Hellraiser (2022) - New Pins in the Head

Well, here we are, in an age where every single franchise is up for grabs and all of the popular intellectual properties are being used for identity politics and virtue signaling. So many famous brands are being used for people's political agendas and all we can do is not watch them. So, while we're waiting for them to come to their senses, we have an unexpected diamond in the rough. Little did we know that Clive Barker's master work has been given a new coat of paint after ten movies. 

Hellraiser has been one of those movie franchises that has a particular crowd watching it. These are the horror fanatics that don't mind a bit of gore, so long as the gore is being used to tell a good story. The Hellbound Heart was a very good story, a novella, if you will. It showed a different world that we grew attached to and we have been seriously lacking these past thirty years. 

After so many half assed sequels and cheap scripts being forced into Hellraiser lore when they didn't belong, we finally get a reboot that is actually warranted! Yes, an IP that could actually use some revamping. While Spawn is still in the mix, let's enjoy some blood, shall we?

First of all, we get what we came for. True to the Hellraiser brand, there is plenty of blood and gore. Now, how does it hold up alongside other Hellraiser gore? Pretty damn well, I'm going to admit. The flesh tearing and the pain is quote the spectacle and very well crafted in its kills. There's chains, wires, knify things and lot's of tendons. There are some very uncomfortable moments with needles and air passages and wow, they really put their minds to this, like they should have. 

Next, the cenobites! Yes, they have a colorful array of cenobites and they come out in full force. The only two that we see return are the lead cenobite which Doug Bradley played so long ago, and Chatterteeth. Now played by Jamie Clayton, the often nicknamed "Pinhead" makes a triumphant return. Chatterteeth, on the other hand, did not make such an impression, but it was nice seeing him again. Beyond those two, we get some pretty imaginative imagery through all of the others. It's really nice to see what they were able to do with both practical and digital effects. They look very well made and unique. Some of them I kind of wish we got a better look at but they did very well otherwise. 

The story is an area where a lot of the Hellraiser sequels were lacking, and this movie does away with all pretenses. In fact, it changes it up just enough to keep us interested, while also keeping in enough lore to warrant fan nostalgia. This time, they pander to the audience in a good way and a way that doesn't insult their intelligence. What a twist! Instead of the normal "they open the box and get put in Jacob's ladder" trope we saw through so many iterations, this time, it's more complicated. 

Now the Lament configuration stabs the user in the hand and that marks them as a sacrifice. After six go down, the the Leviathan configuration brings the Cenobite's god from hell to grant you one wish. It's a twist on the story that actually works quite well. Not only do we get to see the cenobites quite often, but it brings up the body count while working toward a goal. It actually plays very well as a Hellraiser story. 

After so many Jacob's Ladder plots and movies shoehorning Doug Bradley into nonsensical plots, this one is a serious breath of fresh air. This is one that actually plays with the lore and brings us something we can sink our teeth into. Rather than dumping a puzzle box into whatever they wanted and calling it a day, we get a movie with actual characters with goals and understandable struggles. Those struggles just so happen to involve chains with hooks and spikes and that's what we wanted!

The characters are probably the part where this falls a little short, but there's nothing new there. Riley is understandable as a character, but she's not especially endearing as she mostly just wants to get her brother back. That's about it. Beyond that, she does want to do the right thing but is so bad at it that it becomes a little comical. We get the other array of characters and they are there, but there's not much else to them other than they want money, they want love and they want pleasure but they only get pain. Pretty normal as Hellraiser goes, and you know what? I'm okay with that. They fill the need and fulfill their purpose for bringing us entertainment, so let's trudge on.

To address the elephant in the room, yes, they get a woman to play the Hell Priest and no, that is not a problem. In fact, it is by the original book. One of the cenobites was described as having female features along with male features and thus being seen as sexless. This is the first time we see the reimagining of this character to resemble their novella counterpart. Well played. It works very well and Jamie Clayton does a damn good job of having otherworldly movements and expressions as she causes blood and chains to happen. She has a few callback lines, but not nearly as many as she could have. They didn't only have the nostalgia baiting to entice you, they have dialogue you can enjoy and get behind. 

That's one thing that really shined for this movie. The fact that it did not rely on its former titles for its imagery, dialogue, characters or anything like that. It took what it needed from the other titles and then went off on its own. It is its own movie and it has its own identity. This is something that is severely lacking in movies of this era. I need to give this movie props. 

