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.
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