"Episode 14" | |
---|---|
Twin Peaks episode | |
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 7 |
Directed by | David Lynch |
Written by | Mark Frost |
Production code | 2.007 [1] |
Original air date | November 10, 1990 |
Running time | 47 minutes [2] |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Episode 14", also known as "Lonely Souls", [a] is the seventh episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks . The episode was written by series co-creator Mark Frost and directed by series co-creator David Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and guest stars Frank Silva (uncredited) as Killer BOB, Hank Worden as The Waiter, Julee Cruise as Singer, and David Lynch as Gordon Cole.
Twin Peaks centers on the investigation into the murder of schoolgirl Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the small rural town in Washington state after which the series is named. In this episode, during the ongoing investigation into Laura's death, FBI special agent Dale Cooper (MacLachlan) and Sheriff Truman (Ontkean) continue to search for her killer, the demonic BOB, who has possessed a human host. Aided by Mike (Al Strobel), Cooper and Truman arrest Benjamin Horne (Beymer), believing him to be inhabited by BOB. Later that night, The Giant (Carel Struycken) warns Cooper "it is happening again," while BOB's real host, Leland Palmer (Wise), murders Madeline Ferguson (Lee).
"Episode 14" was first broadcast on November 10, 1990, on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and was watched by an audience of 17.2 million households in the United States, about 20 percent of the available audience. The episode was well received, garnering positive reviews after its initial broadcast and in subsequent years. Academic readings of the entry have highlighted the theme of duality and the cinematography in the revelation scene.
The small fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington, has been shocked by the murder of schoolgirl Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and the attempted murder of her friend Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine). FBI special agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) has been sent to the town to investigate, [4] and has come to the realization that the killer was possessed by a demonic entity—Killer BOB (Frank Silva). [5] MIKE (Al Strobel), a similar spirit, has spoken to Cooper and his FBI superior, Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch), explaining the nature of their existence. [6]
Meanwhile, Madeline "Maddy" Ferguson (Lee), Laura's cousin, has arrived in Twin Peaks from Missoula, Montana, and helps Laura's friends Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle) and James Hurley (James Marshall) investigate the killing. Donna finds Harold Smith (Lenny Von Dohlen), one of Laura's friends to whom she had given a secret diary, and Donna and Maddy attempt to steal it from him. [6]
Cooper, Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean), Deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz), Doctor Hayward (Warren Frost) and Mike visit The Great Northern hotel in an attempt to find Bob's human host. Upon the approach of Benjamin Horne, Mike convulses and collapses onto the floor, indicating that Bob has inhabited someone nearby. Meanwhile, Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) visits the residence of Harold Smith and finds that he has committed suicide. Hawk contacts Cooper and Truman, and they arrive at Smith's residence and discover Laura Palmer's secret diary among his belongings. Meanwhile, Maddy announces she is leaving Twin Peaks to return home.
Elsewhere, Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) and Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick) discuss their financial concerns regarding Shelly's catatonic husband Leo (Eric Da Re). Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) confronts her father Ben (Richard Beymer) over his ownership of One Eyed Jacks, a casino and brothel on the Canada–United States border. When Audrey asks him whether he killed Laura Palmer, he denies it but confesses that he and Laura had a sexual relationship and that he loved her. Later, Shelly arrives for work at the Double R Diner and announces to its owner Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton) that she is resigning to care for Leo full-time. Ed Hurley (Everett McGill) and his wife Nadine, who is experiencing amnesia and adrenaline-induced strength, enter the diner. Nadine, believing she is eighteen years old, speaks to Norma, but the waitress, along with Ed, puts on a façade and conceals the truth. Meanwhile, Bobby and his friend Mike Nelson (Gary Hershberger) break open the sole of Leo Johnson's shoe, discovering a microcassette.
Cooper examines the remains of Laura's diary at the police station, finding repeated references to Bob's long-running molestation of her. Cooper also learns that Bob is a friend of Laura's father, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), and finds an entry that seemingly implicates Ben Horne. Audrey then enters and tells Cooper about Ben and Laura's affair. After she leaves, Cooper tells Sheriff Truman about The Giant's message "without chemicals, he points". [5] Cooper recalls when Mike—who becomes active when his human host, Philip Gerard, is not on drugs [7] —spasmed in The Great Northern's lobby when Ben entered. Cooper concludes that Ben is Bob's human host and arrests him.
