Twin Peaks Rewatch 13: The Orchid's Curse

[Jake]

Twin Peaks Rewatch 13:

The Orchid's Curse

We're deep in the heart of Twin Peaks-as-ongoing-TV-series now, as a bunch of action-packed sneaking around happens, while Donna carries the emotional weight of the series herself, in her seemingly-solo search to understand Laura's murder.

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• Episode 14 Pre-Discussion Thread

Catching up? Listen to the Rewatch archive.

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my original pre-discussion first post:

I'm admittedly pretty lost in my memory of what happens next, other than some very very big beats. This is a strange part of the show for me, on this watch-through, because I thought I actually had a pretty good handle on when things happen, when certain arcs wrap up, etc, but I guess I totally don't.

[LostInTheMovies]

Very solid episode, and underrated. It is not as stylish as some of the others, but after some of the over-the-top flourishes of the previous episode (aside from the opening tour through the ceiling hole, which I love) that's not a bad thing. It also showcases Lara Flynn Boyle's best acting of the series. Donna can be a frustrating/elusive character and the fact that she's paired with James much of the time leads people to denigrate both the character and performance. But her work in the Harold scenes is fantastic - getting right to the heart of the whole Laura mystery vibe. The One-Eyed Jack's raid is also fun, if more in an action B-movie kinda way. I like the Steadicam work down the corridors.

 

After the slight lag of last week's episode, we're on an uptick again. Next week's may be my favorite non-Lynch directed episode; it's certainly my favorite non-Lynch directed of season 2.

[StealThisCorn]

I am really curious to know why, when the series first aired in Germany, this episode was given the title 'The Orchid's Curse'. What does that have to do with anything in the episode? I mean sure Harold raises orchids and he does seem weirdly trapped in that house so maybe he's cursed? I guess? Is that bizarre scene where his hand begins shaking uncontrollably 'the curse of the orchid'? I would love to know the stories or thoughts behind some of these episode names.

The beginning of this episode makes abundantly clear that, once again, Hawk does all the real police work in the Sheriff's Department while Sheriff Truman stuffs his face with donuts and coffee, taking all his hard-earned information, telling him good work and giving him more shit to go out and do. The plight of the Native American indeed.

When selling his wacky chair contraption, Mr. Pinkel says, "you got to be tough with these things. Sometimes you gotta hit it hard. You know a machine is like a woman, we always say at the machine shop...". That line is really dark when you realize he is saying that to Shelley, of all people, in the Johnson house, where Leo repeatedly beat and hit her.

The fact that they are holding court IN A BAR and even drinking while in office, is one of those little "country law" quirks that makes this town Twin Peaks I suppose. Note the striking red curtains in the background though, very evocative of Cooper's dream. And it's nice to see Sarah Palmer again, if only briefly, as it seems she's been completely absent the past several episodes. Oh and that's Mark Frost sitting in attendance in the back row as well I believe.

No spoilers, but just remember that weird scene where Harold's hand begins shaking. We will see something like that again much later in the series.

Ok, do you see Mr. Tojamura's aide standing beside him, the one holding the briefcase? That is the same odd gentleman who appears in a brief scene with Audrey all the way back in Episode 7 of Season 1 ('Realization Time') when she catches his eye as he is checking in to a room at the hotel just a couple doors down from Cooper when she is leaving to go to One-Eyed Jacks.

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As it is later revealed that 'Mr. Tojamura' is Catherine in disguise, does this mean she set up this whole long counter double-cross against the Hornes involving Japanese banks, dummy corporations and false identities all the way back then? If so, that is crazy!

Why does it seem like Bobby is following Hank in that brief scene at the Great Northern?

What is with all those names on the piece of paper Ben drops into the suitcase of money he sends with Cooper?

I find it hilarious that Jean Renault want to do Cooper in 'Assassin's Creed' style rather than just, you know, having him riddled with bullets.

James acts like such a nosy creep to Maddy when he's pestering her in the diner. It would seem whatever youthful charm she saw in him has completelely worn off for this adult woman by now.

