Twin Peaks, Episode 2.14: Double Play

Twin Peaks: Double Play

As the dead body found in the police station is further examined, Cooper sees his worst fears confirmed: Windom Earle has, indeed, come to Twin Peaks. Coop explains how he formed a rivalry with the man, over his beautiful wife, and how dangerous Earle is. Meanwhile, the newly revived Leo attacks Shelly but is injured by Bobby and wanders off into the woods. Audrey continues to unravel her father's newfound fixation on the Antebellum era. Doctor Jacoby believes the best way to handle this psychosis is to let it play itself out. Catherine and Andrew Packard still have plans to humiliate Josie, while James is getting further drawn into a villainous plan abroad.

When it comes to long-running anime series, fans often refer to “filler arcs.” Those would be the unimportant and inessential story lines made to fill the gap before the original manga creator can create new material to be adapted. The last few episodes of “Twin Peaks” definitely felt like the filler arc, as the show juggled its various lingering story arcs. And now the filler arc is over. “Double Play” properly introduces Windom Earle, Dale Cooper's deranged former partner and archenemy. During a meaningful monologue, Coop explains why such enmity exists between him and Earle, who is described in histrionic terms as both purely brilliant and irredeemably evil. While you may or may not like this chapter of “Peaks” as much as the mystery of Laura Palmer's murder, at least the show has a sense of forward momentum again.

“Double Play was directed by Uli Edel, a German filmmaker who had already made critically acclaimed work like “Christiane F.” and “Last Exit to Brooklyn.” (He would go on to less respected films, like “Body of Evidence” and “The Little Vampire.”) Edel clearly has strong skills of his own. Picking up where the last film left off, an early scene continues Leo's attack on Shelly. It's a fairly intense moment, continuing the strong horror vibes of a vulnerable young woman in a dark house, pursued by a unhinged lunatic with an axe. It's a rather tense struggle, the empty house making for an atmospheric location and Leo being a properly intimidating attacker.

“Twin Peaks” may be getting better in the second half of its second season but that doesn't mean its healed fully. The story arc around Catherine and Josie continues to drag horribly. The show attempts to breath some life into this plot with two high profile guest stars. Dan O'Herlihy – baritone voiced character actor best known for memorable appearances in cult faves like “RoboCop” and “Halloween III” – appears as Andrew Packard, Catherine's thought-dead brother.  David Warner shows up as Thomas Eckhart, Packard's business rival who tried to have him killed. Both O'Herlihy and Warner are certainly wonderful performers who always bring something to the material but even these guys can't make me interested in these proceedings.

The show is also still struggling to find the particular balance that made the comic relief in its first season delightful and makes its current jokes hard-to-swallow. Andy and Dick's investigation into Nicky's possibly murderous past ends suddenly with Doc Haywood delivering a long, highly melodramatic speech. Ben Horne's Civil War obsession is only growing more cartoonish. Especially insulting is the continued way every man in Twin Peaks falls over themselves when the former mayor's widow is around. You'll notice both of these story lines would basically disappear all together now that the show has more important matters to attend to.

So my opinion continues to be divided, as “Peaks” heads into the next chapter of its second season. You can see the series directly addressing some of the problems fans where surely having with it at this point. Yet flabby writing decisions, like James' on-going adventure in knock-off noir land, are still hanging around too. We are not out of the woods yet – a rather fitting turn-of-phrase – but at least things are improving a little bit. [6/10]