Twin Peaks Newbie Recap: “Coma” & “The Man Behind Glass”

Some days…

Episode 9: “Coma”

Agent Cooper and Agent Rosenfield are sharing a nice breakfast, complete with chatting about Buddhism and a barbershop quartet in the background. They discuss the case as well — Ronette has woked up and they’re planning to show her sketches which I’m sure will end badly. And Rosenfield makes a joke! They know Jacques was killed by a pillow now and are trying to figure out who shot Agent Cooper but then an interesting topic comes up. Rosenfield says he’s looking for Windom Earle, who “retired to a place with wrist restraints,” but no one knows what happened to him. Apparently he’s Agent Cooper’s former partner!

Donna is delivering meals on wheels. It’s the “Old Bag” from Seinfeld! And a mini David Lynch…

Yes, in another example of bizarre Twin Peaks realty, there’s a young boy in a tux at this old lady’s house. And she’s angry about the creamed corn in her meal but it’s ok because the young boy makes it completely disappear. And then end up in his hands. WTF. She says it’s her grandson who’s studying magic. Uh huh. Donna inquires about Laura and the woman tells her to ask Mr. Smith next door. She tries but he doesn’t answer so she leaves a note.

At the hospital, Agent Cooper and Sheriff Harry come to see Ronette. They mess with the stools in the room for far too long in a nice bit of comedy before they decide to show her the sketch of Bob. Which of course gets a violent reaction. At the hotel, Jerry and Benjamin discuss the two ledgers and which they should burn to best suit them. They’re still counting on Josie to sell but with Catherine missing she’ll need Peter to sign off. They decide to roast some marshmallows before they decide.

At the R&R Andy is having some trouble with tape. Bless. Bobby’s dad, Major Briggs, is just hanging out staring into nothingness when the Log Lady sits down next to him. Norma admonishes her about putting her sticky pitch on the counters and booth. The Log has something to tell Major Briggs, “deliver the message.” He understands.

Lucy is bothered by a fly at the police station while Andy is pacing outside. He insists on talking to her even though she wants nothing to do with it and he informs her he is sterile.

So… THAT’S interesting.

Hank also pays a visit to the station for his parole. And pulls out some major sass. Apparently Sheriff Harry and he used to be friends, he was even a Book House Boy! “One of the best,” Harry tells Agent Cooper. Benjamin then calls for Sheriff Harry and tells him Audrey has been missing for two days. NBD. Leland shows up at the hotel to talk shop and Benjamin and Jerry find out he’s already told the Iceland folks about the fire, which is the last thing they wanted. However, he’s quickly distracted when he spots the Bob drawing and explains he knows the man from his grandfather’s summer house. Benjamin, with no shame, says, “Jerry, please kill Leland.”

Shelley visits Leo in the hospital and Dr. Hayward says he had the bullet lodged in his spine. All they can do is maintain his current state and thank goodness there’s that convenient mirror facing the camera otherwise how would we have seen Leo slowly open his eyes once they both left the room?? Why is there a mirror?

At One Eyed Jack’s, Audrey takes over ice duty for one of the girls to get into one of the sex rooms where… Emory Battis (!!!) is tied up, letting his new pedicure dry while a cowgirl vacuums. Audrey shoos the cowgirl and ties the vacuum cord around Emory’s neck to get information out of him. He names her father as the owner, says he recruited Ronette and Laura but that Benjamin threw her out for using drugs. “Laura always got her way, just like you,” he says.

Shelley and Bobby discuss keeping Leo at home because they’d get access to his disability money. At first she was hesitant but Shelley finally agrees. At the hotel, Audrey’s note is still under the bed, unfound. Agent Cooper talks to Diane about Agent Earle and Audrey when Major Briggs shows up with the aforementioned message. He prefaces it with the fact that he can’t reveal the secrecy of his exact work but that he maintains deep space monitors. Oooooh! Early Friday morning when Agent Cooper was shot there was a read out of the usual nonsense and then, “the owls are not what they seem.” And to drive the point home, “Cooper/Cooper/Cooper.” Just when you think things on the show can’t get weirder/more awesome, they do.

Maddy and Donna are recording a song with James and it’s super uncomfortable to watch. WHICH ONE IS HE SINGING THIS LOVE SONG TO??? Donna assumes it’s Maddy and decides to run into a corner. Just then Harold Smith calls for her and they plan to meet. Maddy has a freaky vision of Bob in the house. Meanwhile, Agent Cooper gets another visit from Lurch where he sees Ronette, Bob, owls, Bob with an owl face (ACK!), and Sarah. The he gets a call from Audrey! Says she saw him in a tux but Blacky hangs up the phone on her before she can tell him where she is.

Episode 10: “The Man Behind Glass”

We open to Ronette in a fit at the hospital. Apparently she pulled her IV out… because someone poisoned it. She’s also got the letter B under her nail. Oh god, the killer got in there!!!! Agent Cooper decides it’s time to tell Rosenfield and Sheriff Harry he was visited by a giant. “Visited by a giant?” You heard him.

