn't hit me until his scenes in this, and the sudden added layer of nostalgia was very affecting.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:20 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 10:20 PM on June 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
......so I've been quietly catching up on these but I felt the need to comment here
What this is is a non narrative meditation on people facing Apocalypse and having thier hearts weighed and it's not pretty. There some generational dread in there but it's mostly just 100% America As The Post Atomic Horror.
posted by The Whelk at 10:23 PM on June 25, 2017 [12 favorites]
What this is is a non narrative meditation on people facing Apocalypse and having thier hearts weighed and it's not pretty. There some generational dread in there but it's mostly just 100% America As The Post Atomic Horror.
posted by The Whelk at 10:23 PM on June 25, 2017 [12 favorites]
There some generational dread in there but it's mostly just 100% America As The Post Atomic Horror.
It fits so well with how Lynch has consistently used 1950s imagery to evoke innocence while simultaneously showing that innocence to be a paper thin layer over a world of suffering throughout Twin Peaks.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:27 PM on June 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
It fits so well with how Lynch has consistently used 1950s imagery to evoke innocence while simultaneously showing that innocence to be a paper thin layer over a world of suffering throughout Twin Peaks.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:27 PM on June 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
There's also a narrative of the unleashing of BOB (apparently through the explosion of the first nuclear weapon), and... is the insect BOB? And who is that girl? Also Laura was somehow created as a golden orb and then was sent down to Earth.
I mean, Jeebus. There is so much happening here that might or might not be symbolic. I'd have to rewatch it, but i don't know if I have the fortitude.
posted by hippybear at 10:27 PM on June 25, 2017
I mean, Jeebus. There is so much happening here that might or might not be symbolic. I'd have to rewatch it, but i don't know if I have the fortitude.
posted by hippybear at 10:27 PM on June 25, 2017
One interesting thing is that lynch rarely does straight symbolism, it's mood or effect or sympathy not direct reference - but he also likes like egg-shell cover symbolism, where people tell you one thing but the visuals say another . Here is, again, apocalypse, the shelll removed. We can no longer even pretend this is not going on and the full, almost cosmic horror has bled out and suffocated everything,
posted by The Whelk at 10:33 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 10:33 PM on June 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
The atomic bomb test was the first time in the show that the CGI wasn't intentionally awful, and it catches you off guard and you find yourself admiring the beauty of the shot in all its lush black and white tonality, but then the shot lingers for so long that you realize you're admiring the beauty of one of the worst horrors man has ever wrought.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:38 PM on June 25, 2017 [26 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 10:38 PM on June 25, 2017 [26 favorites]
And then it goes on and on and on and suddenly you're in the middle of it and then all reality goes to shit and why oh why and oh wow and why again and
David Lynch is brilliant.
posted by hippybear at 10:42 PM on June 25, 2017 [13 favorites]
David Lynch is brilliant.
posted by hippybear at 10:42 PM on June 25, 2017 [13 favorites]
Well, there goes an hour of my life I will never get back.
posted by invisible ink at 12:01 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by invisible ink at 12:01 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
For me, the most aweful and dreadful part was the long, slow shot of the a-bomb explosion.
At first it's like, "Oh the a-bomb, I've seen that before."
But then David Lynch says, "Look closer."
"Closer."
"Closer."
posted by straight at 12:13 AM on June 26, 2017 [13 favorites]
At first it's like, "Oh the a-bomb, I've seen that before."
But then David Lynch says, "Look closer."
"Closer."
"Closer."
posted by straight at 12:13 AM on June 26, 2017 [13 favorites]
I'm generally not spoiler-averse anyway, but the great thing about Twin Peaks 2017 is that I just read this entire thread, won't be able to see the episode for a while, and I don't think it will make any difference. It's unspoilable.
posted by Grangousier at 2:38 AM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Grangousier at 2:38 AM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Of all the hours of television I have watched in which nuclear detonations opened up a pathway for otherwordly spirits to come into the world as bugs and then enter into the mouths of sleeping women, that was definitely one of the top two.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 3:39 AM on June 26, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 3:39 AM on June 26, 2017 [19 favorites]
So...did David Lynch lock Mark Frost in the basement this week?
On the contrary, this episode played into all of Mark Frost's favorite atomic-age science/conspiracy paranoia themes, as seen in The Secret History of Twin Peaks: Supernatural terrors being unleashed by scientists meddling with fundamental forces of nature, random sightings of unexplained phenomena, cryptozoological curiosities, etc.
There's a couple of classic comic-book allusions in this one too, which are also Frost's bread and butter; notably, the delivery of Laura Palmer's soul to Earth (represented by a newsreel-style animated globe) by the Giant and his wife echoes Superman's parents sending baby Kal-El in the rocket.
That's right, Laura Palmer is the Supergirl of Earth-315.
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:42 AM on June 26, 2017 [13 favorites]
On the contrary, this episode played into all of Mark Frost's favorite atomic-age science/conspiracy paranoia themes, as seen in The Secret History of Twin Peaks: Supernatural terrors being unleashed by scientists meddling with fundamental forces of nature, random sightings of unexplained phenomena, cryptozoological curiosities, etc.
There's a couple of classic comic-book allusions in this one too, which are also Frost's bread and butter; notably, the delivery of Laura Palmer's soul to Earth (represented by a newsreel-style animated globe) by the Giant and his wife echoes Superman's parents sending baby Kal-El in the rocket.
That's right, Laura Palmer is the Supergirl of Earth-315.
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:42 AM on June 26, 2017 [13 favorites]
I'm really curious as to where MIKE was in all that, BOB got all the attention. Maybe MIKE was a woodsman before he took a liking to the form of Gerard.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:33 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by jason_steakums at 6:33 AM on June 26, 2017
I believe that the story of this part is mostly Frost, but the plotting is mostly Lynch... if only because Lynch prefers to show and not tell you when and where specific events occur (Lynch prefers diegetic titles like the Lincoln St or Mullholland Dr street signs and unclear epochs indicated by progress of decay. It's important to procedurally-oriented Frost that the time of events are precise and accurate. It's important to Lynch that they're juxtaposed for maximum effect).
Moreover, I believe that Frost is consciously taking a step back out of the limelight and letting his more publicity-friendly partner be the face of the endeavor. Penn doesn't work without a Teller; Allen doesn't work without a Burns. In that spirit, I believe soon we'll see just how well Cooper works without a Truman.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:24 AM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Moreover, I believe that Frost is consciously taking a step back out of the limelight and letting his more publicity-friendly partner be the face of the endeavor. Penn doesn't work without a Teller; Allen doesn't work without a Burns. In that spirit, I believe soon we'll see just how well Cooper works without a Truman.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:24 AM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
So, the face we see in the ball coming out of Cooper's body - was that Bob's face or Cooper's face? I thought it looked like Coop, the AV Club recap says Bob.
Cooper sat back up - with or without Bob still in him? If without, what does that mean for Dougie? (I know this question isn't really answerable yet, but it's what the episode has left us to ponder.)
When the episode opened with the shooting of Cooper, I wondered if that was going to become like the black box in Mulholland Drive - a moment where the story and structure of the series would start to invert and shift.
posted by dnash at 7:33 AM on June 26, 2017
Cooper sat back up - with or without Bob still in him? If without, what does that mean for Dougie? (I know this question isn't really answerable yet, but it's what the episode has left us to ponder.)
When the episode opened with the shooting of Cooper, I wondered if that was going to become like the black box in Mulholland Drive - a moment where the story and structure of the series would start to invert and shift.
posted by dnash at 7:33 AM on June 26, 2017
I loved this episode. a third plotting, a third expressionistic backstory, and a third 1950s atomic horror backstory. It's a perfect balance.
posted by maxsparber at 7:53 AM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 7:53 AM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Indeed, apart from The Elephant Man, I can't think of a time Lynch used such a specific historical event. And Frost's The Secret History of Twin Peaks places Douglas Milford, who later works to establish the secret listening post near Twin Peaks commanded by Major Briggs, at the White Sands Missile Range in 1945.
But of course (as The Whelk was saying), atomic horror became a generalized part of people's lives. It was interesting that it took ten years for the man-roach egg to hatch and find its host, which could be interpreted as the girl becoming old enough to understand and feel that dread. (Not that Lynch would ever be that straightforward; there were bodies at the radio station after all.)
This episode literally gave me nightmares. But it was also beautiful, and I will probably watch it again more than once. Wow, Bob, wow.
posted by mubba at 7:59 AM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
But of course (as The Whelk was saying), atomic horror became a generalized part of people's lives. It was interesting that it took ten years for the man-roach egg to hatch and find its host, which could be interpreted as the girl becoming old enough to understand and feel that dread. (Not that Lynch would ever be that straightforward; there were bodies at the radio station after all.)
This episode literally gave me nightmares. But it was also beautiful, and I will probably watch it again more than once. Wow, Bob, wow.
posted by mubba at 7:59 AM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
And Frost's The Secret History of Twin Peaks places Douglas Milford, who later works to establish the secret listening post near Twin Peaks commanded by Major Briggs, at the White Sands Missile Range in 1945.
I just love how Dougie Milford, star of about 10 minutes of comical b-plot in season two before dying, is revealed to be knee deep in the shit.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:11 AM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
I just love how Dougie Milford, star of about 10 minutes of comical b-plot in season two before dying, is revealed to be knee deep in the shit.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:11 AM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
The comical b-plot becomes a lot more interesting when you see it as essentially an abbreviated version of The Love Witch.
posted by maxsparber at 8:21 AM on June 26, 2017
posted by maxsparber at 8:21 AM on June 26, 2017
I adore that David Lynch exposed mainstream audiences to the sort of avant-garde film you normally only find in galleries. It seems to have been received really well. The zoom-in on the mushroom cloud reminded me an awful lot of Stan Brakhage, and the scenes of the convenience store and the woodsman attacks reminded me of Peter Tscherkassky.
Lynch really knows video art. His technique is so impressive.
posted by painquale at 10:49 AM on June 26, 2017 [10 favorites]
Lynch really knows video art. His technique is so impressive.
posted by painquale at 10:49 AM on June 26, 2017 [10 favorites]
So, the face we see in the ball coming out of Cooper's body - was that Bob's face or Cooper's face?
