Continuing where last week left off in a somewhat more darkly comic, absurdist and even shocking light than what the twelfth episode, David Lynch and Mark Frost once again have managed to churn out an episode full of surprises, unexpected comic pleasures and moments of abrupt extreme violence that will make you laugh and/or gasp at the same time. Offering up arguably the most frightening display of Evil Cooper’s superhuman powers outside of being able to cheat death, viewers are treated to goofball/horrific arm wrestling scene set to rival the infamous Brundlefly biker gang arm wrestling match in David Cronenberg’s The Fly.
Though largely comical with
a truly absurdist turn by James Hurley who we only saw the one time in the
second episode, there’s also an oddly melancholy streak running through this
particular episode. While Doctor Jacoby
(Russ Tamblyn) and Nadine Hurley (Wendy Robie) have a peculiar and heartwarming
exchange, we’re also treated to moments of desolation involving a lonesome Big
Ed watching the cars pass by his gas station at night and in the episode’s most
maddening scene a truly pathetic moment of Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie)
drinking herself into oblivion as a knockout in a boxing match replays on
repeat. It’s the one episode outside of
the eleventh with Richard Horne’s home invasion scene that comes closest to
transposing Lynch’s animated series Dumbland
to live action form.
In true Lynch and Frost
fashion, the series continues to advance the central storylines forward while
playing out as a loose series of anecdotal abstractions. There’s a recurring theme of loneliness among
the aged characters who returned to the new show contrasted by the presence of
younger newcomers, particularly involving Ed Hurley and Sarah Palmer. If nothing else, the largest crux of the
story falls on the shoulders of Kyle MacLachlan who is tasked with giving
viewers two shades of Dale Cooper, channeling just enough of each side that we
recognize the character while also feeling somewhat alienated by him. It’s a tricky feat but MacLachan continues to
soar with his interpretation of the characters and make viewers believe in the
existence of both.
Though there are only five
episodes left of this new season, including reportedly a two-hour grand finale,
fans of the world of Twin Peaks are
at once watching Lynch take viewers down uncharted territory while slowly
bringing us back to a glimmer of the Dale Cooper we came to know and love. What I can say for certain is that this new Twin Peaks represents as of current some
of the most innovative, daring, disturbing and oddly delightful television
programming in the history of the medium which will leave you ready to come
back for seconds.
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki