Rachel Bellwoar reviews the eighth episode of Twin Peaks season 3…
Who in the world is Ray Monroe (George Griffith) and where did he come from?
Bad Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) might not be dead, like episode eight originally suggests, but that doesn’t make Ray’s actions less impressive. He tricked Bob! The gun in the glove compartment was out of bullets and Ray planned it that way. It’s this awareness of what he’s dealing with that’s revolutionary because, while the hooded, bearded chanters appeared to catch him off guard, how much so is minimized by the phone conversation he has afterwards.
Ray identifies the dancers as helpers but this doesn’t feel like an obvious interpretation. Fiddling around in Bad Cooper’s guts, and wiping blood on his face, is more the act of a vulture, than a doctor, but there’s Bob, looking the part of an evil Glinda the Good Witch, from inside a grey bubble inside Cooper’s stomach. Ray realizes that Bad Cooper might not be dead, and tells Cooper where he’s going so he can be found. It would’ve been enough for Ray to shoot him but there’s seemingly no limit to his plans, or point where his actions prove coincidental, instead of premeditated.
Dale Cooper should’ve died when he was shot at the end of season one, so Bob Cooper getting a free pass seems fair, but Mike (Al Strobel) said either Dale or Bad had to die. How, if this didn’t work? Does it have to be one of the Coopers who takes the other out, and could the shooting have separated Bad Cooper from Bob, leaving Bob dead, or free to find another host?
Episode eight makes a bold statement at the top but changes its structure to follow the shooting with a musical number at the Roadhouse, featuring the Nine Inch Nails. Musical numbers have been a cue in the past that an episode was over. This one works as an ending, too, since the rest of the episode gives way (and goes back in time) to an experimental David Lynch film. Episode three didn’t prepare us for this.
Starting with a nuclear explosion (Hiroshima), a quickly discarded reading took this film as a reaction to Bob’s death. The quick cut to Bad Cooper waking up discounts that theory, but it could be an illustration of Bob’s birth in 1945.
Here are some parts of the film to pick out:
- Laura (Sheryl Lee)’s spirit rising from the Giant (Carel Struycken, notably listed in the credits now as “???????”) mirrors the young boy (Hunter Sanchez)’s spirit rising from his body in episode six.
- The Woodsman (Robert Broski) continues the streak of violence that was advanced in episode six, with “Got a light?” coming after Carl (Harry Dean Stanton) brought up his smoking habit the same episode.
- Filmed in black and white, the textures in these scenes are exquisite. In the first two seasons the staircase in Laura Palmer’s house was an iconic image. Here a velvet staircase is made symmetrical with crackled glass and two, marble pillars.
- There’s an acting exercise where you have to silently react to an object. Watching Senorita Dido (Joy Nash)’s expressive reactions to the Giant and glowing Laura bubble are amplified by her outfit being reminiscent of silent film stars, complete with heavy eye makeup.
- The girl from the fifties (Tikaeni Faircrest) finds a penny, continuing the prominence of coins this season — Red (Balthazar Getty) showing off in front of Richard Horne (Eamon Farren); Hawk (Michael Horse) finding the Indian head coin.
- There are a few objects in this sequence that leave you grasping for words to identify them. One is the dense, metal, electrical bell-like object that was also in episode three. Another is the insect (wings), frog (legs) creature hatched from the egg. It’s almost the size of the girl from the fifties’ head.
Which image from the film stood out the most, and what do you think it means? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Rachel Bellwoar
Originally published June 27, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