Bob's face, without doubt. This makes sense, since we're (I strongly suspect) seeing Bob's origin story in the rest of the episode - a part of it, at least.
posted by destructive cactus at 11:00 AM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Bob's face, without doubt. This makes sense, since we're (I strongly suspect) seeing Bob's origin story in the rest of the episode - a part of it, at least.
posted by destructive cactus at 11:00 AM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
When the episode opened with the shooting of Cooper, I wondered if that was going to become like the black box in Mulholland Drive - a moment where the story and structure of the series would start to invert and shift.
The eighth episode of S01 ends with Cooper getting shot, so having the same thing happen to a different Cooper at the beginning of S03E08 may be the show bringing itself full circle around key plot points from the original. The appearance of the Giant immediately following (albeit 70+ years earlier) may not be a coincidence either.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:21 AM on June 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
The eighth episode of S01 ends with Cooper getting shot, so having the same thing happen to a different Cooper at the beginning of S03E08 may be the show bringing itself full circle around key plot points from the original. The appearance of the Giant immediately following (albeit 70+ years earlier) may not be a coincidence either.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:21 AM on June 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
All I'm really sure of after all of...that...is that I wish I also had a weird half-sensical mantra I could recite that would knock people unconscious.
Although I'd probably rob banks with it, so maybe it's for the best.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 12:25 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Although I'd probably rob banks with it, so maybe it's for the best.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 12:25 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Cooper sat back up - with or without Bob still in him?
That's Cooper's doppelganger, not the real Cooper. The real Cooper is currently inhabiting Dougie's former life, with a brain about as scrambled as you might expect after your whole body (less shoes) has been squooshed through an electric outlet connected to a parallel reality. Dougie, meanwhile, went into the Black Lodge, got told he'd been manufactured for a purpose ("I have a plan for that"), then got crushed into a small bead.
Next to Ep 8, all of that is quite straightforward.
Speaking as a huge fan of the baby from Eraserhead, I thought the hatching frogroachmothbeast was superbly done.
posted by flabdablet at 12:25 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
That's Cooper's doppelganger, not the real Cooper. The real Cooper is currently inhabiting Dougie's former life, with a brain about as scrambled as you might expect after your whole body (less shoes) has been squooshed through an electric outlet connected to a parallel reality. Dougie, meanwhile, went into the Black Lodge, got told he'd been manufactured for a purpose ("I have a plan for that"), then got crushed into a small bead.
Next to Ep 8, all of that is quite straightforward.
Speaking as a huge fan of the baby from Eraserhead, I thought the hatching frogroachmothbeast was superbly done.
posted by flabdablet at 12:25 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
How old were those kids? Sarah Palmer was born in 1945 (Leland in 1944) and would have been 10 or 11 in 1956.
posted by christopherious at 12:27 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by christopherious at 12:27 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
The SFX in this episode were so good (shockingly good; I'm obsessed with the details of the atom bomb blast) that they show that when Twin Peaks has had awful special effects, it has been deliberate. It's all the same effects house.
posted by maxsparber at 12:28 PM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 12:28 PM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
So now that we know there are a whole lot of sooty disheveled Lodge spirits wandering around the place, the thing behind the Winkie's in Mulholland Drive is totally one of them, right?
posted by jason_steakums at 12:28 PM on June 26, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 12:28 PM on June 26, 2017 [13 favorites]
You know my theory is that Mulholland Drive is the story of Audrey going to Hollywood, so, yes.
posted by maxsparber at 12:30 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 12:30 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
The recappers/reviewers everywhere are having a field day, quoting poetry and Kubrick and coming up with some fascinating insights and questions.
Vulture: I am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds
A.V. Club: Twin Peaks swerves into uncharted territory
RollingStone: Pretty Hate Machine
Vanity Fair: Trying to make sense of the show's most bonkers episode
Vulture: The Eighth Episode of Twin Peaks: The Return is Horrifyingly Beautiful
Vox: A riveting episode unlike any other explores the origins of evil
The Guardian: The most mind-melting majestic outing yet
All I can say right now (because my mind is still too blown for words) is I look forward to watching this without sun glare coming through the curtains, because dang there were a lot of super dark scenes.
posted by harujion at 12:32 PM on June 26, 2017 [16 favorites]
Vulture: I am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds
A.V. Club: Twin Peaks swerves into uncharted territory
RollingStone: Pretty Hate Machine
Vanity Fair: Trying to make sense of the show's most bonkers episode
Vulture: The Eighth Episode of Twin Peaks: The Return is Horrifyingly Beautiful
Vox: A riveting episode unlike any other explores the origins of evil
The Guardian: The most mind-melting majestic outing yet
All I can say right now (because my mind is still too blown for words) is I look forward to watching this without sun glare coming through the curtains, because dang there were a lot of super dark scenes.
posted by harujion at 12:32 PM on June 26, 2017 [16 favorites]
So my current (probably incorrect) theory is that bug girl will give birth to or just be inhabited by Bob and that that the Laura ball was sent to earth to birth Leland or Sarah setting forth the mechanism (Laura) that will eventually bring Bob back to the Black Lodge
Also...for the first time last night a nuclear war dream of mine kept going after the flash. My brain has all of this new inside a bomb footage to play with now! It was a beautiful scene but thanks for that Lynch. Thanks.
posted by Lapin at 12:33 PM on June 26, 2017
Also...for the first time last night a nuclear war dream of mine kept going after the flash. My brain has all of this new inside a bomb footage to play with now! It was a beautiful scene but thanks for that Lynch. Thanks.
posted by Lapin at 12:33 PM on June 26, 2017
In case anyone wants to know what someone who had the show on while they popped in and out of the room with their TV while doing laundry or cooking something thought of it, have a look at E! Online's review, tellingly titled "What the Hell Was That, Twin Peaks?"
posted by tomorrowromance at 12:44 PM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by tomorrowromance at 12:44 PM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
I found the NYT recap to be oddly helpful: White Light White Heat
posted by hippybear at 12:50 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 12:50 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
I wish I had a movie screen to watch this show on.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:06 PM on June 26, 2017
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:06 PM on June 26, 2017
The Guardian: "That said, it’s pretty incredible that Nine Inch Nails rocking up and performing mid-episode is the least interesting thing to happen this week"
I mean, it's pretty incredible that me quoting that feels so... mundane.
posted by hippybear at 1:34 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
I mean, it's pretty incredible that me quoting that feels so... mundane.
posted by hippybear at 1:34 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Me, earlier, reading a throw-away comment on the internet: Heh, sounds like this week's TP has been tough on the norms.
Me, just now, after having got around to watching it: JESUS CHRIST! Am I still dreaming? Am I in heaven? Have I had a stroke?
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:27 PM on June 26, 2017 [16 favorites]
Me, just now, after having got around to watching it: JESUS CHRIST! Am I still dreaming? Am I in heaven? Have I had a stroke?
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:27 PM on June 26, 2017 [16 favorites]
Creepy details:
The white puking void mom's arms are backwards or twisted somehow. (Sometimes my arms bend back?)
From the magic spell the woodsman repeats over the radio: the horse is the white of the eye. Related to the white horse behind the curtains of the lodge?
The purple ocean is the same place Coop lands after being cursed to "nonexistent" and traveling through the glass box. The residents of that castle seem benevolent, but that was where that thing called "mother" was banging on the window. Is "mother" the backwards armed antenna nuke lady? Does that make bob and the watchwoman there siblings?
The starry void coop traveled through after leaving the lodge seems to reappear in this episode within the explosion.
What are the numbers ray has? Why does Philip jefferies want boop dead?
Why is the giant credited as ????? Could it be a separate entity than the giant from the original series?
That castle is definitely where coop goes in the very first flash forward (?) scene that begins the return.
posted by Rinku at 2:36 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
The white puking void mom's arms are backwards or twisted somehow. (Sometimes my arms bend back?)
From the magic spell the woodsman repeats over the radio: the horse is the white of the eye. Related to the white horse behind the curtains of the lodge?
The purple ocean is the same place Coop lands after being cursed to "nonexistent" and traveling through the glass box. The residents of that castle seem benevolent, but that was where that thing called "mother" was banging on the window. Is "mother" the backwards armed antenna nuke lady? Does that make bob and the watchwoman there siblings?
The starry void coop traveled through after leaving the lodge seems to reappear in this episode within the explosion.
What are the numbers ray has? Why does Philip jefferies want boop dead?
Why is the giant credited as ????? Could it be a separate entity than the giant from the original series?
That castle is definitely where coop goes in the very first flash forward (?) scene that begins the return.
posted by Rinku at 2:36 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Why is the giant credited as ????? Could it be a separate entity than the giant from the original series?
I'm leaning toward this, because the actor on the original series was always shot so he looked extremely tall, but has not been shot to look extremely tall in the black-and-white palace so far. Plus the season 2 Red Room finale featured the Giant sitting next to the short Man From Another Place saying "one and the same," possibly indicating that they are the same entity but that the MFAP appeared enormous when outside of the Red Room. There's a specific counterexample to that, but it's from the terrible episode where Josie's soul is trapped in a nightstand, so I'm inclined to ignore it.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:52 PM on June 26, 2017
I'm leaning toward this, because the actor on the original series was always shot so he looked extremely tall, but has not been shot to look extremely tall in the black-and-white palace so far. Plus the season 2 Red Room finale featured the Giant sitting next to the short Man From Another Place saying "one and the same," possibly indicating that they are the same entity but that the MFAP appeared enormous when outside of the Red Room. There's a specific counterexample to that, but it's from the terrible episode where Josie's soul is trapped in a nightstand, so I'm inclined to ignore it.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:52 PM on June 26, 2017
The Giant was credited as ????? in the first two seasons, too.
Phillip Jeffries was the first, I believe, to realize that Coop was Boop. Gordon gave PJ information to give to Coop, about the FBI's agent in Colombia, and a week later the agent was dead. I suspect PJ, look, can I just call him Bowie? has been to the Black Lodge and that's why he's Invisible Bowie and why he's gone to such extreme measures as getting involved with people like Ray to make sure Boop is taken out.
David Lynch mentions "moth frogs" in his making quinoa video, so it's a neat little watch if you want to know where he got the inspiration for that creature.
posted by Ruki at 2:52 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Phillip Jeffries was the first, I believe, to realize that Coop was Boop. Gordon gave PJ information to give to Coop, about the FBI's agent in Colombia, and a week later the agent was dead. I suspect PJ, look, can I just call him Bowie? has been to the Black Lodge and that's why he's Invisible Bowie and why he's gone to such extreme measures as getting involved with people like Ray to make sure Boop is taken out.