Is it perfect? No, it has its down points in the plot and the parts with the "friends" just screaming and complaining at each other does get old. It has its meandering moments that you just want to get over with so you can get to the killing. Spoiler alert, it gets to the killing and everything is fine. 

We finally have a Hellraiser iteration to call a part of our horror genre. The body horror is very real with very unique cenobites and the visual effects are a beautiful mix of CGI and practical effects. You don't care what happens to the humans because they're annoyances as well as characters, but that's to be expected when the end goal is to get our Hellraiser fix. The changes that are made are welcome and it doesn't spoon feed you membaberries as a lazy attempt to squeeze feelings out of you. If you are a Hellraiser fan or a horror fan wanting to get into Hellraiser, here you go. Get this movie and turn down the lights.

Weapons (2025) - Pass the Blame and the Blood

 

Just when you thought all horror was lost and we'd never see the night of darkness again, there comes this little low budget gem. Weapons is a bit of a strange tale about a smallish town that has a very mysterious happening. All of the children ran out of their houses one morning night at 2:17 am, leaving everyone in the town to wonder why. Obviously, the parents all panic, thinking that they have just lost their children for good. Police are baffled and the pressure is on to find answers. 

Starting with the struggles of Julia Garner's Justine character, as the teacher of all 17 missing children, is suspected to be behind this horrible happening. You see how she copes with the situation, which is by the skin of the tooth, and how she is trying very hard to investigate the disappearance while also dodging her boss, played by Benedict Wong, and the police to do so. 

What this movie pulls off from the very start is the angst and the dark, mysterious atmosphere as the parents suffer, namely Josh Brolin's character, Archer, who lost his son, Matthew. You see his struggles and how he does not handle it well at all in some cases, but then as the mystery unfolds, you see his wits start to come into play and you see he is far more resourceful than he looked. As an architect, he is able to measure distance, radius and he is able to decipher the direction the children were running from the camera footage capturing it.  

Even the crackhead character is played very well by Austin Abrams, and I hope to have a good review of his upcoming Resident Evil movie (but I hold out no hope). You see the lies he tells to score a hit and then you see that he is also just trying to do the right thing while also scoring a lot of drugs in the process. His exploits with Justine's ex, the roughed up cop played by Alden Ehrenreich, who is showing acting chops far beyond his debut as Han Solo in that disaster Solo Movie. The two of them seriously rough each other up, especially when the crackhead's needles seem to find a way to connect to the questionably moraled police officer. 

The sequences of horror are what really bring this movie to the green spotlight. It is so refreshing to see a proper build up with a proper payoff that you probably did not see coming. It was obvious from the start that this was going to be supernatural, but how it pulled it off was very surprising. The villain of this film is very apparent, but her methods are shocking and she lacks any sort of moral compass throughout the entire runtime. The killings are brutal, gruesome and they are very loud. The more this plot unfolds, the more horrible the implecations. There are lines that this movie thankfully does not show, but they are unfortunately quite impending. 

The final nail that drives this movie home is the theme that it sprinkles throughout the entire movie. The title "weapons" had some strange depictions, but then the undertones of weaponizing our guilt and grief through terrible situations is very apparent. How the parent and the teacher both set upon the task of finding and saving those children is both endearing while also remaining deeply troubling. The lengths they go to in order to find those children can go borderline to downright insane. How she stalks the final child who did not disappear is the same exact notion. It's understandable why she did it, but how it troubles the child is also palpable! 

This movie takes the mystery elements of a horror and slams them in your face in the most glorious way. The portrayals are amazing by a very solid cast, the directing is obviously high in creativity and concept while keeping you very engaged. Zach Cregger will also be directing the aforementioned Resident Evil film, and if this movie is any indication, it could be the first actual awesome movie in the entire franchise. No, the first film did not age well and no, W.S. Anderson is not a good director. Knife Fight Me!

Twin Peaks: The Return - Reviewed by an Old Fan

WARNING! SPOILERS!: Do not read this until you've watched the entire series of Twin Peaks! That includes the movie!

Fans of Twin Peaks got a nice long drink of water in 2017 in the form of Twin Peaks Season 3, AKA "The Return". This is after a very long 25 years of nothing. Sadly, the first run of Twin Peaks was cut short when the studio forced David Lynch into revealing Laura Palmer's killer. Lynch was of a mind that revealing the killer would break the spell and render the show powerless. He said that it was because of the Laura Palmer mystery that the show was so popular. The studio was not convinced because the public was DYING to know who the killer was.

