Twin Peaks Usenet Archive
Subject: Summary for TP virgins
From: bobg+@andrew.cmu.edu (Robert Steven Glickstein)
Date: 1990-05-22, 18:13
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv,alt.tv.twin-peaks
Here is a draft of a summary I've been writing of Twin Peaks. It is
intended for those who have not been following the story but who wish
to view the season finale tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 10 (and wish
to know what the *hell* is going on). There is one major section left
for me to write in this summary (the section on clues that have been
accumulated so far), but there should be plenty of useful information
in here without it. I'm sending this incomplete draft because a
complete version might not be available in time for some of you.
----------
This is a summary of Twin Peaks (the story so far), intended to allow
Twin Peaks virgins to enjoy this week's season finale (Wednesday, 10
PM, ABC).
SETTING
Laura Palmer, Twin Peaks' local high school homecoming queen, has
been murdered under bizarre circumstances. Some aspects of the
murder resemble the (unsolved) murder of another girl, Teresa
Banks, a year earlier in a different corner of the state
(Washington). Another girl, Ronette Pulaski, attacked in the same
incident as Laura, survived and escaped, crossing state lines in
the process. She is now in a coma from her injuries and
psychological trauma, but by crossing state lines she has enabled
the FBI, in the person of Dale Cooper, to investigate the case.
CHARACTERS
FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper
Agent Cooper is a wide-eyed, gee-whiz, little-boy-at-heart,
by-the-book investigator with strong intuitions and strong faith
in them. He is never too busy to stop for a good cup of coffee or
a donut. He loves pie. He has been enamored of the town of Twin
Peaks since his arrival, despite the macabre circumstances under
which he came. The birds, the Douglas firs, the hospitality all
appeal to him. He has often astounded Sheriff Truman, with whom
he has been working closely on the Palmer case, by his unorthodox
but successful approach to detective work. He places trust in his
dreams and in Tibetan mysticism, as well as in more conventional
clues. When we last left Cooper, he and some of the ``Bookhouse
Boys'' have left their legal jurisdiction to check out One-Eyed
Jack's, the brothel/casino across the Canadian border where
Jacques Renault deals blackjack (and where Laura and Ronette
probably worked as ``hospitality girls'').
``Diane''
Presumably Cooper's secretary, whom we never see, but to whom
Cooper constantly tape-records observations, comments, and
requests on his hand-held, voice-activated tape recorder.
Sheriff Harry S. Truman
Twin Peaks' local sheriff has been glad of Dale Cooper's help, and
admires Cooper's quirkiness and intuitive approach to detection.
Shortly after they first met, Cooper, citing ``body language,''
was able to deduce Harry's love affair with Josie Packard. Truman
is a good-humored, no-nonsense cop who doesn't mind being
frequently upstaged by Cooper's superior powers of observation.
Deputy Andy Brennan
Andy, the ``crying deputy,'' is a sensitive man who was deeply
disturbed by the news of Laura's death. While adept at routine
police procedure, Andy becomes nervous and clumsy when called upon
to draw a weapon or perform other hazardous duties. Like most
others, he admires Agent Cooper. He has recently been getting the
cold shoulder from Lucy, his girlfriend (another relationship
which Cooper deduced from body language), and doesn't know why.
Deputy Tommy (``Hawk'') Hill
An efficient but sometimes enigmatic cop with strong American
Indian roots. He is an expert tracker and marksman, and his
professionalism belies his occasional forays into poetry and
sentimentality. He recited a particularly touching love poem to
Cooper and Truman once; written, he said, for his girlfriend Diane
Shapiro, Ph.D., Brandeis.
Lucy Moran
The secretary and switchboard operator for the Twin Peaks
Sheriff's office. She is a little bit ditsy in a very likeable
way. She has recently been giving Deputy Brennan the cold
shoulder; this may have something to do with a recent call from
her doctor, who (we don't know for sure) may have told her that
she's pregnant.
