Part 13 - What story is that, Charlie? (SPOILERS)

[Mr. Reindeer]

I think if there's one thing this show would've especially benefitted from being on say Netflix, rather than Showtime, is the ability to have highly various runtime lengths for each part, so, it would've given the freedom to have a 40 minute part, and a 1 hour ten minute part, with various frequency (obviously cable shows are able to do this on the high end, but, not usually on the low end, I'm not sure I've ever seen a premium cable series that is billed as hour-long drop below the fifty minute mark).

I definitely recall episodes of both Dexter and Homeland dipping to at least the 45-minute mark (including the several-minute recap, which TP doesn't have). I stopped watching Homeland years ago, but a quick Google of "homeland '45 minutes'" reveals that an episode in February 2017 called "Casus Belli" was 46 minutes including recap. I'm pretty sure the relatively steady 55-60-minute TP runtime is DKL's own OCD coming into play. Showtime has given him free reign in every other aspect, I doubt they'd quibble over Parts running short or long here or there.

[whoisalhedges]

There were thousands of eggs in The Experiment's barf, all identical to the one frogbug hatched from. Does that mean they all hatched without being eaten by snakes? No. Were they by necessity all frogbugs? Well, no, one was a black BOBorb (it wasn't identical, though).

Anyway.

Reason suggests that there was more than the one frogbug. Given that the Experiment (apparently) came into our world in the Trinity test blast, the frogbug in question didn't hatch till 11 years later - maybe they'd been hatching all the while, rather than just depending upon a decade-long incubation. Maybe they were "laid" not just at White Sands in 1945, but "time and time again" at nuke tests over the years.

Maybe there are millions of frogbugs, and the one we saw was just an example of how they enter their hosts.

My biggest guesses as to her connection to the characters in the show:
1) none whatsoever. She served her purpose, she won't be seen again ...or
2) the frogbug doesn't manifest physically, but mentally/spiritually. It forms a symbiosis with its host, one which may be regarded as either a blessing or a curse, depending upon the perspective and the life of the host; a host that would him or herself be considered gifted... or damned. In this case, yes: Sarah Palmer would fit as one of many girls and boys of the nuclear era fated to be harbingers, oracles, addicts, and schizophrenics.

[Dreamy Audrey]

I'm surprised I haven't seen any discussions about the Jacoby and Nadine scene yet, since I thought their conversation was curious:

Jacoby: "You know, the last time I saw you, it was about seven years ago. You were down on your hands and knees, looking for a potato."
Nadine: "Where was I?"
Jacoby: "It was, you know, in the supermarket. You had dropped it. There was a big storm that day."

Is this just some meaningless small talk or is there more to it? I noticed we were given quite a few details about their last meeting: 1) time, 2) place and 3) weather.

The strangest thing is that Jacoby remembers so many small details about their last meeting. If I haven't seen someone for such a long time and the last time was just a short accidental meeting or a brief glance at that person without a conversation, I probably won't remember exactly how many years it's been since I last saw that person or the place or the weather or what the other person was doing at that time. But his recollection of all this makes me think there might have been a significant event around the time he last saw Nadine.

1) Time: We learn that they haven't seen each other in seven years. Why haven't they seen each other? In the old series, Twin Peaks seemed like a town where you'd run into the same people all the time, and neither Nadine nor Jacoby were recluses, so it is a bit odd that they never met each other in so many years. Furthermore, if they don't meet each other that often, they probably aren't close friends, so him remembering how many years it's been since he last saw her instead of just recalling that it was a few years ago is weird. It doesn't really make sense to me, unless this scene is not really about them but about the date: "seven years ago".

2) Place: They met in a supermarket, which reminds me of the convenience store and Sarah's scene in the grocery store, scenes in which weird things happened.

3) Weather: A) There was a big storm that day. I'm wondering if there is more to the storm and if something happened, because what does it matter if the weather was sunny or rainy or stormy years ago unless it had any consequences? B) A couple of people noticed the upcoming storm in the weather forecast on the Mitchum's TV in Part 10 and speculated that we might see a storm soon. (BTW, Jacoby is wearing a bow tie with two lightning bolts, which might be a reference to thunderstorms)

This had me thinking, maybe something significant happened during the storm seven years ago and a similar thing will happen again during the next storm. I also thought of Sarah's "Were you here when they first came?" and "Your room seems different" in the grocery store. Initially, I thought she was talking about the people that arrived in 1956 and the convenience store, but maybe other people came seven years ago in the storm and she was referring to that and the supermarket.

