John Bernardy
Everyone thinks Amanda Seyfried’s Becky is the new Laura Palmer, but what that means for her fate is somewhat up for grabs (though the word Doomed came up an awful lot). Almost every podcast made connections between Argent and Argentina and Silver and Money. Half the podcasts talk about the fact that Dougie’s had episodes before (possibly explaining the awkward way no one takes Dougie to the hospital for signs of stroke) and no podcast quite knows how to deal with Cooper’s lack of being Cooper. Some are still on board with waiting for our Cooper, but some hosts are losing (or have never gained) their patience. Anyone who mentioned the ring found in Briggs thinks it will lead those investigators to Coop in Vegas. And the best trend of the week is that most of the hosts are on board with the new Twin Peaks by now; their trepidation isn’t completely out the door but its bags are definitely packed.
Sparkwood & 21 hit hard this week per usual when they covered Part Five, and their top-notch feedback section outright refuses to disappoint. They point out how technology is so noticeable, how SuperCooper powers are coming back, and how argent minus the R is agent. Coop has some kind of control over electricity. None of the hosts get why the redhead wanted to kiss Needs-to-pee DougieCoop so badly. They also connect Richard Horne’s disgusting “laugh when I f__ you” line to what Laura Palmer did to Bobby Briggs, as well as his behavior to Willem Defoe’s character in Wild At Heart. The hosts mention the recently deceased Briggs could be a lodge creation like Dougie, and they find it hard to tell if Jacoby’s working on pure hucksterism or if underneath there’s a seriousness. One of their feedbackers, Coco, delivered the quote of the week: “I know I married the wrong man but Everett McGill wasn’t available.” This podcast is regularly laugh-out-loud funny as well as one of the best vehicles of deep-level theory you will find and I can’t recommend it highly enough. You won’t go wrong subscribing to Sparkwood.
Wrapped In Podcast put out a preview of their Part Three that is hysterical out of context, and their Part Three episode was solid as always. They think Lynch knew Part Three was going to be streamed before it was released on cable so he used technology to his advantage (us viewers wondering if this is a streaming/buffering issue or is this part of the episode?) And note how it stops glitching when Coop and Naido hold hands. As the Return feels like a video game quest, is Cooper able to change what’s going on? Tibetan representation of the phoenix myth is a symbol on Naido? They also reference our own Eileen’s article around this. Is Dougie to DoppelCooper like Mike is to Bob? They guess Jacoby’s going to scam municipalities into paying for golden shovels for groundbreakings. Their Part Four episode found a Jack Parsons picture in the Las Vegas room with the money handoff. The hosts tied in the chevron pattern to Lancelot’s shield patterns. They’re disappointed with Tamara Preston’s portrayal, and for some reason can’t seem to help themselves but call Major Briggs a Colonel. A ton of thoughtfulness to be had here, give it a try.
Dr Amp came back with another “Do you know where your freedom is” diatribe and went through our complete list of woes stretching from food additives to cancer to our air. He likes to shine his cosmic flashlight on corporate conspiracies but he drives me nuts when he shines it right in the camera. It’s either from carelessness or he’s saying his listeners are “in on it.” I suspect he just doesn’t care to rewatch his videos to see if he’s accidentally blinding the viewers. He comes back to his tried and true mantra (Hear. See. Understand. Act.) before he debuts the most unique take on merchandising I’ve seen in a while, his shovel-yourself-out-of-the-shit shit-digging gold shovels. It’s more novel than t-shirts, that’s for sure, but the shipping costs are probably out of this world. As Amp makes his own huckleberry extract I would not be shocked if he hammers the shovels from a forge in his backyard but it’s hard to tell with the gold paint if they’re homemade or not. Either way, it’s a fun memento from a generally fun show.
Deer Meadow Radio covered Part One this week. The host talks about his upcoming appearance and publications (In the Blue Rose Magazine no less), thinks we’re seeing Carel Struycken playing a new character with the black and white Giant scene (haven’t heard that one before), and he thinks the bonzai in the Glass box scene is a clue that the billionaire is Windom Earle. Mark connects some dots per usual and goes into the Forster casting etc. Good connecting of the dots as always here in Deer Meadow. Worth an automatic subscribe.
According to Laura Palmer Is Dead Podcast, Phoebe Augustine is playing Ronette Pulaski, but that’s them running on assumptions again. They get Naido’s name correct but miss hers. Hearing the name Phillip Jeffries again assures them one NEEDS to watch Fire Walk With Me before The Return. They also guess there’s a purpose to Lucy being stuck back in time. They end by hypothesizing about Sonny Jim and when Coop comes back in full.
