Review Tonight! "Twin Peaks" S01E04 "Rest In Pain"

[Mad-Pac]

Aired Thursday 9:00 PM Apr 26, 1990 on ABC

The people of Twin Peaks gather for Laura Palmer's funeral. (Which Palmer family member would you like to see there?) Agent Cooper interprets his dream about the killer. Truman reveals to Cooper a secret.


CAST

Kyle MacLachlan ... Special Agent Dale Cooper
Michael Ontkean ... Sheriff Harry S. Truman
Mädchen Amick ... Shelly Johnson
Dana Ashbrook ... Bobby Briggs
Richard Beymer ... Benjamin Horne
Lara Flynn Boyle ... Donna Hayward
Sherilyn Fenn ... Audrey Horne
Alessandra Torresani ... Zoe Graystone
Warren Frost ... Dr. Will Hayward
Peggy Lipton ... Norma Jennings
James Marshall ... James Hurley
Everett McGill ... Big Ed Hurley
Jack Nance ... Pete Martell
Ray Wise ... Leland Palmer
Grace Zabriskie ... Sarah Palmer
Sheryl Lee ... Maddy Ferguson / Laura Palmer
Dennis Haysbert ... Pres. David Palmer
D.B. Woodside ... Wayne Palmer
Jonathan Hyde ... Eldritch Palmer
Portia de Rossi ... Veronica Palmer
Joan Chen ... Jocelyn Packard
Piper Laurie ... Catherine Martell
Eric DaRe ... Leo Johnson
Harry Goaz ... Deputy Andy Brennan
Michael Horse ... Deputy Tommy 'Hawk' Hill
Russ Tamblyn ... Dr. Lawrence Jacoby
Miguel Ferrer ... FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield
Walter Olkewicz ... Jacques Renault
Royce D. Applegate ... Rev. Clarence Brocklehurst
Jed Mills ... Wilson Mooney
Wendy Robie ... Nadine Hurley
Kimmy Robertson ... Lucy Moran
Gary Hershberger ... Mike Nelson
Don S. Davis ... Maj. Garland Briggs
Charlotte Stewart ... Betty Briggs
Robert Bauer ... Johnny Horne
Catherine E. Coulson ... The Log Lady
Jill Engels ... Trudy
Brett Vadset ... Joey Paulson
Clay Wilcox ... Bernard Renault
Erika Anderson ... Emerald /Jade
Lance Davis ... Chet
Peter Michael Goetz ... Jared


DIRECTED BY

Tina Rathborne


WRITTEN BY

Mark Frost ... (created by) &
David Lynch ... (created by)
Harley Peyton ... (written by)

 

[Brimfin]

The good news for this week is that Colonel Cooper – oops, I mean Special Agent Cooper – is acting more like a detective again. “Here, Audrey, write your name down for me. Aha – you are the Midnight Tipster!” Later, at the diner, he realizes that Ed has a thing for Norma - due to his body language no doubt. And that nets him free pie and drinks to boot. Yup, he didn’t get his stripes by just kissing up to his boss.

Naturally, last week’s “I know who killed Laura Palmer” was predictably bogus. Instead it was “break the code, solve the case” referring to the events in his dream. It did turn out that Albert deduced that Laura’s arms were bound twice on the night of her murder – matching up to “sometimes my arms bend back” from the dream. And later, we meet Laura’s cousin Madeline – who looks like Laura wearing glasses and dark hair. That seems to be a reference to “Doesn’t my cousin look like Laura Palmer?” from the dream. Maybe this dream is valid after all. Of course, Laura (or her identical cousin) whispered the name of the killer to Cooper in the dream but that little detail is the one thing he forgot.

Speaking of Albert, he showed even less people skills this week ready to drill into poor Laura’s body right in front of her family and friends. Cooper negotiated a compromise. But afterward, Albert made his “hayseed hicks” comments once too often to Truman, so Harry belted him. Al called it a sucker punch, but seriously he was the only one who didn’t see that coming! Nice that it was just one good solid punch; Truman did not wreck the moment by pummeling him or piling on some other way. He’d made his point. Cooper supported that when Al tried to file an assault charge against him – not in this lifetime, friend.