Or maybe, if the scenes we see aren't chronological, the Jacoby and Nadine scene could be seven years in the future from now and they were talking about the storm that is about to happen for us soon but already happened for them ("Is it future or is it past?"). IIRC, Jacoby and Nadine aren't directly linked to any other characters or plotlines as of now, so there is no indication when their scenes take place.

[Mr. Reindeer]

1) Time: We learn that they haven't seen each other in seven years. Why haven't they seen each other? In the old series, Twin Peaks seemed like a town where you'd run into the same people all the time, and neither Nadine nor Jacoby were recluses, so it is a bit odd that they never met each other in so many years. Furthermore, if they don't meet each other that often, they probably aren't close friends, so him remembering how many years it's been since he last saw her instead of just recalling that it was a few years ago is weird.

Jacoby seems potentially pretty reclusive.

Maybe they're not friends, but don't forget, she was his patient in season 2. We don't know whether or not that association continued after she overcame the amnesia, but I would imagine that most psychiatrists get at least somewhat invested in their patients and feel something somewhat significant when they have the opportunity to check in with an old patient. And the big storm, presumably a memorable local event, is a temporal landmark that lets him remember exactly when it was.

[nick1218]

alreadygoneplaces wrote
"As much as I agree with your final point, that Shelly/Becky scene wasn't out of sequence, she had the grazes on her elbows from getting thrown off the car.

Personally, I'm not in the crowd that thinks L/F were expertly at ease with and in control of managing this vast multitude of plot threads and characters. It more comes across to me like they've desperately wrestled with all of this along with the often conflicting needs of major variables such as structure, rhythm, pace (on both an episodic and an overall 18-hour basis); which information needs to be withheld and revealed (and when), let alone the more minor timeline/continuity details. This is part and parcel of such an unprecedented and ambitious project, and I think for the most part, they've just about managed to make it work. I do think though that people occasionally need to guard themselves against the tendency to immediately jump to or construct whichever explanation will best vindicate the 'great artist' when any potential problems arise in the work- a lot is riding on the final episodes as to how it all works structurally, let's ride it out and then see how it fits together at the end of the day. My feeling so far, as it comes, is that they've handled it all pretty well, but there have been moments where it feels a little at sea structurally (not least in episode 12). The argument that it's just as Lynch intended it is (in my opinion) not an argument of great substance or relevance, and is actually somewhat tautological..."

Thank you for this post! This mirrors my thoughts exactly, except you expressed it much more eloquently than I've been able to ...

double ditto

[sylvia_north]

Like that Deming/Lynch whacking the lens thing they invented by accident...

Never heard about this. What effect did they create by doing that?

Is that how they did the crazy, out-of-focus POV effect in Mulholland Drive, possibly?

Yes, whacking is that effect you see in MD! Sloppy editing or happy accidents? It's just like BOB Ross! (I'd add the meme here but I can't find it so here are clips lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCsO56kWwTc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tq5vXk0wTk )

i watched the big ed final scene again and again tonight. i took multiple screenshots and adjusted the exposure, shadows, and black point. maybe it's his reflection or a road sign or something - but i sure couldn't see anything at all. i'm exhausted and done with looking for something. and then, i heard what i was looking for: one single note slowed down from beethovens moonlight sonata - just like in part 8 when the woodsmen were gathered around me c after ray shot him. one single note. listen to the sounds. 'men are coming'.

http://welcometotwinpeaks.com/music/woo ... ght-sonata

I hear three notes, myself- and I heard it before I saw the reflection (I'm half blind so I had to back up a couple times) but it didn't sound like a creepy cue, more of a drone, but I believe you're right! It's theses last notes of the movement sounds like The chords start when he starts turning the cup- with... trepidation? - in his hand and the final chord is exactly when he picks it up again. Truman says in 1x9 he's seen a lot of weird stuff in these old woods.

There's also a sign outside his garage that says "extinguish all open flames." Then he lights the matchbook. Almost superstitiously. * I'm making the Bookhouse Boy sign.* Or "Maybe we'd better just whistle on our way past the graveyard" as Hawk would say. Hawk saw the curtains.

There is a spell on Twin Peaks these days. Maybe they're used to it, or there's a psychic veil protecting them.

Also considering Jacoby's shovel now like the Bookhouse sword- signs of Freemasonry. Sword stands for justice. Shovel stands for hope for immortality.