AfterBuzz’s Twin Peaks After Show consistently surprises me. I thought they’d be nothing but hype machine but every week they make a connection like this: If Dougie Jones is a (piece of a) Doppelganger, and he can have Sonny Jim, does that make Laura Palmer like Sonny Jim? The hosts don’t dig into that question after they say it but they pose the question. The hosts had on Tyler Malik, an actor on the show, and they all notice the first episodes were mythology first and now it’s back down to Earth. They think Good Coop is in 2003 and Becky is Bobby’s kid.
Damn Fine Podcast is frustrated by missing the Cooper we know and Michael Ontkean. Mallary O’Meara is their guest and they think overall Twin Peaks is doing a masterful job of including missing cast members, wonder how much more Dougie we’ll have to take, and note that Nadine is probably in a drapery shop when she watches Jacoby’s show.
Logs, Coffee & Bob had the host’s mom on as a guest and they were adorable together. It’s not as concise as normal (it ran about 25 minutes for this episode) but it was FUN and they still covered all the main points of the episode pretty well. This show’s always a comfort food snack.
Who Killed Laura Podcast covered Part Five. It’s surreal to hear about my column up front of their episode, thanks gents. Mr. C seems Omniscient to the hosts when he says the line about food. They think Frank and Doris are the fulfillment of Pete and Catherine (which rings true to me), Coop crying about Sonny Jim might be because Coop finally has a son, and they notice corruption is possibly bleeding out from Twin Peaks onto the rest of the world. They mention not trusting Bobby yet (good instinct) and also the Bill Pullman Lost Highway connection with the band’s saxophone playing.
The Gifted and The Damned’s Bubba and Mork (you get used to their names) did their normal reviews segment up front before digging into their coverage of Part Five. They noticed Mike and Nadine wearing wedding rings in their separate scenes, and call Frank and Doris the new Big Ed and Nadine. They also are holding out their hope for an Ontkean appearance. The hosts also noted Tammy looking at Dale Cooper’s photo the way Dale used to look at Laura Palmer’s photo, and that the personal info on Mr. C’s arrest report matched up with Bill Hastings, not Dale Cooper’s old info. Neither of these points were made on the other pods. This one’s worth a listen.
The hosts of EW’s A Twin Peaks Podcast discuss how technology seems like magic now. They wonder if Cooper is being led around by lodge forces or if he’s getting his own powers back. They want Jim Belushi in more scenes. And they half wonder if Mr. C is going to escape by travelling through the wires. They were a little loose this week; they didn’t look in the credits to discover the name Richard Horne and ended up missing one of the main wrinkles of the week.
Twin Peaks Rewatch began by saying the explanation of the shovels is “the resolution I didn’t know I wanted,” before discussing how Jacoby’s recording equipment is a trip through 20th century broadcast technology. And they wonder if Dougie’s always been an empty vessel or good luck’s always carried him through his odd life. There’s no way for the hosts to interpret the Mr. Strawberry line, and Frank’s nagging wife is in a long line of women being merely accessory characters so far in this new Twin Peaks.
Fish In The Percolator covered Part Four and discussed first how Andy and Lucy have switched places; Lucy used to read up on Tibet and now she’s just plain useless. Bobby’s line about needing to urinate is the same as how Cooper was introduced to law enforcement in the original pilot, which must mean something. The hosts want Preston to be something other than objectification, and they noticed how crazy good the Albert & Gordon scene was specifically because Albert APOLOGIZED for something.
Bickering Peaks discussed Part Five in this week’s episode with their normal flair for theory and asking the right questions. They noticed how Las Vegas skyline continued the skyline uniqueness began with New York in Part One. They also saw the pre-color screen on the 2003 Blackberry, as well as the numbers on the registration tags on Dougie’s car in Rancho Rosa. They love how you can get lost in these episodes, luxuriate in them. Then they discussed Bob is acting like Mr. C’s familiar. They do a quick character study on Mike Nelson that was entertaining and mention the green light on Dougie’s fellow insurance agent and the second time our Coop wasn’t just parroting someone with “He’s lying.” The hosts think Richard Horne is Audrey’s kid and likely with DoppelCooper being the father.
This week’s Dark Mood Woods covered Part Five and brought on their guest Keith Uhlich, who brought some heady viewing theory with him. He goes into such things as why Lynch requested more episodes from Showtime because he knew exactly what it would take for the effect he wanted. The hosts thought a whole lot happened in this episode even if it seemed like a collection of scenes. This is a good episode if you like getting philosophical about why TV gets made the way it does.