Cooper finally confronted number one suspect Leo Johnson who followed every answer with a swing of the ax. But he seems to have a perfect alibi, so that bottle-smashing bit may have meant nothing after all. Of course, he is involved in the drug ring and we also find out that Sheriff Truman and his Book House Boys are trying to break up that same drug ring that Mike, Bobby, and Jacques are also a part of.

The saga of Josie and the mill house continues, complete with the cliché of two ledgers right next to each other in the safe last week, one of which Catherine retrieved afterward. And Harry flips a few pages in the legitimate ledger and says, “Nothing looks odd here.” That’s because, of course, the fake ledger would have bribes and embezzlements spelled out in BIG RED LETTERS. Now, there is suspicion that Andrew might have been murdered. I just hope they don’t get saddled down in too many different plotlines as we proceed here.

The focal point of the episode is Laura’s funeral, which features an accusation that the town all knew something was wrong with Laura but did nothing. Then, a grieving Leland jumps onto his daughter’s coffin, fouling up the lowering mechanism and causing his wife to shout, “Don’t ruin this too.” Leland’s behavior ranged from creepy to bizarre this week, concluding with him begging someone to dance with him. I wasn’t sure what to make of his reaction to Madeline either.

So, some improvement from last week, but I’m still not getting immersed in the show as some fans do. I’ll bump this back up to 6 napkin holders used to convey Laura’s coffin so that Shelley can giggle and show diner customers what happened when Leland jumped on the coffin at the funeral.

Best dialogue of the week:
Albert: He hit me.
Cooper: Well, I'm sure he meant to do that.

 

[Bob Peters 61]

Agent Cooper is really getting out there with his confidence in his dream to finger the killer. I can't believe he's actually taken seriously at this point.

Audrey is definitely the most seductive underage girl character since Alicia Silverstone in those Aerosmith videos. Every detail about her seems calculated for maximum effect. Almost off-putting in the degree to which that's so, as it comes off as deliberately calculated. One gets the impression she must be the reincarnation of someone from pre-code Hollywood.

Bobby really needs a good, swift kick in the backside, but it's too late for that to do any good anymore. Can't believe an old war dog like his dad can't whip him into better shape than that. My one moment of sympathy for him came in his otherwise antisocial disruption of the funeral. That was sincere angst he was showing there. Could have been expressed better, but what do you expect of the like of him?

James could neither attend the funeral nor stay away from it. Somehow that seems fitting.

So the locals have a better investigation of the local cocaine trade than they let on, holding dark interrogations in a secret library. While the bad guys have a signal light for intel of their own. At the same time surprising and not surprising at all if you give it a second thought.

Finally, we have Shelly coming home with a pistol and hiding it while Leo is out taking care of bad guy business. Let's hope he doesn't find it before she comes to the point of using it on him. I'll have to give this ep. 6 fidget-spinning Zippo lighters.

 

[Mad-Pac]

So, after an entire week, we finally got the answer we all were waiting for: who killed Laura Palmer. Except that, no... I admire Sheriff Truman's patience to go along with Agent Cooper's head trips. Instead, I just imagined the scene:

Truman - "So, who killed Laura Palmer?"

Cooper - "Have I told you about my dream?"

Truman - "Of course you haven't. Who killed Laura Palmer?"

Cooper - "In this dream there was a woman exactly like her, her arms bent back, she was filled with secrets, where she lived birds sang a
pretty song. And there was a little man dancing."

Truman - "you're going to tell me who killed Laura Palmer, are you?"

Cooper - "She bent and whispered the killer's name in my ear."

Truman - "Aha! Finally! So, who killed Laura Palmer?"

Cooper - "I don't remember. But my dream is a code. Break the code, solve the crime."

Truman - "Are you kidding??? That's it? This is the reason you made me spend a sleepless night just thinking who we'd have to arrest today? Seriously..."

Cooper shrugs and takes a sip of coffee.

But of course nobody expected the truth to be revealed that soon. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they never find out who did it at all, or if, as in The Prisoner, the truth is so confusing we'll never really understand what happened.

