After an in-depth viewing of Twin Peaks, I’m ready to write a few all-encompassing posts on the series as a whole. First, I’ll jot down some thoughts on Season 2, which was split into two halves, the first covering the conclusion of the Laura Palmer case, and the second tackling the mysterious Windham Earle and the discovery of the Black Lodge.

Who Killed Laura Palmer?

The identity of Laura’s killer was unknown after Season 1 following a brutal and oddly unsatisfying season finale – Cooper lay shot by a mysterious killer (it turned out to be Josie), and the Packard Mill burned down with Shelly and Catherine’s fates unclear (they both survived).

The path to Leland was laid out for Cooper with the help of otherworldly spirits. The Giant appeared to Cooper after he was shot, giving him several clues to follow. Eventually, the clues led back to Cooper’s visit to the Lodge in the second episode of season one (Traces To Nowhere), where the midget talks about gum coming back into style, indicating Laura’s killer to Cooper. It turns out the dream-world Laura whispered her killer’s identity in Cooper’s ear, but he couldn’t remember what was said.

The Giant is a “familiar” of the elderly bellhop who brought Cooper a glass of milk while he lay on the floor of the Great Northern after being shot. Similarly, MIKE is associated with the midget and the one-armed man. Lastly, the evil spirit BOB possesses Leland and turns him into a killer.

BOB is the identity of the crazy, long haired guy who appeared in visions to several individuals throughout the show, namely Sarah Palmer, Cooper, and Maddie.

After the likely suspects of Ben and Leo are eliminated, it’s established that Leland Palmer killed Laura, his own daughter. Leland is arrested, and while under the influence of BOB, dies.

Personally, I think Leland’s possession by an evil force lessened the dramatic impact of a father sexually abusing and murdering his own daughter. Saying he was possessed by an evil spirit actually makes Leland himself blameless and a sympathetic character, as we can always blame BOB.

Windham Earle

Windham Earle proved a compelling nemesis for Cooper. He was an ex partner whose wife, Caroline, Cooper fell in love with. Earle went insane and murdered her. Earle was also involved in Major Briggs’ paranormal investigations of the White / Black Lodge in the woods surrounding Twin Peaks.

Earle’s intelligence was on constant display through humorous disguises, letters, and the slowly escalating chess moves building up to a big murder. His best disguise was the Log Lady, virtually unrecognizable during the smoke and strobe lights of the penultimate episode.

The Earle thread also shed more light on the show’s spirit mythology. BOB, MIKE, and The Giant are all denizens of the White / Black Lodge, hidden in the woods. The opening to the Black Lodge only appears at a certain time, in a place where a few rocks surround a pool of natural gas. The gas is the source of the “scorched engine oil” smell when BOB is near.

Eventually, Earle and nefarious evil forces led to the strangest Twin Peaks episode ever, where Cooper enters the Black Lodge – the red curtained room unvisited since the second episode. Earle is killed, Cooper becomes trapped, and our coffee-swilling, pie-loving hero becomes possessed by BOB after returning to Twin Peaks. More about this last episode later.

The other fairly satisfying plot was Annie Blackburn, Norma’s sister and Cooper’s new love interest. Cooper played the role of protector. Unfortunately, I think actress Heather Graham wasn’t up to the emotional weight of the character’s back story. In many episodes, her delivery is very flat and I felt she was looking off into space, reading cards off screen.

Everything Else

My biggest complaint about season 2 is many of my favorite characters from Season 1 got rather short shrift, and a lot of totally unnecessary new ones were introduced. Most neglected were Dr. Jacobi and Hawk. Andy and Lucy became tied up in an extremely silly situation of confused parentage with Dick Tremaine as the potential father of Lucy’s child.

Leo spent the whole season as a pathetic vegetable (barring one episode where he got up and scared Shelly) and was then held captive in a shock collar by Windham Earle. I think he said two lines the entire season. Leo was a really scary (and funny) character from season one.

Donna’s adventures started out strong, with the discovery of a creepy old lady and a grandson boy holding creamed corn (revived in the Twin Peaks movie Fire Walk With Me), leading her to Harold, the orchid boy in possession of Laura’s secret diary. Unfortunately, her character went off the rails with James running away from Twin Peaks and falling for the ridiculous Evelyn and her rich husband. Donna did get the biggest reveal at the end of the season, learning that Ben was her father, but a lot more should have occurred over the season to build up to this. This revelation was basically dropped as a bombshell over the final two episodes.

Audrey Horne was similarly ignored, as her investigations into Laura’s killer left her imprisoned at One Eyed Jack’s for several episodes. Later, she helped her father with the civil war enactments, and was given a dopey-eyed love interest John Wheeler who abandoned her at the end of the season when she was blown up an an explosion. Just sad.

Then there’s the long list of unneeded secondary characters and plot threads: Norma’s mother Vivian, Jean Renault, Lana “The Widow” Budding. While I liked Thomas Eckhart showing up, I didn’t care for the resurrection of Andrew Packard. Ben’s civil war enactments. And don’t get me started on Nadine’s amnesia.

The best side plot to me was Catherine showing up as Mr. Tojimura and then revealing herself right when Ben Horne needed an alibi. I also enjoyed David Duchovny as cross-dressing agent Denise, odd enough that he even confused the odd citizens of Twin Peaks.

That Last Episode

The final episode, Beyond Life And Death, directed by David Lynch, is one of the show’s best – and the weirdest. Cooper follows Windham Earle and Annie into the Black Lodge, where Windham is killed and Cooper escapes possessed by BOB. In addition, Audrey, Pete, and Andrew Packard are blown up by a bomb in the bank, Donna learns Ben is her father, and Doc Hayward smashes Ben into a fireplace. David Lynch may have been trying to destroy the series, but also saying that none of these characters could escape the darkness.

Twin Peaks wasn’t picked up for a third series, so the crushing last episode is all we get for these characters. Perhaps some at the time expected answers from the Twin Peaks movie Fire Walk With Me, but the movie provides few.

Still, I’m very glad I took the time to revisit the show as it has some unforgettable scenes and imagery that will never be repeated on television. I’ll never look at a piece of pie or the Pacific Northwest quite the same, and every time I see something odd wrapped in plastic, I burst into tears.

TV Shows: Twin Peaks

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Posted In: Twin Peaks

Related Posts:
Twin Peaks: Beyond Life And Death
Twin Peaks: Miss Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks: The Path To The Black Lodge

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