Donna's story is a little unsettling when you think about it, albeit beautifully delivered by the actress. Two thirteen year old girls getting naked and making out with three twenty year old guys? Danger.

Something curious about One-Eyed Jacks, the wallpaper.

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If you compare it to Laura's dream of entering the picture of the door that Mrs. Tremond gave her in the film 'Fire Walk With Me', the room Laura enters has what looks like the same wallpaper as in these scenes at OEJ.

I LOVE how Cooper waits for just the right moment and has no qualms about punching Nancy straight in the gut and taking her down cold. I like it when heroes are smart rather than dumb. Also, I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Cooper's punch takes Nancy right out of the show; we never see her again.

Hawk is a BADASS! I'm just glad the writers didn't make him throw like a tomakawk with an eagle feather tied to it or something. That would've been too much.

Harold says what the ultimate secret is and that Laura knew it. He says it's the secret of knowing who killed you.

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I've wondered was that intended as a clue in that it means Laura KNEW who killed her. She knew him personally and intimately, as her killer was her own father. Did Harold come to suspect this truth?

Does Harold, in fact, know who killed her?
 

[Afterward]

When Maddy asks "How are you going to get him out of the house?", Donna sidesteps and says "Not outside, just out of the front room", but she also answers the question by brushing her man-seducing hair.

 

I think this is the first time I've noticed how this episode is structured around parallel heists. Donna and Cooper both have fairly straightforward "fetch quest" goals, and they both decide to use James Bond-esque methods rather than going through normal law enforcement channels. And they both get in over their head!

 

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The parallelism is even more obvious in the next episode, when James busts in to rescue the girls—probably at the very same moment when Deputy Hawk rescues the boys. This is kind of foreshadowed when Maddy blows James off in the diner, the same way Truman told Hawk he could head home early.

 

As for what this correspondence means, I think it's most potent in presenting Donna as a worthy counterpart to Cooper, the brains of the teenage end of the investigation. Maddy and Truman are both dependable, but ultimately doofy sidekicks. How are Hawk and James similar? My personal preferences are clouding my judgment; Hawk is one of my favorite characters, and James is James.

 

And Harold, of course, reflects as if in a clouded mirror the dark underside of Jean Renault...

[LostInTheMovies]

Just ran across this Japanese TV special on Twin Peaks (from when Fire Walk With Me premiered there). Unfortunately no subtitles, but the interviews are in English. Two moments worth jumping right into. The first is not a spoiler (as long as you just watch for a minute or so) and the second is, technically. Although I defy anyone to deduce what's going on from the fast-forwarded stop-motion paper cutout re-enactment (yes, you read that right).

 

Bob's "message" for Japanese Twin Peaks fans:

 

http://youtu.be/mjbrFiqS5hA?t=2m40s

 

And the paper cutout re-enactment of the final episode:

 

 

The first minute of this is also pretty memorable:

 

 

Apparently, the Japanese really liked Twin Peaks.

[Elen]

Yay, Diane! I feel like Cooper hasn't talked to her in awhile. Glad those earplugs got there safely.
 
 
Mr. Tojamura sounds like Princess Leia when she's got her bounty-hunter mask on in Return of the Jedi. I kept expecting him to tell someone they had hibernation sickness.
 
 
Donna's story is pretty mesmerizing, and a little mysterious after Fire Walk With Me.

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Is that a weird, oblique retelling of their excursion to the Canadian strip-club? Donna was drugged at the time and maybe that's how her brain reorganized that experience.

 

I enjoyed Cooper raising his hand at the trial like the judge was a teacher taking attendance.

[StealThisCorn]

Oh I forgot to say the way this episode is such heavy plot, plot, plot and suspense makes it feel to me more like a Mark frost directed episode, reminding me of how the Season 1 cliffhanger was so jam packed.

[80's Bad Guy]

In which Donna and Cooper both play Dungeon Master to varying degrees of success.

[mikemariano]

  On 1/7/2015 at 11:21 PM, StealThisCorn said:

And it's nice to see Sarah Palmer again ...

 

 

How did Squiggy end up on this show?

 

 

EDIT: People Magazine explains why!  Davids Lynch and Lander were neighbors!

