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Last Week In Twin Peaks Podcasts, Week of July 16th to July 22nd

In one particular way, I am Nadine. I avidly love and absorb all my favorite podcasts, support them by working crazily on this column, and my dream of Twin Peaks returning has come true. Joking aside, all the Podcasters united behind Nadine for achieving her goal, as well as celebrated Albert and Constance’s cute-as-can-be dinner date no one thought we’d actually get. They were also amazed Dougie made it to the Doctor’s office, and were fairly dumbfounded by Kyle MacLachlan being in phenomenally good shape (if I wasn’t writing so much I think maybe a gym membership might be necessary). They also noticed Steven is the new Leo, Harry Dean Stanton’s voice is wonderful, Janey-E’s red shoes lean ruby slippers, Jacoby’s line about “until you blow up like a red balloon” sticks out like a sore thumb, and Chad’s stolen the wrong letter.

 

Onto the Podcasts:

Damn Fine Podcast covered Part 10 with guest Rick Remender (start his Uncanny X-Force and see if you can stop). Rick talks about the parts of his storytelling chops influenced by Twin Peaks (letting the story breathe for one). The hosts say “Hello Johnny, how are you today?” is the percussion under the Sylvia/Richard scene, decide Richard has to be DoppelCooper’s kid, felt the scene between Lucy and Chad was like original Twin Peaks, a discuss how all the walls are falling down around Dougie. They think Laura’s haunting the world, Cooper will bring her back to the lodge and builds to the Fire Walk With Me ending (inadvertently seconding Scott Ryan’s prognosis). One of them asks if Laura might be Experiment (because sometimes her arms bend back), and they call the Roadhouse songs chapter markers. They discuss how the storytelling is working: Dougie wouldn’t be anyone’s first idea but Lynch is making us feel frustration which is RARE in TV and we should enjoy that it can make us feel that strongly.

The Gifted and The Damned covered Part Ten warning us they may be releasing episodes later as the season goes on and Game Of Thrones moves into their schedules. As they’re one of the first Monday morning podcasts, this could end up changing a lot of people’s routines. About the Part, the hosts wonder if Candie was created to bring back Laura. They also wonder if the Mitchums were filler to make up for the difficult Stephen and Richard Horne scenes. Mork (you get used to the hosts’ stage names) is starting to root for Dougie and Janey-E as a couple and wants them to stay together after the drama. Per Carl’s line, the hosts say all of Twin Peaks is turning into a nightmare.  They think Chad’s a flunkie and Lucy will call him out on his mail theft. Ben and Sylvia seem divorced. They want DoppelCooper to kill Richard by the end of this. The chevron dress on the singer seemed a little much for them but liked what they heard.

Chopping Wood Inside put out three episodes last week: a Part Ten Preview, a Part Ten hot take, and a Part Eleven preview. In the Part Ten Preview, the hosts think Laura will at least be referenced, something supernatural needs to wake up Dougie, another hitman will be hired for Dougie, and they make connections between the song Sycamore Trees and Ronnie Rocket and go on a tangent of parallels between the old screenplay and the Return as they posit Lynch may be making Ronnie Rocket now. They think the DoppelCooper vs Cooper fight will be less clear and more abstract, and then absolutely predict both Harry Dean Stanton singing with his guitar on his porch and that Stephen and Becky live in Fat Trout. They don’t think Briggs will be a visible character, that there will be a ‘happy’ ending to the Return in the same way Lynch always makes ‘happy’ endings. In the Part Ten hot take, the hosts say unless Albert is framing Diane she’s in cahoots with DoppelCooper, or the text wasn’t supposed to go to her and it was forwarded to Diane from Argentina. Tammy’s pic may have had DoppelCooper AND the billionaire, or possibly Jeffries. They guess the old characters are in vignettes alongside the plot, thought Jerry seems to be mirroring Dougie. The Mitchums are now less scary and therefore less compelling, and they think something will happen to Janey-E because she and CooperDougie are too content. They think Hastings will take them to the lodge, and Laura was sending a message to Cole. In the Part Eleven preview, the hosts reveal they love Clue(!!!), hypothesize where and how DoppelCooper and Dale will replace each other, and assume there are no easy answers to be had. They think Naido manipulated time when she pulled that lever in Part Three, we’ll see the Twin Peaks Welcome Sign before too long, and that Listening Post Alpha is the building in the first shot of the forest in the credits. Diane might be contacting Jeffries now like Albert did. And Albert is definitely protecting himself and/or hiding something. We’ll see Bob again. They don’t expect resolutions for the Brothers Horne, do expect to see Judy before the end, and they think it’ll be DoppelCooper driving into Twin Peaks looking like Dale.

