After one of its strangest episodes, Twin Peaks returns to offer up one of its most straight-forward episodes. Never have the mysteries felt so close. And it’s all thanks to Major Briggs.
The Case
Major Briggs takes focus in Buckhorn and Twin Peaks as his tireless work finally brings people together. In South Dakota, Cole, Diane, Albert and Tammy visit the Buckhorn morgue and learn about the Hastings case. As it turns out, Hastings and his librarian friend Ruth were interested in exploring other dimensions (and visiting the Bahamas). The very same dimensions Major Briggs and his predecessor were observing up on Pearl Lakes.
In an interview with Tammy, Hastings admitted to crossing into that dimension and meeting Major Briggs. He asked for coordinates; presumably the ones Bad Cooper wants. Upon retrieving them, Hastings and Ruth were waylaid by other men in the mysterious dimension. They seem to have killed Ruth, but Hastings babbling was hard to parse.
On the positive end, this was the finest performance of Matthew Lillard’s career.
Back in Twin Peaks, Betty Briggs offered Bobby, Hawk and Sheriff Truman an item the Major said the three would one day ask for. He always knew that Bobby would find his way into the Sheriff’s department and be in the right place at the right time to lead them to Jack Rabbit’s Palace. According to Bobby, it’s a place he and his dad invented up near the Major’s station — also up by Pearl Lakes.
And in Vegas, Ike the Spike has been caught by Metro cops. They may also give Cole the last clue he needs in find Coop. The real one, anyway.
The Updates
Johnny Horne is alive! Well, maybe not now. He seems to have taken a bad fall, but it is unclear what this means for the rest of the clan. Meanwhile, Jerry is still lost in the woods and terrified of his own foot. Whatever he’s growing, it’s some damn powerful stuff.
Meanwhile, Andy and Lucy have an interesting way of arguing about furniture.
And it seems Ben Horne’s days as a Lothario are behind him. Despite an obvious attraction to Beverly, he stops himself. One is compelled to say good on Ben. His appetites were always his own worst enemy. But considering where the hum in the wall is coming from, one wonders if he ever found Audrey’s hiding place.
Come to think of it, Audrey was the only Horne from the original series not to appear in some form this week.
The Questions
- Are Ben and Sylvia still married? The Johnny scene suggests she no longer lives at the Great Northern. But maybe that was deemed better for his safety?
- How many accomplices does Bad Coop have and where is he off to now?
- How did Major Briggs arrange to “hibernate” for 25 years and why was the same time-stopping luxury not afforded to Cooper?
- What does Dougie’s boss think Coop has uncovered? Will it matter?
- Will Hutch actually succeed at killing the warden? Are his other two marks the remaining Vegas connections?
- Why did Bad Coop send Diane that obscure message?
Not About Judy
Strangely, Major Briggs finds his way into the trail of Phillip Jeffries. When Cole convinces Diane to go to Buckhorn, he mentions a connection between Briggs and Coop. Her response,”The Blue Rose case?” Of interest here is the definite article. In Fire Walk with Me, the Blue Rose seemed to suggest a certain clearance level or, for want of a easy term, an X-File. Now, it seems the Blue Rose may have been one case all along. If that’s so, then it may not have been a coincidence that Jeffries appeared in Philadelphia the morning after Chet Desmond disappeared. Desmond was, after all, working the Blue Rose.
And what were Major Brigg’s parting words to Coop above the Purple Room?
Weird Rashes
There’s a scene late in the second season of Twin Peaks in which Bobby and Major Briggs have a heart-to-heart. In retrospect, it sounds like it could be the last thing the Major ever said to his son. But with this episode, the memory of that scene becomes an emotionally laden echo as the Major’s words proved to be true. In some ways, it’s heartbreaking and yet in others such an amazing testament to the power actor Don S. Davis gave Major Garland Briggs. And that so much emotion can be wrapped into the weirdest and most New Agey elements of Twin Peaks is remarkable.
But we have to talk about the scene in the Road House and the strung-out burger waitress with a weird rash. It’s easy to assume that she’s one of Richard Horne’s clients. It’s also possible that “burgers” are a code for something else. Considering the Renault side-business and the relative youth of the waitress, anything is possible.
That rash, though, seemed otherworldly; like the mysterious hand tremor people around town experienced the night before Coop first went into the Black Lodge. Then again, it could just mean Richard imports some serious shit into town.
Curiously, the drug trade plot was the only one not advanced by this week’s installment. Considering how much we learned here at the half-way point, its absence is notable. Or is it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