Moving on... time for Laura's casket-burying ceremony. Honestly I am getting tired of all the drama, but, on the other hand, the funeral was an excellent opportunity for some characters to show a more emotionally fragile side while integrating that to the plot in a believable way. And, as the good Major Briggs said (a character I'm really starting to like) this is a form to get closure. Let's just hope we do get some closure for some overdone story-telling aspects.

Speaking of the Major, I think it's nice that he is trying to impart some wisdom on Bobby (the "kid" does need help, and he's being particularly annoying) and the old military man doesn't give any signs of losing his temper even facing Bobby's needlessly defiant attitude, even though it would be justified if he did.

And since we're talking about unlikable characters, it seems to me they are trying to make Agent Rosenfield just way too nasty. I don't buy it. In fact, I think it's a dangerous ploy on the part of the writer to tell us who we are supposed to like and dislike. OK, it worked with Leo Johnson, I admit. Nobody likes him. And I love Agent Cooper. But normally I don't fall for that and end disliking the person we're supposed to like. Star Wars comes as a great example, since it's so heavy-handed and preachy I end hating all the good guys, while Darth Vader turns out to be a confident and charismatic leader, and Palpatine, a savvy and admirable politician. But I digress.

Anyway... So we had the funeral, and both Bobby and James lost it, and almost had a fight. Actually, the one who really lost it was Leland. By the way, did you also burst into laughing when he jumped onto the coffin crying and started to go up and down? It's not that I'm heartless, but I'm really not sure whether we're suppose to laugh or cry in that scene. Or both. Well, at least Sherry did find it funny.

Once again Cooper shows his astute observation skills as he quickly figures out that Big Ed and Norma have a thing going on, just as he saw what was going on between Jocelyn and Harry. But what really matters in that scene is that we're introduced to something I believe will play a big part sometime in this show, or/and in the 2017 sequel: the ancient danger that lurks in the woods surrounding Twin Peaks. Apparently I missed all that in my original viewing, because I had no idea that was a thing. And then, we're introduced to some sort of secret society that has its own secret gesture its members use to identify themselves to each other and even a secret lair full of books (?).

So now we have the drug angle. That involves,Jacques Renault, his brother Bernard, Jerry Horne, Ben Horne, Leo Johnson, Bobby and the Roadhouse. Plenty of elements for a season or two. I'd guess two.

We also have a tiny development in the Saw Mill story line. Jocelyn tries to show Sheriff Truman the duplicate ledger, but Catherine cleverly removed it from the same, leaving just one book which was so OK that all it took Truman was one glimpse to realize there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. And all that happened while Catherine eavesdropped on them. Actually, that was not the first eavesdropping scene, as earlier, Audrey also used devious means (in this case, a secret passage) to observe unobserved Dr. Jacoby preparing Johnny for the funeral).

Finally, leland loses again in another I-don't-know-if-that's-too-funny-or-too-sad scene. That part (Leland asking some charitable soul to please, please dance with him) I remember from my original viewing. When Cooper approached, for a moment I thought Cooper was going to indulge the wrecked father and really dance with him, but fortunately he didn't.

An OK episode. Still a slow pace, but we had important moments, such as the funeral, the discovery of the evil force that lurks in the woods and Twin peaks secret society. Episode 4 gets 6 pies that died and went to heaven (and they probably died when maple syrup collided with ham).

 

[Bob Peters 61]

Odd point I forgot to mention:

Am I the only one who got a bit of a Scooby Doo vibe off of Audrey's poorly hidden secret passages and peepholes?

 

[Cloister56]

Ok nearly back on track onto this weeks episode.

We open with Audrey and Cooper, they really work well together on screen. Audrey is initially in full on seductive mode but unlike with how she wrapped the Swedes (They're Norwegian Mac!" around her fingers she does seem to have a crush on Cooper. He plays along but then it reveals he has played her to find out if she was the writer of the tip. He also receives more info on the infamous perfume counter.
Audrey leaves thanking Cooper for talking to her. It's small line but I feel like it means far more, Cooper talks to her as a woman not a child or a sex object.