Lo and behold, David Lynch was proven absolutely right and the show jumped the shark soon after the killer's reveal in the second season.

What follows is the 2/3rds of a season that lacked David Lynch, as he left the show. He had no idea how they were going to go from there and he was rightfully miffed that they singlehandedly ruined his show. After his departure, the writing became abysmal. Dialogue was stilted, scenes lacked any relevance and sideplots came and went like an obnoxious door to door salesman.

Thankfully, for the final episode of season 2, David Lynch came back and helped them make the arguably greatest episode of the original run. Beyond Life and Death was very well recieved and still represents some of David Lynch's best work.

Although it was cancelled, Lynch was able to make the movie, Fire Walk With Me, the very next year. While fairly well received, it lacked the answers and details that fans of the show were expecting. Not only was it a prequel but it also very scarcely featured Dale Cooper, a fan favorite character. 

Fire Walk With Me was the last bit of Twin Peaks that fans received for 25 years, when Season 3 was announced. David Lynch brought the show back with co-creator Mark Frost in the form of "The Return". 

I am not going to tell you that this was a perfect return to form, nor will I sit here and tell you that this is a worthless late sequel crash-grab. While this series had the potential to be either, it is truly of its own entity. The Return was rather divisive among fans, but with David Lynch on the project, it was bound to have his stamp of approval at the very least. Though, how good was it? It certainly isn't the epic conclusion we all hoped it would be, but it certainly was a ton better than Cooper bashing his head into a mirror while laughing at his BOB reflection. 

To get sentimental for a moment, my father got me into Twin Peaks after its initial run a year later. He loved this show and considered it his favorite of all time. After this, he became a David Lynch fanatic. I did not get to watch The Return with him but before he died, we had watched Twin Peaks multiple times together using his VHS tapes he recorded from a Bravo marathon, including the movie he bought on tape. We celebrated the show and I am so happy he got to watch the third season for himself to get some closure. I write these Twin Peak articles for him. 

Now, I am here to tell you what I liked and what I did not like about this new series. I hope to hear from you on what you liked and did not like and why my opinion is wrong. I love this series and there are somethings I am totally on board with and there are somethings that I find myself scratching my head and asking Mr. Lynch, "Ummm, why?"

What I liked!

Bobby discovering the case reviving the Laura Palmer case

Bobby Briggs, the man who literally killed a random dude who brought him a bag full of cocaine, is now a police officer. In the first season, he was interviewed as a suspect, but Agent Cooper very quickly wrote him off as innocent of the murder. In the Return, we see he joins a meeting in the conference room and is met with Laura Palmer's photo front and center. The emotional reaction he gives is worth of an award, because the weight of his tears can be felt as clear as a bell. All of the turmoil and the pain he went through during that time with his former girlfriend's murder is brought back for just a moment in this very gripping scene.

Andy and Lucy are still together

With so much divorce and turmoil going on between shows and seasons, it's really good to see that two seasons of tension between two characters actually paid off. With all of the love triangle sideplots and "Who's the father" decision making, we not only get to see the two lovebirds are still together and married, but we get to meet the child! He's 25 now and played by Michael Cera! This is one of those scenes that takes entirely too long, but it does give us a decent bit of closure on another part of their lives. 

The Surrealistic Beauty

After all of these years, Lynch has truly retained his title as the Master of Dreams in filmmaking. While his movie projects are rather far in-between, he knows how to put together a great story, a great set of characters and he knows how to fool our minds and mesmerize us as an audience. The man truly never lost it and it's probably safe to say that he never will.

From Dale Cooper's escape from the Black Lodge to the strange shadow figures that stalk our characters from the darkness. These elements can range from subtle to absolute in-your-face intimacy, but either way, they are highlights of the entire series. We get to see so many more locations and new mythical characters, as well as the return of some.

Hawk

The Native American deputy of the original run is now a Deputy Chief and he is front and center in the scenes dealing with Twin Peak's police force. While it is no bueno that we did not get a return of Harry S Truman, we at least get a good bunch of scenes with Hawk. He is just as resourceful and sly as ever in these scenes. Not to mention, he's still a little strange in his reasoning from time to time. Still, he proves to be a great asset in the story and he is very entertaining to watch. It's great that this new season was able to do him some true justice and get him some proper screentime. 

