Review Tonight! "Twin Peaks" S02E06 "Demons"

[Mad-Pac]

Aired Thursday 9:00 PM Nov 03, 1990 on ABC

In the aftermath of Harold's attack,Donna and Maddy collect the emotional pieces of their shattered sense of security. Speaking of which, someone is brought back to safety, or is she? And a shady inhabiting spirit is revealed.


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
Sherilyn Fenn ...Audrey Horne
Lara Flynn Boyle ...Donna Hayward
James Marshall ...James Hurley
Everett McGill ...Big Ed Hurley
Jack Nance ...Pete Martell
Ray Wise ...Leland Palmer
Joan Chen ...Jocelyn Packard
Eric DaRe ...Leo Johnson
Michael Horse ...Deputy Tommy 'Hawk' Hill
Sheryl Lee ...Maddy Ferguson
Lenny von Dohlen ...Harold Smith
Ian Abercrombie ...Tom Brockman
David Lynch ...FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole
Wendy Robie ...Nadine Hurley
Fumio Yamaguchi ...Mr. Tojamura
Al Strobel ...Phillip Michael Gerard
Jill Engels ...Trudy
Ron Kirk ...Cappy
Leonard Ray ...Lounge Local
Mak Takano ...Jonathan
Brett Vadset ...Joey Paulsen


WRITING CREDITS

Mark Frost ... (created by) &
David Lynch ... (created by)

Harley Peyton ... (written by) &
Robert Engels ... (written by)


DIRECTED BY

Lesli Linka Glatter

 

[Mad-Pac]

TWIN PEAKS

Season 2

Episode 6: “Demons”​

Welcome to our weekly dose of crazy. Last Friday we had left off when Harold was teaching us how to properly use a face scratcher, I mean, a hand cultivator. Harold thought Donna was different, but no, she’s just like all the others, they are all the same... (Funny how villainous jilted lovers always say that.) Oh, and by the way, they could’ve made a little greater effort to take the diary as they left. That just seemed lazy.

So, Cooper brings Audrey to safety. And I loved the scene of the cabin interior when Cooper and the others brought Audrey unconscious that I decided to take the image as a wallpaper. It’s just a pity the resolution is not as high as it should.

Good news, Ben. You didn’t have to pay the ransom! Best news ever, right? Of course he checks the money to see if it’s all there before asking how his daughter is. By the way, why does Ben smoke a cigar? It must be because he’s a boss in the entrepreneurial and criminal sense. But for someone so smart, I can’t believe Ben is falling for that “Mr. Tojamura” routine. Of, and speaking of the devil, am I mistaken or did Peter Martell and Mr. Tojamura seemed to have “a moment”?

Audrey - “I saw so much.”
Ben - “We’ll sort it out, together.”
(That means, we’ll talk about it and I’ll tell you what you saw.)

Bobby has a delicate touch to handle Vegetable Leo. (Eric DaRe’s acting has improved a great deal now that he doesn’t have to do difficult things like, say, showing human facial expressions.) I’m sure the patient is specially appreciative of the smoking in his face. But he doesn’t seem to mind with all that “Weekend at Bernie’s” style partying. However, I kept thinking that at any moment he was going to wake up and rise like a vengeful terminator. And Bobby is so scared of Leo that the mere thought Shelly’s husband might have moved made him totally apologetic. You know, just in case.

Hey, that’s David Lynch pretending to be an FBI agent. For some reason Cooper is a small Mexican Chihuahua now. Gordon is the embodiment of discretion with his clueless deaf guy routine. Lots of forensic clues are thrown around and I’m sure the viewers that like to play detective are writing everything down to see if that leads to anything. I usually don’t pay much attention. But I couldn’t help noticing when Gordon mentioned vicuña coat fibers.