EW’s A Twin Peaks Podcast summed up Margaret’s lesson: Twin Peaks is dying and we need true men to save it. They think Gordon drawing the antlered animal is why he was able to catch the Laura vision, and that he has a psychic receiver. Was Cooper the designer of the glass box or the billionaire, and what was he trying to catch in it? The hosts think he was fishing for Experiment. They note the Christmas imagery over Marion’s trailer, cookies at Sylvia’s house (sweetness is there among the worst), and call Carl a witness of tragedies. The wasted coffee of the cup through the window was a sign of the bad things inside. The hosts think the movement from Carl to Stephen seems purposeful. The Sylvia scene had music from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in a Kubrickian homage, and they note the teddy bear was DECAPITATED and was gold colored inside the globe. They say the Hornes are a metaphor of modern society: we have not taken responsibility for the wreckage of our history and we’ve evolved wrong. Death and destruction has evolved from the bomb and we need to course correct. Darren thinks the Pink Girls are figures of myth now. There’s a father/daughter Leland/Laura vibe between the Mitchums and the girls, and the ladies seem diminished as people. The hosts think the Mitchums vs Todd is delightfully goofy, and they note (even between Dougie and Janey-E) the loss of innocence all over this episode.

I’m Worried About Coop covered Part Ten by wondering if the Pink Girls are odd like Nadine or not human. They note how Janey-E is practical above all else yet is surprised by the shift in Dougie’s physique. They say she’s acting like Dougie is a whole new person, so on some level she knows. They wonder if Anthony was already working for Mr. Todd and if this new hit happened organically. After the Laura vision, the hosts expected either no one would be there or a random person, not Albert. Gordon’s officially plugged in. They don’t think Diane’s in cahoots with DoppelCooper, rather she has some side operation going. The DoppelCooper New York connection seemed expected. Richard Horne has to be DoppelCooper’s kid, is not showing off (he just IS this way), is missing parts. Is Stephen accusing Becky of cheating? Is Laura coming back? “If you can sweep floors for five minutes, anything is possible.”

We’re Not Going to Talk About Judy (a subheading of Another Kind of Distance Podcast) covered Part Ten began by reiterating how this is part of a whole rather than individual episodes and therefore no ratings. Diane is ‘confirmed’ as working for DoppelCooper and that she was ‘performing’ in that prison scene earlier (I do not share this opinion at all). Elise went to TOWN jumping to conclusions this episode. They think Richard Horne is DoppelCooper’s son, that his actor looks reptilian, and noted how Lynch played with each scene making us wonder if it will go okay or go horribly wrong. Marion’s trailer scene was filmed as a cartoon (just like the hit and run scene), Becky seems to be asking Stephen with her eyes “what is happening to you?” Nadine believes in Jacoby, the Sylvia scene was Kubrickian, and the episode ends with a discussion of Egyptian mythology that relates to The Return.

Who Killed Laura Podcast began their coverage of Part Ten wondering how Richard Horne, after seeing his reflection in Miriam’s door, can look at himself before he does what he’ll do to Miriam? They note the Honeymooners style slapstick Candie is employing, have no guesses for what Becky “did”, loved the comedy of Janey-E checking out Dougie, and noted how the sex scene was funny but then faded so slowly with his face remaining longest on the screen. They noted repetitions, like Jacoby saying red balloon and his having a red handkerchief, and they think Anthony and Dougie worked together on doctoring the claims while Anthony hooked Dougie up with Jade. They note how Candie doesn’t react at all, there are no good young men in Twin Peaks right now, and assume that a supernatural battle will happen this season.

Fire Talk With Me covered Part Ten with guests Garrison Taylor and Emily Flemming while regular host Jeremy is out. They discuss how the Miriam trailer scene is  simultaneously worse and a reprieve as the camera stays outside for the action. They talk about Carl and the Log Lady’s connections in the Secret History of Twin Peaks, think Becky may be the new Laura Palmer but is probably the new Shelly, noted Stephen screamed at her like Leland screamed at Laura in Fire Walk With Me, and moved on wondering if Candie WANTED to hit Rodney Mitchum with that remote. They call out Janey-E for being funny AND emotional in that news story footage, and that she’s clicking her red heels together when trying to seduce Dougie away from the cake. Allie still thinks Jerry will be killed in the woods. The hosts note the Mitchums don’t take Anthony seriously, wonder if Gordon drawing a jackelope, and say”So this confirms it” means Gordon is still suspicious of Diane. They also connect the true man family dots as a series theme: family.