We’re Not Going To Talk About Judy (a subheading of the Another Kind of Distance podcast) went into this episode missing a ton of points per usual. I’ve said before that these hosts lack an imagination necessary to understand the ways of Twin Peaks and they really outdid their ability to prove this. In the scene where Cooper cries while watching Sonny Jim, one of the hosts described Sonny Jim as an obnoxious bored child. The perspectives of these hosts is so alien to me it’s a fascinating exploration of just how varied human thought processes can be. I really don’t think these hosts are meant for analysing Twin Peaks but here they are.
Time For Cherry Pie & Coffee (a subheading of the Time For Cakes and Ale podcast) covered Part Five and noticed right away that Cooper actively follows stimuli he knows will help him (coffee being the most obvious one). The hosts think Cooper’s tear over Sonny Jim was either about Cooper recognizing this was not his life, or that Sonny Jim was losing his life as Cooper regains his. They like that Cooper accidentally solved a problem Frank never knew he had, and put together a list of all the forces converging on Cooper as Dougie: hitmen, gangsters, those Dougie lent money to, the case files that will get him fired. They also note the disparity of the child looking both ways to cross the street and play with a car bomb. The new slogan on the Great Northern keychain could be a sign of Cooper influencing his reality, and the new details in Buckhorn will lead both to Twin Peaks and to Las Vegas. They bring up a theory that Jeffries wants to wipe out the whole Cooper line and therefore DoppelCoop’s line about the Cow Jumps Over the Moon is “I’m still out here and you won’t hear from me again. The hosts pose two last questions: Is Richard Horne Donna’s kid? And, will Cooper will get the gold balls when the Giant thinks he solved the clues.
Fire Talk With Me covered Part Five with guest Ben Davis Grabinski. They are all enjoying the ride and are dazzled by the entirely high level of unpredictability. They never thought the shovels would be paid off, and really thought there was a chance that kid could be killed by the car bomb. No one can tell who will be safe or doomed in any one moment, and this for a change is not hyperbole.
Ghostwood covered Parts Three and Four this week. They go on enjoyable tangents regularly but their experiencing of Twin Peaks is more on display in this podcast than Twin Peaks itself. They think the shovels are for a groundbreaking, and that Phoebe Augustine was playing Ronnette (not American Girl) so their theories skewed a bit around there, though they compared the Purple space to a faraday cage, which seems apt to me. They wonder if the strung out mom was supposed to be watching Dougie’s tryst house, hated the Wally scene and loved the Bobby scene.
Twin Peaks The Return covered Parts Four and Five in two separate podcasts. The hosts observe how we’re non-interventionist as a society, and also how Janey-E is used to taking care of Dougie. They also relay a great (though probably false) thought about a darker reality behind the dynamic between Andy, Lucy and Wally Brando. Their Part Five coverage had on guest Donovan Renn. They note the skyline of Las Vegas continued the fresh trend began with New York in Part One, and the camera going into loudness as it’s been doing promotes a claustrophobia. Haley was broken after seeing Cooper’s tear, but was on it more than well enough that I quoted her about Bob in My last article (Such wonderful language on this show). The hosts note how drugs play a negative role in Twin Peaks and Vegas but also is seen as an enlightenment aid in some avenues. The mention Lynch’s penchant for hoodlums in hot cars, the interesting role neighbors and people who live adjacent play in Twin Peaks, and wonder if Frank Truman’s wife Doris is Showtime in a metaphor of Lynch vs budget folks. Why can’t we just get a bigger bucket?
Fire Cast With Us started with a segment going through reddit theories and mention the one about Wally being played by an actor to be Andy and Lucy’s dead son brought to life because they can’t deal with the loss, and the hosts meander into wondering if Harry’s already dead, and found a connection between the Chimney Sweep Lincoln in the jail cell, and the knee slapping woodsman above the convenience store. Also, maybe Dougie’s the original and was separated into the good Coop we know from the pilot (chock full of childlike wonder) and DoppelCoop is the bad Coop. The backed into a good one too: Briggs swallowed Dougie’s wedding ring when the Owl Ring replaced it to lead people from his inevitable crime scene to Dougie. The hosts go through all the Parts and tangent off into theories which are entertaining as all get out thought most are highly unlikely. An interesting thought experiment here.
