‘Twin Peaks Season 3 Episode 5’ Review – Case Files

While it is so good to have Twin Peaks back, it is even better to have a weekly dose of David Lynch directed goodness. This week’s episode may test people’s patience if they are looking for answers, but for those who want a good old slice of Twin Peaks, this is exactly what they get.

Twin Peaks

With Dougie/Agent Cooper (Kyle Maclachlan) and evil Coop trapped in their own little prisons (one of a desk job, the other literally in prison) we get to meet some of the other characters of Twin Peaks. A collection of both evil and good, it looks like nothing changes in the sleepy little town of Twin Peaks.

When you look back at the old Twin Peaks, there were episodes where little really happened but for character building. We were introduced to some new people, but mostly we got to see the locals living their lives and getting on with their jobs. What episode 5 of season 3 brings with it, is exactly what you would expect from the show, and it is good to have it back.

What is interesting though is that we see something that David Lynch is well-known for, and that is showing the juxtaposition of good and evil in society. We have the suburban good-natured people just trying to get along, then we have the darker characters who tend to feed off the good-natured ones and enjoy the darker side of life.

An example of this is Eamon Farren’s character we see near the end of the episode. Much like a Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) character in the original series, he is obviously the rebel breaking all the rules. Where Bobby had his good side though, Farren’s character is much more aggressive and dangerous. We’ll no doubt be seeing more of him in later episodes. His introduction though leaves us in no doubt that he is not to be messed with.

We are also shown that history repeats itself as we get to see Amanda Seyfried as Becky, Shelly’s (Madchen Amick) daughter. Connected to a loser with a drug addiction, it seems that she is travelling the same road as Shelly did, much to her mother’s annoyance.

When it comes to Cooper/Dougie, it may annoy some that not much happens in his life, but for doing his day job. Dougie is a shell of a man, who seemingly is stuck between two worlds, the coming of Agent Cooper just made it more literal. Cooper just needs to fill in that shell.

While we as the audience want Cooper to snap out of it and get back to work, the fact that Dougie struggles to actually do his job just symbolises the fact that our favourite FBI agent isn’t ready yet, he is still forming slowly. Lynch almost teases us with Dougie, showing glimpses of Agent Cooper when he notices things he loves, like coffee. For the most part though we are just presented with a shape of a man with no real substance in between. The fact we could wait most of the series for this to change is sure to test our patience.

One thing that this episode seems to be revealing is that we are playing the waiting game. There are further hints that characters we once thought were dead are returning, Agent Cooper is slowly coming back in the shell that is Dougie, and Evil Cooper is forming a plan. What will be interesting will be what happens when all of these strands come together and we finally get answers. Right now though we all seem to be like the listeners of Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) ready to buy his golden shovel so we can get answers. Yes, if we have one answer, now we know what the golden shovels are about.

If Twin Peaks is giving us anything, it is a slowly forming masterpiece. David Lynch and Mark Frost are giving us the Twin Peaks we deserve, even though it may not be the one that everybody wants. Whether we’ll get all the answers at the end is anybody’s guess. What we do know is that the show we are being presented with is definitely Twin Peaks, and I for one love it.

Twin Peaks airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Mondays.

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