 

  Quote

It was a series of chats over the backyard fence with fellow gardening enthusiast David Lynch that landed Lander, 44, back in prime time after a decade's drought. Lynch, who had cast his neighbor in a small part in his 1990 Twin Peaks, wrote a lead character in his new ABC sitcom, On the Air, with Lander in mind.

 

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And why does he come back?

 

How do people say lines like this with a straight face?

 

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On the other hand, it's hard to roll my eyes at anything they make Hawk say because Michael Horse is having a lot of fun in the role.

 

[Elen]

Hawk is rocking that sweater.

[Professor Video Games]

Without Hawk the Twin Peaks Police Dept would be completely dysfunctional.

[SirJakoz]

Hello, long time reader/listener, second time poster, hehe.

 

I'm watching Twin Peaks for the first time.

 

A couple of things about this episode:

 

I really wanted Hawke's weapon to be a tomahawk, it would have been ridiculous.

 

Mr. Tojamura's fake asian accent is preposterous,

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I suppose she's a woman in disguise, but I cannot figure out who she could be

[BaconisPrime]

I steamed ahead to finish season 1 and season 2 + movie after getting hooked in the first few episodes and was wondering if my waning interested in the early to mid part of season 2 was some issue specific to me, or if there was some consensus amongst the audience.   It's nice to see my thoughts about this part of the season more thoroughly talked through than I am able to accomplish on my lonesome..  

 

Also, what's up with the lack of gay and trans characters in the show?  Har, har.

 

It's god damned weird to see recent photos of the actors... 

[LostInTheMovies]

  On 1/12/2015 at 3:49 PM, BaconisPrime said:

I steamed ahead to finish season 1 and season 2 + movie after getting hooked in the first few episodes and was wondering if my waning interested in the early to mid part of season 2 was some issue specific to me, or if there was some consensus amongst the audience.   It's nice to see my thoughts about this part of the season more thoroughly talked through than I am able to accomplish on my lonesome..  

 

Also, what's up with the lack of gay and trans characters in the show?  Har, har.

 

It's god damned weird to see recent photos of the actors... 

 

I view early s2 as a mixed bag. It is definitely less consistent than s1, and the subplots begin to drag whereas I genuinely enjoy a lot of the mill-Ed/Norma-OEJ stuff in s1. The problem, I think, was that the writers were concerned that viewers were too attached to the Laura Palmer storyline so they tried to separate more characters from that arc. Likewise, with a 22-episode order (vs. the first season's pilot + 7) they were not compelled to maintain the tension originally inherent in ALL the storylines (hell, even Andy & Lucy had a bit of suspense in their narrative!). Basically, season 2 is where you start to see the show become a TV show in structure rather than a miniseries or serialized film, which is what it feels like in season 1. It's like "hey, let's tune in this week to see what these characters are up to" instead of "oh my God, what will happen next?"

 

On the other hand...the mystery part of season 2 really steps up its game. In season one, for all her centrality, at times Laura can feel like a MacGuffin, a plot device to get us into the town. This is fun, but as we start to explore her character and her troubles (and actually get a glimpse of her death), and the larger dark, cosmic world she's a part of, the show becomes much deeper and more compelling. As a result, I generally rank the first part of season 2 higher than season 1 but that's a matter of taste. I prefer power to perfection, and don't mind the lows because the highs seem higher to me. I think the first time I watched the show I didn't even notice the lows as much, partly because I was caught up in the mystery, partly because I didn't realize yet where they were leading (for a while, I still thought that everything was going to tie back to Laura and that there would still be suspense and surprises ahead in all the subplots). But yes, many viewers in 1990 did share your feeling. Even though today people write about the show as if viewers and critics lost interest at a later point, it was really the season 2 premiere and subsequent episodes that tipped the scales.

 

At any rate, my favorite parts of the saga come after season 1: a certain climactic episode (you know the one I'm talking about), the finale, and Fire Walk With Me. Ironically, none of these may have been possible if Lynch & Frost had gone by their original plan and

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delayed revealing the killer for several seasons

. So I consider it a good decision made for the wrong reasons.

