I’m so happy my good friend Keith Uhlich (my X-Files partner-in-crime) will be recapping Twin Peaks for MUBI. You’ll see why when you read his recap. I love this observation of his in particular:
If the early parts of a movie or television show (especially something as auteur-driven as this one) give us a sense of how to watch it as a whole, then this is likely the new Twin Peaks’s key sequence: Watch. Wait. Something may occur. Or it may not. Learn to live with the duration, with the beautiful monotony. Impatience, boredom, irritation, agitation (all very grounding human emotions) segue into a more transcendental state of mind.
YES. And this is what the internet fanboys – raised on Christopher Nolan – cannot abide. But I had moments of true exasperation watching some of these episodes, a sort of “hurry up” energy – before clocking myself doing it and asking myself the question: “Hurry up to WHAT, Sheila. Where are we going?”
The moment is ALL.
Here’s Keith:
Excellent recap. I wasn’t too sure about the first hour, but after the second, I was pulled all the way back in. A part of me is desperate for answers (where’s Donna? Did Audrey survive the explosion? Who is the father of Shelly’s daughter? Where are Norma Jennings and Ed and Nadine?), but most of me is okay with waiting for it all to play out.
Am I the only person who thinks that the “evolution of the arm” is not a tree, but a nervous system? Neurons look like trees, and the flashes of light through the limbs are exactly what active neurons look like. I have not seen this suggested in any reviews I’ve read. Maybe it’s just my background, but nervous system was my very first thought.
That’s exactly what I thought, too.
Glad it wasn’t just me!
I wondered too about Norma and Ed and Nadine. Have you watched all 4 episodes? I’ll wait to say more until I hear back from you. :)
I did see Sherilynn Fenn in one of the promo photos so I know we’ll catch up with Audrey (my favorite one) eventually!
Interesting in re: nervous system. I can definitely see that. Like a “phantom arm” … still alive.
I can’t wait to see where all of this takes me.
I have watched all 4. I have no self-control, haha. I love Sherilynn Fenn. I can’t wait to see her again!
I have no self-control either. I am going to re-watch them, so I can calm the hell down and try to soak more in.
and how about Leo Johnson? He was last seen tied up in a cabin, holding onto a fraying string which held above him a small cage filled with …. well, horrible creatures that I cannot name because it makes my skin crawl.
Will he have escaped? Is that actor still with us?
As horrible as Leo was – and he was AWFUL – I admit to being attracted to that man. He is a pure example of “my type.” I see a man with that kind of body and face, the little pudginess, and draw nearer, like, “You. Me like.”
Audrey was just the best!
How about Michael Cera?? As Marlon Brando in The Wild One?? So random. I’ve so far seen very mixed responses to that ridiculous cameo and his even more ridiculous monologue – but I thought it was fabulous. He played it straight. You can’t condescend to David Lynch’s stuff, or play it in a snarky above-it way. That’s why Kyle McLachlan was so PERFECT as Agent Cooper. Like, that guy really WAS that positive and open.
I’m sooooo interested in that glass box hidden in the bowels of a huge building in NYC.
Michael Cera was fantastic! If I had thought to imagine how Andy and Lucy’s child would have turned out, he was exactly what I would have imagined
You know, it’s funny, since I have put a lot of thought into how Audrey might have survived, it never occurred to me that Leo might have survived. I guess I felt like his arc had a relatively satisfying resolution. He somewhat redeemed himself by freeing Major Briggs and saving Shelly from Windom Earle, sacrificing himself in the process when Earle found out what he had done. (I totally get finding awful characters attractive, though.)
And yes to the glass box! What is up with that? Who is the billionaire? How is it connected to Cooper/the lodges/Twin Peaks? Why did the guard disappear? Was the attack on the couple by the creature orchestrated somehow – did the guard disappear on purpose to give Sam the opportunity to sneak his girlfriend in so that could happen?
I am loving how FUNNY it is. There were some legit laugh out loud moments. Especially in eps 3 and 4 – which I won’t discuss until I hear back from you all if you’ve seen it. :)
What I am loving is its sometimes exasperating pace.
I think what I am loving about that is it is forcing me to slow down, to submit to where it wants ME to go … it’s almost like going to a yoga class or a meditation class – things I find very challenging because of my racing thoughts and my desire to always be DOING something.
So far this series has forced me to put on the brakes. and I get into this weird meditative state – where all I’m doing – all I CAN do (because I don’t know what the hell is going on yet) is look at the images, and ponder the images. I love your thought that that tree/squishy-speaking-nerve-center-thingie is a nervous system. These are the kinds of things – associations – that come, when you ponder your dreams and you try to figure out what messages are being sent to you (if any).
The last episode I emerged from like I was emerging from a deep sleep.
Much of it is very un-nerving. But I’m finding it … relaxing? How can that be??
//Much of it is very un-nerving. But I’m finding it … relaxing? How can that be??//
I completely agree. Maybe because it seems to be such a dreamscape? Even when it’s deeply unsettling, there’s a sense of unreality to it.
Even some of the funny moments were a little unnerving for me. Like, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to find that funny, but here I am, laughing out loud.
and I am DEFinitely missing Michael Ontkean.
Another film writer I know/like put up some thoughts on his blog … I liked them, let me track it down. They’re really more just first impressions.
//and I am DEFinitely missing Michael Ontkean.//
Yes. The relationship between him and Agent Cooper was a big part of the draw for me in the original series. He must be really serious about his retirement – if I were in his shoes, I can’t imagine turning down the opportunity to return to that world.
I will so miss that relationship! and I know in re: his retirement!!