Lodgers covered Part Nine with guest Jessica Bardsley, and positively consider this Part a table setting episode. The exposition becomes repetition as characters say what we know multiple times (mantra style). They explain the Jerry scenes as follows: begins humerous, then stays with it til we wonder ‘is it serious?’ then becomes funny again by the end. They wonder if Chrysta Bell is an intuitive performer that we’re too thick to notice, then talk about alternate universes and how Twin Peaks is embracing genre traits. They call out thesearchforthezone.com for, in addition to being a puzzle, being a SUCCESSFUL soundtrack advertisement. They also shine a light on Dana Ashbrook’s fantastic performance, and wonder if Dougie is Us, reaching out for the old show we love but can’t have again. The hosts also note how Lynch’s later work allows for women to have private spaces where they can talk about non-narative things, and the scene with the two girls in the Roadhouse is no different.

Formica Table covered Part Nine, noting how DoppelCooper walked up the sunlit road like a Terminator, before noting the echo of the ‘Coop’s been shot’ season one finale. The hosts were disappointed Tim Roth was playing Hutch rather than Jeffries, and blame the plane tail’s reversed letters on an editing trick for continuity rather than some arcane code. Saying in Part NINE that Dougie has a condition rather than earlier began a discussion. They expected more from the Ike showdown, love the excellent use of Bobby, think Diane has her own game, and Matthew Lillard exceeded his material while Chrysta Bell can’t carry her material. They blame Au Revoir Simone’s identical wardrobe as a production thing, not a time-out-of-order proof. And is it about the bunny? JackRABBIT’s Palace… The hosts connected Briggs’ missing head with the floating head of the woodsman in the prison cell, and think there should’ve only been one look-for-the-sound scene at the Great Northern rather than two. They also think some of the editing may be “like someone dropped the wedding cake on the way to the reception” and they’re trying to make it look good on the quick.

Laura Palmer Is Dead put out two podcasts, one each for Parts Nine and Ten. For Part Nine, the hosts like Tim Roth as Hutch, think Ray was planning to go to Beulah’s farm, and think Tammy has snakelike feminine and that we’re not supposed to like her whereas Diane has a gruff masculine energy and we are supposed to like her. They noticed all the threes happening, and think Bobby’s all choked up because his dad set him up to be a hero. They think Bobby is the one who needs to open the gateway. They shared a Kyle MacLachlan quote that he loved the levity of the Dougie scenes, were sure Johnny gets killed, and figure out that DoppelCooper is the A-Plot. For Part Ten, with their guest Nate, they get philosophical by guessing Lynch is trying to change viewing culture by making people pay MORE attention rather than less. They think the reflection of Richard Horne in Marion’s door glass was a reference to Bob, and that Lynch uses some scenes as palate cleansers. They think Candie seems PTSD, and the main host thinks with Diane it’s about abuse: if Diane is helping DoppelCooper it’s because of victim behavior. The main host found a main motivation (or at least bigger truth) of the show in Jacoby’s latest rant: every parent wants to save their child, but then right after this she drops more overgeneralizations such as It’s not possible to find enjoyment if you’ve never watched Twin Peaks before (an old dusted-off Fire Walk With Me fallacy if I ever heard one). They think Ben has a secret sadness, that he and Sylvia are just separated, thinks Sylvia is an enabler to Richard Horne, and that Gordon is not coupled with Tammy. And they end on “slow down, be in the moment.”

Fire Cast With Us covered Parts Eight and Nine in a single podcast. The hosts’ enthusiasm runs higher than their interest in deep-diving. They explain their blown minds after Part Eight, think the Nine Inch Nails worked great, and compared the White Lodge to Mount Olympus. Bob may be the leader of the woodsmen just as easily as being just special. The three hosts don’t agree at all on the frog locust: they think it could be Laura, Bob or even Cooper. For Part Nine, the hosts think Tim Roth as a lackey means he’s underused, and that Bob is Ella’s rash cause. They debate whether Diane knows who sent her the text. They assume Briggs must have died right after original Twin Peaks, and that he was sent to Twin Peaks to be protector of the lodge. Also, they think Gordon uses his hearing to his advantage.

Bickering Peaks covered Part Ten and noted how it only focused on two stories. Miriam couldn’t comprehend just what Richard Horne would be capable of, Carl sang a Canadian folk song, And Becky (like Secret History showed for sons following in fathers’ footsteps) does what her parent did with a guy. The hosts discuss Dougie, Janey-E and consent, think maybe Jerry HAS been somewhere else (maybe his consciousness has switched places?), and that women are at the bottom of Richard’s hierarchy. They make the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest connection to the song in the Sylvia scene, and can tell Anthony isn’t getting the reaction he’s looking for from the Mitchums. Those brothers are the only characters who feel pacing like we do, and they’re compassionate to their staff. The hosts think Gordon was doing automatic writing, that Laura was trying to reach Gordon specifically, and that Diane might be working a long con for the greater good as Gordon ‘keeps her close.’ The hosts suspect every story will eventually feed into a story featuring Laura.