The recounting of the dream sequence comes off as pure gibberish.

So, after an entire week, we finally got the answer we all were waiting for: who killed Laura Palmer. Except that, no... I admire Sheriff Truman's patience to go along with Agent Cooper's head trips.

I do agree with you and the scene you present is far more realistic (and also amusing). But again I find Cooper so engaging and entertaining I think I would be like Truman, so caught up in the telling of the tale I would go along with it.

Then we get the autopsy scene. I can understand both view points to some degree, Albert see's Laura as valuable evidence that will lead to the killer but those who knew her and her family see her as what she is a dead girl. Again Truman steps up and puts Albert in his place, but it is Cooper who commands the situation order the release of Laura to her family.

We then meet Laura Palmer as a brunette and with glasses. It is a clever move by the show to introduce Madeline. The actress can now play double duty I assume for any flashbacks that may be required throughout the series but also can establish a new character. So this is the cousin the dwarf mentioned. This would mean the dwarf is either an unseen son of the Palmers or of a third Palmer sibling.

Leo is cutting some wood. Hate this guy.

Bobby sometimes reminds me of Jim Carey, especially when he was putting out the cigarette. Garland very well spoken and the picture of control in this scene he does hit a raw nerve by implying Bobby is afraid.

Albert gives his evidence run down:
Laura uses cocaine
Laura was tied up twice, once in the rail car, once somewhere else.
The killer cleans up and then kissed Laura
Claw and bite marks on Laura ?animal
A letter "J" in Laura's stomach

Cooper's speech to Albert is interesting. I wonder what Cooper is like with other cases. He says here murder is not a statistic but surely that is true to the families of every murder he investigates. Out of interest I looked up what murders FBI agents investigate. I can see 2 reasons they would be involved in Laura's case.
1) The locals do not have the expertise
2) Laura was kidnapped and killed with possibility of cross jurisdictional boundaries (it is mentioned One Eyed Jacks is on the Canadian side of a border)

We see that the Horne's home has secret passages including at least one peep hole into Johnny's room. As we know Laura spent time with Johnny I wonder if this has relevance to that.

Odd point I forgot to mention:

Am I the only one who got a bit of a Scooby Doo vibe off of Audrey's poorly hidden secret passages and peepholes?

If it had gone to a shot from the room of Audreys eyes following them around then YES! :)


The funeral has 2 great moments.
Bobby's speech, probably has more truth to it that just him lashing out. The first impressions we get of Laura is the facade prom queen, popular, loved by everyone. The more we learn the more we find she was troubled and it does not seem to have been a secret.

Leland throwing himself onto the casket, taken over with grief. His wife intially admonishing him for it but then breaking down too. It is slightly undermined by the comical straining of the lift as it attempts to raise the casket.

The slow motion fight break up didn't work so well.

At least the show leans into the comical side of the casket with the locals laughing at Shelly's retelling of the story. Despite all the grief I think this is a very likely response to the events.

Cooper wins Ed's respect very quickly by deducing his relationship with Norma. I really want some pie after this scene. Truman introduces a supernatural element to the show, mentioning the "dark evil" they fight against.
We go to the Bookhouse for a very shady interrogation of Bernard. I did find it strange Cooper just went along with this vigilante activity, if they caught the guy moving drugs why not do it more official.

Shelley has now got herself a gun, this will end well I am sure.

Josie reveals her fears about Catherine, while the intercom picks up every single word. Can Josie really be that stupid? I am beginning to think something more might be going on here. Is she manipulating Truman and Catherine?

Cooper stands guard on Laura's grave and runs into Dr Jacoby. He's refreshing blunt to Cooper and it does seem he had genuine feelings for Laura.

That part (Leland asking some charitable soul to please, please dance with him) I remember from my original viewing. When Cooper approached, for a moment I thought Cooper was going to indulge the wrecked father and really dance with him, but fortunately he didn't.

I really wanted someone to dance with Leland, I also thought when Cooper got to his feet he was going to jump in. It is nice of him and Hawk to get the grieving man home.

