3x15 Part 15

[7.6/10] Mea culpa. That’s all I can say when it comes to Ed and Norma. Look, I still think it’s pretty convenient that they were essentially in a holding pattern for twenty-five years, and I still don’t like the role of Walter as the businessman who doesn’t understand heart, and the whole thing comes off a little rushed and fanservice-y, but that doesn’t stop this little moment in a big episode from working like gangbusters.

He’s a small confession. I have a bit of soft spot for Nadine. She is one of the cartoonier character on a show that can already be incredibly cartoony, but there’s always this pathos and earnestness to her -- a sadness in the way she loves wholeheartedly and gets what she wants in return, but not really, and an earnestness in the way she’s always so frank and heart-on-her sleeve about everything.

That adds extra oomph when she marches up the street to Big Ed’s Gas Farm, shovel in tow, to tell Ed that she’s been a “manipulative bitch” and grant him his freedom. It’s a great performance from Wendy Robie, communicating the conviction, the spirit, even the joy from Nadine in accepting what her and Ed’s life has been and wanting to make a clean break for both of them. It’s a tough thing to sell, but Robie sells it like a champ, and more shockingly of all, it means there was a point to all those seemingly random interludes with Dr. Amp!

The same goes for Everett McGill, who’s characteristically taciturn, but who conveys a panoply of emotions from the beginning to the end of his scenes here. The disbelief, the elation, the devastation, and the bliss that run through his face as his greatest hope is granted, lost, and won, all in the span of ten minutes is amazing. Sure, it’s still too corny to me that it’s tied into Norma sending away Walter because he just doesn’t understand, but Ed’s temporary crestfallen demeanor, contrasted with the joy of those two finally coming together, makes it all worthwhile.

We also get an incredible, spooky sequence, of The Bad Dale going to meet Phillip Jeffries in The Dutchmen, which is the same space we saw the dark cavemen creatures occupying in the Bob Origin Story episode. It’s a superlative setpiece from Lynch, capturing the impossible geometry of the space (above a convenient store -- hint hint!), the way one setting fades into another, and the entire place has a dark, ethereal quality. As I’ve said before, these are the spaces where I tend to like Lynch the most -- conveying the otherworldly sense of a place better than nearly any other director. Seeing people and place flit in and out of existence, replete with the usual backwards talk and grave pointing in this scary place gives you an immediate sense that where Mr. C finds himself is unlike any place we’ve seen before.

We also see Philip Jeffries for the first time since Fire Walk with Me and he’s conveyed as a hunk of machinery, spewing smoke and the usual cryptic come ons. It’s an interesting way to work around Bowie’s death (not sure if that was his voice or a soundalike) and this strange transformation coupled with the oddly chilling phone ringing in the middle contributes to the great atmosphere of this one. The perfect punctuation is Richard Horne confirming that Audrey is his mother, and implying that The Bad Dale is his father, with the two of them embarking on the darkest father-son road trip this side of The Road.

We even get a great scene of Dougie. There’s a sense that all (or almost all) the problems Dougie’s faced have come to an end. The mess with the Mitchums is done; Anthony is on his side now; and there’s even a new car and a fantastic gym set for Sonny Jim. (No kidding -- I would have jumped three feet in the air to have that sort of gym set.) Janey declares that it’s like all their dreams have come true and for once, all seems right in the world, even for simple Dougie.

But then, Dougie absent mindedly starts pawing at the other objects on the table as he digs into his chocolate cake, and inadvertently flips on the television, just in time to hear a character say “Get me Gordon Cole!” It seems to spark something in Dougie, something beyond the other hints of recognition he’s had so far. His expression changes, and it feels like the real Dale Cooper gets to drive just long enough to steer Dougie toward the light socket from whence he came. Electricity has magical properties in this world (as the disarming hum that radiates throughout the series can attest) and my money is on Dougie’s socket sojourn being enough to awaken the Dale Cooper we know in love.

The only issue, then, is that the episode kind of falls off a cliff after all of this happens. It’s unclear what the point of the scene with Steve (Becky’s Husband) and the youngest Hayward daughter (an expected reprisal from Alicia Witt) out in the forest is, beyond the idea that once again, Carl Rodd has to face the ugly brunt of humanity. I don’t really care about James Hurley and his green-handed faux-cockney pal beating up crumb-bums at The Roadhouse and getting thrown in jail (presumably just to get them in place whenever what happens with the forces convening on Twin Peaks happens).

And I definitely don’t care about the continuing drama between Audrey and her husband Charlie. The best thing I can say about this part of the new season is that maybe it’s meant to be disorienting and off-putting. Audrey, once again, makes a comment about perspective, saying that it’s like she’s seeing Charlie for the first time. Maybe Lynch & Frost are trying to put us in that same position, feeling like Audrey is someone she’s not and that Charlie is a stranger we don’t know who’s thrust into our point of view the same way he’s thrust into hers. (Hell, maybe Audrey’s still in that coma? Or has some spell cast on her by The Bad Dale?) But in the moment at least, it just feels like annoying, go-nowhere material.

And “Part Fifteen” closes with The Log Lady’s final words to Hawk and the news of her death. It’s an odd set of scenes, one marked by Hawk’s silence and an uncharacteristically frank look at the notion of death, even for someone who believes that it’s not an end, given even more strength by Catherine E. Coulson’s own death. But what it means? That I couldn’t tell you. Perhaps it’s just another harbinger, another canary in the coal mine, for what’s about to descend on the humble little Washington town.

Whatever it is, Twin Peaks is seemingly marching to finality. Ed with with Norma. Richard is with Mr. C. The usual suspect are all gathered in the sheriff’s office, and Dougie has a date with an electric fork. It all seems to pointing toward confrontation, toward conclusion, and hopefully “The Return” can stick that landing.