‘Twin Peaks 3×10’ Review
If you are a fan of Twin Peaks you’ll no doubt have already thanked David Lynch and Mark Frost in your head for bringing us season 3. At episode 10 we are now officially down the rabbit hole, but if you were looking for much progress in the main story you won’t get it here. What you do get is plenty of information that further strengthens this new world of Twin Peaks.
The key to this episode is characters, and what they are doing in this episode. Dougie (Kyle MacLachlan) is living life with Janey-E (Naomi Watts) who has found a new-found attraction to her slimmed down husband. Richard Horne (Eamon Farren) is further cementing how evil he is by terrorising his grandmother, and Gordon Cole (David Lynch) confirms something to himself about Diane (Laura Dern).
While it may feel like not a lot happens in this episode of Twin Peaks, by the time it is finished you find yourself actually knowing a lot about the characters. The most important thing for me was Gordon’s instincts on Diane. This confirms what I picked up from the previous episode in the smoking scene. This will make for interesting watching in episodes to come.
For fans of the cooky side of Twin Peaks, the return of Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) for his latest rant will be one of your favourite moments. This also brings in Nadine (Wendy Robie) who has a nice little scene where we see a nice little throwback to the original series with her obsession with silent drape runners. Jerry Horne (David Patrick Kelly) is still lost in the woods of course, and these are moments to treasure in an episode that has plenty of scenes showing the darkness of human nature.
Fans of Twin Peaks will also love the start of the episode with Harry Dean Stanton sat with his guitar singing a song. In many ways, this goes beyond the episode itself and into the world of David Lynch and his moments of humanity. Sometimes, as with this one it is easy to get lost in them and forget this is a show of finite episodes where we need to get some answers.
While episode 10 shows Dougie fitting into a “normal” life, we also see the danger surrounding him. With the capture of Ike the Spike (Christophe Zajac-Denek) the new danger is in the form of Rodney and Bradley Mitchum (Robert Knepper and James Belushi). These two returning characters are more slapstick rather than dangerous, but they with an eye on doing Dougie harm, maybe they’ll push some progress in the return of Agent Cooper.
When it comes to the scenes with Rodney and Bradley, the scene stealers are Sandie (Giselle Damier), Mandie (Andréa Leal), and Candie (Amy Shiels). The fly swatting scene is an example of this. A scene which goes on just a little too long, it is enjoyable because you know what is coming, and the payoff is worth it. This is what is good about this episode, it is the moments that stand out, rather than being story heavy.
After watching episode 10 of Twin Peaks, take a moment to think about what you’ve seen. The beauty is that you’ll realise you know a lot, without even realising you were taking it in. This is an excellent episode of the show, even if the focus shifted off evil Cooper. Laura is the key to the mystery of Twin Peaks, but how she will play a part in it? That is yet to be revealed.
***** 5/5
Twin Peaks airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic, apparently now on Tuesdays to make way for Game of Thrones. Though it can be watched on Demand on Mondays.