The (Lynch fanboy and Lynch skeptic) hosts of Peaked covered Part Ten and decided this Part felt most like a TV episode. This is probably their least favorite episode but the best at having a central theme. Miriam appears to be breathing, Candy is dim but has agency, the Mitchums save money one Ike, Chad’s MASTERFUL at espionage (even the mailman’s suspicious), and violence is right in front of everyone yet no one can put a stop to any of it. The hosts think Candie was put on tranquilizers after that fly scene ended badly so the Mitchums did that long Anthony scene to themselves. Future versions of the hosts cut in to say there IS some kind of visual glitch on the handle of Gordon’s door. The hosts note Jacoby is Frost’s mouthpiece for conspiracy theory, note the visual language of everything being filmed so it has equal importance, and think there’s probably a frog locust at the heart of the Horne family.

Time For Cherry Pie and Coffee (a subheading of the Time For Cakes and Ales podcast) say “you can see the water simmering but not yet at a boil” about Part Ten. They suggest Richard Horne may be driving Jerry’s ‘stolen’ car, that Marion may live and her trailer won’t blow up, and (Carl scene between them) there are two scenes of remorseless horrible violence directed at someone by someone who cares not at all for what they’re doing. The Mitchums being sympathetic toward Candie’s slapstick thing is a needed release valve. They give an alternative to Nadine’s store name: ‘Drapes of Wrath,’ and suspect Big Ed’s hiding out in the garage so he doesn’t have to watch her buying into Jacoby’s nonsense. They think Jerry will be found by Bobby and the sheriffs, thinks there’s still a chance Donna is Richard Horne’s mother, and notices the woman with the roses and lilies that walks past during Albert and Constance’s dinner scene. Anthony was in so far over his head it came off farcical, immediately knew the exact Laura scene, thinks Gordon may be suspicious of Albert most, and think Albert and Gordon are possibly also best friends with a secret between them. It appears Buckhorn is now three or four days behind Vegas now and that time is matching up less and less. Is Tammy so awkward because she’s terrible at covering up her secret relationship with Cole? Is the person in the picture with DoppelCooper FROM the box? The hosts think things will only begin making sense when we understand what Jeffries’ role is in all of this. They think we may not get Cooper back, that the first black and white scene may be the Return’s last scene, and they connect the Roadhouse song with similarities to (as I also noticed and endorse heavily) The World Spins.

Diane Podcast checked in with their donut count contest and Rosie is in the lead with her unbelievably low guess. The hosts were an emotional mess at the end of Part Ten but they loved it. The Part had a softness with its humor but also violence. Juxtapositions and beautiful colors were everywhere. The Silver Mustang is officially the role of One Eyed Jacks in the Return, the Mitchums have a weird sentimentality, and Candie’s grief borders on possessed (is Candie sensitive to possession?). There is a profundity of Janey-E and Dougie’s connection. Reality appears to be invaded and we don’t know which reality has priority in The Return, and how the realities don’t accommodate each other is a feature of the Return that “has a power you don’t get with creepy ghosts in the corner.” The hosts think it’s possible Diane was done all we thought by DoppelCooper and she’s STILL in his thrall. Richard Horne is the perfect Twin Peaks hoodlum, and the Sylvia scene impressed the hosts because it’s so intense that it shows much less violence than we think we’re seeing. As the resident presidents of the Nadine fan club, Team Diane acknowledges the connection that resonates from Doctor Amp to Nadine. They’re proud of her, she’s made it! Though there’s that nagging issue at the heart of the show that Laura is still in danger.

Counter Esperanto put out an episode titled The Fifth Song: “From Beyond”, where Karl the Elder reads the titled H.P. Lovecraft story about a machine that awakens senses inside ourselves, but also lets us be seen by those on the other side. The story was connected to Twin Peaks by the hosts ever since the glass box in Part One, and here we finally have this. Jubel made the background soundscape. Mood’s as creepy as intended, and a nice 24-minute intermission if you need to ‘catch your breath.’

Ghostwood put out two episodes, one each for Parts Nine and Ten. In Part Nine, they go into additional love for silent movies, and then dissects Diane’s behavior: she just wants to go home, then hears about Blue Rose connections, and immediately (and suspiciously) starts checking for phone service. They wonder if Laura might be inside the empty vessel Johnny, who’s wearing the same blue Cooper pajamas. They get philosophical about the relationship between the profoundly different people that are the Major and Bobby Briggs, then turn to Jerry who they say will be stuck out there wrong-place-wrong-time when the Black Lodge opens up. They think Diane’s probably working with DoppelCooper and site her hair’s “gone completely white” before wondering if she’s a Laura doppelganger. They think woodsmen probably killed Ruth and Briggs had his final scene in similar form to the Giant. For Part Ten, the hosts talk Criterion doing Fire Walk With Me, and then talk MacLachlan’s Saturday Night Live appearance before talking Twin Peaks at Comic Con. They think Part Ten was DARK. The teddy bear thing was a childhood subversion, Sylvia being upset that Ben asks about Johnny’s well being before hers says they’re divorced, and they discuss the dynamic the Mitchums have with the Pink Girls. After the sex scene the hosts expected Cooper to snap out of it and call Janey-E Annie or Caroline, and they think Nadine’s hot on Jacoby, not his rhetoric. Because of the Laura scene, they wonder if Albert is a sensitive, and they share an internet theory where Laura is an avenging angel attacking anyone who wrong the women in the show. It would be good to see her kill Richard Horne so I’m not opposed to this. The hosts sympathize to addicts, but not ones who beat their wives. And the hosts say the Roadhouse song rinses off the parts of this episode we need to be done with.