Nadine has a hell of a punch. But really, her story line is going nowhere, so I guess we have to “roll with the punches” on that one. Another story line that may become interesting, but hasn’t raised my interest yet is Jocely’s. She is involved in shady business and she can’t seem to understand she should be adaptable. Anyway, she wants her money, but she doesn’t understand that fluidity is everything. Josie and Ben end in a stalemate of mutual blackmail and she ends getting 5 million… Just to leave the show again. I’m sure Truman thinks there’s absolutely nothing suspicious about Mr. Lee because he’s just an innocent assistant. But it’s funny how, for a lowly assistant, he looks a lot like a hired Yakuza assassin.

The “kids” were quite busy this time. And I use the term “kids” very loosely, of course. Maddy looks even more like a grownup lady in those elegant winter outfits. Oh, and is Sheryl Lee leaving the show? I’ll try not to look at credits of future episodes. And by the way, I got amazing new video copies of the episodes. I can even see the freckles on Donna’s forehead, and it turns out she has a lot of that.

I started talking about our weekly dose of crazy. Well, crazy definitely had its place in the episode at the end of it. Leland is completely sane, taking some hair from the stuffed cat and putting it in his pocket. At least his business acumen seems untouched. So does his singing. Is he going for a temporary insanity plea? I think it’s real!

The very last part reinforces my theory that if you are not very patient to endure a Twin Peaks episode, all you have to do is skip it to the last ten or fifteen minutes. This time we learned more about the secrets hidden in the soul of our favorite one-armed shoe salesman. Words like “Haloperidol, schizophrenia, multiple personalities” are thrown around in the scene. We learn that he is being haunted by an inhabiting spirit named Mike, and that Bob was his familiar. Bob, you know, is eager to have some fun, he wears a smile, and for this reason everybody must run. Bob, obviously, requires a human host and he feeds on fear and pleasures. Through the darkness of future past. Fire walk with me. I saw the face of God. Yadda, yadda.

OK, long story short, his purpose is to stop Bob. Bob is in a house made of wood surrounded by many trees (which pretty much describes every single dwelling in Twin Peaks), but then he mentions that the house is filled with many rooms each alike but occupied with many souls. The Grand Northern hotel! Let’s wait for the next episode and find out if they will catch the evil spirit there.

The ending was intriguing. That’s slightly better, though sometimes the episode was THIS close to a lethal dose. Anyway, “Demons” gets 6 Windom Earle chess moves which, for you to execute them properly, you have to be with mind, body and spirit up to the task.

 

[Bob Peters 61]

Maybe this scare with crazy Harold could scare the terrible trio out of their nosing around. Honestly, though, it looks as if every 18 year old in Twin Peaks thinks they're either Nancy Drew or one of the Hardy boys.

I have to suspect that Bobby's clumsiness with the wheelchair was on purpose. Couldn't blame him for that.

And now we see the hole in the insurance ploy. So much comes out for expenses that there isn't enough left to live on. And here Shelly's done quit her job for it. Looks like Bobby needs to get one himself. I smell a time to bale on her again coming up. I can't help but have sympathy for her, but she really needs to stop making and following the absolute worst possible choices in male companionship. Such a pretty young lady could easily do better in that department.

The deaf FBI guy is interesting. A character to look up to and at the same time provides comic relief. Cool.

Well, they kept the one armed-man without his chemicals and he pointed, all right. Now it's official that there is a ghostly or demonic element at work here. So just who is Bob inhabiting at the Great Northern? Due to the nature of the business, that only narrows it down to a rather large group of people.

So Mr. Lee is Josie's boss in some Chinese crime syndicate. Sort of explains why he was keeping an eye on the FBI man on the scene. I think she's actually fallen in love with Harry as he has for her. Good reason for her not to want to go back.

Ben Horne is quite a piece of work. Meeting blackmail with blackmail leaves him smiling and saying "Well played," to the one who bested him that way. But whoever that Tojamura character is, Ben's now in a pickle having already spent that guy's money and is stuck trying to get out of his side of the deal. This can't end well for Ben.