Albert Rosenfield
A forensics specialist from Washington, D.C. A crude and
obnoxious man who is nevertheless very good at his job, he hated
the few days he spent in Twin Peaks (a backwater town whose
forensics facilities give new meaning to the word ``primitive'')
and managed to alienate everyone around him, even the good-natured
Cooper. Truman, a normally unprepossessing person, was moved at
one point to strike Albert, a minor incident for which Albert is
determined to have Truman's badge. (Cooper has promised to stand
up for Truman should Albert follow through on his threat to file
paperwork.)
Jocelyn (Josie) Packard
Josie, a young Oriental woman with imperfect English, inherited
the Packard Sawmill when her husband, Andrew, died more than a
year before. Catherine Martell (her sister-in-law) runs the
business for her, but grudgingly; there is strong hatred between
Josie and Catherine. Catherine has been falsifying the mill's
financial records to make it appear as though it's losing money,
and is scheming with Ben Horne (who wants the land) to burn down
the mill and make it appear as though Josie did it in an insurance
fraud. However, Josie is also scheming with Ben, unbeknownst to
Catherine, and Josie is aware of Catherine's plans. Josie seems
to be keeping her secrets well-hidden from her lover, Sheriff
Truman. Before Laura's death, Laura was Josie's English tutor.
Josie has the distinction of being the very first character we see
in the Twin Peaks pilot; she is applying makeup and looking very
sad, before news of Laura's murder is announced.
Catherine Packard Martell
Sister of the late Andrew Packard, wife of Pete Martell, and
mistress of Benjamin Horne. Catherine is a shrewd and hateful
woman who has designs against Josie Packard, who owns the mill
that Catherine runs. With Ben, who wants the land that the mill
sits on, she has been planning to burn the mill, and through her
careful falsifying of the mill's financial records, plans to pin
the blame on Josie, making it look like an insurance fraud.
Catherine has recently become aware of Ben and Josie scheming
behind her back, however. She discovered that a new life
insurance policy has been taken out on her, with the one million
dollar benefit going to Josie. Catherine has now allied herself
with the Mr. Neff, the ambitious insurance agent whose
penchant for double-checking everything brought the new policy to
Catherine's attention.
Pete Martell
Catherine Martell's husband. Pete is a pleasant, easy-going
fisherman who works for Josie at the mill. He is aware of
Catherine's affair with Ben Horne, and sadly accepts his wife's
hatred. He is fond of Josie (in an innocent way), and may or may
not be aware of her shadier dealings.
Benjamin Horne
Twin Peaks' local real-estate baron and owner of Horne's
department store is a man of voracious appetites -- for food, for
sex, and for power. Ben has many connections to the Twin Peaks
underworld. He has hired Leo Johnson to burn the mill according
to his and Catherine's plan and is aware of Leo's murder of
Bernard Renault. He frequents One-Eyed Jack's, a brothel just
over the Canadian border. Laura and Ronette are rumored to have
worked as ``hospitality girls'' there; in fact, we've recently
discovered that the perfume counter at Horne's is a recruiting
station for new One-Eyed Jack's talent. Ben and his brother Jerry
are currently entertaining a visiting group of Icelanders in the
hope that they will sign on with Ben's ``Ghostwood Estates''
development project -- a project for which he needs the land on
which the mill sits. When Josie steadfastly refused to sell the
mill, he and his mistress Catherine schemed to burn it down and
get rid of Josie; however, Ben has also been scheming with Josie
behind Catherine's back, possibly to murder Catherine.
Sylvia Horne
Ben's estranged wife.
Jerry Horne
Ben's brother and partner in various shady real-estate deals.
Jerry has been in charge of entertaining the current Icelandic
junket, and has fallen in love with one of its constituents,
``Heppa.'' He and Ben have recently decided that, to clinch the
deal, they should take the Icelanders to One-Eyed Jack's.