David Lynch mentions "moth frogs" in his making quinoa video, so it's a neat little watch if you want to know where he got the inspiration for that creature.
posted by Ruki at 2:52 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
What are the numbers ray has?
IIRC Boop referred to them as coördinates early on.
posted by kenko at 3:03 PM on June 26, 2017
IIRC Boop referred to them as coördinates early on.
posted by kenko at 3:03 PM on June 26, 2017
Having now watched it after reading the thread, I must say I didn't expect that. Astonishing. And I'm very glad that someone's doing that sort of thing with CGI. Those sorts of things.
I've never really got Nine Inch Nails. I accept that a number of people who I respect very much have done. It's nice to see they have a member whose job is just to stand there and hold a tambourine, much like a group from an early 70s Hanna Barbera cartoon.
(Strictly speaking, to be a Hanna Barbera group you need to be a trio of a drummer, a guitar player and a cartoon animal standing on their hind legs and waving a tambourine, but this was close enough.)
posted by Grangousier at 5:18 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
I've never really got Nine Inch Nails. I accept that a number of people who I respect very much have done. It's nice to see they have a member whose job is just to stand there and hold a tambourine, much like a group from an early 70s Hanna Barbera cartoon.
(Strictly speaking, to be a Hanna Barbera group you need to be a trio of a drummer, a guitar player and a cartoon animal standing on their hind legs and waving a tambourine, but this was close enough.)
posted by Grangousier at 5:18 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
I have no idea what I've seen.
Also, if the Twin Peaks police is still wondering where the drugs are coming from, I'd start with the small venue in a 50 thousand population area that books Nine Inch Nails, Chromatics and Au Revoir Simone in two months.
It's nice to see they have a member whose job is just to stand there and hold a tambourine, much like a group from an early 70s Hanna Barbera cartoon.
That's Mariqueen Maandig, Trent Reznors' wife (and formerly of West Indian Girl). I think she also does backing vocals and some keyboards.
posted by lmfsilva at 5:31 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
Also, if the Twin Peaks police is still wondering where the drugs are coming from, I'd start with the small venue in a 50 thousand population area that books Nine Inch Nails, Chromatics and Au Revoir Simone in two months.
It's nice to see they have a member whose job is just to stand there and hold a tambourine, much like a group from an early 70s Hanna Barbera cartoon.
That's Mariqueen Maandig, Trent Reznors' wife (and formerly of West Indian Girl). I think she also does backing vocals and some keyboards.
posted by lmfsilva at 5:31 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
She's more involved with the other Trent project How To Destroy Angels. I was frankly surprised to see her as part of NIN here.
posted by hippybear at 5:37 PM on June 26, 2017
posted by hippybear at 5:37 PM on June 26, 2017
But honestly, if I had a chance to put together a live band for a performance of what is basically a studio project to appear in a David Lynch project, I'd ask my wife* to be there too, even if it was only holding a tambourine.
*I'm not married, but you get my point
posted by hippybear at 5:39 PM on June 26, 2017
*I'm not married, but you get my point
posted by hippybear at 5:39 PM on June 26, 2017
I thought "the" NiN bit was incredibly self-indulgent on the parts of both Lynch and Reznor, but it did make me happy to see Maandig on stage. Kid asked what the point of that musical interlude was, since the musical acts tend to close the show. I think that Reznor really wanted to be involved, and it's a subtle nod to Bowie, but it's sweet that Maandig got to be part of it, too.
posted by Ruki at 6:49 PM on June 26, 2017
posted by Ruki at 6:49 PM on June 26, 2017
The NIN cameo was an unnecessary low-point for me. The whole episode was a transcendent brain journey, but the celebrity guest was a bit silly. On the other hand, I’ve been thinking that the episodes in this season are structured like a talk show with a closing musical guest, and David Lynch did a turn as a guest on Louie season 3 as a network talk show producer helping Louis CK develop an approach to hosting The Late Show.
posted by migurski at 6:58 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by migurski at 6:58 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
As a huge fan of NIN in the 90s, I have to agree with people who were disappointed by the musical interlude. I have a feeling Trent Reznor was like "oh PLEASE let me be in the really fucked-up episode!" and David Lynch was like, "Well .. okay, Trent, if that's where you'd like to be!" but I really don't think it was the most flattering place to appear, because how can you top all of that!?
Then again, there's something about being the opening band for a flashback to the ultimate man-made chaos experiment that has a certain charm to it.
posted by destructive cactus at 7:09 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
Then again, there's something about being the opening band for a flashback to the ultimate man-made chaos experiment that has a certain charm to it.
posted by destructive cactus at 7:09 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
worst use of Trent Reznor since he used himself to exasperate me in my high school times, but absolute best use of a very beautiful song sung by The Platters to frame disturbing content since "Twilight Time" in that X-files episode that, now I have checked to see which X-files episode it was that had a Platters song in it, I remember was not all that good. William Gibson was to blame.
so actually not such a great achievement after all. lovely song or no.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:10 PM on June 26, 2017
so actually not such a great achievement after all. lovely song or no.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:10 PM on June 26, 2017
The band that really deserves a Bang Bang Bar slot is Lord Huron, they've got this Twin Peaksy woodsy and 50's greaser aesthetic and also turned their studio into the Red Room (plus their music would fit great for the Bang Bang Bar which, as we know, only gets down with weirdly ethereal music for a logging town bar crowd).
posted by jason_steakums at 7:43 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jason_steakums at 7:43 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ruki, you can tell the kid that the weird placement of Trent was probably a side effect of this being an 18 hour movie divided into 18 parts. NIN, and the bit of drama beforehand, belonged at the tail of last weeks episode, with NIN escorting the credits offscreen. Makes sense for not only the music but also the shooting, which provides an almost conventional cliff-hanger for the almost conventional episode last week.
Though I personally didn't mind the musical number. Reminded me a little of The Young Ones, in which the madcap comedy is interrupted by Madness mugging for the camera. And maybe Lynch / Frost can claim something or another on taxes or royalties by classifying Twin Peaks as a variety musical show. That would make me incredibly happy if Twin Peaks, in some arcane Hollywood accounting jargon spoken only in whispers in the Black Lodge, is legally considered a musical.
posted by honestcoyote at 7:46 PM on June 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
Though I personally didn't mind the musical number. Reminded me a little of The Young Ones, in which the madcap comedy is interrupted by Madness mugging for the camera. And maybe Lynch / Frost can claim something or another on taxes or royalties by classifying Twin Peaks as a variety musical show. That would make me incredibly happy if Twin Peaks, in some arcane Hollywood accounting jargon spoken only in whispers in the Black Lodge, is legally considered a musical.
posted by honestcoyote at 7:46 PM on June 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
In a sense, the episode was over. We had the wrap-up to the Mr. C storyline from last week, and what came after was a completely different show.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:54 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:54 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh it was a completely different show, alright. completely different from anything ever shown on network TV before.
I might need to find a group to talk to if I'm going to recover.
posted by hippybear at 7:56 PM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
I might need to find a group to talk to if I'm going to recover.
posted by hippybear at 7:56 PM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
I thought "the" NiN bit was incredibly self-indulgent on the parts of both Lynch and Reznor,
Wait but, like, why? I mean, every episode has had someone on doing a song, except for the one, and that was "Green Onions" and sleeping. I guess the difference is that credits rolled for parts of the tunes on the other ones? Ehh. It's not like the episode didn't have enough happening otherwise, one way or the other.
posted by kenko at 7:56 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
Wait but, like, why? I mean, every episode has had someone on doing a song, except for the one, and that was "Green Onions" and sleeping. I guess the difference is that credits rolled for parts of the tunes on the other ones? Ehh. It's not like the episode didn't have enough happening otherwise, one way or the other.
posted by kenko at 7:56 PM on June 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
honestcoyote and kittens for breakfast changed my perspective a bit. Intellectually, I know it's an 18 hour movie, but emotionally, not so much. But I think I have a personal bias, because there was so much happening, and there was so much sensory stimulation (I do like NiN, but only in small doses because there's' so much THERE there) Wait. Did that scene happen before the explosion? Lynch time is kinda like Trump time, in that, when a friend and I were discussing the episode today at work we talked about how time feels so distorted and what happened two weeks ago feels like two years and watching the explosion felt like "Ok, this is my life now, I'm just going to watch this forever" so my timeline is all messed up. Huh. It was before. I'll chalk that up to sensory overload.
But not at all like the Young Ones, who had the musical acts to get a bigger budget from the BBC.
posted by Ruki at 8:14 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
But not at all like the Young Ones, who had the musical acts to get a bigger budget from the BBC.
posted by Ruki at 8:14 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
time feels so distorted and what happened two weeks ago feels like two years and watching the explosion felt like "Ok, this is my life now, I'm just going to watch this forever"
There's no new episode next week so this will help carry you forward.
posted by hippybear at 8:19 PM on June 26, 2017
There's no new episode next week so this will help carry you forward.
posted by hippybear at 8:19 PM on June 26, 2017
Because it's an 18 hour movie and Lynch loves fun juxtapositions, after an episode like this I'm half expecting the next episode to start with the most cheeseball mid-season-two Twin Peaks kitsch possible. Like suddenly it turns out that Nadine believes she's the queen of England and somehow Dick Tremayne and Andy have found themselves responsible for Truman Showing her along to keep up the illusion. It would be perfect.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:23 PM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 8:23 PM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Intellectually, I know it's an 18 hour movie
What does it even mean to know this? What does it mean to say it's an 18-hour movie? What, in knowing this, do you know?
Do most movies have credits roll every 1/18th of their running length? Do most movies—even very long ones—get doled out in doses over almost five months? I've sat through 8 hours of a 24-hour movie (The Clock), all of a nearly four-hour movie (Lawrence of Arabia, screened with an intermission), know people who've watched the entirety of a seven-hour movie (Sátántangó), and the thirteen-hour cut of Jacques Rivette's Out 1 has apparently been screened over a single weekend. Those are all things that we can reasonably recognize as really long movies. In virtue of what is this Twin Peaks not a TV show but a single movie? Not the way it's distributed. Not the way it's viewed. Not by way of its external trappings (those credits). By way of Lynch's say-so, but as nearly every critic who's had cause to mention his say-so has also mentioned, that's the kind of thing that prestige TV people do say nowadays. They always append to this proviso the additional proviso that of course with Lynch it's different, with Lynch it really is an 18-hour movie. But why? Do they just mean that it's going to tell one story coherently and its length happens to be 18 hours? What would differentiate that from a disciplined TV show? Do they just mean: to claim that your TV show is actually, really cinema is just to claim the mantle of art, and Lynch really is an artist?