Speaking of a piece of work, Audrey now knows too much about some of her daddy's dirty dealings in the Great White North. Looks to me as if she's got a way to get a position of authority for herself in the dirty family business. Something tells me she's a natural for it.

And the trickle of revelations in the case just keep dribbling in slow and steady. So it's a slow and steady 7 big obvious hearing aids cranked up to full volume and still not enough.

 

[Mad-Pac]

I can't help but have sympathy for her, but she really needs to stop making and following the absolute worst possible choices in male companionship. Such a pretty young lady could easily do better in that department.

Yes, indeed, shes so adorable, but it's hard to accept her choices. And even though Leo is scum, Shelly is proving to be morally challenged as well by taking advantaged of a handicapped person.

So Mr. Lee is Josie's boss in some Chinese crime syndicate.

Hmmm. I thought it was a Japanese thing, Tojamura seems to be a Japanese name at least, and Lee isn't. And yes, I think they mentioned Hong Kong.

Speaking of a piece of work, Audrey now knows too much about some of her daddy's dirty dealings in the Great White North. Looks to me as if she's got a way to get a position of authority for herself in the dirty family business. Something tells me she's a natural for it.

That, indeed would be an interesting way to continue the story in its current iteration. Some time after we're done with this one, I'll catch up with the 2017 sequel.

 

[Bob Peters 61]

Hmmm. I thought it was a Japanese thing, Tojamura seems to be a Japanese name at least, and Lee isn't. And yes, I think they mentioned Hong Kong.

Are you suggesting some sort of collaboration between Lee/Josie team and whoever Tojamura might be? I never got that. Just a coincidental effect adding up against Ben. At the moment, it looks like Tojamura's out five million bucks from the situation.

However, Lee was putting pressure on Josie to go with him back to Hong Kong. And her protests about wanting to collect the insurance on the mill fire were answered with an assurance that the boss there would make it worth her while.

 

[Brimfin]

This week we’re back to filler mode, although some things are moving forward slowly.

Donna and James are back together, both apologizing for earlier bad behavior. James rushed in to save them from Harold’s wrath, although Harold only ever did damage to himself. But he did manage to keep possession of the secret diary. Donna took the story to Sheriff Truman, who referred to the guy as Howard by mistake. I thought that was odd, since his own name was Harry. Wouldn’t he remember a name so similar to his own?

Leo was brought over to Shelly and “Cousin Bobby” in his wheelchair, but it turned out the $5,000 per month check she was supposed to get was only $700. This seemed bizarre as the insurance agent (or whoever he was) said there were deductions for – among other things - medical care. Aren’t these two supposedly providing the medical care? Why is the government or the insurance company allowed to deduct such a massive amount for it? Anyway, Leo’s face moves slightly, spooking Shelly. Before long, he’ll be up and terrorizing both of them – just watch. I did love watching him do a face plant in the cake they bought for him, though.

Audrey is back safe and sound, with her father blowing his chance at a “Father of the Year” award with almost every word he says. He was more concerned with the money and whether Jean Renault got away and never even asked how Audrey was until Cooper mentioned her name. Even his attempts at acting like a (slightly) concerned father felt flat and lifeless. Little does he know that Audrey knows he was the man running One-Eyed Jacks. That should be an interesting confrontation down the line.

Gordon Cole, Cooper’s boss, (played by series co-creator David Lynch) arrived to check on things. Even with hearing aids cranked up to full, he clearly can’t hear much of anything – repeating things people have already tried to tell him about, or getting what they said completely wrong. Add to this the mysterious one-armed man, who is allowed to enter his possessed state where he becomes “Mike” friend of “Bob”. Still not sure where all of this is going. Supposedly “Mike” and “Bob” have something to do with Laura’s death.

And the Asian man, with the clearly bogus voice and accent, is trying to get Ben Horne to sabotage his deal with the Icelanders. “He” looks vaguely familiar and I’m thinking my wild thought of last week might not be so wild after all.

