Episode 3

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LostInTheMovies
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Episode 3

Post by LostInTheMovies »

Let's talk Laura's funeral, the first (non-credits) clips from Invitation to Love, Maddy's debut, the birth of the Bookhouse Boys, and whatever else you want to analyze, discuss, or criticize from this episode.
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Jonatan Silva
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Re: Episode 3

Post by Jonatan Silva »

The first time I watched the funeral I though that there would be any clues in this part. After Johnny's "amen screamings" I expected some things that would throw questions to be answered in the following episoded however the real relation between Johnny and Laura was never revealed. In my opinio this is one of the questions to be survived on season 3 - if it really comes along.
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Re: Episode 3

Post by TwinPeaksFanatic »

I love this episode. I think it's mostly on the lighter side, but it really sets the stage for the darker parts of the series to emerge. I wrote a recap for the episode here --->

http://twinpeaksfanatic.blogspot.com/20 ... ode-3.html

:D
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LostInTheMovies
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Twin Peaks Out of Order #13: Episode 3

Post by LostInTheMovies »

Re-watching Twin Peaks from my least favorite to favorite episode...

Previously: Episode 10 (http://www.dugpa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=43828#p43828)

Laura's funeral used to be my least favorite episode of season one. On my second watch-through, when I wrote an episode guide for the series, I found it to be a letdown after the Lynchian heights of the previous chapter, a bit too talky and even by early Twin Peaks' glacial standard rather ponderous. Tina Rathborne has an unusual touch, one of the most distinctive among the show's directors. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what she's doing or why she's doing it, an ambiance that didn’t help in her only other episode, Leland’s wake. Here, however, her style has grown on me and if I don't quite rank episode 3 as highly as some, I’ve come to really appreciate its unique flavor and mood. The visuals are quite lush - think of that dissolve from the waterfall to Audrey in her deep red sweater with the soft morning haze filtering through the windows in the Great Northern (much more evocative than Duwayne Dunham's lighting a few episodes back). Or Dr. Jacoby tiptoeing up to Laura's grave in his Victorian cloak, presenting flowers in the evening mist - about as Romantic and Gothic an image as the show ever provided. Yanked out of context (after one of the show's highest achievements and before the investigative momentum gets going), the funeral episode has something very unique and valuable to offer: a real sense of what Laura's death - and life - means to the townspeople, consciously and subconsciously. In fact, I might argue that 3 - more than any other episode - would make an interesting double/triple feature with Fire Walk With Me and especially The Missing Pieces. Whereas the pilot treats Laura's murder as an unknowable mystery, episode 3 suggests that her cause of death may be all too knowable, and that this feeling of guilt intermingled with grief is a cancer eating away at the whole community. Several scenes establish that the killer always had to be Leland, even as everyone - the town, the audience, even the episode’s writer and director - remains blinkered about his culpability. Every action, every gesture, carries a double meaning, conveying a sincere, sorrowful love for his daughter as well as an overpowering, oppressive sense of neediness. Whether colliding with his daughter's coffin - a refusal to give her space even in death, grasping at strangers on the dance floor and demanding that they comfort him, or drugging himself in front of a flattering soap opera fantasy (in which it is the father who is going to die for his daughter's sake!) all of Leland's actions seem reasonable, even pitiable, for a grieving father, but they are also entirely consistent with a manipulative, deluded abuser. There is no Bob in this episode - he'll be back soon enough; nonetheless we have seen the killer, and he’s crying.