Damn Fine Commentary covered Part Nine, pointing out Tim Roth won’t be playing Phillip Jeffries. The hosts also got different vibes from Hutch in relation to Chantelle, thinking he was a husband, a brother or her father. And they point out it still might be Gerard, not Jeffries. It’s possible Diane’s not a good guy but the question is, what does Diane know that we don’t? Bill Hastings is bringing stories together, and hosts think woodsmen killed Ruth in the convenience store. They talk about how Twin Peaks will be airing during the solar eclipse and play with how it could figure into the events that week somehow. They note how teenagers in Twin Peaks are seen as ugly now, an unpalatable concept back in the 90s. They go through a partial list of still-missing actors, and note how Chad’s a complete outsider.

Investigating Twin Peaks is historically a great starter video podcast that put out FIVE videos this week covering the episodes Dispute Between Brothers and the end, though you’ll note that means they covered THIRTEEN episodes in the five. They cover three episodes a piece followed by the finale getting single episode coverage. The team behind these podcasts did great work up until now but they give short shrift to the entire back half of season two. I admit many of these episodes are troublesome, but they’re less troublesome than the producers gave credit for, especially episodes like the stellar Path to the Black Lodge that definitely deserved a single episode treatment. Just as this show did not grade on a curve for Harley Peyton and Robert Engels’ first foray into being showrunners, I am not grading Investigating Twin Peaks on a curve for truncating the second season where they could have done what many recap podcasts have done before them, which is to give each Twin Peaks episode equal time under the microscope (note I’m not saying I had an issue with their negativity, I’m saying I have issue with their ability to focus through adversity). This went from an excellent starter series to a merely decent one all in one fell swoop.

Fish In The Percolator covered Part Nine. The hosts were surprised the farm is just a farm, called out Chad on aping Paul Rudd’s hissy fit style, explain some real world instances where the Briggs message pod could be real, and hope the symbols in the message mean Good Coop and Bad Coop will meet for a showdown. They note how Bill and Ruth happened upon what Windom Earle prepared for therefore they’re in way over their heads. It was just having an affair and it turned into a freaking nightmare. The hosts are now okay with Eddie Vedder being in Twin Peaks because the musicians in the cast will be musicians not actors (right?).

Dark Mood Woods covered Part Ten with guest Neil Bahadur. As with Part Six, the hosts think it’s steeped in upsetting material that will please people the least and define the show the most. It’s a roller coaster ride of absurdity and real world horror having a conversation. They called out Naomi Watts’ performance in the newscast, the fact that the camera shakes a little outside the trailer when Richard clobbers Marion, and they’re saying it may even be ’56 next Part because it’s THAT unable to be predicted.

Red Room Podcast covered Parts Nine and Ten with guest Courtney Stallings and they wonder if Janey-E has been taking CooperDougie through the stages of love. Scott continues to think Lucy is telling us the important things to think about when she talks about stopped time to Chad. And speaking of Chad, he’s a better villain than Richard Horne. The giant put the IDEA of Laura into the world, and it’s possible both Cooper and Laura are White Lodge guides set back after their lives. And the Log Lady segment was added oddly but the information in it is fantastic.

Afterbuzz’s Twin Peaks After Show begins their coverage of Part Ten by declaring Richard Horne DoppelCooper’s kid because he’s so calculating smart. Becky is exactly Shellly, Lynch filmed his first actually happy sex scene, and Big Ed could still be with Nadine. The hosts are all Janey-E fans and worry about her fate as Cooper will probably only become himself if it destroys someone else when it happens. Just like Candy, where would Chad go if they fire him? They connect the Sylvia scene to Clockwork Orange, Becky is also another Laura, and the hosts notice we’re moving back to the Twin Peaks we remember but it’s also going to go darker.