It seems that what they most often mean is something like this: if you found any one hour, especially an early hour, unsatisfying, bethink yourself, O viewer, thus: you wouldn't take any random seven-minute stretch of a two-hour movie and hold it to the standards of, what, a short? Or something? A tv show? The full length a movie? (So, the argument in effect goes, if you didn't like it, shaddup.) But this is premature because it apologizes on behalf of a current segment with reference to a not-yet-encountered whole which may or may not actually justify the longueurs or dissatisfactions of any particular part in the end, and anyway misplaced, since something distributed serially will naturally have its installments judged on the basis of the satisfactions they do or do not provide.
I would go so far as to guess that, at the end, when all the parts are available, if you stitched them together (credits and all—don't want to leave out those musical interludes!), they would be, considered as a single, very long movie, a failure. It's a fucking TV show!
posted by kenko at 9:35 PM on June 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
What does it even mean to know this? What does it mean to say it's an 18-hour movie? What, in knowing this, do you know?
Do most movies have credits roll every 1/18th of their running length? Do most movies—even very long ones—get doled out in doses over almost five months? I've sat through 8 hours of a 24-hour movie (The Clock), all of a nearly four-hour movie (Lawrence of Arabia, screened with an intermission), know people who've watched the entirety of a seven-hour movie (Sátántangó), and the thirteen-hour cut of Jacques Rivette's Out 1 has apparently been screened over a single weekend. Those are all things that we can reasonably recognize as really long movies. In virtue of what is this Twin Peaks not a TV show but a single movie? Not the way it's distributed. Not the way it's viewed. Not by way of its external trappings (those credits). By way of Lynch's say-so, but as nearly every critic who's had cause to mention his say-so has also mentioned, that's the kind of thing that prestige TV people do say nowadays. They always append to this proviso the additional proviso that of course with Lynch it's different, with Lynch it really is an 18-hour movie. But why? Do they just mean that it's going to tell one story coherently and its length happens to be 18 hours? What would differentiate that from a disciplined TV show? Do they just mean: to claim that your TV show is actually, really cinema is just to claim the mantle of art, and Lynch really is an artist?
It seems that what they most often mean is something like this: if you found any one hour, especially an early hour, unsatisfying, bethink yourself, O viewer, thus: you wouldn't take any random seven-minute stretch of a two-hour movie and hold it to the standards of, what, a short? Or something? A tv show? The full length a movie? (So, the argument in effect goes, if you didn't like it, shaddup.) But this is premature because it apologizes on behalf of a current segment with reference to a not-yet-encountered whole which may or may not actually justify the longueurs or dissatisfactions of any particular part in the end, and anyway misplaced, since something distributed serially will naturally have its installments judged on the basis of the satisfactions they do or do not provide.
I would go so far as to guess that, at the end, when all the parts are available, if you stitched them together (credits and all—don't want to leave out those musical interludes!), they would be, considered as a single, very long movie, a failure. It's a fucking TV show!
posted by kenko at 9:35 PM on June 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
Someone has very strong feelings about something.
I still can't figure out what I feel about last night's episode. I applaud you.
posted by hippybear at 9:46 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
I still can't figure out what I feel about last night's episode. I applaud you.
posted by hippybear at 9:46 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
I have strong feelings about LOTS of things!!!
posted by kenko at 9:51 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by kenko at 9:51 PM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Right, so I may be odd in that I'm 40 years old and I was "goth" in my early teens (although it wasn't called that then, we were dismissively labeled 'progressives') and I have never really liked NIN, but for some reason I enjoyed last night's performance. In fact, it was the first time in my life I found Trent Reznor to be sexually attractive...but that's beside the point. Anyway...
The first 16 minutes of the episode are really sort of boring as hell. DC breaks out of jail, gets double crossed by Ray, Trent is sexy, BOB is metaphysical, DC is buried by woodsmen and reawakens...and then the all good shit happens...
I don't know about you, and again, I am only 40 but my childhood was still overshadowed by the threat of nuclear war and I still have horrific dreams about it periodically to this day. Surprisingly, I didn't have any last night. That may have been compliments of the oddly pessimistic but also comforting anecdote mom told me last night after I told her about the episode...
Dinner, 1961ish. My 12 year old mom and her younger sister and brother are asking their father (a mechanic at Aerojet) why they don't have a bomb shelter in the backyard.
His answer: Well, assume you all survived six to twelve months in a bomb shelter the size of the living room without killing each other. Now who are you going to play with?
Mom, aunt, and uncle have no answer. They shrug.
Everyone goes back to eating their dinner.
posted by elsietheeel at 9:57 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
The first 16 minutes of the episode are really sort of boring as hell. DC breaks out of jail, gets double crossed by Ray, Trent is sexy, BOB is metaphysical, DC is buried by woodsmen and reawakens...and then the all good shit happens...
I don't know about you, and again, I am only 40 but my childhood was still overshadowed by the threat of nuclear war and I still have horrific dreams about it periodically to this day. Surprisingly, I didn't have any last night. That may have been compliments of the oddly pessimistic but also comforting anecdote mom told me last night after I told her about the episode...
Dinner, 1961ish. My 12 year old mom and her younger sister and brother are asking their father (a mechanic at Aerojet) why they don't have a bomb shelter in the backyard.
His answer: Well, assume you all survived six to twelve months in a bomb shelter the size of the living room without killing each other. Now who are you going to play with?
Mom, aunt, and uncle have no answer. They shrug.
Everyone goes back to eating their dinner.
posted by elsietheeel at 9:57 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
I agree re: NiN but the sequel to Eraserhead more than made up for it. I felt almost assaulted by the mushroom cloud adventure and I liked it.
posted by grumpybear69 at 3:55 AM on June 27, 2017
posted by grumpybear69 at 3:55 AM on June 27, 2017
Reminded me a little of The Young Ones, in which the madcap comedy is interrupted by Madness mugging for the camera.
I was a bit surprised by the bit where it turned out Major Briggs' missing head was being kicked down a railway line by Vyvyan tbh.
posted by sobarel at 4:09 AM on June 27, 2017 [16 favorites]
I was a bit surprised by the bit where it turned out Major Briggs' missing head was being kicked down a railway line by Vyvyan tbh.
posted by sobarel at 4:09 AM on June 27, 2017 [16 favorites]
[at some point later this season probably]: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Roadhouse is proud to present: The Haaaarlem Globetrotters!"
I love Kindertrauma.com, and in about 20 years I anticipate a "Name That Trauma" talking about "flipping through the premium channels one night and seeing a terrifying long sustained closeup inside a nuclear explosion, a diner with weird cutting and lighting, people made of dirt and one of them has a voice like static and he murders people and broadcasts some kind of weird message that puts people to sleep? And then a giant bug crawls into a girls mouth? Or was that just the worst nightmare of my life?"
Oh also: the guy who played the Woodsman has 7 other credits on the IMDb, all of which were playing Abraham Lincoln.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:25 AM on June 27, 2017 [15 favorites]
I love Kindertrauma.com, and in about 20 years I anticipate a "Name That Trauma" talking about "flipping through the premium channels one night and seeing a terrifying long sustained closeup inside a nuclear explosion, a diner with weird cutting and lighting, people made of dirt and one of them has a voice like static and he murders people and broadcasts some kind of weird message that puts people to sleep? And then a giant bug crawls into a girls mouth? Or was that just the worst nightmare of my life?"
Oh also: the guy who played the Woodsman has 7 other credits on the IMDb, all of which were playing Abraham Lincoln.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:25 AM on June 27, 2017 [15 favorites]
Just came across this series of screenshots via /r/TwinPeaks and during the convenience store strobe freakout you can see lots of cans show up in the window, then start to vanish as the sooty horrors go inside. Presumably they are cans of garmonbozia.
posted by grumpybear69 at 5:41 AM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by grumpybear69 at 5:41 AM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
That's [fake] right? Right?
posted by paper chromatographologist at 7:56 AM on June 27, 2017
posted by paper chromatographologist at 7:56 AM on June 27, 2017
I will never admit I created that with a Trump tweet generator.
posted by maxsparber at 7:58 AM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 7:58 AM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
*a horrible toupee hatches from an egg in the desert and crawls onto a sleeping child's head*
posted by jason_steakums at 8:00 AM on June 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 8:00 AM on June 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
kenko, for me "18-hour movie" means a couple of things:
-- Lynch is free from the constraints of episodic TV, in which each episode has to function both as a three-act standalone and as an advancement of the story. It's an artform that Breaking Bad and Deadwood perfected to mastery. Each episode is a pearl; a season is a string of pearls. With this Twin Peaks, Lynch is content to string time out as needed and each episode is not self-sufficient. Hence "part 8" and not "episode 8."
-- Lynch is free to pick up a storyline in one episode and not revisit it until many episodes later. We've still left poor Matthew Lillard in a jail cell since Part 2, for instance, and may not revisit him until near the end. He's also free to stop for a song, or an interlude, or a one-off joke monologue. It's more a scrapbook than an urgent narrative trajectory.
Now, Lynch's "freedom" may be self-indulgent. It gives him languorous time to play with. If he wants to watch Dr. Jacoby spray-paint shovels for 5 minutes, he does. His eye is slowly roving from place to place, watching until something arises. The invitation is for us to lose the urgency and take the same indulgence. I love it, but it's not for everyone.
posted by argybarg at 10:50 AM on June 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
-- Lynch is free from the constraints of episodic TV, in which each episode has to function both as a three-act standalone and as an advancement of the story. It's an artform that Breaking Bad and Deadwood perfected to mastery. Each episode is a pearl; a season is a string of pearls. With this Twin Peaks, Lynch is content to string time out as needed and each episode is not self-sufficient. Hence "part 8" and not "episode 8."
