There was speculation earlier in this thread about the identity of the male actor Gyllenhaal didn’t like personally, but felt was great in the role because the character was also vain. The best guesses seem to be Welsh and Beymer, with Zane as an outside choice (his character isn’t really vain, and frankly I also am not sure Gyllenhaal would call him great in the role). Someone said Ian Buchanan, which would make sense except that he’s not in this episode! I would also posit Dan O’Herlihy as a possibility, although he’s only in one scene this episode. As a REALLY outside possibility, David Lander as Tim Pinkle, whose scene was cut from the episode! My personal first instinct was Beymer, but Welsh seems most likely to me given how heavily he’s featured in this one, and how Gyllenhaal seems to have directed him to a somewhat more focused performance than his prior episodes.
Speaking of, the character of Windom does hit a bit of a stride in this one. I wouldn’t exactly call it a restrained performance or a slam-dunk by any standard, but the insane cackling seems more creepy and less camp. Maybe it’s as simple as the fact that he’s not in his longjohns? He has some really great moments in this one, like pretending to play catch with Leo with the syringe, or feigning fear when Leo comes at him with the shock collar controller. For the first time his maniacal glee feels more infectious than forced. The “dugpa” video is of course great as a view of what he was like before he went insane—dorky and nervous, much less confident. Note the persistent nervous cough. The performance sort of reminds me of Andrew Scott as Moriarty on the BBC show Sherlock. Another really fun detail is that in the present-day, he is mockingly wearing the American flag pin on his lapel (which we have previously seen Albert and Gordon wearing).
It’s a small thing, but I love Harry and Dale tapping on Lucy’s counter when they say good morning. It’s these little character beats that I miss in a lot of the episodes from this era. Dale’s spin on the diner stool is another nice example.
Even though TP was a show that people analyzed deeply, I don’t think it was ever really a freeze frame show, strewn with what we would now call Easter eggs, for most of its run. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but it feels like a shift to be suddenly inundated by symbols everywhere. The Owl Cave petroglyph has astrological symbols for several planets. Presumably piggybacking off Earle’s research in the 1960s, Briggs tells Cappy to investigate whether certain symbols are related to harvest schedules or ancient calendars. The symbols seen hanging around the conference room have a far more sinister connotation: they’re symbols from the
Ars Goetia used in the summoning of demons (symbols for Belial and Asmoday, demon of lust, are seen amongst others). And the puzzle box has moon phases paired with Zodiac birth signs. (Is there any logic to the pairings between sign and moon phase? Does Andrew supposedly entering dates by pushing three buttons make any kind of sense to anyone with knowledge of astrology?)
BTW, for those who missed it, Jasper, wxray and Curious Woman did some nice work a few years ago tracking down some of the actual Native petroglyphs that inspired the Owl Cave one. Starting around Page 81 of the Part 8 thread:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3650&start=1200
Cooper claims Earle’s various shenanigans to date (killing hobos, leaving Dale the death mask, the chess game) have all been camouflage. But if Earle hadn’t done those things, no one would even know he was near Twin Peaks, and he could search for the Black Lodge undetected! That’s literally the opposite of camouflage! I guess the argument could be made that he wants to bait Dale into the Lodge in order to destroy him, but he could easily have done that without all this buildup by just kidnapping Annie as he ultimately does. (I know, I know, he’s torturing and taunting Dale like a supervillain.)
For that matter, Earle’s whole obsession with who wins Miss Twin Peaks is REALLY silly. Clearly Dale cares most about Annie, so why wouldn’t Earle just make her “his queen“? It’s the most sensible strategy to bait Dale. Imagine what Episode 29 would be like if Lana had won?
The continuing question I keep asking: did Garland already know about Judy from his official/unofficial research into the Lodges? Did he gain knowledge of her during his disappearance? If so, when does he become conscious of that knowledge? Or, now, another possibility: did Earle learn about Judy in the 1960s, and Garland and Dale will now learn from Earle’s papers? Note that Garland only seems to recall the bit about Jupiter and Saturn meeting when Earle drugs him (otherwise he would have presumably told Cooper and Harry earlier). So is more of the knowledge from the time of his disappearance coming back while he’s drugged?