A more subdued episode this week. It probably had more information that all the previous episode about the crime and had some great scenes but overall was a good episode not great.

7 kilos too heavy for the lift mechanism to function out of 10

 

[Cloister56]

How does this look?

So I've been playing around with the quote system. Up to know I've just been hitting reply and then deleting all the bits I don't want.
It seems from my little test above that all you need is quote= "who you want to quote" all in square brackets, then the quote, followed by /quote in square brackets.

The reply version includes member number and post number, what does this do?
Does it mean the person quoted is alerted?

 

[Bob Peters 61]

If it had gone to a shot from the room of Audreys eyes following them around then YES! :)

I half expected to see a shot inside the room revealing her to be looking out through the eyes of a portrait on the wall. Was almost disappointed when it didn't.

 

[Mad-Pac]

I do agree with you and the scene you present is far more realistic (and also amusing). But again I find Cooper so engaging and entertaining I think I would be like Truman, so caught up in the telling of the tale I would go along with it.

I have to agree with you on that. It's part of the surreal atmosphere that seemingly normal people go along this nonsense as if it made any sense. And yes, Cooper is engaging and Truman is the kind of man to seriously give a person the benefit of the doubt. And they all respect Cooper very much, so they believe this is actually going somewhere.

7 kilos too heavy for the lift mechanism to function out of 10

My first reaction was, "No way, Leland weighs way more than 7 kilos!" Duh!

 

[Mad-Pac]

So I've been playing around with the quote system. Up to know I've just been hitting reply and then deleting all the bits I don't want.
It seems from my little test above that all you need is quote= "who you want to quote" all in square brackets, then the quote, followed by /quote in square brackets.

I just do either one of two things: I select the passage I want quoted in my reply and click "reply", or copy and paste the passage I want and click "Insert" in the upper menu and then "quote". But of course you can manually copy and paste [ QUOTE] and [ /QUOTE] wherever you need them.

The reply version includes member number and post number, what does this do?
Does it mean the person quoted is alerted?

Yes, and you can also go to your profile, access "preferences", "options" and mark the "and receive email notifications of replies" box and get alerted via email.

 

[Brimfin]

Ray Wise ... Leland Palmer
Grace Zabriskie ... Sarah Palmer
Sheryl Lee ... Maddy Ferguson / Laura Palmer
Dennis Haysbert ... Pres. David Palmer
D.B. Woodside ... Wayne Palmer
Jonathan Hyde ... Eldritch Palmer
Portia de Rossi ... Veronica Palmer

Ah, the Palmer family reunion - Former Presidents David and Wayne from "24", Eldritch from "The Strain" and Veronica from "Better Off Ted" (the last one not a reference to a show the Sages have been to, but maybe one they will visit in the future.)

Perhaps the most hilarious credit was Directed by Tina Rathbone. I eagerly looked up her credits to see what show or movie was being craftily referenced only to find...it was this one. She really was the director

 

[Mad-Pac]

Ah, the Palmer family reunion - Former Presidents David and Wayne from "24", Eldritch from "The Strain" and Veronica from "Better Off Ted" (the last one not a reference to a show the Sages have been to, but maybe one they will visit in the future.)

Indeed the Palmers have several important figures in TV history.

Perhaps the most hilarious credit was Directed by Tina Rathbone. I eagerly looked up her credits to see what show or movie was being craftily referenced only to find...it was this one. She really was the director

Sometimes reality is funnier...

 

[TheSowIsMine]

Im probably on of the few people who thinks this, but I think Albert should have gotten more time with the body.

 

[Mad-Pac]

Im probably on of the few people who thinks this, but I think Albert should have gotten more time with the body.

I agree with you in principle. But the bassic message the episode tries to convey is that Cooper found decency and good old-fashioned American values in this little slice of small-town Americana, and in this context, respect the wishes of the community is more important than being cold and technical with crime evidence. Apparently it wouldn't be worth it even solving the crime if these essential values are sacrificed in the process.

But yeah, I'd say let Albert finish with the body for sure. Even if that took drilling holes in Laura's head.