Later that night, Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) crawls across her living room floor and has a vision of a white horse. Cooper and Truman visit The Roadhouse at the behest of the Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson). While a band perform, Cooper has a vision of The Giant, who tells him "it is happening again". [5] The Giant sees Leland Palmer fixing his tie, while his reflection in the mirror shows Bob. Maddy comes downstairs and sees Bob standing over Sarah's unconscious body. Bob's visage shifts back and forth between Leland's and his own. He chases Maddy up the stairs, brings her to the living room and repeatedly strangles, punches, taunts and kisses her before ramming her head into a glass picture frame, killing her. Bob places a letter "O" under her fingernails, as he had done with other letters on past victims. Cooper's vision ends, and The Waiter (Hank Worden) tells Cooper he is sorry. Donna and James cry during the band's final song.
"Episode 14" was written by series co-creator Mark Frost, who had written six previous episodes and directed the first-season finale, "Episode 7". [8] Frost co-wrote three further installments—"Episode 16", "Episode 26" and Episode 29"—and all the episodes of the 2017 limited series. [8] This episode was directed by Lynch, the fifth such episode of Twin Peaks; he later directed "Episode 29" and all the installments of the limited series. [9] Lynch has later said he feels he was able to show more on screen in the episode than he expected the network's standards and practices office to allow. He credits this to the unusual imagery used, adding "if it's not quite standard it sneaks through, but it could be that the 'not quite standard' things make it even more terrifying and disturbing." [10]
The cast of Twin Peaks did not know who would be revealed as Palmer's killer for some time. Wise had hoped his character Leland would not be the eventual murderer; as the parent of a young girl he was disturbed by the idea of portraying a man who had murdered his daughter. Wise was called to a meeting with Lynch, Frost, Sheryl Lee and Richard Beymer, during which Lynch told those assembled that Leland Palmer was the killer: while addressing Wise, Lynch said "Ray, it was you, it was always you." [11] However, Wise felt the end result was "beautiful" and that it left him and his character "satisfied and redeemed". [11] Before this meeting, the only people to know the killer's identity were Frost, Lynch, and Lynch's daughter Jennifer, who had been given the information so she could author the 1990 tie-in novel The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer . [12]
Lynch has mentioned that he tried to avoid thinking about the morality of the narrative, or how it would be received by censors or critics, feeling that if he allowed that worry to affect him it would ultimately drive him to create something that made him uncomfortable, preferring instead to simply produce the episode he wanted to and be prepared to defend it if necessary. [13] He has also compared the search for Laura's killer to the central narrative of the 1960s television series The Fugitive , which featured an ongoing search for a one-armed man. Contrasting the two, Lynch stated "each week, you know, they [the writers for The Fugitive] hardly ever dealt with that. And that's the beautiful thing. You keep wondering, 'When will he find this guy and set everything straight?' But then you knew it would be the end." [14]
The climactic murder of Madeline Ferguson in the episode features extensive use of jump cuts to portray Leland Palmer's spirit possession, switching rapidly between actors Ray Wise and Frank Silva. [15] The scene is unusually long for a murder on television, lasting over four minutes. [16] Some of its elements, including the insertion of a paper letter under Ferguson's fingernail and the use of jump cuts to events in the Roadhouse bar, are intended to echo similar aspects of "Pilot". [17]
Erica Sheen and Annette Davison, in their book The Cinema of David Lynch: American Dreams, Nightmare Visions, have drawn attention to the use of mise en scène early in the episode. A scene featuring Ferguson, Leland and Sarah Palmer sitting in the Palmers' living room pans across the family's bric-a-brac. This technique draws attention to the painting with which Ferguson will be assaulted, and it highlights the similarity between Ferguson and Palmer by focusing on "the famous homecoming queen shot" of Palmer while Ferguson's face is visible. [18] Sheen and Davison argued that the scene highlights the "emotional claustrophobia" felt by Ferguson, and that the set surrounding her was deliberately assembled to create this feeling. [18]
The revelation scene, in which Bob is shown to have inhabited Leland Palmer, has been noted for its sense of duality, a common theme throughout Twin Peaks. In Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks, David Lavery wrote that upon The Giant's appearance to Dale Cooper, "The Giant has transmuted the public place into something private". Lavery added that the murder scene is "in the living room, the public within the private". [19] He summarized that the ambiguity between the public perception and the private perception—"the outer and the inner"—"reverberates" throughout the scene. [19] In his view, Maddy Ferguson was Laura Palmer's "double" and Leland is "doubled" by Bob. However, Lavery referred to the duality of Leland and Bob as a "subjective formation" and added that the use of jump cuts "could be Maddy's view of Leland just as much as Leland's view of himself". [20]
This scene has also been noted by critic Sue Lafky from the Journal of Film and Video as one of several in the series that suggest incest and necrophilia. She speculated that "Leland/Bob may have raped the dead or dying Maddie", [21] comparing this to the "necrophilic fantasies" that Laura Palmer's corpse evokes, and Ben Horne's unwitting brush with incest when he encounters his daughter Audrey at a brothel. [21] [22]
It's a promise of sorts that we've still got a reason to be with the show, and it sets us up for the middle portion of this cycle. This good will is carried through episodes 15 and 16, as the killer is finally unmasked, and as the Log Lady tells us in her intro, shifts the queries from who to why.