Johnny Horne
Ben and Sylvia's retarded son.
Audrey Horne
A smoldering sexpot and rich brat. Audrey is the daughter of Ben
and Sylvia. She has been enamored of Agent Cooper since his
arrival in Twin Peaks, and hopes that she can help solve the
murder, so that he'll fall in love with her and take her away to a
life of international intrigue. To this end, Audrey has tried to
enlist the help of Donna Hayward, Laura's best friend, in learning
more about Laura; but Donna made Audrey promise not to give any
facts they discover to the police. An inveterate snoop, Audrey
has eavesdropped on Ben and Catherine's plan to burn the mill and
implicate Josie. Recently, Cooper returned to his hotel room at
the Great Northern to discover Audrey, naked, in his bed. He
gently declined her implied invitation, opting instead to stay up
and talk about her problems, for which Audrey was grateful.
Audrey suspected the connection between her father's department
store, One-Eyed Jack's, and Laura's murder. She pleaded with her
father for a job at the store; she blackmailed Emory Battis, the
store's general manager, to place her behind the perfume counter;
and she eavesdropped as Emory offered another perfume-counter girl
a job at One-Eyed Jack's. Audrey got the phone number of Blackie
(the madame at One-Eyed Jack's) and persuaded Blackie to give her
a job as a ``hospitality girl,'' proving her suitability for the
job by tying a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue. The last we
heard of Audrey, she was desperate to get an important message to
Cooper; we don't know what the message is.
Leland Palmer
Laura's father, and a lawyer for Ben Horne in his real-estate
deals. Initially, following Laura's death, Leland had his hands
full keeping his wife from falling apart; now, the situation has
reversed. Leland exhibits grief on a grotesquely comic scale. At
Laura's funeral, he leaped atop Laura's coffin, sobbing loudly.
At home, and twice in public, he has danced with an imaginary
Laura in his arms while sobbing and causing discomfort and
embarrassment to those around him.
Sarah Palmer
Laura's mother now seems to be mostly over her grief. She is
given to psychic visions; she had one, on the night after Laura's
death, of a gloved hand digging a buried necklace from the ground,
and another one of ``Killer Bob'' crouched at the foot of Laura's
bed.
Laura Palmer
The murder victim, and the beautiful ``good girl'' of the town,
turns out to have had a very dark side. According to her
psychiatrist, Dr. Jacoby (with whom she seems to have had more
than just a doctor-patient relationship), Laura saw herself as
essentially bad, and was driven by the desire to corrupt those
around her. Cooper et. al have discovered a personal ad that she
placed in the pornographic ``Flesh World'' magazine. Forensics
has determined that on the night she died, she had had sex with
three men. She also had a cocaine habit and may have been
involved in dealing drugs. She had been working at the perfume
counter at Horne's department store, and was almost certainly a
``hopitality girl'' at One-Eyed Jack's. She was dating Bobby
Briggs, and also James Hurley (whom Bobby didn't know about until
after she died).
Madeleine Ferguson
Laura's look-alike cousin, with dark hair instead of blond,
arrived in Twin Peaks just in time for Laura's funeral. She used
to play with Laura in their youth, pretending they were sisters,
though they haven't seen each other in many years. Maddie is
sweet, shy, and timid. She is staying with Leland and Sarah
Palmer. She ran into James Hurley at the RR Diner and immediately
struck up a friendship with him, expressing what may be a morbid
fascination with Laura's murder. James introduced Maddie to
Donna, and the three of them made a pact to find out what happened
to Laura. Step one: Donna was certain that Laura kept something
hidden in her room. Maddie, who's staying in Laura's room, is
able to find several cassette tapes in the bedpost. When the
three of them get together to listen to them, they discover that
the tapes were made by Laura in privacy, but were addressed to Dr.