-- Lynch is free to pick up a storyline in one episode and not revisit it until many episodes later. We've still left poor Matthew Lillard in a jail cell since Part 2, for instance, and may not revisit him until near the end. He's also free to stop for a song, or an interlude, or a one-off joke monologue. It's more a scrapbook than an urgent narrative trajectory.
Now, Lynch's "freedom" may be self-indulgent. It gives him languorous time to play with. If he wants to watch Dr. Jacoby spray-paint shovels for 5 minutes, he does. His eye is slowly roving from place to place, watching until something arises. The invitation is for us to lose the urgency and take the same indulgence. I love it, but it's not for everyone.
posted by argybarg at 10:50 AM on June 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
kenko, I get that you have strong feelings, but can you back off me please? Twice now in this thread, you've wanted me to justify my own opinion because you disagree with me, which I don't have to do. I get to have opinions, too. Thanks.
posted by Ruki at 10:53 AM on June 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Ruki at 10:53 AM on June 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
And Part 8, for my money, is one of the bravest, most mind-blowing acts of TV ever committed. Turns out what we needed, way more than we needed plot advancement, was to have an unresolvable cataclysm dropped into the middle of the 18 hours.
posted by argybarg at 10:56 AM on June 27, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by argybarg at 10:56 AM on June 27, 2017 [4 favorites]
next episode to start with the most cheeseball mid-season-two Twin Peaks kitsch possible
It could do that, or we could flash back another 140 years to the Lewis & Clark expedition. Imagine a 35 minute scene with the Nez Pierce speaking their own language, without subtitles.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 11:02 AM on June 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
It could do that, or we could flash back another 140 years to the Lewis & Clark expedition. Imagine a 35 minute scene with the Nez Pierce speaking their own language, without subtitles.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 11:02 AM on June 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
next episode to start with the most cheeseball mid-season-two Twin Peaks kitsch possible
10 minute opening monologue with Wally Brando talking about being on the road while driving in front of a very obvious rear projection screen.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:08 AM on June 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
10 minute opening monologue with Wally Brando talking about being on the road while driving in front of a very obvious rear projection screen.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:08 AM on June 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
Twice now in this thread, you've wanted me to justify my own opinion because you disagree with me, which I don't have to do. I get to have opinions, too. Thanks.
I wanted to know why you found the NIN bit self-indulgent, which seems like a reasonable thing to want to know. You did—I didn't—what's wrong with wanting to know why someone reacted as they did to an aesthetic experience?
Similarly with the 18-hour movie thing (though my comment on that, though prompted by your remark, wasn't really directed solely at you, at all)—you make reference to the relevance of its being an 18-hour movie. I don't know what that actually means, but since you refer to it in an explanatory fashion, isn't it reasonable to think that you do have a more or less determinate idea what it means?
Clearly you don't have to respond to any inquiry of mine! But what are we doing here if we're just stating opinions serially, with explication of the grounds of the opinions?
posted by kenko at 11:13 AM on June 27, 2017
I wanted to know why you found the NIN bit self-indulgent, which seems like a reasonable thing to want to know. You did—I didn't—what's wrong with wanting to know why someone reacted as they did to an aesthetic experience?
Similarly with the 18-hour movie thing (though my comment on that, though prompted by your remark, wasn't really directed solely at you, at all)—you make reference to the relevance of its being an 18-hour movie. I don't know what that actually means, but since you refer to it in an explanatory fashion, isn't it reasonable to think that you do have a more or less determinate idea what it means?
Clearly you don't have to respond to any inquiry of mine! But what are we doing here if we're just stating opinions serially, with explication of the grounds of the opinions?
posted by kenko at 11:13 AM on June 27, 2017
Part 9: Dick Tremayne covered in angry weasels (description from Showtime)
posted by doctornecessiter at 11:14 AM on June 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by doctornecessiter at 11:14 AM on June 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
So they saved the pine weasels after all!
posted by paper chromatographologist at 11:17 AM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 11:17 AM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
Usually, if someone let's you know they don't want to have a long discussion about their opinions, it's nice to back off a little.
posted by maxsparber at 11:17 AM on June 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 11:17 AM on June 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
I miss Dick Tremayne and I liked the Pine Weasels. Don't @ me.
posted by maxsparber at 11:17 AM on June 27, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 11:17 AM on June 27, 2017 [6 favorites]
Usually, if someone let's you know they don't want to have a long discussion about their opinions, it's nice to back off a little.
Clearly, Ruki doesn't have to respond to any inquiry of mine! That is totally fine, and I didn't mean to reiterate the questions, but rather to register my belief that "how come do you think X" and "what does that mean, X" are legit questions.
posted by kenko at 11:28 AM on June 27, 2017
Clearly, Ruki doesn't have to respond to any inquiry of mine! That is totally fine, and I didn't mean to reiterate the questions, but rather to register my belief that "how come do you think X" and "what does that mean, X" are legit questions.
posted by kenko at 11:28 AM on June 27, 2017
Knowing that Dick Tremayne and the pine weasels are part of the same show/reality as this week's episode is almost as mind-blowing as this week's episode by itself.
The Weasels Are Exactly What They Seem
posted by doctornecessiter at 11:50 AM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
The Weasels Are Exactly What They Seem
posted by doctornecessiter at 11:50 AM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
Well, that was more or less what made Twin Peaks what it is. It's a soap opera with surreal/supernatural elements, all filtered through a fish in the percolator.
posted by lmfsilva at 12:03 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by lmfsilva at 12:03 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
Kenko, can u not
[Description by Showtime]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 12:05 PM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
[Description by Showtime]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 12:05 PM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
I miss Dick Tremayne and I liked the Pine Weasels. Don't @ me.
Dick Tremayne was great! I wish the character was involved with some better material but Ian Buchanan was excellent in the role.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:41 PM on June 27, 2017
Dick Tremayne was great! I wish the character was involved with some better material but Ian Buchanan was excellent in the role.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:41 PM on June 27, 2017
Ian Buchanan was also great when he was playing a secret agent in a much more straightforward soap opera.
Although...that was way back in the 70's and early 80s, and when I was a kid home over summer vacation, I'd become aware of "General Hospital" because my mom was a fan. At some point it sank in that I was watching three people run around a tropical island, attempting to destroy the freeze ray that would engulf Port Charles in eternal winter if they didn't succeed. I asked mom if the show was always like that, and she snapped, "ONLY DURING THE DAMN SUMMER." I guess the networks tried to aim at a younger crowd during the summer months back then?
Anyway, I think Buchanan was one of the three. Maybe that soap opera wasn't THAT much more straightforward. Although it was less influenced by German Expressionism, I'll bet money on that.
posted by Ipsifendus at 1:29 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Although...that was way back in the 70's and early 80s, and when I was a kid home over summer vacation, I'd become aware of "General Hospital" because my mom was a fan. At some point it sank in that I was watching three people run around a tropical island, attempting to destroy the freeze ray that would engulf Port Charles in eternal winter if they didn't succeed. I asked mom if the show was always like that, and she snapped, "ONLY DURING THE DAMN SUMMER." I guess the networks tried to aim at a younger crowd during the summer months back then?
Anyway, I think Buchanan was one of the three. Maybe that soap opera wasn't THAT much more straightforward. Although it was less influenced by German Expressionism, I'll bet money on that.
posted by Ipsifendus at 1:29 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
D'oh. I was wrong. Buchanan was playing someone else.
posted by Ipsifendus at 1:36 PM on June 27, 2017
posted by Ipsifendus at 1:36 PM on June 27, 2017
They could have brought Ian Buchanan and Pierce Brosnan to do a cameo as the older Tremayne brother.
posted by lmfsilva at 1:52 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by lmfsilva at 1:52 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
they need to bring on john mulaney as junior tremayne, doing exactly what he did as Cecil on Difficult People but with a better script. or, you know, with exactly the same one. just to show up that Michael Cera and teach him what being an amusing young man is all about.
I cannot be bothered to splice together a couple pictures to prove it but Ian Buchanan of the 90s and John Mulaney of the now are basically the same man, it is incredible. Mulaney's voice is made for it and so is his face.
posted by queenofbithynia at 2:08 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
I cannot be bothered to splice together a couple pictures to prove it but Ian Buchanan of the 90s and John Mulaney of the now are basically the same man, it is incredible. Mulaney's voice is made for it and so is his face.
posted by queenofbithynia at 2:08 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
Mayor Tremayne has a great ring to it, until proven otherwise that's my headcanon for what's happened to him.
(I love that the thread for this episode, of all episodes, is becoming the Dick Tremayne Fan Club)
posted by jason_steakums at 2:11 PM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
(I love that the thread for this episode, of all episodes, is becoming the Dick Tremayne Fan Club)
posted by jason_steakums at 2:11 PM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
As someone whose only previous exposure to Trent Reznor was Quake sound effects and Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt," I really liked the NiN song. Their sounds seemed to fit really well with some of the menacing stuff Lynch has already been doing with the Twin Peaks sound design. It certainly seemed like a more interesting choice than "Take 5" or "Green Onions."
("Take 5" was maybe interesting because of the possible implications of it not being one of Badalamenti's snappy-jazz tunes.)
posted by straight at 2:23 PM on June 27, 2017
("Take 5" was maybe interesting because of the possible implications of it not being one of Badalamenti's snappy-jazz tunes.)
posted by straight at 2:23 PM on June 27, 2017
(Although nothing has been as great as that slowed-down version of American Woman that introduced Bad Coop in the first episode.)
posted by straight at 2:38 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by straight at 2:38 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
A lot of hate for the Nine Inch Nails bit, but to me it felt like the perfect theme music for Doppelcooper, who is evil in a way that seems superficially cool at first, but is really just gross the more you think about it. And Nine Inch Nails is that kind of band. They seem kinda cool at first until you listen a little more closely to the lyrics, and then you're like ew, seriously?
I feel like it's Lynch's way of trying to undercut the potential glamorization of evil, which was never really an issue with BOB/Leland because they're not immediately appealing and likable the way that Dale Cooper is. It's similar to how we're set up to think that Doppelcooper is infallibly competent, yet he's tricked in a really obvious way by Ray.
posted by speicus at 4:40 PM on June 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
I feel like it's Lynch's way of trying to undercut the potential glamorization of evil, which was never really an issue with BOB/Leland because they're not immediately appealing and likable the way that Dale Cooper is. It's similar to how we're set up to think that Doppelcooper is infallibly competent, yet he's tricked in a really obvious way by Ray.
posted by speicus at 4:40 PM on June 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
I don't even know how Ray tricked him, Cooplicate checked the rounds in the gun and would have seen if the primers were spent. I'm picturing Ray furiously filing down the firing pin while they stopped for gas.