It's About Laura Palmer

It is clear that, once Laura's killer was found, the show lost its original identity to the point where, other than the end credits, we forget what it was about in the first place. Laura Palmer becomes a rather faceless entity. Throughout the second season, we forget she even existed in a haze of ill-gotten character studies and single serving detours in stories we no longer care about. It's more or less just trying to write like David Lynch but with a severe handicap in the fact that he left the show! The writers tried their best but Lynch was absolutely correct in his assessment that the show was nothing without the murder plot.

Without giving too much away, not only does The Return bring back Laura Palmer's storyline but it also does a bit of soul searching along the way. It was clear that David Lynch was crestfallen because of the series getting a black eye so early in its second season, so he wanted to make up for it in this one. Did he make up for it? I think so, but it is also an arguable point that has been raging on since its initial run in 2017. Again, I will not give away what this is all about, but know that Laura Palmer's story is revived and it's up to you to decide if it is worthy of being the true ending to Twin Peaks. 

Closure

In the realm of Lynch, "closure" is a bit of a naughty word. David Lynch is of a mind that closure makes you forget about the story because what you know of it has ended and that's all you need to spend on it. He makes his projects much more cerebral and makes you want to keep thinking about the mystery long after you view it. 

However, after 25 years of a cliffhanger, it is very good to know that Lynch had our backs the entire time. He was not going to make a new series if he was going the Hollywood route of putting old characters to new, tired storylines that go nowhere. David Lynch is far better than these hacks just looking to push messages and make a buck along the way. He almost didn't do it. In fact, he dropped out of the Return part way through its production, but then returned after Mark Frost advocated for him. It's so good at he did because as imperfect as this revival was, it could have been infinitely worse.

What I didn't like!

Scenes that last FOREVER!

Call it Lynch's M.O. if you must, but even he has been guilty of over using this little motif of his. There are scenes that drag on and on to the point of watching establishing shots for four to five minutes. Some of them are simply to re-introduce original cast members and some of them are to introduce new cast members that have a stake in the original seasons, and some of them are just... there! Sometimes, they are put to good effect, and sometimes they are just there to... set up intrigue and atmosphere? Either way, when you put it in a season that is eighteen episodes long, these long scenes can add up to some serious mileage. I know this is Lynch's sudden relief after a long winter of small projects, but there are some very poorly made decisions going on here. 

Song Numbers at the Ends of Episodes

This was a bit jarring. There are certain episodes in this season that end at the Bang Bang Bar with performers playing music until the ending credits. This can start as early as five minutes before the end credits and it is just a sour note to go off of when we are in suspense as to what is going to happen next. The songs aren't bad and the musicians are clearly talented, but this only drags it further away from its original seasons. However, there is a performance from Nine Inch Nails, which forgives this whole thing entirely. My mistake, sorry Mr. and Mrs. Reznor. 

Brain Dead Cooper

This was cute for the first five minutes, but when Dale Cooper escapes the Black Lodge, he was either affected by the 25 years of being in the Red Room or the escape addled his brain. This basically makes him act like a highly incompetent mental patient. He is unable to fully grasp verbal communication, needs help doing daily tasks and needs physical prompting in order to move anywhere. The gag was funny at first, but before the episode ends, watching him go through a casino really got a little old. I was hoping that this would be rectified within a couple of episodes but it goes on for several episodes! This really got old after a while. It really felt like David Lynch was dragging his feet on this one. It's good that we get some closure on Cooper escaping the Black Lodge, but this made it a tiny bit sour in the process.

 The Black Lodge

The greatest thing about the Red Room from the original series is that it was always shrouded in mystery. The original series knew to keep this place in the shadows and only dealt with it in its own time. This gave it an air of surrealism that is unparalleled by any other show or even Lynch himself. So many fans fell in love with the show because of the little dancing man, Laura Palmer's screaming doppelganger and all of the backward/forward talking that gave it the dreamlike qualities we love. 

The Return didn't seem to give The Black Lodge its original majesty. In fact, there are so many key elements missing from the lodge, that it's almost completely unrecognizable. It has the floor patterns and the curtains along with the statues. However, we see it at different angles now and the high definition camera shots sterilize the entire experience. It doesn't have that old fashioned feel we loved from the first one. It was clear that Lynch tried to add the effect in a different manner, but to me, it just falls flat. My next point explains:

There are two elements missing that made the original Black Lodge so recognizable. First off, Michael J Anderson and David Lynch clearly had a falling out somewhere along the way. The actor did not reprise his role and his absence is truly felt in The Return. He was a key element in the Waiting Room that defined the premise to its very core. Instead, he is replaced by a tree with a strange looking skull fruit on top of it.