The Twin Peaks Podcast covered Part Five this week and it occurred to me that the hosts use WAY more Badalamenti music under their commentary than the new Twin Peaks had in all five Parts. It seems like a throwback every time I listen to this show. Per Brad, documents from Evil Briggs may be in play here. Most of the hosts wonder why there’s all this hate for Jim Belushi (not his role here, the actor in general), and the Insurance Company appearances plus the Great Northern room key heading back to Twin Peaks are the likely suspects to connect the main story to Twin Peaks proper. Matt and the ladies still seem to be on the fence, but Brad’s back in. He thinks it feels like the story’s going somewhere again. Hopefully the rest of the hosts join him in this opinion next week because I’m not sure what else they need.
Twin Peaks Log covered Part Five this week and start by going into the mechanics of DoppelCoop vs Leland’s situation, an exploration close to my heart these days. The hosts connect Candy Clark (Doris) to David Bowie and The Man Who Fell To Earth, and they assume Richard Horne is a bastard son of Ben Horne. The giggling redhead who was into a needs-to-pee Dougie elicited this response from a host: “What is wrong with you people?” Which is spot-on because later on he says “I’m really in love with Tamara Preston,” to which his co-host says “You’re really a Gordon Cole.” They note how Twin Peaks seems obsessed with feet and rings, note it’s a bit misogynistic, and they’re not as captivated with this Part than the previous ones.
The wonderful hosts of Twin Peaks Peeks are now openly referring to this Twin Peaks as an 18-part movie now, which means they’re in the groove of what this thing is. They said they’re not going to go into theories about what that old Blackberry means, and they love how Lynch didn’t bother covering up anything about the North Bend Chevy dealership. They discuss how Cooper’s in some middle place now between the lodges and Dougie’s world. They’re not sure about the non-Angelo music per se but they’re not against it either, and they find it interesting how the credits will blatantly cause reveals and then entirely hide other things. They weren’t disappointed by the shovels reveal, and they point out how Twin Peaks isn’t a safe place anymore (citing Richard Horne, Deputy Chad and even Stephen). I liked the Coffee-Pie-Log rating system they debuted as it’s qualitative rather than just numbers. If I need a rating system this’d be how I hope I’d do it.
There Will Be Drinking Recaps Twin Peaks put out two episodes this week covering Parts Four and Five. They think Cooper’s scared by things because he’s a baby, Lucy just being stupid is a slap to the face, and Deputy Chad is a fat version of Bachelorette Chad (which I can totally see). As he just seems to know things, the hosts think their favorite side character Sonny Jim could be a Tremond type of spirit. They predict that the more Coop comes back the worse DoppelCoop gets, and that Bob is in Harry and that’s why he’s sick. They made the connection about Argent and Argentina, and coined the term Take-Your-Dougie-To-Work Day. I also have to say I love every time they call DoppelCooper Poopy Coopy. They note the two outdated things in new Twin Peaks: cocaine and the male gaze. They also say Jacoby is so Trumpy. They love the car detailer guy because he’s so nice to Jade. In both episodes, the ladies end by checking in with Donna.
Twin Peaks Revival put out a reactcast for Part Five with guest Da Professa. They discuss Tulpas and go into a theory the host heard on the Sparkwood & 21 Podcast’s coverage of Fire Walk With Me about how the lodges and mythology manifested from Laura (she created it but can’t control it once it’s here). Bringing up one of the all-time great conversations about that movie always gets points with me regardless, but they also had some nice things to contribute to it and I want to note that since so many people think Revival is only about negativity. It is NOT about being closed-minded. Though they still decide Part Five is still boring and still slower paced. Missing the joys of ambiguity, the hosts wonder why we had to wait until episode five for the reveal that bob is inside DoppelCooper. They’re not worrying about making predictions because they’ve all been wrong so far.
Bookhouse Podcast covered Part Five. They start by going through their previous predictions. They think the comedy is welcome but Dougie’s wearing thin on the hosts. They wonder if Lynch is intentionally torturing the audience. They openly wonder why the Andy & Hawk scene was included at all, found every scene around Dougie’s car uninteresting, and think it’s extremely uncool that Jim Belushi appeared before Audrey and Laura Dern.
Boob Tube Buddies covered Part Five and overlapped two episodes or two time-offset versions of their audio track on top of each which rendered the first nineteen minutes unlistenable. Their Guest Interview segment was the first thing legible. They talked about how Richard Horne is not played as edgy or sexy, he’s just portrayed as a monster. The hosts also described how Lynch can bring the comedy, change the tone and slap you in the face with reality, then right at the moment you can’t take it anymore he takes you back to a wistful Cooper. Well put.
