One Star Classics

If there was ever a doubt in your mind, doubt no more: James has never been cool. This is a man who, evidently, for the last 25 years has shown an affinity for married women, and who is shocked — shocked — when their husbands are less than pleased by that. As he gets his ass beaten to the rhythm of ZZ Top’s «Sharp Dressed Man», his fist-of-Lodge Cockney friend has to come to the rescue, leaving James and his puppy-eyes close to literally saying «but I’m just a nice guy!» as his ilk so often does.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

By my count, Norma and Ed’s grand reunion could insert itself as Twin Peaks’s first happy ending. I say could, as there still are three hours left for everything to go to hell. For all we know, Norma could be a Black Widow serial killer who feasts on unexpected suitors. That’d be a long game with Ed, but as far as this season goes, would sort of seem fitting.

Meanwhile, with the lack of a Bowie to portray him, Jeffries has evolved into a tea kettle, which, again, within the context of this season kind of just makes sense. The convenience store has of course played a large role over the last episodes — and also to a lesser degree in Fire Walk With Me — and it’s interesting to see it represented as a physical location in the here and now. Well, sort of physical. Until it disappears in static.

We get confirmed that Jeffries and Mr. C have communicated, but apparently less so than Mr. C thought, which brings the question of who he has been talking to. The texting first thought to be between him and Diane appears to go through a middle-person — note the inconsistencies in the capitalization of what is sent and received if you hadn’t already noticed. Maybe it’s just a production error, though that seems doubtful with how closely it has been focused on, and how who is talking to whom increasingly becoming a major plot point.

Is this middle-person Judy (first referenced in Fire Walk With Me)? Jeffries seem to think Mr. C knows her, and, in best Twin Peaks fashion, gives him her contact information through a set of incomprehensible numbers. Numerology is not my thing.

Back in Twin Peaks, Margaret passes on, and it’s hard not to see the scenes as a tribute to actress Catherine Coulson who succumbed to cancer just a few weeks later. I thought it was all very well handled, and appropriately somber — the lights fading in her cabin seemed like the proper send-off for her character.

On the flip-side, I really don’t think we’ve seen the last of Stephen. Coked out and suicidal as he was, the gunshot occurred off-screen. And let’s be honest: this season has reveled in showing various types of face-violence. Odds are he accidentally squeezed off the trigger, shooting the last place the gun was pointed: his foot. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy.

And Dougie… Dead or alive? Well, I suppose Dougie already is dead, but Coop-as-Dougie? Common dramaturgy would suggest this is where Cooper comes back to life. With Cole’s name popping up in Sunset Boulevard shaking Dougie into something painfully close to Cooper, it would make sense, but then, how many times have we expected this to happen so far?

I doubt we’ll see Cooper in the next episode, and when we finally see… something… Then what? Maybe Dougie died from the fork-in-socket shock to reveal Coop; maybe Mr. C will turn into him; maybe Dougie will wake up in a hospital as his old self; maybe this is just the end for ol’ Coop?

Yeah, who knows where all of this will go… Duncan Todd met an untimely demise, and with Mr. C’s «Vegas?» message, many strings are coming together. The three hours left seem like they should be just the perfect amount of time for this to land at a satisfying ending, at least as far as puzzling oddities can be considered satisfying.

By Remi, Aug 23, 2017

Ratings from around the web

Icon	Site	Score
	One Star Classics	6/6
	Cumulative Score

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