Jacoby. The tapes spoke of secrets, and of sex. James, Donna and
Maddie discovered that one tape was missing from the set (they
were all dated), and they presume that Jacoby must have it. Using
a wig, and discarding her glasses, Maddie makes herself up to look
exactly like Laura. The threesome sends a videotape of the new
Laura to Jacoby with a message to meet Laura, in the hope that
they will be able to find his tape when he leaves his apartment.
When we last saw Maddie, she had been left alone standing by a
gazebo while James and Donna went to break into Jacoby's
apartment; Jacoby was on his way to the gazebo; and Maddie (in her
Laura disguise) was being watched by an unknown person.
Janek Pulaski
Ronette's father.
Maria Pulaski
Ronette's mother.
Ronette Pulaski
Co-worker and friend of Laura Palmer, was attacked along with
Laura, but survived and escaped. She is now comatose, having
suffered severe physical and psychological trauma. Ronette worked
with Laura at the perfume counter at Horne's -- and, presumably,
as a hospitality girl at One-Eyed Jack's. A personal ad was run
by Ronette in ``Flesh World'' on the same page as Laura's ad.
``Big Ed'' Hurley
Owner of ``Big Ed's Gas Farm'' and a faithful Bookhouse Boy. Ed
is married to the bizarre and disturbed Nadine, but has been
having an affair with Norma Jennings. (With the news of Hank's
release from prison, and Ed's growing concern about Nadine's
mental health, he and Norma recently decided to break it off, at
least for a while.) We last saw Ed as he was undercover at
One-Eyed Jack's with Cooper.
Nadine Hurley
Ed's wife is mentally disturbed in a way you can't quite put your
finger on. She wears an eyepatch. Her greatest joy, aside from
the fact that she has a husband, is that she managed to invent
silent drape-runners by accident a short while ago. She had been
out of town consulting a patent attorney, and returned in a black
depression when her patent application was rejected.
James Hurley
Twin Peaks' ``good boy'' rides a motorcycle and dated Laura before
her death; in fact, she abruptly jumped off his bike on the night
of her death to keep a mysterious appointment. Laura complained
to Jacoby that James was ``too sweet.'' James, Donna and Laura
formed a tight clique. Laura gave James half of a broken-heart
sweethearts' necklace which, after her death, he and Donna buried
beneath a rock in the woods. When Donna learned of Sarah Palmer's
vision (of a gloved hand removing a necklace from the ground), she
and James returned to find the necklace missing indeed. James was
deeply hurt by Laura's death and the subsequent revelations of her
darker side. He and Donna made a vow to learn the truth about
what happened to Laura. To this end, they've allied themselves
with Madeleine. Their current scheme is to lure Dr. Jacoby away
from his apartment so that they can get Jacoby's Laura-tape. When
we last saw James, he and Donna had just entered Jacoby's
apartment, and Bobby Briggs, who had followed James, placed a bag
of white powder (coke? sugar?) in James' motorcycle's gas tank.
Norma Jennings
Owner of the RR Diner. Norma's husband, Hank, was recently
paroled from prison, where he was serving a 3-5 year sentence for
manslaughter (his car struck a vagrant). Norma helped Hank get
his parole by promising the parole board that she'd employ Hank at
the diner. Nevertheless, she seems uneasy about Hank's return,
and not only because it prompted her to suspend her affair with Ed
Hurley.
Henry (Hank) Jennings
Hank Jennings, Norma's husband, was recently paroled from prison
(3-5, manslaughter). Now working at Norma's diner, Hank has
resumed what we must assume were his old ways. As soon as he was
released, he tracked down Leo Johnson and beat him up, threatening
him thus: ``I told you to mind the store, not open your own
franchise... Clean up your act or you'll watch me take apart your
chippy [Shelly] before I kill you.'' Hank is now involved in some
way with Josie Packard. Sheriff Truman, who doesn't believe that
people can change, is keeping a wary eye on Hank.