And Josie just came back recently, but now she’s being taken away again by another mysterious Japanese man (but at least he looks and sounds like he is actually Japanese and male). Is she going to disappear once again? At least before she goes, she gets the money she needs from Ben after playing a game of “mutually assured destruction” with him. I hope they find a way to keep her around instead; she adds some spice to the mix.

And Andy, who last week rushed off to stop Lucy from having an abortion….isn’t heard from at all, and neither is Lucy.

Okay, not as dreary a filler as a couple of weeks ago, but not anywhere near as exciting as last week. Split the difference and give this
6 renditions of “Getting to Know You” from THE KING AND I.

Best alliterative, rhythmic dialogue:
Cooper: “Heroin, Harry. This close to a lethal dose.”

Best funny line (after Leo does his face plant into the cake):
Bobby: “Good thing we didn’t light the candles.”

 

[Mad-Pac]

Are you suggesting some sort of collaboration between Lee/Josie team and whoever Tojamura might be? I never got that. Just a coincidental effect adding up against Ben. At the moment, it looks like Tojamura's out five million bucks from the situation.

Hmmm... And are you suggesting that there's a shady Chinese character AND a shady Japanese character in a godforsaken place like Twin Peaks and their presence there is purely coincidental and they are completely unrelated? And if a Korean hitman also appears, can I be suspicious then? (Just for the record, I don't know if they are connected or not, but come on, Japanese, Chinese, what's the difference, amiright? No, of course not, but there must be some shady conspiracy going on, like "The Asian Connection" or something.)

 

[Bob Peters 61]

Hmmm... And are you suggesting that there's a shady Chinese character AND a shady Japanese character in a godforsaken place like Twin Peaks and their presence there is purely coincidental and they are completely unrelated?

Actually, I agree with Brimfin that the "Japanese" guy is someone in a cheesy disguise with an agenda of their own yet to be revealed. Definitely not really Japanese, most likely not Asian, and maybe or maybe not a man as opposed to a woman.

And like I said, Mr. Lee was basically ordering Josie to return to China with him, implying that whatever agreement they have was made in China in the first place.

 

[Mad-Pac]

Actually, I agree with Brimfin that the "Japanese" guy is someone in a cheesy disguise with an agenda of their own yet to be revealed. Definitely not really Japanese, most likely not Asian, and maybe or maybe not a man as opposed to a woman.

And like I said, Mr. Lee was basically ordering Josie to return to China with him, implying that whatever agreement they have was made in China in the first place.

OK, I'm glad you did bring that up. Checking credits and synopses has made me learn a thing or two I'd rather not have learned, but this part is pure speculation. Let's say this IS a disguised person, I still think while a shady Chinese character is pressuring Jocelyn, it can't be a coincidence that someone would pick a Japanese disguise to play some scam on Ben, who happens to have an illicit connection with Josie. Since this is a fictional story, I don't think the writers would've made two Asian references for no particular reason. But, again, that part I'm just guessing.

 

[Mad-Pac]

And Andy, who last week rushed off to stop Lucy from having an abortion….isn’t heard from at all, and neither is Lucy.

Lucy left to spend some time with a relative, remember? Shes not expected to come back in the next few episodes I think.

 

[Brimfin]

Lucy left to spend some time with a relative, remember? Shes not expected to come back in the next few episodes I think.

No, that's where Lucy said she was going. But when Andy called the number she had left, it was answered "Adams Abortion Clinic." He looked horrified and rushed off. Remember we didn't see Andy this week despite several scenes in the Sheriff's Office.

 

[Bob Peters 61]

Not entirely speculation about the "Japanese businessman" being a bad disguise. This character looks and sounds about as Japanese as Mickey Rooney did in Breakfast At Tiffany's. Not something this show would do with a character that wasn't an imposter of some sort.