Part 12 - Let's rock (SPOILERS)

[FlyingSquirrel]

Chrysta Bell's acting wasn't all that bad. I was actually quite happy with her performance. She seemed less robotic.

Really, my only problem has been reconciling the character with the way she comes off in the Frost book, where she seems a bit more like a conventional and skeptical FBI agent. Bell plays her more like another one of the somewhat eccentric types that seem to inhabit the FBI in the TP-verse, largely unfazed by the strangeness of what she's encountering and what Gordon and Albert are telling her in this episode. I'd have expected the Tammy of the Frost book to be more like, "Wait a minute - UFOs? Are you guys serious?"

[Major Briggs]

After tonight, can we all learn not to overanalyze actors tweets about the show?

[dugpa]

Sarah Palmer... sooooo goood. The return of Audrey.... sigh.

[SpookyDollhouse]

Audrey's return being the opposite of what everyone thought it would (I.E. projected as what everyone wanted) totally looks the point imo, just like Cooper returning as a bumbling vegetable.

[Jasper]

Sarah Palmer... sooooo goood. The return of Audrey.... sigh.

This episode in a nutshell.

[Rudagger]

Yeah, this was by far probably the roughest episode of the series.

I've been enjoying it all so far, but, especially after coming off the sublime episode last week .. yikes. I was actively looking at my watch at points.

The scenes didn't flow very well (something that most of the other episodes, despite their disparate storylines, have done a better job of). It almost felt like a case of scenes that didn't fit into the episode before, or after, if that makes sense. Small disparate loose ends that are kind of shoved into a 50 minute block.

Sarah's stuff was good. Diane's "Let's Rock" with the sound effect was intriguing (giving more credence to maybe some kind of Red Room shenanigans), CD name drop, and the co-ordinates pointing to Twin Peaks (though .. you'd think Doppelcoop would already know that Twin Peaks has some kind of portal, given the events that he likely knows about).

Audrey's felt like something that was filmed after she finally agreed to do it, but, frankly, reminded me of the rough Truman/Shrill Wife scenes. Went on way too long, and did way too little (other than to suggest Audrey's life went to shit). There wasn't even a good connecting segue to get to that point (i.e., you could have her name come up in the Ben and Frank scene).

Really don't have much else to say. Hope that certain Twitter accounts stop hyping stuff up when they don't actually have any insider information and are just doing it based off of one actor's twitter account (who, like all of them but Machlachlan, wouldn't have any idea what's going to happen in any given episode), but, it certainly inflated expectations and probably hurt the episode (not that the episode doesn't deserve the rough reception) for at least a few people. "DO NOT MISS television," haha. If a producer tweets something evocative, like with Episode 8, sure, take their word for it because they are in the handful of people who will actually know what's in the episodes beforehand. But, this hearsay was ridiculous, and even got the Twin Peaks subreddit particularly hyped up just to get people pissed off in the end.

[blue_tomorrows]

Audrey's return being the opposite of what everyone thought it would (I.E. projected as what everyone wanted) totally looks the point imo, just like Cooper returning as a bumbling vegetable.

God, I hope not. If that's the point, then the entire show is nothing but a cynical manipulation with no larger meaning beyond "it's fun to f**k with people". Seeing such a great artist go down that path would be the most depressing thing ever.

12 hours in, though, and I'm short on evidence to prove your theory incorrect.

[Nocturne]

I am shocked at the reaction on here to "cole's girl" - I ADORED that scene. That was the funniest scene of the new series for me.

"I told her her to tell the mother that the daughter will turn up eventually. She didn't get it either."

[thedarktrees]

I have a feeling Jacoby's Dr Amp bit might be leading somewhere. Maybe something to do with Hastings, alternate dimensions, and his website. It might be the kind of conspiracy-theory oriented thing that Dr Amp might pick up on. That said, absolutely cannot figure out what the purpose of the recycled footage of Jacoby was. Why do that? Why care that Nadine watches him religiously?

[alreadygoneplaces]

Ok... I thought the Sarah Palmer scenes were incredible, although terrifying and horribly sad- some of the best moments yet and well worth the entrance fee on their own. One or two other good parts near the beginning, but mostly I found this episode very poor, sadly. I'll watch it again though before joining the other vultures in picking at this carcass

Meanwhile...

