Twin Peaks, Episode 2.6: Demons

Twin Peaks: Demons

“Demons” largely deals with the fall-out of the previous episode's events while moving towards an upcoming major reveal. Audrey is out of danger but her issues with her dad are far from over. Ben Horne is, seemingly, more concerned with the mysterious Japanese man that is vying for a slice of land. Cooper's FBI boss, Gordon Cole, arrives to provide a warning and some help. That is when the mysterious one-armed man is brought in. Without his cocktail of drugs, he reveals his true self: MIKE, a possessing spirit that was once a partner of Killer BOB. Meanwhile, James helps Donna and Maddie escape from the unhinged Harold but Laura's cousin decides that's the last straw.

One of my favorite things about “Twin Peaks” is how easily it crossed between genres. The program was a soap opera, a detective show, an eccentric comedy, a paranormal series steeped in the esoteric, and a surreal horror show. In “Demons,” the show's streak of magic realism veers towards the out-and-out supernatural. The one-armed man revealing his true form and then detailing the exact way spirits like him and BOB work might be blatant exposition... But it's so wonderfully weird and unexpected. Did anyone watching this show in 1991, truly, expect it to make ghosts and demons a central part of its story?

This is not the only thing about season two's sixth episode that I enjoyed. David Lynch himself steps in front of the camera, appearing as Gordon Cole. Naturally, he gifts his own character with an eccentric habit. The nearly-deaf Cole habitually mishearing people and shouting all his dialogue shouldn't be funny but, largely thanks to Lynch's delivery, it is. There's also some amusing comic relief when Leland Palmer launches into a sing-along at the Great Northern Bar. Around the same time, Pete gets a good gag when he offers the (very uninterested) Japanese businessman a glass of milk. It feels like Pete hasn't had anything to do in a while, so it was nice to see him.

Among the many subplots dragging this show down recently, the love triangle between James, Donna, and Maddie has to be the most tiresome. “Demons” manages to wrap this up and even makes it pretty poetic too. While sitting by a lake, Maddie explains to James the reasoning for their (otherwise nonsensical) romantic attraction. With this one simple conversation, the episode's writers – Harley Peyton and Robert Engels – manage to redeem the entire misbegotten plot point, while also giving Maddie some of the agency she's been sorely lacking since her introduction.

Still, this episode of “Peaks” has the required helping of Shit Nobody Cares About. Bobby and Shelly's predicament with the disabled Leo continues to be a tedious affair. The lovers may not be entirely without blame but punishing them with a financial burden seems awfully cruel. And I can't imagine Eric Da Re enjoyed being stuck in a chair, with little else to do. The subplot revolving around Josie Packard and her Asian connection is so irrelevant to me, I'm not even sure I fully understanding. It's just another dumb thing the show is using to fill time. Sometimes, I wish serialized programs like this could just gracefully write out the characters that obviously aren't working.

Still, as the murder of Laura Palmer slowly crawls towards its conclusion, season two of “Twin Peaks” is picking up some speed. [7/10]