I’m also curious about Lara Flynn Boyle. I know there was some kind of falling out that happened … but that was a long time ago. She really doesn’t have a career anymore and I think there’s a level of – pathological vanity there – the amount of work she’s had done on her face – which, ironically, has AGED her … I don’t like to talk about plastic surgery, at least not in a judgmental way – I’m just saying that I think she may not have wanted to face the criticism of her looks, when placed side by side with her beautiful youthfulness 25 years ago. I’m deeply admiring of the actresses who signed on to this thing for facing that potential, and doing whatever they had to do to not give a shit about it. But I’m not sure that LFB has it in her.
I’ll miss Donna though. We were having a fantastic conversation about LFB’s acting on FB and just how damn GOOD she was in this series.
I mean, in the pilot – before we even know who she is really – she had to cry – openly and luxuriously – for 5 minutes, sitting in that classroom when she heard of Laura’s death. She may very well have had to shoot that scene on her first day of filming! She’s SO good. And I love the transformation that Donna goes through, morphing into Laura.
Lynch’s work on doppelgangers is SO important to me. It factors hugely in so much of his work – he really understands how life and society splits women up into multiple personalities, creating schizoid personae. Madonna, whore. Virgin, slut. Innocence, corruption. He is not enforcing/endorsing those divides – he just GETS that this is what is done to women – it’s why Laura Palmer was such a lost lamb. She had been corrupted young. She didn’t have a chance. :(
I had no idea about any dispute with Lara Flynn Boyle. It makes me sad that she won’t be returning, whatever the reasons. Donna was such an important part of the original series. I did watch FWWM on Sunday, and while there was nothing technically wrong with Moira Kelly’s performance, it kept pulling me out of the movie every time she was on screen. (That’s my only real criticism of the movie, though – I definitely don’t think it deserved to be panned the way it was. Well, that, and it made Leland come across more predatory instead of lost and tragic.)
Yeah, it was a weird choice to re-cast someone as Donna … as opposed to just leaving her out.
And Lara Flynn Boyle had such complexity – I love how she puts on Laura’s sunglasses and everything changes. Her outfits change, her behavior changes, she’s smoking, she’s sexy –
The whole “persona swap” thing that Lynch is so obsessed with. Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive are built entirely around persona swaps like that. I love so much that this new Twin Peaks is not just about a persona swap – with poor Agent Cooper – but a total fracturing of persona – I can’t even keep track of how many Agent Coopers are running around at this point.
Here it is – the wonderful David Cairns at Shadowplay:
https://dcairns.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/my-blog-saw-something-that-night/
Spoilers for episodes 3 and 4.
Oh, and Matthew Lillard! I had only ever seen him playing dumb stoner characters. The terror in his expression as he realized what deep shit he was in. (I had to look up who he was. I knew I recognized him, but I couldn’t place him. How is it even possible that he is old enough to play a middle-aged school principal?)
These were my exact words to my husband, Natalie.
Oh my gosh, his performance so far has been INCREDIBLE.
I think episode 4 opened with him? Or maybe it was episode 3. Massaging his head, sitting in that interrogation room.
He was SO good. You could tell he was lying – but you’re not sure (or I’m not sure) if he’s lying about what THEY think he’s lying about. Extraordinary performance so far!
and his WIFE. She’s a piece of work. I don’t recognize her from anything else. anyone?
I haven’t see her in anything. She was so good, unable to get past their dinner that night and then loving every minute of his incarceration and misery. And the contrast between her and Jane-E (wasn’t that Naomi’s character? It was an odd spelling) because at first glance, they would appear similar as entitled blond housewives invested in their husband’s careers and fidelity.
Boy, Naomi’s character was a witch (so far) – but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, being strapped to a husband who now forgets how to go to the bathroom for himself.
Can you imagine??
and when he spit the coffee out with the tie wrapped around his head?
I nearly fell off my chair with laughter my first time viewing.
Man, her character was even more of a witch this episode. No one is taking care of Coop/Doug-E.
It’s so good to see so many familiar faces again. I will miss Major Briggs. I’ll also miss Harry Truman, but mostly because I am so worried about Cooper! Who will take care of him? I am very worried. He can’t keep wearing bright jackets and think his name is Dougie. Unbearable! When we get glimpses of old Dale, it’s such a relief. And it’s so touching that it comes when he interacts with a child or sees coffee. Despite 25 years in the Black Lodge and their devastating effect, the goodness of this man is still here. Oh Coop, I love you so much.
//I’ll also miss Harry Truman, but mostly because I am so worried about Cooper! Who will take care of him?// I had low-key anxiety throughout the episode about this. Harry is gone, we haven’t seen Audrey and Coop is running around in those terrible clothes and then Naomi Watts runs out of Doug-E’s house, but I don’t know this Jane-E and whether she will take advantage of him.
Anxiety and such an exercise in patience.
That bright green blazer was horrifying. Cooper needs to somehow get back to the Great Northern – he needs to follow that key in his pocket!
I too am filled with anxiety about him.
He had one moment – when he took his first bite of pancake and took a second to revel in the taste – remember that moment? – where he seemed like the old Cooper, the guy who savored every bite of anything he took – taking the time to appreciate simple sensual pleasures. And I held my breath when he went to take a sip of coffee – although as we all saw, THAT didn’t go over well. HI-LAR-IOUS. and awful!
So far there’s been no sign of my friend Larry, who’s in the series. I’m soooo psyched for him. I have no idea who he plays.
Here’s a picture of Larry – I just interviewed him and his wife Fielding – so you’ll know him when you see him!!
http://www.sheilaomalley.com/?p=126940