 

Also, not sure if you're being tongue-in-cheek about

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the trans thing, but Denise is pretty rare for a 1990 TV series! Especially the respectful manner in which she's treated.

[Jutranjo]

Finally Andy's convoluted scheme to get near a telephone reaches fruition! 

[LostInTheMovies]

Any prognosis on the upcoming podcast?

[Jake]

It's up! Sorry, didn't update the thread.

[LostInTheMovies]

As soon as I saw the updated threads, I was going to take credit for commanding it into existence. Look forward to listening.

[LostInTheMovies]

Re: the reader mail on the killer,

 

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I disagree about the criticism of the "cycle of abuse" trope. Yes, the idea that an abuse victim automatically becomes an abuser in all, or even most, cases is wrong. But the idea that abuse quite often spawns further abuse is surely true. Scratch an abuser and you will frequently find someone who was themselves abused. That does not justify their behavior by any means, but it's important to understand. In a sense, it isn't just abuse perpetuating abuse, it's about denial/suppression of abuse perpetuating the same. If perceived as a dirty, "shameful" secret, this internalization may very well manifest itself outwardly down the line - perhaps not in further sexual abuse, but certainly in other ways.

 

As for Bob, I see it the opposite way from Andy's mail: I think Bob as a "ghost" (i.e. a spirit who bears the primary responsibility for Laura's torment) lets Leland off the hook too easily, whereas if we DO see Bob as being directly related to the reality of abuse (either as a manifestation of cosmic evil or a personification of the Palmer family's specific abuse) it seems far wiser and more responsible as an allegory. Agreed w/ Chris & Jake re: FWWM.

 

I think the most brilliant, powerful gesture of the show (almost squandered by ep. 16 but redeemed by the film) is the Bob/Leland bait-and-switch. From early in the series Laura's killer - and we, quickly glean, her abuser - is implied to be the classic image of a creepy child molester: grungy-looking stranger with long hair and a jean jacket. Instead, we eventually learn, it was her lovable, charismatic, respectable father Leland. One doesn't want to generalize, but it's safe to say that in the vast majority of cases this is how it works. For all the media myths about spooky outsiders lurking in the shadows, abuse usually comes from those the victim might be expected to trust the most.

 

At its best, Twin Peaks pulls back the curtain on this reality in an extremely jarring, unsettling way. Even at its worst it manages to reflect this reality too, because we realize that the show's creators - just like the townspeople onscreen, just like many of us in the audience - don't really want to face up to the horrible truth about Leland. In that "meta" sense even the huge missteps of mid-season 2, especially the weird comedy of Leland's wake (in which the characters and writers completely avoid the major revelations of the previous episodes), have a certain grim logic to them.

 

I'll save further thoughts for next week's thread but here's an interesting article that was published shortly after the reveal: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-11-28/news/9004080575_1_laura-palmer-sexual-abuse-child-abuse

[Dewar]

Spoiler about the courtroom scene and I guess pretty much the rest of the show

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Man the people in that court room must really feel horrible later on. I wonder if guilt about Maddy's murder is going to be a plot point to the new season. I can definitely see a "25 years later, and Truman still hates himself for that bale hearing" sort of plot

The first time I saw this, I absolutely hated Harold, but I can see the beginnings of a good character in there that they're just not doing a very good job of developing. It's a shame that so many of the second season plots that most people think are lousy are just barely missing the target. (Except for Nadine, dumbest thing ever.)

[Elen]

I really like the article in the spoiler quotes; thanks for posting.

[Apple Cider]

Am I pointing out something really obvious but did Lynch play some really long game and actually plan for a Twin Peaks reunion literally the same length of time in the future that was mentioned in the Cooper Red Room scenes?

[Jake]

I don't know how deliberate a long play it was but its pretty rad timing.

[Apple Cider]

RE: Discussing the letter from the spoiler section, this is plot spoilers for both Twin Peaks/FWWM:

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I've discussed the idea of Leland's involvement as both an abuser and being a potential abused person a bit in PMs with Lost in the Movies and I'll copy paste them here, because I both agree with the listener e-mail and also diverge from it in some ways.