One thing I've noticed this season is that the show really suffers from the unfortunate passing of Frank Silva. BOB was already terrifying in the original seasons and FWWM and Lynch has really honed his horror craft since then - a new BOB performance by Silva in this darker season with Lynch operating at this level would have been something absolutely unforgettable. The leaps Lynch has taken in his sound design alone, BOB's wild demon howling would be insane. Silva would have made that glass box monster look like nothing.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:36 PM on June 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
One thing I've noticed this season is that the show really suffers from the unfortunate passing of Frank Silva. BOB was already terrifying in the original seasons and FWWM and Lynch has really honed his horror craft since then - a new BOB performance by Silva in this darker season with Lynch operating at this level would have been something absolutely unforgettable. The leaps Lynch has taken in his sound design alone, BOB's wild demon howling would be insane. Silva would have made that glass box monster look like nothing.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:36 PM on June 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
Lost Highway used songs from both Trent Reznor as a solo artist and Nine Inch Nails, as well as a few by Rammstein. If Gordon Cole was really whistling Rammstein in the previous episode, maybe Lynch just has a charming fondness for 90s industrial music?
(My significant other started to fast-forward through the NIN segment, and I was like, "what the hell are you doing?" For me, putting up with self-indulgence is the price we pay to reach the rarefied heights that Lynch reaches by trusting only his own instincts. The network committee that would trim the NIN segment would also never allow us to see most of the rest of this episode.)
posted by mubba at 6:04 PM on June 27, 2017 [6 favorites]
(My significant other started to fast-forward through the NIN segment, and I was like, "what the hell are you doing?" For me, putting up with self-indulgence is the price we pay to reach the rarefied heights that Lynch reaches by trusting only his own instincts. The network committee that would trim the NIN segment would also never allow us to see most of the rest of this episode.)
posted by mubba at 6:04 PM on June 27, 2017 [6 favorites]
I don't even know how Ray tricked him, Cooplicate checked the rounds in the gun and would have seen if the primers were spent. I'm picturing Ray furiously filing down the firing pin while they stopped for gas.
I'm guessing Warden Murphy slipped Ray a true "friend" and made sure that Coop's "friend" was full of dummies. Cue memory of Willem Dafoe as Bobby Peru smiling through terrible teeth... "Those are dummies, dummy!"
posted by infinitewindow at 6:24 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm guessing Warden Murphy slipped Ray a true "friend" and made sure that Coop's "friend" was full of dummies. Cue memory of Willem Dafoe as Bobby Peru smiling through terrible teeth... "Those are dummies, dummy!"
posted by infinitewindow at 6:24 PM on June 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
One thing I've noticed this season is that the show really suffers from the unfortunate passing of Frank Silva.
A, yes.
B. I believe in my heart that David Lynch knew from the start he was going to be doing this in twenty-five years, and therefore filmed some secret really appalling scenes with Silva and maybe also then-Kyle MacLachlan for later use, and is just biding his time before he shows them to us. the judicious use of previously aired material and minor special effects is to lull us into believing that we have seen all of BOB that there is to see. but what if.
C. of all the scary parts that I watched full on with both eyeballs instead of holding my cat up in front of my face so that she had to watch instead of me and absorb any evil spirits, the very scariest was Cooper in jail looking in the mirror and his face starting to change into Frank Silva's. that's a scary face he had.
posted by queenofbithynia at 6:35 PM on June 27, 2017 [9 favorites]
A, yes.
B. I believe in my heart that David Lynch knew from the start he was going to be doing this in twenty-five years, and therefore filmed some secret really appalling scenes with Silva and maybe also then-Kyle MacLachlan for later use, and is just biding his time before he shows them to us. the judicious use of previously aired material and minor special effects is to lull us into believing that we have seen all of BOB that there is to see. but what if.
C. of all the scary parts that I watched full on with both eyeballs instead of holding my cat up in front of my face so that she had to watch instead of me and absorb any evil spirits, the very scariest was Cooper in jail looking in the mirror and his face starting to change into Frank Silva's. that's a scary face he had.
posted by queenofbithynia at 6:35 PM on June 27, 2017 [9 favorites]
For some reason that is not clear to me I thought this season was only 8 episodes long.
And so was astounded at this finale.
Now that I know there's TEN MORE EPISODES????
Good lord.
posted by jettloe at 6:40 PM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
And so was astounded at this finale.
Now that I know there's TEN MORE EPISODES????
Good lord.
posted by jettloe at 6:40 PM on June 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
Sound design made of a seven minute YouTube video of fake space sounds.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:51 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by elsietheeel at 6:51 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ian Buchanan actually returned to soap operas after Twin Peaks, including Port Charles, the General Hospital spinoff that turned into a mashup of Passions and Buffy and became an obsession for me in college. They need to get Showtime on that!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:59 PM on June 27, 2017
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:59 PM on June 27, 2017
Do we know yet if the inhaled drug that all the Twin Peaks kids are doing is coke, or is it the "designer Chinese" stuff that gets mentioned in the first two episodes?
posted by codacorolla at 7:49 PM on June 27, 2017
posted by codacorolla at 7:49 PM on June 27, 2017
Now that I know there's TEN MORE EPISODES????
Same experience here. I think it happened because Amazon isn't listing episodes 9-18 yet. I should have been following the Wikipedia episode list but wasn't because the summaries tend to be crap and my edits tend to get reverted because of the character limit.
Man, when I watched that mushroom cloud grow and begin to move upwards, I instantly saw in my mind Coop's scribble of the stratosphere station that he escaped from, and my first thought was, oh, the destruction is headed for the stratosphere and it's going to have consequences there. This is where it all began. And sure enough, the camera led us into the cloud and then turned upward and headed into the stratosphere, where Mother vomited Bob onto the world and Laura's soul was dispatched. I'm sure I'm describing the obvious, but for some reason I just had to share it here because the scene has been haunting me ever since.
Also, duffell's comment about rabbits cracked me up, because I thought of the bug/frog creature as kinda rabbit shaped.
posted by christopherious at 8:20 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Same experience here. I think it happened because Amazon isn't listing episodes 9-18 yet. I should have been following the Wikipedia episode list but wasn't because the summaries tend to be crap and my edits tend to get reverted because of the character limit.
Man, when I watched that mushroom cloud grow and begin to move upwards, I instantly saw in my mind Coop's scribble of the stratosphere station that he escaped from, and my first thought was, oh, the destruction is headed for the stratosphere and it's going to have consequences there. This is where it all began. And sure enough, the camera led us into the cloud and then turned upward and headed into the stratosphere, where Mother vomited Bob onto the world and Laura's soul was dispatched. I'm sure I'm describing the obvious, but for some reason I just had to share it here because the scene has been haunting me ever since.
Also, duffell's comment about rabbits cracked me up, because I thought of the bug/frog creature as kinda rabbit shaped.
posted by christopherious at 8:20 PM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I want to call David Lynch, like, tonight or tomorrow and interview him about this episode NOW, since it's been aired and has had a zillion think pieces written about it.
I doubt he'd be forthcoming, but I'd at least like to know what his demeanor is like. I bet he's entirely pleased.
posted by hippybear at 8:26 PM on June 27, 2017
I doubt he'd be forthcoming, but I'd at least like to know what his demeanor is like. I bet he's entirely pleased.
posted by hippybear at 8:26 PM on June 27, 2017
The great thing about David Lynch is that he finds stuff like this episode delightful. It really shows that this is how he plays. That's why he's always going to be one up on his self-serious imitators.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:49 PM on June 27, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 8:49 PM on June 27, 2017 [4 favorites]
Oh hey, turns out those Yogscast guys actually summoned Bob.
posted by christopherious at 11:43 PM on June 27, 2017
posted by christopherious at 11:43 PM on June 27, 2017
The Giant was credited as ????? in the first two seasons, too.
No, he's credited as The Giant in the original series.
posted by crossoverman at 3:37 AM on June 28, 2017
No, he's credited as The Giant in the original series.
posted by crossoverman at 3:37 AM on June 28, 2017
"I doubt he'd be forthcoming, but I'd at least like to know what his demeanor is like. I bet he's entirely pleased."
The great thing about David Lynch is that he finds stuff like this episode delightful.
I make a point of never watching or reading any David Lynch interviews because I like to think that Gordon Cole is just pretty much how he is, how he talks, and what he says and thinks on a regular day, and the entire point of the character is he said to himself, why don't I put ME in there, just the way I am?
so I don't want to take in any contrary information just in case that's not how it is.
either that, or the mirror is up to the audience, and things like the "carsick!"/"COSSACKS??" conversation are little allegories about what it is like to be david lynch conveying an incredibly simple and basic concept to an audience who CAN'T HEAR YOU AND WHY WOULD YOU SAY A STRANGE THING LIKE THAT IN EPISODE EIGHT ANYHOW, ALBERT? COSSACKS ARE IN RUSSIA! like you draw them a complicated schematic diagram of some symbols and you slow it all down to half speed and take out the dialogue so there's no distractions and take out the color so there's really no distractions, and repeat the important parts a few times very slowly so there's just no way at all anybody can misinterpret you. then you go read a few reaction articles and it is like all these nice men are yelling into a bonsai tree and not listening to a thing you're saying.
posted by queenofbithynia at 6:39 AM on June 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
The great thing about David Lynch is that he finds stuff like this episode delightful.