"Episode 14" first aired on the ABC network on November 10, 1990. The initial broadcast was viewed by 17.2 million households in the United States, making it the fifty-first most-viewed broadcast episode for the week. These viewing figures represented 20 percent of the available audience and 10.4 percent of all households in the country. [24] This represented a significant rise in viewing figures compared to the preceding episode, "Episode 13", which was seen by 11.3 million households. [25] However, the following episode, "Episode 15", suffered a drop in viewing figures, attracting 13.3 million households. [26]
The episode was well received critically. Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times , Richard Roeper noted that fans and critics had begun to lose interest in the series by this point, but he felt that "even at its most strained and obtuse, [Twin Peaks] displays more imagination and effort than almost everything else in TV land." [27] He added that viewers may have been put off by the series' frame of time, explaining that only two weeks of narrative time had elapsed since "Pilot", a slow pace contrasted with the "fast-forward, instant payoff philosophy of most television". [27] AllRovi's Andrea LeVasseur described the installment as "pivotal", noting that it "answers some of the series' long-running questions". [28]
Writing for The A.V. Club , Keith Phipps rated the episode an "A", adding "it's not like there's any shortage of action." [29] He felt the effects used in the episode were effective and frightening while still seeming low-key. In his view, the episode's blending of surrealism and horror was similar to scenes from Lynch's 2001 film Mulholland Drive . Phipps described the climactic murder as "one of the most disturbing moments in the Lynch filmography", adding that it was a recurring Lynchian theme to represent the end of innocence as an actual death. [29] IGN 's Matt Fowler included the murder at number 16 in a list of the "Top 20 Creepiest Moments on TV", describing it as "nightmare fuel". [30] Fowler felt the depiction of the killing was "savage" and unusually long for a television scene; however, he added that the rampant speculation as to the identity of the killer meant the revelation would be "somewhat expected". [30]
Keith Uhlich, writing for Slant Magazine , described the episode as "quintessential Lynch, perhaps his finest work", noting that the climactic murder scene was more powerful because of its necessary use of implication and suggestion. [31] However, Uhlich felt the installment was "a tough act to follow", arguing that the only subsequent installments that competed with it were the series' finale and the 1992 psychological thriller film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me , which is based on Twin Peaks. [31] DVD Talk's Jamie S. Rich described the installment as "a violent, disturbing revelation". [23] Rich felt the entry's supernatural elements assured the audience there was "a grander scheme to the Laura Palmer story", elevating the series' long-running murder plot beyond "just a random night partying with drug dealers gone wrong". [23]
Twin Peaks is an American mystery-horror drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for a third season on Showtime.
Laura Palmer is a fictional character in the Twin Peaks franchise and the primary focus of the series. She is portrayed by Sheryl Lee and was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost. She first appears in the ABC original series Twin Peaks. A high school student whose death is the catalyst for the events of the series, Palmer is the protagonist in Lynch's prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), which depicts the final week of her life leading up to her murder. Laura also appears in the novels, Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), and a variety of merchandise based on the series.
Bob is a fictional character in the ABC television series Twin Peaks, played by Frank Silva. He is an interdimensional entity who feeds on pain and sorrow. An inhabiting spirit, he possesses human beings and then commits acts of rape and murder in order to feast on the suffering of his victims. In the film Fire Walk With Me, this suffering is called "garmonbozia" and can manifest in the form of creamed corn.
Donna Marie Hayward is a fictional character in the Twin Peaks franchise. She was portrayed by Lara Flynn Boyle in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and by Moira Kelly in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) and its deleted and extended scenes compilation Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014). She was created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. Making her debut as a main character in the original series, Donna is introduced as the best friend and classmate of Laura Palmer, who tries to solve the mystery of her murder. Donna has a supporting role in the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which depicts the final week of Laura's life. Donna is referenced numerous times in Jennifer Lynch's novel The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. The novel Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by Mark Frost reveals some of what happened to her after the events of the show's second season.