Second off, the cryptic dialogue is severely lacking. This version of the Black Lodge explains entirely too much. A lot of the lines don't even sound like they were spoken backward during shooting. The tree just has a strange whispering voice while the One Armed Man, Mike, just walks around looking lost and saying things to Cooper. 

The whole Black Lodge is not only seen entirely too much, but there is far too much exposition about it. As scarce as the information may seem, it still seems like entirely too much for something so iconically vague. Even Fire Walk With Me got this concept far better. 

Dr. Lawence Jacoby's Political Blogs

There's an obvious reason why Jacoby's character was brought back and I am here to tell you that this could have been done better. Jacoby's part in the original run was middling at best to begin with. He was a pivital part in shining a light on Laura Palmer's secret life. Beyond that, there wasn't much to him. He had a heart attack and helped them find Jacque's killer for a scene or two but then he pretty much disappeared from the show as the writer's obviously didn't have much to do with him in Lynch's absence. 

Now, he's a reclusive, obsessive patriot type who makes podcasts much akin to terrorist manifestos. We see him making shovels that play a role in the Return, but are subjected to mindless drivel in the process as he speaks to his fans (which includes Nadine Hurley). Did we really need to sit there and watch him spray paint his shovels gold? I'll let you decide, but you can probably imagine my thoughts on the matter.

Lack of Original Soundtrack

One of the most iconic things about the original Twin Peaks run is the soundtrack Angelo Badalamenti mostly composed. It is smooth, haunting, sometimes very jazzy in its demeanor. It is also one of the most enjoyable things to listen to, as it brings up every memory of the original series ever. Sadly, the only thing that The Return is consistant with from the original soundtrack was the beginning theme music. Beyond that, we get bits and pieces of the music throughout. 

Part of me is okay with this, because the Return, as stated earlier, lacks the atmospheric elements through colorization and scene setting. The tone is different now as the scenes are better lit and they have more of an urban feel, instead of the small woodland town we know and love. Still, it would have been nice to have something of an extension of that music. I'm not saying the music had to be exactly the same but it would have been nice if more of an effort was made. Now, when the original music plays in the third season, it feels a little out of place. 

BOB

Yeah, no one I've talked to liked this aspect either. It's almost like it didn't happen, eh?

The Ending

Yeah, we all saw this coming. Obviously, I'm not a huge fan of the sideplots going nowhere and some of the use of old characters, but David Lynch already knew that. It's pretty obvious that this is not the series he wanted to make in the first place. If the studio and people would have just listened to him in the first place, we wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place. The Return was not meant to continue Twin Peaks, it was meant to end it. The end of this series pretty much tells you that the TV Show was ruined from season 2 and there is no going back from that. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of Laura Palmer's actress, Sheryl Lee but with how this series presents itself, there really wasn't any way around this. 

We cannot save this show, especially with just another season. The show was never going to be saved and that's just something we need to accept. Lynch built us an entertaining show and gave us a few answers we've been looking for. Although, probably not in the way we wanted, it's at least something. We were never going to fully like this and we were never going to find full closure because that's just not the name of the game. All we can do is find our own happiness and make our own stories to enjoy for ourselves. Twin Peaks is over and there's no way to change that. David Lynch knew this going in and he decided to show us this fact for ourselves. There is one good thing that comes out of this, though. At least now, we can move on.

9 Reasons why Twin Peaks Episode "Man Behind the Glass" Represents Writing Genius.

 WARNING! SPOILERS: Please read the entire article, not just the numbers. These spoilers go above and beyond anything your mind can literally comprehend. That is not an insult, it is a fact. This sort of show was never meant to be covered on this Blog! It contains some seriously adult content but is somehow still rated for television! It is seriously the exemplary horror based Television Show that may have looked a little normal from the advertisement it was given. Some of them encapsulated the show, but some of them did not do so much for it. A lot of people heard about this show upon release, but it has since grown a little bit more of a high power cult following that will never let it go. This has something  to do with the fact that it was revived back in 2017. Twin Peaks was a monumental success for its time, raking in millions of viewers in its pilot episode alone. That crowd didn't all stick around for the second episode, and while its viewership wasn't quite prepared for how seriously fricken weird this television show was. If you are a first time viewer of this show, do NOT read this blog post! Yes, that was all the warning, I know it's a big paragraph and I am sorry about that.