I make a point of never watching or reading any David Lynch interviews because I like to think that Gordon Cole is just pretty much how he is, how he talks, and what he says and thinks on a regular day, and the entire point of the character is he said to himself, why don't I put ME in there, just the way I am?
so I don't want to take in any contrary information just in case that's not how it is.
either that, or the mirror is up to the audience, and things like the "carsick!"/"COSSACKS??" conversation are little allegories about what it is like to be david lynch conveying an incredibly simple and basic concept to an audience who CAN'T HEAR YOU AND WHY WOULD YOU SAY A STRANGE THING LIKE THAT IN EPISODE EIGHT ANYHOW, ALBERT? COSSACKS ARE IN RUSSIA! like you draw them a complicated schematic diagram of some symbols and you slow it all down to half speed and take out the dialogue so there's no distractions and take out the color so there's really no distractions, and repeat the important parts a few times very slowly so there's just no way at all anybody can misinterpret you. then you go read a few reaction articles and it is like all these nice men are yelling into a bonsai tree and not listening to a thing you're saying.
posted by queenofbithynia at 6:39 AM on June 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
I like how Laura Palmer's soul is represented by her high school homecoming queen portrait. I'd like to think we all start out that way. A golden bubble surrounding your senior picture - maybe in a letterman jacket, clutching a fake diploma and leaning casually on comically oversized numbers showing your graduation year. From what I've seen of these kids today, their souls are all sitting on abandoned train tracks in cowboy boots and sundresses or leaning against brick walls.
posted by artychoke at 6:48 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by artychoke at 6:48 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I make a point of never watching or reading any David Lynch interviews because I like to think that Gordon Cole is just pretty much how he is, how he talks, and what he says and thinks on a regular day, and the entire point of the character is he said to himself, why don't I put ME in there, just the way I am?
I think you're not too far off the mark, necessarily. I feel like Gordon as he developed in the series is a self-caricature, Lynch tweaking his own public image, even if it's not really how he is day to day. In the interviews and documentary pieces that I've seen with Lynch, the thing that strikes me is how surprisingly straightforward he tends to be about his work, talking about it in pure craft terms as opposed to dazzling his interlocutors with cryptic mumbo-jumbo. Gordon lets Lynch play the role of High Weird Film Shaman while engaging in deeper semiotic games below the surface.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:54 AM on June 28, 2017 [7 favorites]
I think you're not too far off the mark, necessarily. I feel like Gordon as he developed in the series is a self-caricature, Lynch tweaking his own public image, even if it's not really how he is day to day. In the interviews and documentary pieces that I've seen with Lynch, the thing that strikes me is how surprisingly straightforward he tends to be about his work, talking about it in pure craft terms as opposed to dazzling his interlocutors with cryptic mumbo-jumbo. Gordon lets Lynch play the role of High Weird Film Shaman while engaging in deeper semiotic games below the surface.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:54 AM on June 28, 2017 [7 favorites]
If Gordon Cole was really whistling Rammstein in the previous episode, maybe Lynch just has a charming fondness for 90s industrial music?
I think the reason Lynch has an affection for industrial and noise rock is because he and Eraserhead sound designer Alan Splet were godfathers of that sound in the '70s. The Eraserhead soundtrack absolutely works as an industrial album while prefiguring most of the artists identified with the genre in the '80s.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:01 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think the reason Lynch has an affection for industrial and noise rock is because he and Eraserhead sound designer Alan Splet were godfathers of that sound in the '70s. The Eraserhead soundtrack absolutely works as an industrial album while prefiguring most of the artists identified with the genre in the '80s.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:01 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
the thing that strikes me is how surprisingly straightforward he tends to be about his work
I realize this is the height of hubris. or the depths. but although I am a somewhat lesser genius and film is not my medium, I do feel like I "get" him, if you will, as does everyone who finds that the more slowly and simply you try to explain some very good idea you have, the more obscure people think you are trying to be until their confusion reaches a peak of ecstasy and they storm off or fall in love with you.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:04 AM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
I realize this is the height of hubris. or the depths. but although I am a somewhat lesser genius and film is not my medium, I do feel like I "get" him, if you will, as does everyone who finds that the more slowly and simply you try to explain some very good idea you have, the more obscure people think you are trying to be until their confusion reaches a peak of ecstasy and they storm off or fall in love with you.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:04 AM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
I make a point of never watching or reading any David Lynch interviews because I like to think that Gordon Cole is just pretty much how he is, how he talks, and what he says and thinks on a regular day, and the entire point of the character is he said to himself, why don't I put ME in there, just the way I am?
While I endorse this policy, I'm concerned that it means you've missed Lynch's rant about watching movies on cell phones, which (SPOILER!) will not shatter your illusion.
posted by straight at 11:29 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
While I endorse this policy, I'm concerned that it means you've missed Lynch's rant about watching movies on cell phones, which (SPOILER!) will not shatter your illusion.
posted by straight at 11:29 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
aw that's not ranting, that's just stating facts
oh also, is it fandom consensus that Dick Tremayne and Harry Truman are cousins? I would say brothers except I guess Harry's immediate family is all canonically confirmed. because Tremayne/Tremain/Truman is the same name, either Harry's branch modernized it because they are plain honest people or Dick fancied it up because he is that sort of fellow.
& I think his absence this season is more meaningful than almost anyone else's. I say this primarily because I am immediately post-dental-surgery and need a new dumb Twin Peaks theory to fully activate the drugs. but secondarily I kind of mean it because he is the only male character who absolutely could not ever be possessed or corrupted. the other unlikely ones are Gordon, Harry Truman, Harry Truman, Andy, Hawk, and Jerry Horne, in increasing order of unlikeliness. unlikely, but possible. but not Richard, no way. a Twin Peaks with no Richard Tremayne is a darker, scarier place.
who will wear an ascot there, now
posted by queenofbithynia at 1:55 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
oh also, is it fandom consensus that Dick Tremayne and Harry Truman are cousins? I would say brothers except I guess Harry's immediate family is all canonically confirmed. because Tremayne/Tremain/Truman is the same name, either Harry's branch modernized it because they are plain honest people or Dick fancied it up because he is that sort of fellow.
& I think his absence this season is more meaningful than almost anyone else's. I say this primarily because I am immediately post-dental-surgery and need a new dumb Twin Peaks theory to fully activate the drugs. but secondarily I kind of mean it because he is the only male character who absolutely could not ever be possessed or corrupted. the other unlikely ones are Gordon, Harry Truman, Harry Truman, Andy, Hawk, and Jerry Horne, in increasing order of unlikeliness. unlikely, but possible. but not Richard, no way. a Twin Peaks with no Richard Tremayne is a darker, scarier place.
who will wear an ascot there, now
posted by queenofbithynia at 1:55 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
A thread with Twin Peaks, The Young Ones, and Ian Buchanan is my everything!
posted by armacy at 5:12 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by armacy at 5:12 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Arm/TMFAP in its current state (brain on a stick) is roughly the same shape as a mushroom cloud.
Also, I totally think the girl from the 1950s is Sarah Palmer.
Also, that frog thing? I called it a frug (not the dance, but frog + bug). My husband called it a froach. But it might be this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/twinpeaks/comments/6ju0ml/s3e8spoilers_uself_titled_found_this_im_just/
posted by Brittanie at 10:30 PM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
Also, I totally think the girl from the 1950s is Sarah Palmer.
Also, that frog thing? I called it a frug (not the dance, but frog + bug). My husband called it a froach. But it might be this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/twinpeaks/comments/6ju0ml/s3e8spoilers_uself_titled_found_this_im_just/
posted by Brittanie at 10:30 PM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
I really don't want to think deeply on that thing that crawled into that girl's mouth. That entire sequence was nightmare fodder for me on the deepest level.
Probably Lynch's point, but still....
posted by hippybear at 10:41 PM on June 28, 2017
Probably Lynch's point, but still....
posted by hippybear at 10:41 PM on June 28, 2017
A couple of now-familiar elements appear in Lynch's short Dream #7 for the 2010 anthology 42 One Dream Rush.
posted by mubba at 7:49 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by mubba at 7:49 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
It just hit me that the bug scene could be the manufacturing of Dougie. Black Lodge magic, in the southwest, two years after Coop was born so around the same age, the Lodge seems to have a different relationship with time so the chain of cause and effect doesn't have to play out in a linear way in our world...
posted by jason_steakums at 10:07 PM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 10:07 PM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
who will wear an ascot there, now
Literal or metaphorical ascot? Because it was affected and slightly ridiculous then... 25 years later not even Dick Tremayne Men's Fashions could get away with it.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:13 PM on June 29, 2017
Literal or metaphorical ascot? Because it was affected and slightly ridiculous then... 25 years later not even Dick Tremayne Men's Fashions could get away with it.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:13 PM on June 29, 2017
And what's a metaphorical ascot?
posted by elsietheeel at 11:15 PM on June 29, 2017
posted by elsietheeel at 11:15 PM on June 29, 2017
If you're on this website, why are you asking what's a meta for?
And who is Ical Ascott?
posted by hippybear at 11:19 PM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
And who is Ical Ascott?
posted by hippybear at 11:19 PM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Huh. Re-watched Fire Walk With Me tonight and there's a Woodsman played by Jürgen Prochnow.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:01 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by eyeballkid at 12:01 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Father! The sleeper has awakened!
posted by elsietheeel at 8:14 AM on June 30, 2017
posted by elsietheeel at 8:14 AM on June 30, 2017
The other woodsman is David Brisbin of Hey Dude fame.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:11 AM on June 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 11:11 AM on June 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Hey I sat at a table next to him in a restaurant in Soho back in 2004! (I only know this because he was with his wife Laura Innes, who was the person I actually recognized at the time.)
It's going to be a long 10 days, isn't it?
posted by elsietheeel at 12:26 PM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's going to be a long 10 days, isn't it?
posted by elsietheeel at 12:26 PM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Apologies if this isn't quite the place for this, or has been posted before, but this is delightful!
Naomi Watts, Laura Dern & Patricia Arquette Tell Stories About David Lynch [YouTube]
posted by maupuia at 5:02 PM on June 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
Naomi Watts, Laura Dern & Patricia Arquette Tell Stories About David Lynch [YouTube]
posted by maupuia at 5:02 PM on June 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
I'm going to end up with no choice over this weekend but to watch these first 8 episodes again and jeebus am I even prepared to watch #8 again?
I might need to get my therapist's number written down first.
posted by hippybear at 3:05 PM on July 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I might need to get my therapist's number written down first.
posted by hippybear at 3:05 PM on July 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
KPJK -> PJ -> Phillip Jeffries?
The solo-style spotlight on Señorita Dido as she enters the room and stands staring at the screen is very in keeping with the theme of "watching" -- the spotlight is supposed to be on the stage, but here, no -- the spotlight is on the audience! The audience of one.
posted by escabeche at 11:40 AM on July 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The solo-style spotlight on Señorita Dido as she enters the room and stands staring at the screen is very in keeping with the theme of "watching" -- the spotlight is supposed to be on the stage, but here, no -- the spotlight is on the audience! The audience of one.
posted by escabeche at 11:40 AM on July 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
So the odd shaped thing in the room when we first see Dido looks like the outside of the purple room where Naido throws the switch and then flies into space.