Next: Episode 7 (http://www.dugpa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=43864#p43864)
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Re: Episode 3

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I think this episode is rather underrated, and it might actually be my favorite of the season after Lynch's two contributions. You'd never know it from looking at her other Peaks episode, but Rathborne does a superb job directing this episode and giving it an evocative touch. A great example, as LITM cites above, is the dreamy dissolve at the start of the hour from the waterfall to Audrey. Just a lot of stuff to love here -- I think it's one of the best examples of the show chugging along, sans Lynch, keeping our interest and hewing to the house style very nicely.
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Re: Episode 3

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I, too, think this is an underappreciated episode. I'm now rewatching the series for the 7th or 8th time, and with each viewing this entry stands out a little more. The cinematography is particularly strong (as far as non-Lynch directed episodes go) and the funeral scene and Bookhouse Boys introduction are two of my favorite scenes in the entire series. Tina Rathborne may not have a long resume, but her work here will always have a place in my heart.
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Re: Episode 3

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Re: Episode 3

Post by Snailhead »

I'll echo sentiments that this episode is overlooked. It's definitely in the top tier of season 1 - along with the entries from Lynch, Deschanel, and Linka Glatter.
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Re: Episode 3

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I just watched this one. Hmmm... a mixed bag.

As an editor, the slow-mo opening and a few other patches in the episode made me think 'Hey ho! This episode's running short, so they needed some filler.'

What I really noticed was how the cinematographer, Frank Byers, had to struggle with the location work. Moody, dreary weather shots of trees blowing in the wind clash with brightly lit, sun-drenched exteriors for Laura's funeral. The more I watch, the more I wish the show had been shot in Vancouver rather than LA. It's all too bright. I really miss the look Ron Garcia brought to the pilot and FWWM. Back then, they didn't have access to the colour grading tools they have now and, without wanting to sound all George Lucas, I actually find myself wishing they'd aggressively regraded the episodes for HD. It feels like they've jumped from winter to midsummer in the space of a couple of days.

The best thing in the episode, for me, was Bobby's impassioned speech at the funeral. It defined what Twin Peaks still was back then and ceased to be in season two; that everyone knew Laura was troubled, that the whole town effectively killed Laura, that the town itself is rife with corruption. It was the rage of someone who had been corrupted by Laura, almost infected by a disease of corruption carried by Laura and spread to those around her. The more I watch the show, the more I see Bobby as a tragic figure. Laura had wrapped him around her little finger and played him. The fact he eventually goes to work for Ben, dedicates himself to Shelly one hundred per cent and is good at his job speaks volumes for what happens to a person when someone or something poisonous is removed from their life.

The revelation about the Bookhouse Boys' secret society only confirms that dark underbelly. If the good men of Twin Peaks are forced to operate in a clandestine extra-legal organisation, then the bad men must be even more deeply embedded in the town.

Otherwise, the funeral scene was less effective than I remembered it being. Apart from the now-clichéd overhead shot, there were too many close ups and a lack of 'geography' of where everyone was standing. It felt like the close ups could all have been shot at different times and not everybody was there at the same time. A funeral is a deeply emotional moment and no shot of a character really felt 'connected' to a shot of another character. It was a case where widescreen would have helped connect everything.

In terms of hints about Leland, I also noted Sarah begging the ascending and descending Leland not ruin this too. What else had he ruined? Their life as a family where he's clearly shown as a psychopath in FWWM?

So a mixed bag. Some great script and story moments in the episode, some 'world-building' that I'm not sure was properly followed up on and some indifferent direction. Not awful, but in this episode, I felt I was watching a show made in California and it never convinced me that it was set in the Pacific Northwest.
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Re: Episode 3

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Have rewatched all of Season 1 now. I rewatched the Pilot and Episodes 1 & 2 more slowly, but sort of gulped Episodes 3 through 7 and they sort of flew together for me - i.e., I just kept watching as I was so enjoying them that I didn't take time to analyse each episode individually, so just flicking back through now to note a few observations of what did stand out in this episode:

Cooper seems very flirtatious with Audrey in the opening scene!

Interesting - as has been observed - how Cooper lays out his dream to Harry and Lucy as being the entire European ending to the pilot, rather than what we actually saw. So, yes, I too wonder was the whole original European ending meant to go into the end of Episode 2 when the script for this episode was written.

