Twin Peaks: S02E10 “Dispute Between Brothers”
How do you follow greatness? The past three episodes for Twin Peaks have been really good, wrapping up the central mystery and killing off a few characters. What can Frost & Co. do now?
There’s obviously still a lot left to do in Twin Peaks, even if Cooper plans to leave midway through. (I’m a little surprised he even thinks about leaving, since Bob got away, but I don’t think the Bureau would let him stick around for that.) Bob is still loose, we still don’t know a whole lot about Pittsburgh and Cooper, and the One Eyed Jack’s business is still up in the air. All of these get some headway in “Dispute Between Brothers.”
But from what I’ve heard of the post-reveal episodes of Twin Peaks, the show becomes unbearably quirky (without the Lynchian weirdness, which is way different from quirky) and poorly written. And there were huge helpings of that, although a few made me chuckle.
The opening at the funeral was excellently done, coming back to the standbys of food and community. The scene was well-shot, and then the titular dispute was fun enough (the mayor and his brother have been fighting for 50 years over nothing) that it adds to the town.
But things like Super-Nadine? I can’t say I didn’t laugh at her shot put, but I’m not really sure why it matters to the mystery of the town, or more importantly, why I should care. She’s never been a character, and now she’s past Lynchian weirdness - it’s just overly bizarre.
And Norma’s mother was M.T. Wentz the whole time! Awesome. Man, like, that’s so cool. Totally worthwhile. But what was even more worthwhile was the conversation that followed that totally awesome revelation, which I don’t even want to comb through to get a quote because it was so terrible. (If we ever needed some dutch angles or weird coming-through-the-ceiling-tile shots to distract us, it was then.)
And Josie returning was sigh-worthy as well. I know they needed to keep some characters off the map while Laura’s stuff got figured out, but just having her stumble through the door is exceedingly lazy.
I did like some scenes with questionable characters, like Catherine’s speech to Truman, ending with the awesome, “I ran out of tuna fish.” Dr. Jacoby’s style of dress at the funeral was fun. Andy’s speech to Tremaine wasn’t terrible. And I have to be honest, even though I’m a little ashamed - the Leo/Bobby/Shelly storyline is becoming decent. Not good, not interesting, but it’s not at the Super-Nadine level anymore. We can tell that Shelly is anguished (even though I’d say it’s from lazy writing, making her a typical yearning woman), that Bobby is just as tone-deaf as Leo (without the domestic violence so far), and that when Leo does get up, it’ll scare the hell out of me.
But we were introduced to these characters via the mystery to flesh out the town, and they were never really well-written, to be honest. Twin Peaks is a whole lot better at subtle mythology and thematic material than character. Cooper is far and away the best on the show, and he’s developed well even in the last few episodes, as he grew frustrated and then became strong, culminating in patting Leland’s head as he died. But who else has that level of depth? Sure, Truman’s loyal and Bobby’s a scumbag, but I don’t think there’s a whole lot under that.
So if there’s no character there, and they don’t relate to the main plot anymore (which has always been the most interesting), I fail to see why they matter. Especially when so much of their scenes have been about quirk, which kills in large doses, and especially when their scenes are so much, written so poorly.
As usual, the stuff with Cooper was worthwhile. We learn (I think) what the Pittsburgh case was. His send-off from the department was nice, as was his reason to stay. I knew he had to stay, and I was worried the reason would be ham-fisted, but it’s organic from the plot. It’s a little cute it comes up in the next episode after the mystery is solved, but it still works. And the reveal that the Canadian is Renault’s man is well-handled and not too telegraphed or silly. I like that Renault is shaping up to be some sort of a natural villain, although he should be small potatoes by the end of the season.
But what struck me most about this episode, and the last one as well, is how much I enjoy Major Briggs. I said his speech to Bobby at the dinner table in Season 1 was too much in every way, drowning the character in long speeches about terrible philosophy. But after knowing a little about his work, and seeing how he plays off of Cooper in the final scene does wonders. Cooper needs someone like him to bounce his crazy shit off of, and Briggs gives the right air of knowledge and open-mindedness that he needs. I think this all goes back to character - with Bobby, the punk, a speech like that doesn’t work and muddles everything. Against Cooper, a mostly-formed human being, Briggs makes a lot more sense as well.
And going back to the mythology, I’m not sure why Cooper would just sit in the woods. Doesn’t he know? Does he think that it’s over? When an owl watches you pee, I don’t think there’s any way it’s over.
