Twin Peaks, Episode 2.17: Wounds and Scars

Twin Peaks: Wounds and Scars

The death of Josie leaves Sheriff Truman emotionally broken, the usually stable man drowning his sorrows in booze. Windom Earle continues his villainous scheme, focusing in on the forthcoming Miss Twin Peaks beauty pageant. Cooper does everything he can to counter Earle's mental chess game without sacrificing any human life. Meanwhile, Major Briggs and the Log Lady realize a connection, through their mutual experiences with the spirits of the forest. On a lighter note, Shelly's sister arrives in the town and Dale is immediately smitten with her.

Let us not forget that one of “Twin Peaks'” goals was to explore grief. While Truman loosing his girlfriend is not quite the same thing as the Palmer parents grappling with the death of their daughter, it's still something. In the back-half of season two, “Twin Peaks” feels so divorced from its roots at times. So it's nice to see the show attempting to touch upon some of the program's original themes. Michael Ontkean gets to stretch his acting muscles, crying and raging while deep in the bottle. We, the viewer, might not be sad to see Josie gone but, ya know, at least the show is dealing with the fallout of that realistically.

Yet “Wounds and Scars” is an episode built more around keeping the story going and building on the show's lore. The continued crossover between the occult and government agencies, apparent in Major Briggs and the Log Lady comparing abductions and markings, remains one of the second season's more compelling elements. The scene devoted to Windom Earle, in disguise, going into the Haywood house and talking with Donna is oddly devoid of tension. Still, Earle's hammy villainy is entertaining in a way that the show has been missing here of late.

Season two is also occupying itself with romantic entanglements. Despite the obvious romantic chemistry between Dale and Audrey, Kyle MacLachlan was uncomfortable with his character dating a high school student. So the show cooked up new love interests for both characters. Jack Justice Wheeler, played by a dashingly handsome Billy Zane, first appeared last episode. Here, his obvious attraction to Audrey continues to grow as they go on a picnic together. While Zane does fine in the role, it's clear that the chemistry with Sherlyn Finn isn't quite there. We'll talk more about Annie next time but she is essentially the replacement for Audrey in Coop's heart.

Ultimately, a little too much of “Wounds and Scars” is devoted to more of that awkward, season two comic relief. The plotline surrounding Nadine's regression into her teenage years almost gets poignant, when Ed tries to breech the idea of a divorce with her. This falls apart into goofy comedy in a later scene she shares with Mike. The worst comedy of the episode involves the fashion show put together to benefit the Pine Weasel. The fashion show is painfully unfunny. Once the Pine Weasel gets loose in the crowd, a madcap and aggressively wacky streak shows that is, frankly, kind of embarrassing. This scene does not represent “Twin Peaks” at its most sophisticated.

Ultimately, it's another awkward episode but, at the very least, “Twin Peaks” is showing some improvement after a long period of almost strictly middling episodes. That counts for something. [6/10]