Diane, 1 pm, July 26. The more things change, the more they stay the same. These episodes definitively closed the book on Laura Palmer’s murder, doing away with the investigation into both her death and the death of her poor cousin at the same time as it did away with the murderer himself (yes, I did say that during my last review, but, y’know, for realsies this time). What we’re left with is a small moment of resolution and reflection – the perfect opportunity for the show’s most outlandish impulses to run gleefully wild.
Here’s five thoughts on episodes 9 and 10 of season 2, “Arbitrary Law” and “Dispute Between Brothers.” Spoilers follow.
1. Vision Quest
We pick up right at where the last episode left off, with Agent Cooper and the Sheriff’s department finding Maddy Ferguson’s body. It plays out in slow motion as the boys walk away from the crime scene, the weight of their failure hanging over them. They couldn’t catch the killer in time, and he claimed another life. They know the clock is ticking to find him before he can claim yet another one – and we do, too, when we see an unsettling scene shortly after that implies Leland/BOB has imprinted on Donna Hayward as his next victim.
Albert quickly runs through the evidence, then gives Cooper an impassioned plea: go on whatever “vision quest” he has to go on in order to find this man before they lose another young girl. Cooper is uncertain where to go next, but Hawk tells him he’s on the path and he just needs to follow it through to the truth.
And follow he does. Though he’s wrestled with uncertainty somewhat this season, this episode finds him at the top of his game, trusting his instincts and asking the right questions of the right people. With some help from Donna and a final obscure clue from Harold Smith, he narrows down his pool of suspects and presents them to the giant for some answers.
2. Into the Light
Emptying out the Roadhouse, Agent Cooper assembles a group of men all connected to Laura for the closest thing Twin Peaks is willing to give to a classic parlor room scene. The main attendees: Ben Horne, ostensibly Laura’s pimp, who was secretly in love with her; Bobby Briggs, Laura’s boyfriend and drug dealer; a now near-comatose Leo Johnson, who had a cocaine-fueled rendezvous with Laura was cut short on the night of her death; and, of course, the actual killer, Laura’s father Leland.
A throwaway remark from Leland gives away the game, as he says a stick of gum Cooper is given is the same brand Leland had as a child – a.k.a. “that gum you like is going to come back in style.” Cooper remembers the end of his dream, which he had forgotten upon waking: Laura told him that her father killed her. With newfound certainty, Cooper and his allies trick Leland/BOB into captivity, and the cat and mouse game is complete. Back against the wall, BOB confesses to all of the killings in a thoroughly disturbing display of malice and wildness.
Ray Wise is phenomenal here, switching tones from the superficially giddy version of Leland that BOB was pretending to be into a BOB who has fully torn of his mask. The fire alarm goes off (from some unrelated shenanigans), and in the chaos of the sprinklers going off, Leland/BOB beats his head against the door. With Leland’s body having “served its purpose,” BOB flees, leaving Leland with the horror of what he did to his daughter as BOB lets Leland remember the things the spirit had previously hidden.
In one last act of kindness for the dying man who is both murderer and victim, Agent Cooper guides him through a spiritual path, giving him comfort and helping him find peace. Leland sees Laura in the light, and dies. The main theme of the show plays over his send-off; it often is used to signify love or deep connection between characters, but here it feels more like a song of reconciliation, or of forgiveness.
3. The Evil That Men Do
And that’s a wrap on the Palmer murder case! In less than 10 episodes this season, the show revealed Laura’s killer, created a new murder case to solve, solved it, and killed off the perpetrator. All that’s left is to pick up the pieces – and figure out where to go next.
Continued belowSarah Palmer is left with the trauma of losing her daughter and her husband in quick succession. What’s fascinating is that she seems to intuitively understand who is responsible, and to not blame her husband for the actions of the dark creature inside him. It begs the question of what BOB really is – and for our purposes as viewers, what BOB represents. He’s identified as an “inhabiting spirit,” but even with the various visions and supernatural forces, the characters have a hard time taking BOB’s otherworldliness at face value.
Albert puts a succinct and easy label on him, suggesting that BOB is simply “the evil that men do.” It’s maybe a bit too easy, but it is convincing if only because it links BOB to actions rather than simply a vague sense of good and evil or right and wrong. Something the show has been grappling with from the start is the fallout of good intentions, and the evil that is unleashed from our protagonists’ attempts at heroism. BOB could easily be a manifestation of that evil, the inevitable result end that comes from the means.
4. The Children
Donna and James are doing well, until they aren’t. Their star-crossed relationship was perhaps doomed from the very beginning, but it’s a little sad to see them recover at the start of the episode only to fall apart by the end of it. Neither of them takes the news of Maddy’s murder well, but the way they take it poorly is notable.
Donna at this point has matured significantly, seeming to learn from her past mistakes in a way that most of the other townsfolk can’t. James, on the other hand, has learned nothing. “We could have helped her,” he insists, but he’s unable to explain how. He’s taken the burden of Maddy’s death onto himself – and, maybe worse, onto Donna as well – as if they could have stopped it if they’d only been the main characters of the story. James drives off on his bike into the unknown, unable to process his emotions, leaving Donna crushed.
Also not learning his lesson is Bobby Briggs, who has found a new get rich quick scheme – blackmailing Ben Horne with a recording that implicates him in the burning of the mill. It’s doomed to fail, but Bobby seems determined to fail upwards, and he’s caught the eye of the deviously smart Audrey Horne to help him along the way.
5. What More is There to Say?
Nearly all of Twin Peaks’s ongoing plot threads were wrapped up in “Arbitrary Law,” so where does the show go from here? “Dispute Between Brothers” doubles down on the soap opera antics that have always been running underneath the show, using them to kickstart the final phase of the series (in this iteration, anyways). The episode’s name comes from a long, ongoing feud between Dwayne and Dougie Milford, the town mayor and his newspaperman brother. It’s a purposely overdramatic conflict (they try to throw blows at a funeral service), but in that way it matches the narrative of the rest of the episode nicely.
Nadine, still believing she’s a teenager, enrolls in high school as a part of her therapy. Norma clashes with her mother, and, upon learning her mother is the cruel critic who has slandered Norma’s business, kicks her mother out. Sheriff Truman investigates noises outside his house to find a bruised and muddy Josie Packard, returned to town after several episodes away. Catherine Martell, revealing that she’s alive, cons Ben Horne into signing over the deed to the Great Northern and spins a tall tale about her rescue from the fire by a guardian angel.
Finally, Agent Cooper, his job complete, makes his preparations to leave town. With his goodbyes said, Agent Cooper is nearly out the door when he’s blindsided: due to his actions crossing the border into Canada to rescue Audrey, he’s under suspicion of malfeasance (which he did) and drug trafficking (which he didn’t). He’s forced to surrender his badge and gun pending the investigation. In a final knife twist reveal, the Canadian mountie who is participating in the investigation of Cooper is in league with Jean Renault, who actually stole the drugs and is plotting the frame job of Cooper.
Left untethered, Cooper and Major Briggs go on a fishing trip and discuss the morality of their actions. Before they can reach any understanding, things happen in quick succession: an owl hoots, a light flashes, and Briggs disappears into the night, leaving Cooper in the woods alone. Though the supernatural evils of the town left the show for most of the episode, they came back with a vengeance, and it’s clear the fight isn’t over yet.
