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Big Ed and James Made My Night: The Waiting Room

Welcome back to ‘The Waiting Room‘, my weekly Monday column where we discuss all of the happenings from the night before. If you haven’t watched Part 13 now is the time to jump ship because I’m about to get super excited and talk about BIG ED! Finally, we got to see an all-time favorite of mine. That’s not all folks because we got Big Ed and Norma in the same scene! Did your heart melt? Mine did. More on that later. We got more Sarah Palmer; we got more Audrey Horne, Mr C and Dougie both had strong episodes, Bobby and Shelly were there, there was Dr Jacoby. We saw Nadine. Am I missing something? Did the internet break last night because of a particular Roadhouse performance that either made you want to make memes or fill you with complete and utter joy? Yes, I am forgetting something! James played “Just You and I” in The Roadhouse, and yes, the internet did indeed explode! Enough preamble, let’s rock! (Can I use that line two weeks in a row?)

Starting with Big Ed and Norma. If you know me or have followed the site from Day 1, you know that the Ed and Norma storyline plays a very special role in my Twin Peaks fandom. One of the very first articles ever written on this site, back before 95% of the staff was on board was penned by yours truly and was all about how Ed and Norma rip my heart to shreds every time they’re onscreen together. The Saddest Story: Big Ed & Norma. Seeing them sitting at the same booth last night, my mind instantly went into a flurry. Are they together finally? Are they still having their not so secretive affair? Please tell me that they’re happy together? The answer was no; they aren’t together. Norma had to tend to a meeting with their business partner (and possible romantic interest?) and Ed had his dinner with Bobby, staring longingly and lovingly at Norma. While we learned that Norma had turned her business into even more of a success, the ongoing theme of the outside world corrupting Twin Peaks endured as we saw Norma’s business partner attempt to get her to water down her ingredients and pride in favor of profit. Part 13 ended with Big Ed alone at the Gas Farm, obviously deep in thought, with Norma on his mind. As she has been since high school and appears to be permanently, instead of with him. It truly is the saddest story, save Laura Palmer. At least it was good to see Ed again.

Big Ed eats soup alone

Are Ed and Nadine still married is a question floating around quite a bit. We’ve seen Nadine numerous times and last night, Twin Peaks’ resident Alex Jones like a conspiracy theorist, Dr Jacoby stopped outside Nadine’s store (how great is it that her dream came true?) and buzzed until she opened the door. Seeing how genuinely happy those two were together was special. Nadine is someone I’ve always rooted for. She’s the ultimate underdog, and all I want for her as a character is to be happy—even if I still think Jacoby’s a con man. Don’t break her heart, Dr Amp…

Sarah Palmer once again caused quite the stir in her only scene in Part 13. Sarah was at home, on the couch with the table in front of her still covered in overflowing ashtrays, empty glasses and empty bottles. Her TV repeated the same clip of a fighter getting knocked down and struggling to get back up. While most people seem to be honed in on the repetition,  I’m more drawn to the content. Sarah has been knocked down by life and by the looks of it has been down for quite some time. Is she down for the count, or is she a fighter willing to get back up just one more time and throw a knockout punch of her own? If you ask me to make my bet, Sarah Palmer is one of the many long-time Twin Peaks residents about to stand up and fight. We all know she’s special and a person like Sarah could be quite valuable in Hawk’s upcoming mission.

Audrey was once again featured in one scene with Charlie. This week was different. Different location. Different dynamic between the two. Different feelings coming out of the scene. The “Audrey is in therapy” theory is quite popular, but Charlie seemed to be a little too much of a dick this week to be her doctor. Could Charlie be a controlling type who took advantage of a mentally traumatized beautiful rich woman? Could the events of Audrey’s past ( the bank explosion and rumored sexual assault at the hands of Mr C, leading to the conception of Richard Horne) have started a series of events that lead to Audrey’s mental decline?  If that’s the case, who is going to save the distressed Ms Horne? Are we building towards a finale moment with a unified Agent Cooper saving Audrey? Are my co-workers Eileen and Lindsay writing fanfic about this right now? Only time will tell…

Audrey Horne lost

I won’t get too deep into the Dougie stuff because Eileen will be tomorrow in her column, but the conga line was gold. Solid gold.

Mr C had one of his strongest showings to date, tracking down his foe Ray in a hideout of sorts filled with how David Lynch envisions henchmen. Mr C was told he would have to defeat their monster of a boss in an arm wrestling match and I instantly thought of Chet Desmond getting into a slugfest with Sheriff Cable in the “Missing Pieces”. Watching Mr C toy with the brute told us that even after being shot and possibly not having Bob with him anymore, he’s still not someone to be messed with. Killing the boss with one punch was both brutal and breathtaking. Mr C got his time alone with Ray and he got his information from Ray: Ray told him he was hired by a man who claimed to be Phillip Jeffries and he was appointed to kill Mr C and send him back to the Lodge. After learning everything he needed to know, Mr C had Ray put the ring on, and he killed him, coordinates safely in his pocket. Ray was seen laying on the floor of the Lodge as the One-Armed Man put the ring up for safe keeping. The kicker to an already fantastic scene was who showed up to watch: None other than Richard Horne himself. Was this confirmation that Mr C is his father? Do they know each other? Why was Richard there and most importantly, what happens from here between these two? Is it Sunday yet?

I wanted to wrap this week’s edition up by talking about James playing The Roadhouse. Yes, the song is cheesy. Yes, it has been meme’d to death. That being said, the two scenes with James this season have had a warm, “you can go home again” feeling that no other character has been able to capture or give. I’m not sure why that is. James, for all of his flaws, was one of the most important characters in the original series and the film. His story was complete though, unlike almost every other character at the end of the show. Thinking along those lines, we’re not expecting anything from James when we see him. He’s just our link to the past and our proof that the present and future doesn’t have to be a Sparkle fuelled, Richard Horne nightmare. James feels safe in a sense. Yes, the song can easily be mocked, but in a show that goes out of its way to avoid nostalgia, James playing his song in front of an adoring crowd was all the nostalgia I needed. Now I feel ready for whatever the end game looks like. Thanks for reading.

Written by Andrew Grevas

Andrew is the Founder / Editor in Chief of 25YL. He’s engaged with 2 sons, a staunch defender of the series finales for both Lost & The Sopranos and watched Twin Peaks at the age of 5 during its original run, which explains a lot about his personality.

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