- Jerry Horne running out of the woods with blood on his hands? Or was it red gloves? Couldn't really tell...

- Ben Horne seemed perturbed at the mention of an investigation related to Cooper being re-opened...

[rugerblackhawk357]

Audrey's return being the opposite of what everyone thought it would (I.E. projected as what everyone wanted) totally looks the point imo, just like Cooper returning as a bumbling vegetable.

"bumbling vegetable". two seasons and a movie and he was special agent dale cooper. "my life, my tapes", pretty much the absolute archetypal hero. we had 18 episodes to explore this awesome character wrestling his shadow. it's episode 12. we've got 6 episodes left

[Hester Prynne]

I know I might be in he minority, but I actually loved the Audrey scene, and it was great to finally see her. Not quite what I was expecting, but I wasn't really sure what to expect to begin with. Their marriage does seem to be some kind of arrangement - not sure how you can ask your husband to help you look for the guy you are having an affair with otherwise. Now to add to the mystery of whether or not Richard is her son, there's the mystery of who Charlie is and how she ended up married to him. - Interesting that his last name isn't listed in the credits, but don't know that there's anything to that.

[anthoto1]

This episode was as bad as it gets for TP. Some great horrific tension in the Sarah Palmer scenes but overall, it was all over the place with bad pacing and parts that should have been cut.

I don't know where they want to go with Audrey's storyline but the whole scene was a real chore to watch and, overall, the wreck of a life she seems to have is diheartening for such a beloved character.

I hope the show will be back on track next week !

[Jonah]

Part 12 - Initial impressions

Was fully back on board last week as I loved the closing scenes of Part 11.

And, as usual, a great episode was followed by a poor one.

Well, not quite.

This episode was half and half. Half pure gold, half pure...something else.

The first half was great and looked set to rival Part 7 as the most Twin Peaksy episode to date. It also looked set to become the best episode to date.

So much good stuff.

Sarah Palmer.

The Palmer house.

Hawk visiting Sarah.

All wonderful.

And then Frank Truman visiting Ben - and the 315 room key!

Some good stuff with Cole, Albert, and Diane too. I really liked Diane emerging through the red curtains - it felt VERY red room. (I liked her finding the Twin Peaks coordinates too and the overhead shot that followed.)

And we got some resolution to Miriam.

And a shot of the hospital corridor from the original series!

But the second half of the episode - ugh.

I'm really beyond over Jacoby now. The first scene of his podcast was enough.

Ok, we finally got Audrey. And that should be a woo-hoo moment. But it wasn't. It felt very anti-climatic. Maybe this was deliberate. Who knows. Compare this to her introduction in the pilot and it's a bit depressing.

On the plus side, it did sort of remind me of her slow scenes in Episode 29. But this was beyond slow. I think the scene was in excess of 10 full, sustained minutes, so we definitely got a LOT of Audrey. But the scene itself was poor.

Fenn looks great.

Last episode, I began to wonder - given the closing scenes - if this could all be some sort of dream. And seeing Audrey (I mean, of all people) married/contracted to a little person (sort of paralleling the LMFAP and fairytales) made me wonder again - is this season all a dream of some sort? We even get a dream reference in this scene. And there's been a lot of references to dreams - and Episode 14's tagline is about dreams.

So we know who Charlie is now - and who the "What story is that, Charlie?" tagline refers to.

Jennifer Jason Leigh is really being underused (but then again so are most of the original cast).

Some amazing scenes here - but the dragging out scenes are starting to feel very like Lynch trolling us now (the lady in his room, the Audrey scene, even parts of the Ben/Frank scene). They're becoming less subtle and more infuriating. I mean, it's sort of great in a way, but it's really frustrating and painful too. I know he did this even in Episode 29, but they go even longer here.

[Cappy]

My prediction for Jacoby: The "gotta light" Woodsman interrupts a live Dr. Amp broadcast, recites a disturbing poem on the air which entrances Nadine and the other viewers, before crushing the doctor's head.

I love Jacoby as a character and would be heartbroken over this, but... the Woodsmen seem to require transmitted signals to carry out their aims, and Jacoby has been the only person transmitting anything that we've seen.