Mr. Podcast With Claude and Justin covered Part Ten in a nearly seven hour podcast where they start out dealing with too-many-mysteries fatigue (while the other host feels like the expansive nature of the show is shrinking as it focuses). The hosts are still in it, but does EVERYTHING have to be a mystery? (For example: Why did Lucy buy THAT chair?) They go into production and plot reasons for why Bob could still be in DoppelCooper and also why he might not be. Hutch and Chantelle’s loyalty probably comes from being PAID, and Bob, having an origin story now, can become a primal maguffin. About Diane, they’re skeptical she’s a bad guy, but the story of HOW she’s a bad guy is possibly the real question. They don’t try to guess Experiment’s motivations, now think the Mulholland Drive dumpster creature is a woodsman, think rather than DoppelCooper creating Dougie it was the woodsmen who created him for DoppelCooper, and maybe his origin finger’s print will be reversed. MIKE seems to think CooperDougie has everything he needs to wake up, so what’s stopping Coop? They think the Johnny scene would work best if he’s dead here, didn’t see a point in going back to Ike for another scene, and in the process of being corrupted by DoppelCooper will Diane be possessed by Bob? The hosts go through definitions of what makes a table (does a bench) while unpacking DoppelCooper’s text, hypothesize why Briggs would swallow Dougie’s wedding ring, think it’s odd that the Owls are missing in the Return, and they guess whether the Zone is the purple territory or just a place you can go. They assume Briggs went to a place where time moves slower but then get tripped up trying to explain his ability to predict the future. They guess it’s Experiment in Giant’s house, that maybe we’re looking at Twin Peaks’ doppelganger, dig into the town population discrepancies and site one of my favorites (the Access Guide) before I had a chance to explain how Lynch and Frost moved the decimal point there to make the town officially smaller. They find it interesting Kyle MacLachlan’s characters are not named in any of the credits, there’s still a box in Argentina to not forget about, and they point all things to Twin Peaks before too long.

Sparkwood & 21 began their coverage of Part Ten by noting similarities between Richard Horne’s reflection in Miriam’s door and Diane’s reflection over DoppelCooper in the prison scene. They discuss what Candie saying “how can you love me after what I did” says about the Mitchums and her back story, call out how CooperDougie snapped to defense for the Ike scene to explain how Cooper would’ve snapped out of it enough if he didn’t want to have sex with Janey, notes how Richard only attacks women, and that the golden globe headed teddy bear Laura is in the Part called “Laura is the One”. They think Candie’s acting almost like she’s sleepwalking, Albert and Gordon might both have needed to be there to unlock that Laura scene, think Diane might have a frog in her and may be a puppet sometimes, and the other guy in the New York photo is probably the billionaire or the scientist installing the glass box. In their Listener Feedback episode for Part Ten, they discuss Jungian shadows at length, actual weather explanations, and if there’s an actual dream reality in play it’d better wake up soon because need to feel like something’s real to feel like we’re moving forward with anything.

How’s Annie covered Part Nine with one host in one earphone while the other host is in the other. Beware if you only listen from one side like I usually do. The hosts love that Bobby gets to be the hero, aren’t sure what to make of Tim Roth playing Hutch rather than Jeffries, and note how well the show is using characters whose actors are dead. They discuss coming around to Dougie, the meta-mystery of where’s Audrey/Sherilyn Fenn, and just where and how Diane’s reaction to that text conflicts with her reaction to DoppelCooper. They note how Ben’s matured, and discuss how Secret History ends with a horror story but here with Betty Briggs’ story it becomes beautiful just like the ‘ending’ of the father/son relationship earned here by Bobby. And, “IS it about a Penguin?”

Twin Peaks Unwrapped covered Part Ten and ran two interviews, and also announced the next show happening from the hosts’ first time to Twin Peaks Fest. Bryon thought a lot of Part Ten was filler but Ben loved it all. The different last name on Miriam vs that letter HAS to be on purpose, the “Hello Johnny…” acts like a backbeat like the record Skip in Episode 14, and Candie almost has to be on Sparkle. Bryon ran out of Wizard of Oz references with the Dougie sex scene, and Albert has more to do with this than he seems. Their guess: DoppelCooper built the glass box to bring in Experiment to our world. After the recap the hosts had on guests John Neff, discussing the No Stars song’s origin and inclusion, and Andrew Grevas, discussing this very website’s origins. Good stuff as always.