So, now let's break away to talk about David Lynch. This man makes, bar none, some of the weirdest movies you will ever see. Even when they are less weird, they're pretty weird. If you have watched Twin Peaks, you know this. It is a lot of people's introduction to him and his writing that is both surrealistic and truly dreamlike without wearing it too thin and backing it up with some amazing characters. 

Today, I am writing this entire article for just a single episode and it is titled The Man behind the Glass. It is truly the most amazing episode that reveals some very cheesy information, while also trivial information that is more of a "I tried to make it funny, but it's just... weird" moments sprinkled throughout. This series is based off of a high school teenager that was raped and murdered! Turn back now if you are squeamish on the subject. I will not be talking about it too much!

This entire episode has way more content than anyone would ever be able to handle, and I am going to explain why. Spoilers, in other words. Seriously, there will be information that I do not cover, but I will cover the largest elements. This episode blatantly blurts out information at a thousand miles per hour. You will find out some of the deepest darkest secrets that have been a mystery up until now. So, I am going to break it down into 9 reasons why, so I don't make this article gargantuan.

9. Agent Cooper reveals clues about the Giant

The Giant came to Cooper when he was lying on the floor, bleeding from his gut after taking three shots to the stomach by a Walther PPK silenced pistol. During his wound's bleedout, he "hallucinates" a giant that randomly asks for his ring. Why do I bring up the ring? Once Cooper becomes fully conscious, he realized that his ring was actually gone. Why did the giant do this? More than likely, to show Cooper that this was, in fact a real event that was happening. He gives Agent Cooper all of these clues while he is flat on his back, possibly dying because the bellboy was really old and didn't understand his requests to call a doctor. In this episode, he not only reveals these clues to his co-workers, the third and final clue also comes to light when we find out who the One Armed Man is.

8. The most information that we find out about Bob!

If you know this show and have watched this show, you know what Bob I am talking about. He is a spirit that haunts the killer, who will not be named in this article. That is one spoiler too many. However, Laura Palmer's father, Leland Palmer flat out comes to the police station and tells the most information we have ever heard about this show's most mysterious element up until this point. All we knew was that he was running behind the scenes and any information about him has been middling at best. In fact, he remains a poster for a good part of the show. Until this episode happened. 

We find out that this spirit of hateful feelings and malicious intent was nothing more than an old man who lived beside Leland Palmer when he was a boy. We also find out where he lived and that his name is "Robertson". Then he brings up the most significant information. The fact that he flicked matches at him, saying "You wanna play with fire, little boy?" The name "Bob" was stuck to this very mysterious and very creepy entity that David Lynch created. Bob remains the most iconic character in the series, along with Agent Cooper himself. 

7. The One Armed Man and his connection to Bob!

As soon as Mike, the literal One Armed Man of Twin Peaks, becomes a real character, we find out that he is basically Bob's brother. He is the guy that hinges a lot on what makes Bob a spirit. This is the episode where he sees the image of Robertson and has a serious freak out in the bathroom! Then he basically says that he is in the game now. I can't say too much about this guy without giving away a ton of spoilers. As you've read, Bob is not so much a person, as he is an icon of evil. 

To put a devil by a devil, that's pretty much why this show was an amazing story but it was also very grimy. If you have not gotten involved with this show for a long time, do not stop watching it. You will find clues over every corner and to bring in a literal One Armed Man concept and pull it off to this magnitude is a tribute to this show's greatness and David Lynch as a creative visionary.

6. Agent Cooper's discussion with Shelly Johnson!

That may seem mundane, in fact all of these titles are pretty much just character names, but keep in mind that Shelly is an abused wife who is married to the human embodiment of Satan. That's not the literal meaning, but Leo Johnson may as well be. Up until now, we've found out that he has dealt drugs, was deeply involved with events leading to Laura Palmer's death and has just about every federal charge you could think of. 

Agent Cooper, in an effort to put him in prison for life, asks Shelly to tell the court what he has done and she tells him no. There is a reason for this, but Cooper is not fooled in the slightest. He tells her that once they get Leo back on his feet, after having a bullet in his spinal chord, he will be his old self soon. He'll revive once he gets out of that coma and she will have him back. To say this would literally scare any human being on the face of this earth would be an understatement and you can see that on Shelly's face as she considers the implications. Not only is she amazingly acted by Mädchen Amick, but in that moment, you can see her try and hide her terror! This very brief scene carries so much weight and we are BARELY half way through this episode! All Cooper can say is "Best of luck!" He knows she will be back soon. 

