Andrew Grevas
Welcome back to “The Waiting Room” here on 25 Years Later. For those that missed last week in this feature I will be offering analysis and theorizing some on the storylines having to do with the town of Twin Peaks, the FBI and everyone’s favorite doppelgänger, Mr C (and his friend BOB too). On Tuesdays, Eileen will be doing the same only she’s following Agent Cooper in his journey post-Black Lodge and on Wednesdays Laura will round things out with her take on the happenings in South Dakota and now after this episode Arlington and also Buenos Aires. If you are looking for a traditional episode recap, please be sure to I check out Justin’s weekly updates which come out on Tuesdays. With that out of the way, let’s start with Doppel-Coop and Bob, currently locked up in a South Dakota facility.
The subtle change in Doppel-Coop’s face as he stared in the mirror to reveal that yes, after much speculation, “Bob was still with him” was a brilliantly executed shot that not only moved the story forward but also alleviated a lot of fan concern concerning recasting the role Frank Silva immortalized. In Parts 1-4, we were shown that Agent Cooper’s doppelgänger was indeed a very bad man, but the confirmation that Bob is still with him makes Doppel-Coop truly terrifying. Bob was the ultimate bad guy – a nightmare-inducing demon killer who was featured in some of the most brutal and scary scenes in both television or film history. Yes, part of the magic is lost without the deceased Frank Silva but Lynch and Frost so far are playing the hand they were dealt with perfectly. Doppel-Coop became a lot scarier to me this week. In his other notable act of Part 5, Doppel-Coop finally received his one phone call and used it first to play mind games with the warden about who he might call (Mr Strawberry) followed by making a call that resulted in the electricity going haywire in the entire prison. The only line spoke during his one phone call: The cow jumped over the moon. Whether that was gibberish or a clue remains to be seen, but the big take away is that Bob and Doppel-Coop flexed a lot of muscle here. Where they go from here is a frightening thought.
On the FBI front, we didn’t get much this week, except for a scene watching Agent Tammy Preston comparing files, photos and fingerprints between our Agent Cooper and his much less charming doppelgänger. While the scene didn’t have any dialogue, it was implied that Preston noticed exactly how different the fingerprints were. Between this revelation and whoever Albert is seeking out to help, the FBI’s case is coming together. The question remains, though: How do you solve a blue rose case?
Moving onto the Twin Peaks portion of this feature. A small mystery was solved this week. Dr Jacoby’s gold shovels are not serving a higher purpose. They have nothing to do with his Eastern views and beliefs we associated with him during the series’ original run. As a matter of fact, Dr Jacoby might not even believe in those things anymore. That’s right folks, Dr Jacoby is Twin Peaks’ own version of Alex Jones, complete with his own streaming show (which Nadine and Jerry Horne were shown to be fans of) and product placement (the golden shovels are being sold for $29.99 and being advertised as a way to dig your way out of shit). The social commentary I find really fascinating. This story arc is pure Mark Frost and is very topical. People who feel betrayed by society (Jacoby), angry in general (Nadine) and anti-establishment (Jerry) bonding over this idea that they don’t like the direction this city, state, country and world are moving in. On a personal note, Jacoby might be the character I most want to know what happened to during the 25 year break. Why is he so angry? Why does he feel the world is in so much of a worse place than it used to be? I was never much of a fan of the Jacoby character, but thus far I’ve been really into his scenes in “The Return”.
We met a new face at the Roadhouse this week, listed in the credits as Richard Horne. Now I’m going to go on a limb here and assume that the man pictured above is not Johnny Horne’s son. I think it’s fairly evident that all of the Audrey speculation can cease because we know how she’s re-entering the story (and our lives): as the mother of Richard, the young man who paid a large man a large amount of cash inside a box of Morley’s (X-Files shout out) and then proceeded to do his best Frank Booth impersonation with a young lady who showed a little interest in him. Where we go with an antagonist like Richard from here is anyone’s guess but I am really interested to see a) who his father is and b) what kind of relationship he has the people he shares a last name with. More will be revealed…
Perhaps the most discussed plotlines to come out of Part 5 were the comparisons between Shelly’s daughter Becky (pictured first) and our very own Laura Palmer. In our introduction to Becky, she came into the Double R to borrow money from her mother (Shelly) for the third time in two weeks according to Norma – who we were seeing for the first time last night. After Becky got over $70 from her mother, she got in Steve’s car and gave him the cash right away. If we recall in Part 2, we heard Shelly mention her dislike of Steve, and we all wondered if the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree and Shelly’s daughter had a Leo of her own. Wrong. She had a strung-out version of Bobby Briggs, only much less cool and with a Joe Dirt stash. We saw the pain and misery these two live with as cocaine abuse has Becky and Steve in a stranglehold. We watch him make empty promises, and we watch her get high. Here’s where the comparisons between Becky and Laura start. Cocaine abuse? Check. Attractive young and blonde? Check. Obvious emotional distress? Check. There are a few more similarities but the point that I really wanted to make tonight is that I think people want there to be a new Laura Palmer. People want a new victim, a recreation of the past and while yes, David Lynch does love the concept of a woman in trouble, let’s not rush to make this new character we literally just met a Laura Palmer clone. That’s been done before and nothing at all about Twin Peaks: The Return is a rehash or re-telling of the original. This is fresh and new and my hope is we allow Becky to be the troubled young character she is without expecting her to become our new emotional core. If she does, that’s great. If she doesn’t, we already have a Laura Palmer free from the Black Lodge now and what’s she up to nobody knows…
Thanks as always for reading! Until next time, I’ll see you in the trees…