I’m Worried About Coop went through the meanings of Argent, thought it was nice to see Mike Nelson, and no matter how big the Great Northern room key becomes they still think the Owl Ring is what Hawk needs to solve the Cooper dilemma. They really want Big Ed to appear, and they cite highly-talented comic book artist Cameron Stewart as the person who broke the backwards very-yrev thing. They hit all the big points and I enjoy the hosts’ dynamic (even the Chicago accent hits the nostalgia button). Always worth dropping in for this one.
Twin Peaks Unwrapped looked into Part Five and had two interviews. The first interview was with Geoffrey Gould who was an extra on the set and had some great production stories. Then the hosts dug into Part Five. The hosts are both good with the Dougie scenes still, and Bryon thinks Janey-E was hired by DoppelCoop to guide Dougie, and that Dougie’s family is planted into his life. The second interview is with Galyn Gorg, who played Blackie’s sister Nancy O’Reilly on classic Peaks. She and Michael Parks had a ton of fun with their scenes, and she also talked how she appeared in Mark Frost’s Storyville.
One of these days I’m going to catch up with the Vlog Lady‘s youtube blog… Because I’m a download-and-listen-later guy I haven’t had great opportunities to listen to her takes on things since Part Two and I hate being behind. I sorely know I’m missing good things.
In that vein I also haven’t listened to this week’s Mr. Podcast With Claude and Justin because it came out last night and it’s five and a half hours this week and there was a lot of family stuff to be done. Though Lodgers is only an hour and a quarter, that podcast also fell victim to the late release date couldn’t-get-to-its. I’ll catch up on all this and report back next week, I promise.
The Brad Dukes Show covered Part Five with Guest Scott Prendergast. They note that Hawk and Cooper are the only characters to appear in all the Parts so far, and they think Tim Roth has good odds of playing Agent Jeffries. They don’t think Dougie is funny, want their Cooper to come back, and think Richard Horne may well have a twin sister named Linda. Prendergast was so scared by Bob in his youth his first genuine reaction was Relief when he heard Frank Silva died (a fact I am not proud to say I have in common with him). And he thinks Horne was sitting in the exact booth Donna sat in when she cried after Maddie was killed. These guys are pumped for more.
Dishin’ The Percolator covered Part Five this week along with their mixed bag of feelings. Dallas was immediately disappointed by the “Riff” (Tamblyn West Side Story-era) scenes because he went from thinking Jacoby was this Art Bell crazy man with a voice thing that went into the shovel payoff which was just Lynch fucking with us. That was the uncool part. Dallas hates this stuff but he can’t not watch it because one moment all of this is going to come together and click and he’s not going to miss it. For Sean, he just wants to see Big Ed at this point. The hosts think all the young cast in this episode was the medicine we needed as they were so hungry for the youth and vitality the show had been missing. And the lawman statue probably reminds Cooper of Harry.
AND IF YOU ONLY LISTEN TO ONE SHOW LAST WEEK, IT SHOULD BE:
The Diane Podcast, (and because they’re the podcast of the week I’m reusing this gag), not the podcast from LONDON, the one 50 miles down the M23. The one near the Downs, not the NORTH Downs, the SOUTH Downs…by the sea. The BRIGHTON podcast. They covered Part Five this week, and started right off the bat listing the external forces (listed above) out to get Dougie. They also see the unnerving scenes that feel like a Twilight Zone episode as the hand of Mark Frost. The prison phone hack scene is easily one of these. The whole team goes into a full-on Mike Nelson gush session which is always a moment of joy to me. About the Becky scene, they say the show wants to spend time on the energy she’s expressing. From one inventor to another, the hosts say Nadine knows quality, and those shovels make her sooo happy. The hosts go into an explanation of Hey Diddle Diddle as nonsense verse, and note how the audience’s state of yearning for the Cooper we want is explored in Cooper admiring the statue’s shoes and it’s sad. And they wrap up with some listener questions, where they talk about why they’re okay with the languid pace thusfar: A plot-focused show can drag. Twin Peaks does not drag because it’s a show about experiences. If been trying to sum up that thought for a while now and couldn’t put it in less than two paragraphs. The eagle scouts at Diane get it done in seventeen words. This show is joyful, and just so darn smart too. It’s like a Businesswoman Audrey Horne with a double-helping of Cooper intuition. I started listening to this podcast a year ago today (on our in-actual-time 25 Years Later Day, June 10th 2016, easy enough to remember), and not one single time have they disappointed. In a STACKED field, their sheer scope of topics and angles this week nets them show of the week.
Not on the list but you released a podcast last week? Leave a comment here so I can add you into my listening schedule. The Twin Peaks community needs to know about you!