You can tell by its title that Drink Full and Descend started late, but they caught up quick to the current Part already, Part Ten. The hosts say the plot (as metaphysical wierdness) answered a lot of questions, don’t think Miriam’s quite dead, and they bring up all the color present. Stephen reminds them of Frank Booth and he has the second red coffee cup after Dougie’s. Candie has the second red handkerchief, and she HAS to be living in some kind of Stockholm syndrome with the Mitchums and somewhere inside probably WANTED to hit Rodney. They think Janey-E is noticing something wrong with Dougie, and the sex consent issue is more complicated from Janey-E’s point of view. Dr. Amp is a spellcaster, especially over Nadine. Is Jerry outside of time now? Janey-E being all lovey-dovey the next morning mirrors Episode 29 at the diner. The hosts catch the different Miriam names, also that Lucy is onto Chad. As they wonder how evil IS Richard Horne the hosts hope Johnny Horne gets to beat Richard later on. Candie talking about the version layer rather than the inversion layer must be on purpose, right? About Cole’s animal drawing, they joke it’s someone coming to pet the animal, but figure it more likely connects to DoppelCooper’s dog legs thing. They discuss the DoppelCooper text and Diane’s verified response and feel there’s a second set of coordinates rather than the ones used to find Briggs, and they think the other man in the New York photo was the first watcher. They spend some time hypothesizing how the plot threads will come together thematically and plotwise, and note a theme: “you can’t revisit the same place twice.” And they bring in actual science, where if cosmic expansion is true and expands as predicted, there will come a time when no stars will be visible from Earth. When this happens would you have sufficient information to believe stars are there? They wrap up noting how Wally Brando and Bill Hastings’ ages don’t match up together with how time is supposed to flow, and the hosts discuss if there’s a splintering of time.

Twin Peaks Rewatch began their coverage of Part Ten by stating the soap opera elements have returned in force. They think Richard Horne is a brutal cruel person but that’s all (rather than scary like Bob), the Mitchums are the new Hornes but without the charm, and the Marion trailer scene composition is well done. About the cruelty, they ask “why am I watching this, should I keep doing it” and they take it on faith it’ll lead somewhere, which encapsulates their frustrations with the midstream commentary they’re forced to do. Meaning is unable to be understood without seeing all of the Return. MacLachlan and Watts are phenomenal with their roles against all odds, this episode had a ton of Badalamenti, and the Vegas plot isn’t advanced much but the characters are solidified though they have no idea what to make of Candie. They can’t confirm Diane’s allegiances, think DoppelCooper’s talking to a science guy in New York, Carl’s singing another piano lessons standard (noting another blatantly popular song in the mix), wonder if Nadine is funding Jacoby’s shovels, and that song at the end felt the most like Julee Cruise Roadhouse yet. After seeing what Twin Peaks had to endure, the song felt like a genuine cleansing moment. Next week: jackrabbits palace?

Endgame Podcasts covered Part Ten and think the creators are shining a light on violence towards women,  not condoning it, nor is it done gratuitously. Richard Horne is the most connected character after DoppelCooper on the hosts’ character map, they guess Jerry will be the first person to see the Black Lodge in the Return, and wonder if Richard will run across his parents after he leaves town. The ramping up of anger and mental instability seems to show when Twin Peaks hits climax moments everyone becomes the worst of themselves. The hosts go into religion and philosophy for a Laura and Bob conversation, and feel Laura wasn’t sent down with agency, rather determination (that would attract Bob). The pink girls remind the hosts of fembots, they wonder if Audrey is STILL in a coma, and don’t think Our Coop is coming back. They wonder if going to Hastings’ site will be how Cole goes into the lodge and possibly pops out in Twin Peaks, think Gordon and Tammy are a thing, and assumes DoppelCooper is the billionaire. Things are moving, we’re getting answers but only by way of more complexity, and it’s so good yet hard to adjust to.

Dishin’ The Percolator covered Parts Nine and Ten in a single podcast. They think it’s fun that Tim Roth is playing Hutch, and farm was not a code word like they thought. They’re led to believe Dougie was manufactured in 1997, they’re not into the Andy/Lucy chair scene, got caught up on the empty beer can prop in the roadhouse scene. Dallas’ mom dated Jim Morrison, hopefully more on that next week. The hosts didn’t get the Candie fly scene, loved the Janey-E vs cake scene, assume Richard now has to be DoppelCooper’s kid, didn’t feel one way or the other about the Roadhouse song, and wondered if the Laura scene was a Lynch-at-Cannes flashback.

Boob Tube Buddies covered Part Ten and started by comparing how they’d have talked to Richard Horne vs how Miriam did it. They also think Chad is SLY with Lucy before the mail shows up. They wonder where IS Audrey, and assume Richard has to be DoppelCooper’s kid. They caught the Clockwork Orange reference in the Sylvia scene while noting no major actual violence occurred besides choking Sylvia. They note Bobby was Pacey’s skeevey boss on Dawson’s Creek for a while (for anyone looking for more Dana Ashbrook). The hosts welcome Diane as a villain because that will make for a woman who has control AND agency in a series that desperately needs it. This Part was too ‘normal’ for the hosts’ comfort level. More supernatural soon, please.