Both of which kind of resemble a wood waste burner at a lumber mill.
posted by elsietheeel at 2:08 PM on July 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Both of which kind of resemble a wood waste burner at a lumber mill.
posted by elsietheeel at 2:08 PM on July 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was reading recaps of the first two seasons and this bit blew my mind.
"The Man from Another Place tells Cooper, "when you see me again, it won't be me." Laura Palmer appears, saying she will see Cooper again in 25 years and then says "meanwhile" while doing the gesture for "tree" in sign language."
Did Lynch always plan for the Arm to evolve into a tree? I thought it was just because the actor is a horrible person.
posted by Ruki at 1:12 PM on July 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
"The Man from Another Place tells Cooper, "when you see me again, it won't be me." Laura Palmer appears, saying she will see Cooper again in 25 years and then says "meanwhile" while doing the gesture for "tree" in sign language."
Did Lynch always plan for the Arm to evolve into a tree? I thought it was just because the actor is a horrible person.
posted by Ruki at 1:12 PM on July 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Did Lynch always plan for the Arm to evolve into a tree? I thought it was just because the actor is a horrible person.
I'm very confused whether it's Sheryl Lee, Michael Anderson, or Al Strobel who's supposed to be horrible (they all returned for the new series), and what that has to do with Laura making the tree sign.
posted by mubba at 1:50 PM on July 4, 2017
I'm very confused whether it's Sheryl Lee, Michael Anderson, or Al Strobel who's supposed to be horrible (they all returned for the new series), and what that has to do with Laura making the tree sign.
posted by mubba at 1:50 PM on July 4, 2017
Michael Anderson. Who did not return for the new series but was replaced by a tree.
posted by Ruki at 2:01 PM on July 4, 2017
posted by Ruki at 2:01 PM on July 4, 2017
Ruki, I always thought that line was foreshadowing for the doppelgängers that seem to permeate the Red Room. It could also have been foreshadowing for the reveal that the Giant and the Arm were "one and the same."
posted by infinitewindow at 3:36 PM on July 4, 2017
posted by infinitewindow at 3:36 PM on July 4, 2017
I did, too. Especially since Coop saw the Arm's doppelgänger next. It was learning that Laura signed tree that got me. I never understood what her movement meant until today.
posted by Ruki at 6:13 PM on July 4, 2017
posted by Ruki at 6:13 PM on July 4, 2017
Michael Anderson. Who did not return for the new series but was replaced by a tree.
wtf. I had somehow gotten the impression that he wasn't back because he, like a few other people, had died in the interim. (Clearly, I didn't do a whole lot of diligence on that impression.) This is … pretty surprising.
posted by kenko at 2:36 PM on July 5, 2017
wtf. I had somehow gotten the impression that he wasn't back because he, like a few other people, had died in the interim. (Clearly, I didn't do a whole lot of diligence on that impression.) This is … pretty surprising.
posted by kenko at 2:36 PM on July 5, 2017
Just came in to mention that my favorite film blogger is doing a recap review series of Twin Peaks from the very first episode; he's up to Ep.23 by now. Here's the full index.
posted by sapagan at 12:45 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by sapagan at 12:45 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Anderson wanted a shitton of money and he's a grudgey Trumpist and a complete whacko. Also I'm sorry but when one of the last lines your character utters is the next time you see me I won't be me?
DON'T PISS OFF THE DIRECTOR.
posted by elsietheeel at 9:58 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
DON'T PISS OFF THE DIRECTOR.
posted by elsietheeel at 9:58 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Vulture: The Best Show ON TV is Twin Peaks: The Return
posted by hippybear at 10:47 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:47 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
The thing Laura does isn't wholly unlike the ASL sign for tree, but it isn't really the sign. It's sort of as if she said "torbee" or "treh" or something that has some stuff in common with "tree" but isn't actually a word.
posted by redfoxtail at 11:35 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by redfoxtail at 11:35 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hmmm, "treh" is probably too close. "Trehf," maybe. "Trool." "Tangee." "Blee." Okay, enough of that. Here's what the sign looks like:
http://www.signasl.org/sign/tree
https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=2264
posted by redfoxtail at 12:00 PM on July 6, 2017
http://www.signasl.org/sign/tree
https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=2264
posted by redfoxtail at 12:00 PM on July 6, 2017
For comparison, here's Laura's pose/gesture from the original finale.
posted by nobody at 12:17 PM on July 6, 2017
posted by nobody at 12:17 PM on July 6, 2017
Okay I'm bored and I'm rewatching Drunk History and I have just been reminded that Tony Hale played Meriwether Lewis.
If Wally Brando ends up being a direct descendent of Lewis' sister Jane then the universe folds, George Michael has an Uncle Buster, and David Lynch is a fan of Arrested Development.
Why do there have to be puppets like Frank?
posted by elsietheeel at 8:22 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
If Wally Brando ends up being a direct descendent of Lewis' sister Jane then the universe folds, George Michael has an Uncle Buster, and David Lynch is a fan of Arrested Development.
Why do there have to be puppets like Frank?
posted by elsietheeel at 8:22 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've theorized from the beginning that Rancho Rosa is another failed Bluth Company development.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:01 AM on July 7, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:01 AM on July 7, 2017 [11 favorites]
The thing Laura does isn't wholly unlike the ASL sign for tree, but it isn't really the sign. It's sort of as if she said "torbee" or "treh" or something that has some stuff in common with "tree" but isn't actually a word.
that would actually be better than doing it correctly if it gave the same effect as the recorded-backwards-played-forwards spoken dialogue. because that's the effect that being inside the Black Lodge has on the mind's ability to perceive "words," or translate other things into what the hearer understands as words. in any language.
but it probably doesn't come across like that. but I mean, woodsmen! "woodman, spare that tree" and all. whatever tree Laura Palmer is talking about, and I am sure it's not the scary one, it's the one the woodsmen are after.
posted by queenofbithynia at 12:48 PM on July 7, 2017
that would actually be better than doing it correctly if it gave the same effect as the recorded-backwards-played-forwards spoken dialogue. because that's the effect that being inside the Black Lodge has on the mind's ability to perceive "words," or translate other things into what the hearer understands as words. in any language.
but it probably doesn't come across like that. but I mean, woodsmen! "woodman, spare that tree" and all. whatever tree Laura Palmer is talking about, and I am sure it's not the scary one, it's the one the woodsmen are after.
posted by queenofbithynia at 12:48 PM on July 7, 2017
We're only two days away from a new episode.
It's been a long two weeks.
posted by hippybear at 3:26 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's been a long two weeks.
posted by hippybear at 3:26 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
but it probably doesn't come across like that.
Yeah, alas, it doesn't -- but I feel you!
posted by redfoxtail at 3:47 PM on July 7, 2017
Yeah, alas, it doesn't -- but I feel you!
posted by redfoxtail at 3:47 PM on July 7, 2017
What a remarkable 56 minutes that was.
Could the 50's girl have grown into the log lady?
posted by freya_lamb at 4:36 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
Could the 50's girl have grown into the log lady?
posted by freya_lamb at 4:36 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
No. The insect part of any hideous Lynchian egg-spawed frog-hybrid horror in her backstory would not have been a moth but a borer beetle.
posted by flabdablet at 10:23 PM on July 7, 2017
posted by flabdablet at 10:23 PM on July 7, 2017
The Secret History of Twin Peaks establishes that the log lady grew up in Twin Peaks, not Nevada, so I don't think she swallowed frogbug. (Or at least not the one we just saw.)
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:03 AM on July 8, 2017
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:03 AM on July 8, 2017
Doing a rewatch of the 8 hours and there is so much going on in hour 1 and 2 that is overlooked at the time and is given context in later episodes. Wow!
posted by hippybear at 2:28 PM on July 9, 2017
posted by hippybear at 2:28 PM on July 9, 2017
oh my god, somebody joked last thread about the shadowy men being jacques and francois from the trapper sketch and now there is head crushing
this is the best thing. Next on Twin Peaks: Shelly and Norma discuss dipping areas. Jerry Horne finds a giant half-eaten chocolate bar in the woods.
posted by littlesq at 8:51 AM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
this is the best thing. Next on Twin Peaks: Shelly and Norma discuss dipping areas. Jerry Horne finds a giant half-eaten chocolate bar in the woods.
posted by littlesq at 8:51 AM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I do not have strong feelings either way about NiN in general or in this episode in particular, but a friend of mine recently pointed out that Trent Reznor's name spelled backwards is Ron Zertnert.
I have carried this information in troubled silence for weeks now.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [29 favorites]
I have carried this information in troubled silence for weeks now.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [29 favorites]
I honestly don't know what I did with myself before ten minutes ago when I learned that Trent Reznor's name spelled backwards is Ron Zertnert, but it's a different world now.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 6:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Bad Cooper had the foresight to put a get out of jail free card up his sleeve but not to know that Ray would trick him. Was being shot and re-animated also part of his dastardly plan?
I'm no Nine Inch Nails aficionado but thought they did a decent job of sustaining the unsettling mood from the previous scenes. Some of the other musical turns in previous episodes have seemed more out of place, to my mind.
Like dnash I recognised the sound of Penderecki's Threnody right away.
I've evidently seen enough of Lynch's œuvre to know that, after the young sweethearts had kissed, that something upsetting would likely ensue: but what happened next was all a great deal more upsetting than I was prepared for.
This episode was a powerful work of art in its own right.
posted by misteraitch at 1:14 AM on October 21, 2019
I'm no Nine Inch Nails aficionado but thought they did a decent job of sustaining the unsettling mood from the previous scenes. Some of the other musical turns in previous episodes have seemed more out of place, to my mind.
Like dnash I recognised the sound of Penderecki's Threnody right away.
I've evidently seen enough of Lynch's œuvre to know that, after the young sweethearts had kissed, that something upsetting would likely ensue: but what happened next was all a great deal more upsetting than I was prepared for.
This episode was a powerful work of art in its own right.
posted by misteraitch at 1:14 AM on October 21, 2019
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Recaps
The A.V. ClubTwin Peaks Wikia
posted by infinitewindow at 6:59 PM on June 25, 2017 [9 favorites]