Dr. William Hayward
Donna's father and the local GP. Dr. Hayward has been helping
Cooper and Truman with various minor forensics aspects of the
case, and also helped to nurse Waldo the mynah bird back to
health. Dr. Hayward delivered Laura at birth, and was too upset
to perform an autopsy at her death, objecting to Albert's cold
professionalism in the matter.
Eileen Hayward
Donna's mother, wheelchair-bound.
Donna Hayward
Possibly Laura's best friend, and also close to James Hurley. She
and James, with the help of Madeleine, are now intently searching
for clues regarding Laura's murder. A while ago, Donna was
approached by Audrey Horne, who wanted more information about
Laura in *her* own search for clues. Donna reluctantly agreed to
help, but she and Audrey have not communicated since then. Donna
was surprised when Sarah Palmer revealed her vision of a gloved
hand digging a necklace out of the ground; Donna and James
returned to the site where they secretly buried Laura's necklace
and, sure enough, found it missing. When we last saw Donna, she
and James had just entered Jacoby's apartment searching for his
Laura-tape, after luring him out of the apartment by tricking him
into believing that Laura was still alive (Madeleine, Laura's
lookalike cousin, dressed as Laura and sent Jacoby a videotape).
Harriet Hayward
Donna's sister (?).
Mike Nelson
A friend of Bobby Briggs. Mike and Bobby have had drug dealings
with Leo Johnson. They owe Leo $20,000; $10,000 of which
Bobby had given to Laura before she died, and which is now
unaccounted for. Leo threatened the two of them for the money,
and Mike was terrified. He said, "I'm outta here," and we haven't
heard from him since.
Maj. Garland Briggs
Bobby's father, a retired (?) Air Force officer. Major Briggs is
aware that his son has gone bad, and repeatedly tries to instill
wisdom in Bobby (in vain). Most recently, he took Betty and Bobby
to Dr. Jacoby for family counselling, which (so far) has been
inconclusive.
Betty Briggs
Bobby's mother, a plastic apple-pie Donna-Reedite who sees her a
family through rose-colored glasses, preferring to ignore the
chaos that really exists.
Bobby Briggs
Twin Peaks' ``bad boy.'' Bobby is a football player, a small-time
drug dealer in an uneasy alliance with Leo Johnson, a former lover
of Laura's, and currently in an affair with Shelly, Leo's wife.
Bobby and his friend Mike Nelson worked together with Leo, and
owed him $20,000. Half of that money Bobby gave to Laura before
she died, and is now unaccounted for. When Leo demanded his
money, Mike, terrified, disappeared. Bobby has been having an
affair with Shelly (Leo's wife), possibly since before Laura's
death. Bobby and Shelly are frightened of what would happen if
the violent Leo should discover their affair. Thus, when Shelly
mentioned Leo's bloody shirt to Bobby, Bobby thought that it could
be used to implicate Leo in the death of Laura, and with Leo in
prison he and Shelly would have nothing to fear. Bobby planted
the bloody shirt in Jacques Renault's apartment, where it was
discovered by Cooper et. al. (They discovered Leo's initials in
the shirt, and the blood -- type AB negative -- didn't match
Laura's, but *did* match Jacques'.) At Laura's funeral, Bobby
began ranting about how everyone knew Laura was in trouble, and no
one did anything to help her. He seems to have been deeply
affected by her death. Also at the funeral, Bobby confronted
James Hurley, who he had recently discovered was another lover of
Laura's. He threatened to kill James and had to be restrained
from fighting with him. When Major Briggs took the family to Dr.
Jacoby for counselling, Jacoby asked to be alone with Bobby. Once
alone, he vigorously interrogated Bobby about Laura, using
information about him that Laura had told Jacoby in confidence.
(``Bobby, what happened the first time you and Laura made love?
