WE MADE IT GANG!! And our reward: one of the best episodes of television ever aired. Half its runtime is a nightmare sequence of Dale Cooper walking in and out of 2 identical rooms witnessing a carousel of visions ranging from unsettling to profoundly horrifying. And it's all held together by a profound return of sauce that the show has been missing and an insistence on bringing tragedy and horror back to Twin Peaks.
Let's get the B plots out of the way first. Nadine’s head bonk did bring her memories back, but she's forgotten all about Mike the snake, in a scene that is shocking for how much it's played for straight-faced, tragic pathos. Likewise, Donna's “is Ben my dad” plotline’s only resolution is Doc Hayward punching out Ben Horne, which is convincingly played as upsetting and horrific. Audrey chains herself to the Twin Peaks Bank to protest Ghostwood, which also happens to be where there's a safety deposit box that Andrew Packard realizes the key from the ingot opens up. Inside that safety deposit box: a bomb! Which kills? Everyone? And a replay of the pilot's intro scene to the diner is interrupted when Sarah Palmer returns to deliver a spirit message to Garland Briggs: “I'm in the Black Lodge with Dale Cooper. I'm waiting for you.”
Speaking of, Dale follows Windom and Annie into the Black Lodge, which turns out to be the red room from his dream way back in episode 2. He sees the Man From Another Place, the little man from his dream, dance to a soulful jazz song. He sees Laura Palmer, who tells him she'll see him again in 25 years. He sees the old waiter and/as the giant, who brings him coffee, which the Man From Another Place seems to freeze solid then transform into burnt oil. He sees Maddy, who says to watch out for her cousin. He sees a version of the Man From Another Place with cataract-white eyes who says “doppelganger” threateningly. He sees a similarly cataracted doppelganger Laura who does the worst scream in the world. He runs away and realizes he's bleeding. He sees his dead body next to Annie's. He sees Annie, except she's Caroline, except she’s Annie, except she's evil Laura, except she's Windom Earle. Windom says he'll let Annie live in exchange for Dale's soul. Dale immediately agrees. BOB appears and kills Windom Earle. Dale runs away as an Evil Dale doppelganger emerges. Dale sees a Leland Palmer doppelganger who says “I did not kill anybody”. Dale runs and runs and runs from his doppelganger but gets caught. BOB’s face laughs horribly.
A full day later, Harry sees Dale and Annie having reemerged from the Black Lodge, both passed out. The next morning, “Dale” “wakes up”, and says he needs to brush his teeth. In the bathroom, he slams his head into the mirror, revealing BOB in his reflection, and repeats “How’s Annie? How’s Annie? How’s Annie?”, heralding the return of evil in the form of Dale Cooper.
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Things mentioned:
Tampopo (film)
EXPOSURES Montreal
Emile Is Missing (short film)
Leaving the Party (podcast)
Photos taken by Richard Beymer during the filming of this episode
Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday’s rendition)
Songs: Ohia - Crab Orchard
Twin Perfect’s Twin Peaks video essay (Lily still can’t watch... no fair)
P.T. (game)
Little Shop of Horrors (film)
Shoplifters (film)
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Music by Jamie Page
Show art by Mya Fernandes-Giles
This episode edited by Lily
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