[Dreamy Audrey]

1) Time: We learn that they haven't seen each other in seven years. Why haven't they seen each other? In the old series, Twin Peaks seemed like a town where you'd run into the same people all the time, and neither Nadine nor Jacoby were recluses, so it is a bit odd that they never met each other in so many years. Furthermore, if they don't meet each other that often, they probably aren't close friends, so him remembering how many years it's been since he last saw her instead of just recalling that it was a few years ago is weird.

Jacoby seems potentially pretty reclusive.

Maybe they're not friends, but don't forget, she was his patient in season 2. We don't know whether or not that association continued after she overcame the amnesia, but I would imagine that most psychiatrists get at least somewhat invested in their patients and feel something somewhat significant when they have the opportunity to check in with an old patient. And the big storm, presumably a memorable local event, is a temporal landmark that lets him remember exactly when it was.

Maybe "reclusive" isn't the right word, I meant in the old series neither of them was like Harold Smith. They left their houses, we saw them walking around Twin Peaks and talking to other people a few times. That could have changed since the end of season 2, of course. Jacoby's caravan seems very isolated.

I do think that he could be invested in her as a patient and that a big storm could be a rough temporal landmark for their meeting, but would he really remember the year? For example, I remember a big local storm, but I couldn't tell you if it was 5 or 7 years ago. But if something significant had happened during that storm, then I would probably remember the year.

Anyway, my point wasn't that the content of their conversation is weird but the way it is presented. If the year is irrelevant and it's just that Jacoby cares about an old patient and wants to check in on her, he could have said "The last time I saw you was a few years ago" instead of "The last time I saw you was seven years ago". That gets the same message across and seems more natural. To me it seemed like the "seven years" was added more for the viewer's sake than for Nadine's. Same with the storm. It doesn't really add much to their conversation, it seems like an unimportant detail for the viewer. But if the storm from the weather forecast will happen, there might be a connection. Let's also not forget that thunderstorms are connected to electricity, which is an important theme in this series.

[sewhite2000]

Dreamy Audrey wrote:
"Or maybe, if the scenes we see aren't chronological, the Jacoby and Nadine scene could be seven years in the future from now and they were talking about the storm that is about to happen for us soon but already happened for them ("Is it future or is it past?"). IIRC, Jacoby and Nadine aren't directly linked to any other characters or plotlines as of now, so there is no indication when their scenes take place."



We saw Jerry also watching Jacoby's first broadcast presumably not long before he realized he was lost in the woods. So, I don't think Jacoby and Nadine are meeting seven years in the future! Nadine's had that shovel hanging in her window for seven years, and Jacoby has just now seen it?

[chromereflectsimage]

Spotlight

[AgentEcho]

I hope there's no connection between those use of spotlights, but it is probably worth noting that Sonny Jim is the only young boy to appear in the show who hasn't yet witnessed horrible violence or been a victim of it, something that is emerging as a theme in the show.

[boske]

I'm surprised I haven't seen any discussions about the Jacoby and Nadine scene yet, since I thought their conversation was curious:

Jacoby: "You know, the last time I saw you, it was about seven years ago. You were down on your hands and knees, looking for a potato."
Nadine: "Where was I?"
Jacoby: "It was, you know, in the supermarket. You had dropped it. There was a big storm that day."

Maybe it is about the Evolution of the Arm, the potato head? Similar to how he appeared to DougieCoop in Vegas?

I agree with you, there is more to that scene than meets the eye.

[sewhite2000]

I hope there's no connection between those use of spotlights, but it is probably worth noting that Sonny Jim is the only young boy to appear in the show who hasn't yet witnessed horrible violence or been a victim of it, something that is emerging as a theme in the show.

The kid who shot up the window of the Double R may have committed some violence (does property damage count as violence?), but I would say he hasn't been shown to have either witnessed violence or been a victim of it. Still, I guess he could still make your list with an asterisk, maybe. It was only by stupid luck he didn't kill someone.

[docLEXfisti]

My bet: Twin Peaks will be nominated multiple times at the Emmy's.

I just has to be.

[dronerstone]

My bet: Twin Peaks will be nominated multiple times at the Emmy's.

I just has to be.

Highly probable if you ask me. Especially Kyle should receive a huge pile of awards for his stellar performance(s).

[gravenimages]

I'm surprised I haven't seen any discussions about the Jacoby and Nadine scene yet, since I thought their conversation was curious...
The strangest thing is that Jacoby remembers so many small details about their last meeting.

Because he fancies her and he's un homme solitaire.