2x10 Dispute Between Brothers

[4.8/10] Welcome to the supposedly bad part of Twin Peaks. I’ll admit, this wasn’t noticeably worse than the bulk of the show for me, but it also wasn’t great, so I sympathize with the fans who say it took a turn here.

The decent part of this episode is the denouement from all the Laura and Leland Palmer fallout. There opening scene, with Cooper and the doctor comforting Sarah Palmer is well done, and also well shot, with the slow zoom in on Sarah not wanting to be doped up and trying to process all of this. And it’s more great work from Kyle MacLachlan, who does well to show his sorrow and sympathies at such a difficult moment, trying reassure Mrs. Palmer that it wasn’t her husband’s fault. Touching in its way.

There’s also something a little momentous about the whole town gathering to support her in her our of need. Seeing the food laid out on that table made for an interesting shot and a nice way to illustrate the community’s support. Of course, it’s an excuse for more silly local color and new character,including Tony Jay (the mayor, I think) of Reboot fame! Now there’s a show I didn’t expect to overlap with Twin Peaks in terms of personnel.

We also get a faux solemn goodbye from Cooper. It rings false, not just because it seems doubtful the show’s main character would go when there’s still 12 episodes left in the series, but also because it’s the sort of overly sentimental, cheesily-scored scene that robs the entire enterprise of any real humanity. There’s been a real friendship forged between Cooper and Truman, and belaboring it like that doesn’t do it justice. Things are a little better with Cooper’s faux farewell to Audrey, with a few rough lines, but mostly an affirmation of their kinship but respectful distance.

Of course, we learn Cooper isn’t going anywhere because he’s being investigated by FBI’s Internal Affairs division for his adventures at One-Eyed Jack’s. It’s not a particularly inspiring new storyline to keep Cooper occupied, and the reveal that the whole thing is a setup by Jean Renault and Hank doesn’t do much to inspire my confidence in it either. I guess we’ll see where things go.

Otherwise, it’s mostly bad subplot city here. The Lucy love triangle just goes on and on until you wish she’d just move away and say goodbye to both of her dweeby suitors. Nadine’s story gets more ridiculous (which I’d not thought possible) as she enrolls in high school, tries out for the cheerleading squad, and throws a guy halfway across the field. Again, pretty much all Nadine scenes follow the same trajectory at this point (no pun intended).

It also turns out that Norma’s mom was the travel writer, and she gave her daughter’s restaurant a terrible review for her integrity and ethics. Nevermind the fact that the ethical thing to do would be to not review the restaurant of someone you’re related to, but whatever. Maybe at least it’ll end this go-nowhere storyline. Speaking of which, Bobby is back to scheming to get money to take care of Shelly and Leo, and it means he runs into Audrey, who tells him she “likes to lick” in the most painfully bad line of the episode. I wish they would just write Bobby, Shelly, and Leo off the show, and pairing Bobby (who looks appropriately sleazy in a suit) with a better character like Audrey gets no approval from me.

The episode ends with Cooper and Major Briggs fishing, and that’s a pairing I can get behind. Unfortunately, it ends on a note of some ponderous contemplation of Bob, and Briggs disappearing in a flash of white light. I’m not going to sit here and complain about the show going supernatural or anything, and lord knows it’s not the first time it’s been cheesy about it, but the whole big white flash thing felt particularly hokey somehow.

Not a great start to the post-Who Killed Laura portion of the show, but thus far, still pretty par for the course. We’ll see if things get worse once the show can’t still feast on the leftover scraps of the Palmer storyline.