Weird how the decor of Hideout Wallie's radically changes from the prior episodes. The jukebox and rustic forest painting behind the bar are replaced with cheesy-looking pastel-colored paintings of a couple. I guess Keaton had enough caché to change the set to her liking. It's kind of a tacky set to begin with, but these touches make it even worse.
The bartender at Wallie's is a real weirdo. In the prior episode, when Donna asks about James, the bartender immediately looks toward Evelyn and doesn't say a word. In this one, he knows Donna's last name even though she just went there for the first time the day before, and lurks like a creep. Is he on Evelyn/Malcolm's payroll?
James playing with a cocktail umbrella evokes happier times in Episode 7.
Just for the record, it's a Monday and no one is in school.
Bobby's obnoxiously dismissive behavior toward the sheriff's department, saying he can protect Shelly on his own, plays nicely when we realize he himself will one day become a deputy.
I love the photo of Earle with a mustache, in a Panama hat, looking like he walked out of a 1940s film noir. I can envision that guy as partner to a fresh-faced eager-to-learn Dale. I like Earle so much conceptually when they tease these little tidbits; watching him actually onscreen, less so.
Similar to Wallies, Earle's cabin has had a complete overhaul overnight, with all the cobwebs and tattered cloths hanging from the ceiling having disappeared. (Admittedly, those hanging cloths would have made the set hell to shoot in.) Now he has a bunch of large rocks (or pieces of petrified wood?) in there for some reason. My recollection is that, like Earle's personality and dressing style, the cabin's decor shifts from episode to episode depending on individual directors' whims. For a character who was so important to the narrative at this point, it doesn't seem like Frost/Peyton ever took a particularly firm hand in making any aspect of the character consistent from episode to episode (other than the dialogue of course).
Josie nervously fingering the wood base of the table might be foreshadowing of her ultimate fate, similar to Briggs asking if the wood table is for his soul in Episode 20. I wonder how much of this stuff was planned vs. coincidence (especially given that the drawer-pull thing in Episode 23 was apparently a last-second decision of Lynch's and they were working pretty close to deadline at this point). It actually works pretty well, though, as a kind of cool through-line in the mythology. Also note that Pete says he and Jeanie Pombelek at the Clean and Save looked at each other "like [they] were made of wood."
Eckhardt's room at the Great Northern strangely has a painting of a Playboy bunny in front of a red curtain! Not a great fit for the hotel's family-friendly brand. A keepsake Ben took from One-Eyed Jack's?
I believe it was mentioned earlier in this thread, but for those who don't know, the little snippet of foreign dialogue between Eckhardt and Jones is Afrikaans according to the script: "She's become predictable." "I warned you not to trust her." It’s a random deep-dive aspect of Eckhardt/Jones’s backstory that they’re apparently from South Africa originally (also referenced in TSHoTP).
This episode provides a rare glimpse into Jerry's ambition and truly cutthroat nature (he seems happy to leave his beloved brother and partner-in-crime the way he is because Jerry has his own business ventures Ben apparently won't let him explore). By the time of TR/TFD, Jerry's marijuana business has become more successful than anything else in the Horne empire, so perhaps he has good instincts.
What a tremendous coincidence that Earle located a transient with the surname Powell right there in Twin Peaks! Did he check the Directory of Dislocated Persons? Did he just go around kidnapping random homeless people and asking their names? Is there a pile of dead hobos behind his cabin who were all rejected for having the wrong name?
In a seeming continuity error, TFD lists Caroline’s last name as Wickam.
Credit where credit is due: Keaton finds some nice new angles on the Double R set. Maybe a little showy, but it beats the same old over-the-counter reverse shot.
Eckhardt standing with his back to the door and turning into his closeup is so hammy. I love it.
That slo-mo shot of Evelyn blowing smoke rings is so goofy.
I have to say, Fenn is cute as hell in her Scarlett McLean costume. For those who don’t know, Jerry is playing Wilmer McLean, whose house was chosen for the site of Lee’s surrender to Grant:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_McLean Clearly the writers were running low on ideas and had just watched Ken Burns’s then-brand-new Civil War documentary.
Aside from the Episode 6 deleted scene, I believe this is the first time we’ve seen Johnny since Laura’s funeral! It’s really crazy how little he and Sylvia figured into the original series.
The selection of Donna, Audrey and Shelly as Earle's "queens" makes absolutely no in-world sense. Obviously it's because they're the three young sexy female series leads who were on the cover of Rolling Stone, but neither Donna nor Shelly has any particular significance to Cooper in the context of the show. It's such a gimmicky, typical TV plot to put the leads in danger / bring them together with no real story logic to it. The town feels so small at this point, populated solely by leads and the occasional pop-in eccentric guest star.
This episode in Dale's Diet:
— He has coffee at Blue Pine Lodge while questioning Josie; tactfully leaving Harry and Josie alone, he leaves and pours a second cup (“Think I’ll get another cup a’ Joe”) (in a nice subtle reference to Episode 1, he opens the pot and sniffs to make sure it’s fish-free)
— Cooper has a cup of coffee in front of his chessboard at the Double R as Pete checkmates him (although it might be Pete's, as it's on his side of the board)