A couple of re-caps from my friends Keith and Dan. A couple in real life. Re-capping Twin Peaks in different outlets. It’s been so fun to follow along with their thoughts.
Here’s Keith in MUBI on episode 10.
Random:
— I was surprised at how unnerved I was by Miriam’s murder and how it was filmed.
— Richard Horne is a DICK.
— Albert and Constance flirting! With David Lynch and “Tammy” looking on excitedly? Leave it to Lynch to create a legit “warm fuzzy” in the midst of all this disturbing stuff.
— Now we have footage of Harry Dean Stanton singing “Red River Valley” and I could not be happier about it.
— AUDREY, MY LOVE. WHERE ARE YOU. I YEARN TO SEE YOUR FACE.
— Laura superimposed over Lynch and then Albert was breathtaking.
— I love love love the footage of adorable Candie on the monitor babbling at Tom Sizemore, talking to him about … whatever it was she was monologuing about. I love her so much! I love those three women. I said on Twitter that I feel like I WAS one of those women in a former life.
— Kyle McLachlan’s arms bouncing up and down during sex. I freakin’ DIED.
— I should just write a post on my feelings about Rebekah del Rio (she’s included in my Master List of Ladies I Love). I have too much to say for this format.
//AUDREY, MY LOVE. WHERE ARE YOU. I YEARN TO SEE YOUR FACE.//
Richard has to be her son, right? So maybe she’s just hiding in shame…
//I feel like I WAS one of those women in a former life.//
If you feel like elaborating, please do!
The scenes of violence against women were particularly atrocious this week – not that they are usually sweet, but I think the contrast with poor Candie who’s just inconsolable for unintentionally inflicting pain makes them that much more terrible.
I don’t know how Jerry Horne hasn’t died of dehydration or starvation yet.
And, Dougie, oh, Dougiiiiiie!
// Richard has to be her son, right? So maybe she’s just hiding in shame… //
I don’t blame her. He’s horrifying!!
In re: Candie – Keith observes that the goons are actually rather forgiving towards her – horrified that she’s crying so much. They don’t beat the shit out of her, for example. They don’t fire her. It’s an interesting scenario.
and oh, I did some pretty wild things in my 20s and – all things considered – I’m pretty lucky nothing really went wrong. I wasn’t manipulated into any of it. I wasn’t used or abused. I was WILD and drawn to wild shit. I stripped a couple of times in a crazy lesbian strip-bar. hahaha Because I thought it would be hilarious and fun – I had been in a crazy late-night show that had a huge lesbian following (that was how the gig came about). And the experience WAS hilarious and fun although I look back on it now and want to say, “Sheila. Go home and go to bed.” And the guy I was dating at the time – the guy I’ve written about a million times – used to show up at said lesbian bar to watch the show. He thought it was hilarious. hahaha And the lesbians gave him a hard time (in good fun), like “She’s ours, and this here is for us, what the fuck are YOU doing here, you straight man??” and he loved that too. He’d walk in the door of the bar and a bunch of the women would Boo him for just showing up, and he’d bow, and they’d Boo and it was super fun. But … well. Crazy, too, if you think about it for more than 5 minutes. It was innocent fun, strangely enough. I could never run for political office, let’s say that. Even though I wouldn’t want to! (and thank God there were no cell phones or video phones.)
Anyway: if the stars had been tilted just slightly to the right or left I could have ended up in a pink pouffy dress leaned up against some wall, bored out of my mind, but also enjoying it somehow.
// I don’t know how Jerry Horne hasn’t died of dehydration or starvation yet. //
HA!! How about his foot talking to him?
I also was so THRILLED that Nadine had actually created her silent runner drapes – her obsession back in the original series.
There were some people flipping out on Twitter that “Dougie” was unable to “consent” to that sex, and so it was rape. I honestly sometimes don’t want to live in this world anymore.
Wow, thanks for sharing that! Now I see what you mean. Because I’ll be honest, I’m having trouble imagining you being as out of it as Candie is.
//I also was so THRILLED that Nadine had actually created her silent runner drapes – her obsession back in the original series.//
I know! She was The Crazy Woman with the Crazy Idea but she actually did something with it. Very pleasing.
There were some people flipping out on Twitter that “Dougie” was unable to “consent” to that sex, and so it was rape. I honestly sometimes don’t want to live in this world anymore.//
Ha, you know, I thought some people might say that.
//There were some people flipping out on Twitter that “Dougie” was unable to “consent” to that sex, and so it was rape.//
That thought crossed my mind, but I think there’s actually a bigger issue to be made here – and I wonder if the sex scene was intentional commentary on this issue – about the ability of people with disabilities to consent to sex and their right to BE sexual beings. There are literal debates about whether people with intellectual disabilities should be ALLOWED to have sex. It’s honestly an interesting and important debate and there are no easy answers, so I have no patience for the knee-jerk “it was definitely rape” reactions.
Poor Miriam. You knew it was coming. And what was she thinking? Telling Richard all of that while standing in her flimsy trailer in the dark. The violence of him kicking in the glass pane and jiggling open the lock felt real, and made me sick to my stomach.
That teddy with the fishbowl head. Of all the things Richard was destroying and screaming at, he leaves that thing sitting on the table going on and on. I kept waiting for violenece to be unleashed on Snuggles the deep sea diver but no.