The Twin Peaks Podcast covered Part Ten with Guest Claire Laffar (a classic feedbacker on this podcast). They expressed frustration with the “this is what will wake Cooper up” game we’re playing. The hosts also noted the large amount of pinks and reds, and as the episode count dwindles are getting ready for things like the 119 lady and fourth diary page to never be revisited. They want character, development and a protagonist. Matt made piece with any sex consent issues by noting how Cooper would’ve surfaced like with the Ike attack to make things right. Johnny’s teddy bear is nicknamed Teddy Ruxpin Flukeman. They all think we’ve been gifted any scene with Albert but especially his dinner with Constance. They ask if Laura’s spirit is slowing down Tammy in the hallway, note her differences from the TP in Secret History, and to the tin hat theories say “if you’re trying to interpret something that isn’t there you might as well be looking at clouds.”

Bookhouse Podcast covered Part Ten. Their early predictions did better but still had a ton of misses. The hosts all thought the Vegas material was a treat. Some like and some hate Jim Belushi’s work, described the relief and anxiety of the Marian trailer attack perfectly, and described Richard Horne as running on anger. SOMETHING is up between the pink girls and the Mitchums, the hosts think Lucy will probably bust Chad, and DoppelCooper and Audrey are still favorite parent choices for Richard. They don’t condone Tammy and Gordon, and wonder if Candie is pulling a con on the Mitchums with that ‘air conditioning’ story. They mention the spooky sound cues around Tammy in the hallway scene, and think the Log Lady words may be referencing the golden Laura orb.

Peaks TV covered Parts Nine and Ten in a single podcast. They noticed the Clockwork Orange connection, mentioned an article about how rape choreography still takes effect on the cast and crew, and note how Roth isn’t playing Jeffries. The way Lynch throws in scenes is like mixing cocktails…let’s throw in some Jacoby for flavor. They think where Bobby has come to is great. They say Marian has no idea how to protect herself, that Janey-E was rapey but it’s more complicated than that, and Laura still being a chosen one is a tricky issue. They give Frost a ton of credit at the end, noting when they say ‘Lynch’ it’s shorthand for what they know is a creative partnership. The hosts are all in, frustration and all.

The Brad Dukes Show covered Part Ten with guest GIGI. They begin to think maybe Cooper ISN’T coming back, and acknowledge this was a tough episode. They discuss whether maybe we shouldn’t have known Richard Horne’s name at all until he called Sylvia Grandma. They think Marian may be expendable to the plot by now, Candie is too much for them, Bobby’s the only emotional character we can connect with, and Jerry’s just a screw-up in the woods. They think DoppelCooper will track down Ray and Hutch will hit Dougie and Janey-E.

Twin Peaks The Return covered Part Ten, which they dub “a parade of assholes.” So much of the violence was less shown, less gratuitous, and harder hitting. Violence in domestic spaces is the theme. They assume Candie is on drugs and probably abused as well. Anthony’s exposition is good for the people who just watch and want to avoid the rabbit holes, “Naomi Watts is all of us” seeing Dougie, the consent is GRAY, and it’s noted how decisions are regularly arrived at on feelings above all else in Twin Peaks. Diane could be more stealth if she wanted to be…she WANTS to be noticed. An interview with Richard Horne’s Eamon Farren rounds out the episode. He had no idea of his character before arriving for filming and enjoys the confusion after he watches each episode. Because Lynch is so in control of his vision and knows where things need to go, he can welcome in people to the making process. Your job as an actor is to bring that part of yourself he sees in you, and be open to the experience. He ends by saying “when you’re in something that means something to people, that’s the best.”

Twin Peaks Peeks covered Part Ten by acknowledging all the material with men abusing women. Then they go into the sex scene which is intended to be funny but didn’t work too well though it worked better than Coop and Annie. The Mitchums are injecting a non-supernatural drama to the narrative, Audrey being Richard’s mom become less of a red herring, and the emotional core to balance the abuse doesn’t appear to be present. It seems like shock material unless you ground it in something; women helping women would go a long way. The hosts discuss a short story by Julio Cortezar called Axolotl, where ot has fish with horns, and they defy time and space. Gordon’s drawing brought it to mind, and ot seems well worth reading. By the end of the story, the character becomes an axolotl himself. The hosts love that Nadine achieved her goals and that Albert gets to enjoy himself. If Diane’s a co-conspirator with anybody, she has agency and this is WELCOME. The hosts want the cameos to come with character, not just what they’re doing. And if Johnny’s included for shock and set dressing, this is not a reason to include him in the reboot.

 

Not on the list but you released a podcast last week? Leave a comment here so I can add you into my listening schedule. The Twin Peaks community needs to know about you!

Written by John Bernardy

John Bernardy has been writing for 25YL since before the site went public and he’s loved every minute. The show most important to him is Twin Peaks. He is husband to a damn fine woman, father to two fascinating individuals, and their pet thinks he’s a good dog walker.

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