 

I would also suggest watching Lost in the Movies synopsis series because it's basically what I used to write all this garbage out:

 

Them idolizing what is a really weird scene with the babysitter feels like might have been what set the stage later on for them specifically organizing a bordello with underage and very young women, specifically picked from their department store. It's not an uncommon thread that men who predate on young women, often started fantasizing or fetishizing a particular "older woman" when they were younger and remain fixated on that age and innocence. There's also an undercurrent, given Leland's own past, that maybe something traumatic happened with the babysitter as well. 

 

What's dismaying, and also conflicting of me, is that both Ben Horne and Leland are absolutely predators (and you did a really great job highlighting those moments) who potentially were also abused as kids or were involved in something bad in their past. Though with Leland, it sounds like he was a bad apple to start. The line about him having a hole where his conscience should be sounds like he was a vessel for Bob either way, versus the show's narrative that he was a potential abuse victim. But given the show's canon for Ben Horne, I wonder if he actually was or if it was something related to the babysitter that lead him to become an ultimate sleazeball later on in life.

 

The breakdown of Leland post-FWWM makes me realize how tautly Lynch drew the mechanics of how he was an actual abuser, even in the sway of Bob. You pointed this out really well, talking about how the incest was visually and aurally interpreted by the repetitive and scary features of a home. It's something I picked up on when I watched the show but didn't think much about until I watched FWWM. The fact that Leland's face often changed expression as it feels like Bob passed over him gives that sense that Leland WAS possessed but I feel like Bob wasn't just a driver for Leland's body, but rather the two worked in tandem - Bob was the devil on Leland's already incredibly corrupted shoulder. I have no doubt that Leland was chasing after legal age booty in Flesh World on his own, but became very frightened when he realized Laura was wrapped up in it too. Which is ironic, given that her behavior was seemingly inspired as a way to regain control after being a rape and molestation victim all those years. in that way, I feel like her murder was an escalation of the already abusive tendencies Bob/Leland exhibited - abusers typically escalate when they feel that their victim is acting out or against their wishes or beyond their control. So in that sad way, Laura's broken expressions of "bad behavior" is probably what lead to her death. 

 

It's so much sadder when you think about it. Leland is still at fault, however. The scene that really brought it home for me was that dinner scene. it's really innocuous but it's so electric with the unsaid, that this is a normally tense situation. Leland isn't being sexually aggressive but he's definitely being controlling, terrifying. Sarah Palmer's behavior is a typical disassociation and placater. It makes me wonder if she suffered before her daughter did.

 

I absolutely think that narratives that show an abuser also having abuse in their past are incredibly harmful, especially to real life victims - it DOES remove agency, etc. But I think what really gets codified in FWWM is that Leland's behavior is his as much as it is Bob's and that maybe he's emboldened as a man by the forces of Twin Peaks that seem to affect many of the other men in town to not confront his past or his own character flaws and instead turns into being a predator. It's a theory that also hooks into Ben Horne a bit, as I noted. I think LiTM's video series also talked a lot about how Lynch's personal religious beliefs factored heavily into what the Black/White Lodge stuff was supposed to "mean" in terms of the spirits. You could do an incredibly feminist read on Leland's potential abuse being turned inward as we don't allow male victims of rape or molestation the ability to accept what happened to them and potentially causes issues later on (which is actually a real thing.)

 

It's a complex issue and I think FWWM did a much better job of alluding to it, because I think Leland is actually a horrible person, in spite of what happened to him in his past.

 

As far the point where Ray Wise potentially playing Bob? I could see Laura becoming a helpful White Lodge spirit perhaps? I want to believe she gets a redemptive arc that was gestured at at the end of FWWM.

 

I have an admitted personal and political fixation on the abuse themes in this show as they have been really revelatory and definitely cathartic. 

 

[Argobot]

Remember a few years ago (2012?) there were rumors about new Twin Peaks episodes. That's what got me to watch the show in the first place. If anything, the long con was Lynch perfectly predicting the number of years to reach peak Twin Peaks nostalgia.