5. Albert Rosenfield opens his heart to Harry S Truman. 

Yes, you heard me correctly. The Sheriff, named after the former president, is given a speech by the most unlikely source in the entire show. This guy is insufferable and nearly brought Sheriff Truman up on charges for punching him. Anyone who has seen this part of the show probably remembers it very fondly, as Miguel Ferrer gives possibly the most heartfelt speech from a man you truly believe is the mask of assholery. He has laid the jokes and committed truly terrible deeds, going so far as to literally want to cut Laura open and delay the burial until after his total disection. The Sheriff punches him and makes him lay out across Laura Palmer's body! 

In this scene, we not only find out that he is only an asshole to them because he is pretty much hard on crime because crime has been hard on him. This brings him out as jaded to the entire process and willing to do literally anything it takes to bring in the badguy. He treats people like dirt because he expects results and cooperation. This is a little hard when he is such an unapologetic asshole. However, deep in side, it is the love that brought out all the hatred. 

He's obviously handled many cases involving very young children and this case is just another stack on the case. However, throughout the series, he not only shows his competence in the process but he demands it from those around him. He's done it so much that he has become tired of the process and only focuses on work. All of this is revealed in this one scene and it is so entertaining because you can truly feel his intensity. It's a side of the characer we've never seen, all the way up until he literally says "I love you, Sheriff Truman." 

4.The Patch Eyed Woman bursts out of a Coma!

Not only does Nadine Hurly wake up from a coma, but she wakes up chanting cheerleader stuff while clapping like a monkey doll with cymbols! For a large portion of the show, this middle aged wife, who was already pretty weird in the first place, comes out of a coma completely convinced that she is an 18 year old girl in high school. This goes on for ages throughout the show. Like I said, she has always been rather strange in the way she talks and the fact that she has super human strength. No, you did not read that wrong and no, I am not joking. Throughout the show this woman has been shown to be able to crush a man's hand by sheer force of will and bend metal bars on an exercise machine. 

3. They find out who killed their top Suspect!

In this episode, we find out that Laura Palmer's father killed a man who was proven to at least be present on the night of Laura's murder. All Leland Palmer knew was that he was under complete suspicion, and that was enough for him to put a pillow over his face. Beyond his connection to Bob, this was just a single leaf on the branch of things that this man has done. It was simply the thing that the police initially arrested him for. 

2. Maddy Ferguson speaks to Laura Palmer's Grave

No one else can put this amount of exposition in a TV show and keep it so amazingly interesting. We've had a season and some change already and this show has spoken for the majority of the show. It may not work in a lot of cases but Twin Peaks somehow has that David Lynch touch (for the majority of it) that makes it possible. When Maddy Ferguson blurts out an entire monologue, the information is all stuff we have been waiting for this entire time. 

These are all deep character based matters of her relationship with someone who is now dead. Laura Palmer has left behind so many secrets and remained so perfect in everyone's eyes. The more we find out in this episode, the more we begin to truly enjoy these characters and their complexities. They are so strange, but David Lynch shows us that they are also real people with real problems in unflinching clarity. 

No more is it truly represented than in an entire speech this young woman gives to a friend she thought she knew. This goes to prove that it is possible to write even characters with their own goals while also showing that they have many faults and that is not exclusive to any individual in the show. 

1. We find out who has Laura Palmer's diary!

Donna hayward was Laura's long time friend. Her death was especially hard on her. Like Maddy, Donna is also finding the real secrets behind Laura. Her best friend has turned out to be quite unscrupulous in many forms of the term. This has led her to take steps to coping with her death, including taking Laura's route in Meals on Wheels. This leads her to a man who states that he had a secret relationship with Laura. He has many details of her life and he states them to her in an attempt to prove that he has intimate knowledge of things in her life. 

This all sounded well and good, up until she finds Lauras diary in the room when he leaves. This gives clear evidence that he had some connection to her, but not quite the one he claims. 

There are a lot more things in this episode, but some of it is rather dark and I decided to keep it out of this post for various other reasons. Some of them would take a little more explanation than I am willing to type out. I don't want to keep you here all day. If you have not seen this show, consider this a true recommendation. David Lynch is a creative genius and if you have not seen his work, you are missing out on some of the strangest works of art on film.