A Pilgrim's Peaks - Part 13
That violence you like is coming back in style! The Doppelgänger of death rides again, finally closing the loop on the remaining member of the group of disposable people he hired at the beginning of the series to help do his dirty work. You know as soon as he shows up at the same location as Ray that the latter is toast. The tension comes from just how exactly the Doppelgänger will get through the rest of the people around Ray. There’s a distinct impression building up throughout this season that D could easily work his way through the room full of overconfident men he finds himself in, but he has consistently shown himself to be someone who delegates; doing a lot of management to save himself future effort, which makes the likelihood of him killing this particular warehouse full of dudes pretty faint.
Happily for the Doppelgänger, Ray has ensconced himself in one of the most childish gangs in film and television history. One where leadership is attained through victory in hand-to-hand armed combat; arm wrestling. So after toying with, defeating and then killing the leader of the gang by literally punching his face in, Ray is served up to the Doppelgänger to be dealt with. He had his chance to finish off the guy and save his own life, but he couldn’t deal with this being’s infinite nature, so he chickened out and ran only to end up on a concrete floor with a bullet in his leg and head before the ring on his finger transports his corpse to the Black Lodge.
Witness to most of this is man on the lam Richard Horne, who has to dive deep into the drought-ridden LA river of his emotions to most likely experience awe for the first time in his life. This basic boy has previously proven himself unable to grasp even the most minor of supernatural loops Red threw him for earlier or to understand the soft power behind it, but the violence he witnesses here is something that a simple lad like him can catch because of its 1:1 correlation between cause and effect. That is power to him. That is cool. Neither of which are things he’ll ever really attain because he doesn’t have the imagination necessary to lead; the boy is a born follower who can’t see beyond what’s in front of him.
A less obvious form of violence seems to be surrounding Richard’s mom, as we check back in with Audrey. Her relationship with Charlie didn’t seem particularly healthy to begin with, but he now starts to show a weird controlling streak that’s never a great sign for the women of Twin Peaks. Again, the tagline of, “A woman in trouble,” for Inland Empire continues to be a defining theme of David Lynch’s work. Something isn’t right with Audrey’s whole situation; her confusion about where she is and how to leave, accompanied by a brief mention of Ghostwood unsettles in that uncanny way that’s all too familiar for this show.
Norma Jennings has become a successful businesswoman after the franchising of the Double R, but she’s also in relationship with a board representative who seems about as interested in hearing the answer when he asks to be reminded what Big Ed’s name is (it’s two letters, Walt!) as he is in hearing protests about lowering the quality standards of the restaurant that started the company he’s on the board of. Sarah Palmer appears to be on a captive loop in her own house, with the boxing clip on repeat on her television, the noise that seems to accompany the clip’s loop restarting, and her perpetual search for something to continue to drink. Becky is also still holding a torch for her abusive dirtbag husband Steve. She’s lured out of this funk by her mom Shelly, who is no stranger to loser dudes.
All of which leaves the good men of Twin Peaks adrift and alone. Bobby escapes a sad bachelor dinner after missing Shelly and Becky at the Double R only because he and Big Ed are in the same boat, still pining after women they apparently failed to hold onto at some point in the last twenty five years. At the Roadhouse, James is still performing the song he sang with Donna Hayward and Maddy Ferguson twenty five years ago in the same disarmingly high-pitched voice. None of this is entirely healthy for any of them, but what else can you do in a small town like Twin Peaks? Just sit at your desk, drinking your soup as the night draws on, waiting for someone or something to come back through your door.