Albert is great!

Maddy's introduction is also great, nicely framed by the shot of "Invitation to Love".

I feel sorry for Nadine here.

And I sort of admire Bobby for calling everyone out on their hypocrisy, even though he's not really one to talk as he didn't try to help her either. I think he acknowledges that too.

Norma's scenes involving Hank are quite poignant and I think Peggy Lipton does a great job with them.

Wonderful scene in the Double R with Harry, Hawk, Big Ed, and Cooper. Love the introduction of the Bookhouse Boys.

Is this the first time we see Jacques Renault? So we never actually see him tending bar at the Roadhouse until FWWM, do we? (And of course now again in the new series as a new character).

I love the scene with Josie and Harry, sort of harkens back almost to the pilot episode.

Great shot of the moon. In subsequent episodes, it will look less real. Hawk/Cooper having a beer and discussing the soul is a beautiful scene and a precursor to a scene later in the series of the two of them sharing a beer. It was nice to see them helping Leland.

Episode closes with shot of light at Sparkwood and 21.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Re: Episode 3

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As some other posters in this thread have noted, this really is such a strong episode. The funeral (capped off by Shelly’s hilariously ghoulish reenactment, a wonderful little character moment), Harry’s speech about the evil in the woods, the graveyard scene with Jacoby, and so many more. The scene of Coop and Hawk talking over beers might be one of my favorites in the original series, and in its own quiet way, it does almost as much to unlock the mythology of the show as the E2 Red Room scene does.

I always love Jacoby’s fashion sense. Somehow I’d forgotten how human he is in this episode. In his own weird way, his redemption arc from S1 to TR is almost as strong as Bobby’s. Here, he bemoans the fact that he lost the ability to care about others long ago. While he’s undeniably a creep for the way he took advantage of Laura, he has learned to genuinely care again by the time he transforms into Doc Amp. Russ is so great, always elevating the material with some weird bit of business or idiosyncratic delivery. I love him revealing the flowers from beneath his cloak.

As a rule, I hate the fake-titles German television assigned to the episodes on principal, since they didn’t come from L/F. But this episode’s “title” is a strong competitor for the absolute worst (along with Episode 8’s). “Rest in Pain” sounds like an awful direct-to-video Steven Seagal movie.

Betty’s little smiley-face pin is another detail that always cracks me up.

Nadine really breaks my heart in this one. For a relative novice, Robie is so terrific at conveying loneliness and mental illness. I wish her arc in S2 had stayed a little more grounded. Notice here how she’s already sort of mentally vanishing back to her high school days (reminiscing about seeing Ed at football games, and seemingly not remembering who James is). It’s too bad this material wasn’t explored with more humanity in S2, instead of the broad madcap bullshit that ended up being written for her.

It cracks me up that rural lawman Harry glances at the Mill ledger for two seconds and definitively says with all the authority of a professional CPA, “There’s nothing unusual in this one.” :lol:

Dale’s Diet:
— Breakfast at the Great Northern: Coffee, shortstack of griddle cakes, melted butter, maple syrup lightly heated, slice of ham (“Nothing beats the taste sensation when maple syrup collides with ham!”) (there also appears to be a side of lettuce on his plate; note the awkward shot where a mostly-out-of-frame Kyle mimes pouring syrup on his plate but doesn’t actually pour any)
— At the Double R: A slice of huckleberry pie, heated, vanilla ice cream on the side, coffee (“This must be where pies go when they die”)
— A beer with Hawk at the Great Northern (unknown brand, in a brown bottle)

There was some discussion on these boards around the time of TR about Cooper’s relationship with alcohol in the series. It may be purely an editorial coincidence, but I believe that the few times Dale is seen with an alcoholic beverage, the camera never actually shows him imbibing. It’s admittedly a trivial point, and probably completely unintended, but something I plan on tracking during the rewatch. In this episode, Cooper lifts the beer bottle toward his mouth after toasting, but we cut away before he actually drinks.