Paula –
// And what was she thinking? Telling Richard all of that while standing in her flimsy trailer in the dark. //
I know!! Miriam – there’s no escape. You underestimate him! Ugh!! It was awful.
// he leaves that thing sitting on the table going on and on. //
That was so absurd!
Horrifying and upsetting scene. The kind of thing Lynch does so well. It’s HORRIFYING but you can feel (or at least I can) – Lynch’s humanity. It’s horrifying because of his empathy. He’s not REVELING in it. Or maybe he is a little bit? But it’s only because he knows how wrong it is, how innocent those two people are being attacked.
Thoughts?
Do you think Lynch revels in violence too much?
Not a trick question … it’s one of those things that comes up in my mind when I watch his stuff. I just re-watched Blue Velvet and it’s sooooo upsetting, those scenes with Dennis Hopper. Somehow, though, I always feel that Lynch is on the side of Rossellini – even though the character gets off sexually on violence. It’s a deep pool, man. Complex!
I don’t think Lynch revels in it. Looking at the violent moments in a Tarantino movie, you see the indulgence there, the smirk at what he perceives the viewer’s reaction will be, how he serves it like a tablescaped meal to us. That’s revelry. Sometimes I enjoy that, usually the first time I watch it, it’s a shock but it doesn’t hold up.
Lynch’s moments may be graphic, but the violence is delivered with a flatness that makes it more appalling, more real. Like he doesn’t enjoy showing you those scenes but feels the viewer needs to see it as a part of the story and theme. As you say, it’s his empathy at work.
Paula – yes, I thought of Tarantino too. And filmmakers like Sergio Leone – QT’s main influence – total shoving the face of the audience in bloody massacre. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if you like it – I just think sometimes Lynch is painted with that same brush and I just don’t think it’s appropriate – that’s not what he does at all. His violence is even MORE shocking because – like you say – it comes out of this flatness, or out of this already developing feeling of dread – dread where you don’t even know the source.
I agree that he doesn’t really revel in the violence. And it seems to me that a lot of the actual violence happens off-screen, so when it IS on screen, it’s obvious that it’s important for some reason. Like, we didn’t see Miriam’s death (which was more upsetting, in a way), but then, we all knew it was coming from the moment Richard made eye contact with her. She was doomed. But we saw him attacking his grandmother in full detail (ostensibly for money, but Richard certainly reveled in the violence, and I had the sense that he would have beaten her bloody just for the fun of it), and there was a purpose to seeing it, I think – to drive home the fact that this guy is COMPLETELY devoid of any feelings. Even Jeffrey Dahmer loved his grandmother.
I also thought the contrast (or lack thereof) between the two attacks was interesting. Miriam in her flimsy little trailer – of COURSE she wasn’t safe in there – and Sylvia and Johnny in a virtual fortress, and they still couldn’t keep him out. I kept wondering why she didn’t lock the door, tell her staff not to let him in the gates, do anything she could to keep him away. Did she hope to appeal to his better nature, or was she worried about what he was capable of if she didn’t let him in? Was there a time that she already tried that and it ended badly?
I don’t think it’s been discussed here yet, but I’m sure you guys are aware of the theory that Richard is Bad Cooper’s son from his visit to Audrey when she was in a coma (which is disturbing on many levels). How is THAT going to play out?
One more quick thing: Miriam, a single teacher, living in a crappy little trailer is probably one of the most realistic things I’ve ever seen on television.
//the theory that Richard is Bad Cooper’s son// that was the first thing I thought about! Then thought, they won’t go there. Who am I kidding? So disturbing.
Love the constrast between the trailer and the fortress. Perhaps a comment on people’s need to believe that people can’t really be that bad, that there is hope for someone like Richard to have some decency that can be called out. Lynch has given us some hopeful moments like Rodney and Candi, and the smiling thug with the automatic weapon. Brings home the message that violence is random in this world.
// Then thought, they won’t go there. //
hahahaha
// Perhaps a comment on people’s need to believe that people can’t really be that bad, that there is hope for someone like Richard to have some decency that can be called out. //
I think you may have touched here on one of Lynch’s essential themes. How can goodness survive when bad-ness is seemingly so much stronger? Goodness has that weak spot – goodness assumes the best about other people. and with a psycho like Richard – or Bad Cooper – that’s a huge huge mistake.
// to drive home the fact that this guy is COMPLETELY devoid of any feelings. Even Jeffrey Dahmer loved his grandmother. //
Excellent point!
Richard Horne is now our resident psycho.
// Richard is Bad Cooper’s son from his visit to Audrey when she was in a coma (which is disturbing on many levels). //
Ew. I actually hadn’t heard that. Very upsetting. Poor Audrey.
// Miriam, a single teacher, living in a crappy little trailer is probably one of the most realistic things I’ve ever seen on television. //
Right?? I hadn’t even thought of that.
// // Richard is Bad Cooper’s son from his visit to Audrey when she was in a coma (which is disturbing on many levels). //
Ew. I actually hadn’t heard that.//
My reaction exactly. Makes sense, though.
I did get some sort of satisfaction from the scenes of violence, especially in this episode, precisely because it didn’t feel like reveling in it. I think I even said out loud “Finally!” It was too much, too long, too hard to watch, and those misogynistic insult added to the mix, as if we needed THAT in addition! STOP. Which is, in my experience, how it actually feels when you’re in it in real life and you’re not Richard. It IS too much. And a movie/show had never made me feel that exactly, before. Not like that.