Bobby, did you cry? And did she laugh at you?'') Jacoby said
that he understood Laura's desire to corrupt people, and Bobby
explained that Laura had told him that she views herself as
essentially bad, and that while she tries to do good things, she
always feels like she's pulled back down to hell. Bobby also told
Jacoby that it was Laura that got him involved in coke-dealing.
Recently, Bobby spoke to Shelly about standing up to Leo (who
routinely abuses her), and Shelly pointed out that she keeps a gun
in case things get out of hand. Shortly after this, Shelly
actually did shoot Leo, wounding him in his left arm. Leo fled
and staked out his house, then saw Bobby arrive the next day and
deduced his affair with Shelly. He was prepared to shoot Bobby
but had to leave when he discovered that Waldo, the mynah bird,
was about to give the police some sort of evidence. Shelly told
Bobby that she had shot Leo and that she now fears for her life,
and Bobby promised that ``Leo Johnson is history... Bobby's gonna
take care of everything.'' Meanwhile, Bobby followed James, first
to his meeting with Donna and Madeleine (where they made the
videotape with Madeleine looking like Laura), then to Jacoby's
apartment. When James and Donna went into Jacoby's apartment,
Bobby placed a bag of white powder (coke? sugar?) into the gas
tank of Bobby's motorcycle.
Leo Johnson
A despicable man involved in all manner of illegal activities.
Leo is a murderer, a drug-runner, an arsonist, and a wife-beater
(to name a few). Leo lives with his wife, Shelly, and has only
recently learned of her affair with Bobby Briggs. Leo drives a
tractor-trailer named ``Big Pussycat,'' which appeared in a
photograph on the same page of ``Flesh World'' as Laura's and
Ronette's ads. Leo and Jacques Renault are known to have been
with Laura on the night she died. After Laura's death, Leo
returned home with a pile of laundry that he commanded Shelly to
wash. Among the laundry was a blood-soaked shirt, which Shelly
hid. (When Leo discovered the shirt missing, he beat Shelly with
a makeshift blackjack -- a bar of soap in the end of a sock.)
Leo's house is littered with the same sort of plastic sheets that
Laura's body was wrapped in when she was found. Leo has some sort
of shady business alliance with Jacques Renault. Jacques, Leo,
Ronette and Laura were all at Jacques' cabin on the night Laura
died; so was Jacques' pet mynah bird, Waldo. Leo murdered
Jacques' brother Bernard out of fear that Bernard would talk about
their dealings. In addition to his truck, Leo also drives a
pickup and a red Corvette. (When Dr. Jacoby was interrogated by
Cooper, Jacoby mentioned that on the night following Laura's
death, he followed a red Corvette to the Old Mill Road, then lost
it.) On the night of Laura's death, Leo called his wife, claiming
to be in Butte, Montana. Leo has been hired by Ben Horne to burn
down the Packard Mill; when they met to discuss the arrangements,
Leo revealed to Ben that he had murdered Bernard. When Leo
returned from his most recent trip (he seems to take several,
possibly running drugs with his truck), he was first met by Hank,
just paroled from prison, who beat him up and threatened him (vide
supra); then he went indoors and angrily demanded a beer from
Shelly, who, after being hurled to the ground, shot Leo, wounding
him in his left arm. Leo retreated to the woods behind the house
and watched Bobby Briggs arrive the next morning. Deducing the
affair between Bobby and Shelly, Leo prepared to shoot Bobby when
he re-emerged. However, he then heard Lucy's voice on the police
scanner talking about the capture of Waldo, the mynah bird.
Afraid that the police might learn something damaging from Waldo
(mynah birds mimic human voices), Leo went to the sheriff's
station and shot Waldo through a window (but not before Cooper's
voice-activated tape recorder picked up some of Waldo's
chatterings).
Shelly Johnson
Leo's beaten wife, currently having an affair with Bobby Briggs.