EDIT:

A couple more things on the Cooper/Hawk scene (did I mention I love it?).

I love the little detail that Dale’s tie is EVER so slightly pulled down, and his top button undone. Dale cuts loose!

For those who may have missed it, here’s raw footage from the shoot that Jerry was kind enough to share with the world awhile back: http://www.themauvezone.com/gallery/alb ... pe%201.mp4

It’s a master that is never actually used in the episode, and has a bunch of extra dialogue (as well as Sinatra to set the mood!). I will note that Cooper DOES take two swigs of beer in this outtake. Can anyone identify the label on the bottles?

EDIT 2:

The best view of the beer label is in the final shot before the traffic light, as they walk Leland out. A bottle which appears the be the same brand Hawk and Coop are drinking in the unused master shot appears on a table. It’s tough to make out, but it looks like it just says “Beer” in a Coors-style cursive font. Big Ed in the Pilot drinks a beer with a different label style, but which also appears to have “Beer” written in the same font. Impossible to tell for sure in either case, but that’s my best guess. Probably just something generic that came from a prop house.
Last edited by Mr. Reindeer on Sat Apr 04, 2020 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Episode 3

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Mr. Reindeer wrote:“Rest in Pain” sounds like an awful direct-to-video Steven Seagal movie.
I would still probably watch it if it was early days Seagal, tbh. :mrgreen:

Mr. Reindeer wrote:It may be purely an editorial coincidence, but I believe that the few times Dale is seen with an alcoholic beverage, the camera never actually shows him imbibing.
Funnily enough, this was something that struck me as I watched through one time & I wondered if that spoke to his character at all. It really stood out to me when Sternwood orders up the Black Yukon Sucker Punch. I'd be interested to know if he does ever takes a sip, because my recollection is that he doesn't.
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Re: Episode 3

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

Saturn's child wrote:
Mr. Reindeer wrote:It may be purely an editorial coincidence, but I believe that the few times Dale is seen with an alcoholic beverage, the camera never actually shows him imbibing.
Funnily enough, this was something that struck me as I watched through one time & I wondered if that spoke to his character at all. It really stood out to me when Sternwood orders up the Black Yukon Sucker Punch. I'd be interested to know if he does ever takes a sip, because my recollection is that he doesn't.
Yeah, I believe that scene is when I and others first made note of it. As I recall, Kyle seems to make a choice to fiddle with the drink and look at it but never actually raise it to his lips. I think there was also something about the champagne scene in TR with Dougie that was a little odd, but I can’t remember the specifics.
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Re: Episode 3

Post by Henrys Hair »

This is the first episode not to have Frost or Lynch writing or directing, yet feels very much like classic Peaks. After last episode's big cliffhanger, it's a very subdued ending this time which serves as a reminder that the town's guilt and grief are just as important as Who Killed Laura Palmer.

A few bits I noticed... Cooper's introductory Diane talk is uncharacteristically mundane. I suppose since these are essentially filler lines we're not supposed to pay any attention to, no-one worried about making them notable. I haven't listened to the Diane tapes for some time, but it wouldn't surprise me if these are some of the few lines on the show not to be included.

No mention of Leo being in Hungry Horse on the night Teresa Banks was killed when Cooper lists his record. Later we see Leo wearing a top with a chevron pattern - like Leland last episode, likely just a coincidence.

Nadine's ornaments include a woman with a eye-patch (on the right eye).

Sylvia Horne's looped dialogue is the most she'll throughout the initial run, despite not appearing on screen or getting a credit. We won't see her again until the finale (I don't think she's even mentioned until then), while Johnny Horne goes into cold storage until midway through season 2. It's a shame the cut scenes for these two were removed - it looked like Johnny was being built up to be a potential suspect and there was a lot of scope for the character (even if the age at which Audrey pushed him down the stairs makes no sense).
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