Donna goes to see Harold Smith who offers her food and beverage. She respectfully (and probably smartly) declines, and remarks about how warm it is in his house. He tells her not to be nervous which is a big old red flag to be nervous, but tells her he was the one who sent her the note about looking into the meals on wheels. Laura thought of him as a “mystery” in her life, he says while also asking her to place one of the orchids he raises on Laura’s grave. While he’s picking one out Donna notices a random paper hanging out of his book shelf and is in the midst of pulling it out when he comes back. She promises to return. No one mentions her snooping.

Back at the police station, they’re at the chalkboard again. Yay!! Agent Cooper suggests there’s a psychic link between himself, Mrs. Palmer, Ronette, and Maddy. Rosenfield matches the coke from James’ bike to Leo, so he’s free to go, and the B from Ronette’s name is, of course from Flesh World magazine. He also informs them Agent Cooper was shot with James Bond’s gun. Then he and Sheriff Harry get all rough and tough with each other for a short bit until…

OTP

Rosenfield, you continue to surprise me.

Lucy is busy with a Scrabble board, using BTR to make possible words for Agent Cooper when her lunch date arrives. “Hello, Dick,” she says with perfect comedic timing. He’s actually Richard Tremayne and he works at Horne’s in menswear. Leland shows up to tell the police about Bob. He thinks Robertson was the last name of the family who also had a house near his. He didn’t only leave near Bob, he actually had several unpleasant interactions with him.

At their casual R&R lunch date, Lucy complains about their interaction, or lack thereof, since their date six weeks ago. Oh god they had sex at Horne’s! When he tries to make up for not calling her with a discounted dress from Horne’s he promised her she suggests he try a maternity dress instead. This is the best soap opera. Maddy and James also at the diner discussing whether or not Donna has been acting differently lately. “She wanted to do me through the bars,” says James, in a great explanation of that scene. And Donna walks in and sees them holding hands. Drama!

Back to Audrey’s predicament at One Eyed Jack’s, things have taken a really bad turn. She’s being tied up, shot up with drugs by Blacky, while Emory films it all. Emory is freaking out about what she knows but Blacky is too busy thinking about how she can get money from Benjamin from this and then she’ll buy him out of the club. At the police station, the One Armed Man is selling Sheriff Harry shoes for the whole force apparently but he spots Bob’s photo and freaks out. He says he needs medication and heads to the bathroom. Shelley arrives to see Sheriff Harry and Agent Cooper, hesitant to give a statement against Leo. Agent Cooper tries some reverse psychology and let’s her go, figuring she’s set to collect Leo’s insurance money. Having taken an injection of something, the One Armed Man shouts toward the ceiling at Bob, “I’m after you now!”

The Asian man is still keeping tabs on Agent Cooper at the hotel and sees him meet with Benjamin to ask about Audrey. When he asks if there’s any trouble at home, Benjamin deflects by  inquiring about the nature of their relationship. STOP TALKING AND FIND AUDREY YOU IDIOTS. She’s still passed out when some obvious creep wakes her with lace and caramels. Jean Renault! Oh god. More drugs! Emory and Blacky mention Agent Cooper being at the club and Jean and Blacky’s sister Nancy help plan evil things.

Sheriff Harry gets call from Josie, who will be back tomorrow and asks Agent Cooper to see her first. Hawk brings them info about the lake house Leland told them about but more searching is needed. Sheriff Harry never bothered to look for the One Armed Man after he went to the bathroom to take medication and since he’s still not back they finally go looking for him. He’s gone but they find the syringe and Agent Cooper says, “Without chemicals, he points!”

Nadine is awake at the hospital but restrained. Big Ed is asked to sing to her by Dr. Hayward in order to calm her. Apparently she’s got too much adrenaline pumping through her and she broke out of the first restraints. As he sings “On Top of Old Smokey,” she begins to squeeze his hand VERY hard and breaks out of the newer, tougher, restraints. She thinks she’s going to cheerleader tryouts and that she’s still 18 years old. Oh dear.

Jacoby is recovering nicely in a redecorated hospital room with his WIFE massaging him. He’s agreed to be hypnotized in order to tell the police more about the murder of Jacques he might have witnessed. Yup, he saw the man holding the pillow.

Pause for owl sighting.

Donna brings the special orchid to Laura’s grave and has some serious girl talk with her. She has interest in Harold, complains about James, but is still incredibly angry with Laura. “We’re still trying to solve YOUR problems,” she yells. James goes to Maddy, looking for Donna after becoming upset seeing his mom drunk again. They sorta kiss but then move to a simple embrace when obviously Donna walks in. James screams a dramatic WHHHHHHY in the middle of the road as she rides off. Maddy then talks out loud to Laura, but Leland shows up to comfort her over people thinking she’s Laura. Just then Sheriff Harry and Agent Cooper arrive to arrest him for Jacques murder.

Donna runs to Harold, who tries to comfort her like Laura did? Again he leaves the room and Donna wanders, sees a knife, and finds a notebook. Inside it reads “this is the diary of Laura Palmer.”

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN!

[Editor’s Note: You can read the rest of my Twin Peaks newbie recaps here.]

(captioned screecaps courtesy of TwinPeaksCaptioned.tumblr.com)

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Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

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