I know the general assumption is that Ben sees Josie when he spins around, due to the abrupt transition to Pete saying her name and seemingly seeing her in the wood. But maybe what we’re seeing is just Ben hearing the ringing from TR for the first time? A sound is heard which isn’t exactly the same but is similar. It would be interesting to someday find out if the whole storyline with the ringing in TR was influenced by this moment, likely improvised by Gyllenhaal. Ben’s storyline in TR really does spring directly out of these late season 2 episodes, much moreso than anyone else besides possibly Cooper (and even his arc was mostly just an extension of E29, ignoring the prominent Earle and Annie storylines that took up much of his later S2).
BTW, note that the script also has no mention of Pete talking to Josie. In the script, he is stepping toward the bar when Audrey intercepts him. Another Gyllenhaal innovation?
It’s a very sweet moment when Harry, days after losing Josie, responds to Cooper saying he sounds foolish talking about Annie: “No, no, man. Sounds lucky.”
I’ve never been quite clear on whether Earle and Briggs knew each other in Blue Book, but the implication seems to be that they did: “Long time no see, Briggsie!” Also note that Earle’s stint loaned out to Blue Book in 1965 predates Gordon and Jeffries finding Lois Duffy in 1975, so it is possible that Gordon had no idea of Earle’s involvement in supernatural research.
Nance appears to be doing his own driving in the shot as Pete speeds down the runway! Not in the shot where he pulls in front of the plane though.
It’s kind of funny that neither Andrew nor Catherine is at all suspicious of the gift from his archenemy. Andrew says it might be a Fabergé egg!
For master schemers, they are pretty easily duped. The only thing I can think of is that Catherine left things with Eckhardt on pretty good terms between them in Episode 23. Maybe they assume the box was Eckhardt’s intended payment for Catherine delivering Josie, I guess, and they’re assuming Eckhardt never had a chance to tell Jones Andrew was alive. To their credit, it’s really not clear when Eckhardt had the opportunity to rig this elaborate Jigsaw-esque posthumous revenge.
It’s also a little odd that Andrew seemingly hasn’t revealed his “resurrection” to the Twin Peaks community, but he’s jet-setting to Paris and Beijing as the face of Ghostwood!
Andrew says there will be a golf course right next to the Great Northern. White Tail Falls would be a hell of a water trap! But also, this appears to place the golf course really far from Ghostwood Forest, based on all the official town maps that have ever been seen.
There’s a really nice mood to that whole Roadhouse scene. I love the way Cooper emerges out of the crowd of dancers in his double-breasted suit, offering his hand and then standing there stubbornly when she refuses. It’s all very romantic.
The show gets some of its best use out of Dwayne in this scene, mixing his silliness with the eerie Giant stuff in a really effective way.
Do we ever see the Giant/Fireman genuinely panicked like this anywhere else in the show? It’s unsettling. He’s usually pretty unflappable, even when he’s extremely disturbed in Part 8. It’s also interesting because I think most of us assume he WANTS Cooper to enter the Lodge as part of the overarching plan against Judy.
That Pete/Audrey scene is one of Nance’s best moments on the show. It’s such a strange pairing, and such a bizarre circumstance (Pete patiently waiting outside as the 18-year-old daughter of the man his wife has been screwing loses her virginity). But Nance is really sweet. I love the delivery of the line, “He promised” (even though Pete never actually heard Jack promise any such thing). Do we think Jack ever contacted her again? I’d like to think so, he doesn’t seem like a terrible guy. Wonder how he reacted to her pregnancy.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I would love a better-quality version of that town map on Earle’s screen.
It’s probably been said before, but in actuality, no conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred between 7/24/1981 and 5/28/2000. If anyone’s looking to cross over, the next one is this year, 12/21/2020.
This episode in Dale’s Diet:
— Coffee (in his FBI mug) while talking to Garland & co. in the conference room
— Coffee at the Double R (Annie: “Coffee?” Dale: “You bet”)