Leland Palmer is a fictional character from the ABC and Showtime television series Twin Peaks, and one of the main characters in the prequel film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. He is portrayed in all his appearances by Ray Wise.
Madeleine "Maddy" Ferguson is a fictional character in the Twin Peaks franchise. She was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost and portrayed by Sheryl Lee. Introduced in the fourth episode of the first season, Maddy is the older cousin of Laura Palmer who comes to Twin Peaks to help her aunt and uncle cope with the death of their daughter. Over the course of the series, Maddy forms a close friendship with Donna Hayward and James Hurley, Laura's closest friends, and assists them in their investigation into her death. Originally, she was not intended to be a part of the series but was created by David Lynch so that Lee could have a larger role in the series.
Benjamin Joseph Horne is a fictional character in the television series Twin Peaks, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, portrayed by Richard Beymer. His middle and last names are based on department store owner Joseph Horne, founder of Horne's in Pittsburgh where Mark Frost is from, while his and his brother Jerry's first names are based on the ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's.
"Episode 29", also known as "Beyond Life and Death", is the twenty-second and final episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. Episode 29 served as the final episode of Twin Peaks for over 25 years, until Twin Peaks: The Return premiered on May 21, 2017. Upon its original airing in 1991, the episode was paired with the previous episode to form the second hour of what was then billed as a two-part series finale. The episode was written by the series co-creator Mark Frost, producer Harley Peyton and regular writer Robert Engels and was directed by series co-creator David Lynch, who rewrote parts of the script. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Richard Beymer and Kenneth Welsh; and guest stars Frank Silva as Killer Bob, Michael J. Anderson as The Man from Another Place, Carel Struycken as The Giant, and Heather Graham as Annie Blackburn.
"Episode 2", also known as "Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer", is the third episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and introduces Michael J. Anderson as The Man from Another Place, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield and David Patrick Kelly as Jerry Horne.
"Episode 1", also known as "Traces to Nowhere", is the second episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Duwayne Dunham. "Episode 1" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, and Richard Beymer.
"Episode 3", later also known as "Rest in Pain", is the fourth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Harley Peyton, and directed by Tina Rathborne. "Episode 3" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean and Ray Wise, and introduces Sheryl Lee's second role, Maddy Ferguson.
"Episode 5", also known as "Cooper's Dreams", is the sixth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series co-creator Mark Frost and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. "Episode 5" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean and Richard Beymer, with guest appearances by Chris Mulkey and David Patrick Kelly.
"Episode 4", also known as "The One-Armed Man", is the fifth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Robert Engels, and directed by Tim Hunter. "Episode 4" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Piper Laurie and Richard Beymer, and introduces series co-creator David Lynch in the role of Gordon Cole.
"Episode 6", also known as "Realization Time", is the seventh episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Harley Peyton, and directed by Caleb Deschanel. "Episode 6" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Sherilyn Fenn and Eric Da Re, with guest appearances by Chris Mulkey and David Patrick Kelly.
"Episode 7", also known as "The Last Evening", is the eighth and final episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. Series co-creator Mark Frost wrote and directed the episode. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Piper Laurie and Eric Da Re, with guest appearances by Chris Mulkey and Walter Olkewicz.
"Episode 16", also known as "Arbitrary Law", is the ninth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series co-creator Mark Frost, producer Harley Peyton and regular writer Robert Engels, and directed by Tim Hunter. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer, and guest stars Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield, Don S. Davis as Major Briggs, and Al Strobel as MIKE.
"Episode 8", also known as "May the Giant Be with You", is the first episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and guest stars Grace Zabriskie as Sarah Palmer, Chris Mulkey as Hank Jennings, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield, Don S. Davis as Major Garland Briggs, and Victoria Catlin as Blackie O'Reilly.
"Episode 9", also known as "Coma", is the second episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Harley Peyton, and directed by series co-creator David Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and guest stars Chris Mulkey as Hank Jennings, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield, David Patrick Kelly as Jerry Horne. Don S. Davis as Major Garland Briggs, Victoria Catlin as Blackie O'Reilly, Don Amendolia as Emory Battis, Frances Bay as Mrs. Tremond, Grace Zabriskie as Sarah Palmer, and Catherine E. Coulson as the Log Lady.
"Part 17", also known as "The Past Dictates the Future", is the 17th episode of the third season of the TV series Twin Peaks. It was written by Mark Frost and David Lynch, directed by Lynch, and stars Kyle MacLachlan. "Part 17" was broadcast on Showtime along with "Part 18" on September 3, 2017, and seen by an audience of 254,000 viewers in the United States. It received widespread critical acclaim.
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