Shelly works as a waitress at the RR Diner. Shelly dropped out of
the eleventh grade to marry Leo, at which time she claims he was
sweet and loving. Now, however, she has nothing but hatred for,
and fear of him. After a ``pep talk'' from Bobby, Shelly stood up
to Leo when he shoved her, and as he angrily advanced on her, she
shot him in the arm. She is now hiding in her house, certain that
Leo is waiting outside to kill her. She hysterically explained
the situation to Bobby, who promised to protect her from Leo.
Jacques Renault
A bartender at the Roadhouse bar, and a blackjack dealer at
One-Eyed Jack's. Jacques Renault is a business confederate of Leo
Johnson's. It was Jacques' log cabin where he, Leo, Laura and
Ronette were involved in unknown activities the night Laura died.
Jacques is a Canadian national who works as a logger on the
American side of the border. He fled Twin Peaks when he
discovered that the Bookhouse Boys were interrogating his brother,
Bernard, about Laura. Most recently, Jacques was seen dealing
cards to Cooper, who, along with some other Bookhouse Boys, are
undercover at One-Eyed Jack's.
Bernard Renault
Jacques' brother. Bernard was also involved in some way with Leo.
Bernard was captured by the Bookhouse Boys and was interrogated
about his connection with Laura Palmer and whether he'd ever dealt
coke to her. Bernard was murdered by Leo when Leo feared that
Bernard would ``talk.''
Dr. Lawrence Jacoby
Laura's psychiatrist (and possibly lover) is a bizarre man. He
wears glasses with colored lenses: One red lens, one blue lens.
He did not attend Laura's funeral and, afterwards, encountered
Cooper, saying that he felt like a terrible person (presumably not
just for missing Laura's funeral). In a private moment, we saw
Jacoby alone at home, wearing headphones, listening to a tape made
by Laura on the night she died (``I feel like I'm gonna get lost
in the woods again tonight...''), and extracting half of a
broken-heart sweetheart's necklace from a coconut shell. Jacoby
was interrogated by Cooper, but was reticent to discuss Laura
because of doctor-patient confidentiality ethics. He did claim,
however, two things: He was not one of the three men with whom
she'd had sex on the night she died; and on the night following
her death, he followed a red Corvette to the Old Mill Road, where
he lost it. He told Cooper that ``Laura had seeeecrets,'' and
that in his six months counselling her he had been utterly unable
to penetrate the wall she had built around herself, for which he
considers himself an abject failure. He stated that his own
personal investigation will be ongoing for the rest of his life.
On another occasion, Jacoby was visited by the Briggs family for
family counselling. He spoke to Bobby alone and caused him to
break down (vide supra). Most recently, Jacoby received a phone
call and a videotape from Madeleine, made up to look like Laura
and using phrases that Madeleine heard Laura use in the tapes they
found. Jacoby is skeptical but decides to meet ``Laura.''
Margaret (``Log Lady'')
Margaret is a lady who goes nowhere without cradling a log in her
arms. (Cooper: ``Who's the lady with the log?'' Truman: ``We
call her The Log Lady.'') She often speaks to the log, and the
log often ``speaks'' for her. Some time ago, she approached
Cooper, urging him to ask her log about Laura's death. Cooper,
feeling silly, declined. However, during their search for
Jacques' log cabin, Cooper, Truman, Hawk and Doc Hayward
encountered the Log Lady again. She invited them in, and then the
log gave its testimony (speaking through Margaret). The log's
testimony was typically cryptic (vide infra).
Emory Battis
Emory Battis is the general manager of Horne's department store.
When Ben secures a job there for Audrey, she is sent to speak to
Emory. Emory says that, in accordance with her father's wishes,
she is to start small and work her way up. He has a position for
her in gift-wrapping. Audrey, intent on working behind the
perfume counter, makes her wishes known to Emory, threatening that
if he doesn't let her work the perfume counter, she'll tear her
dress and scream. Emory assents. Later, after Audrey has been
working the perfume counter for a while (and offending customers),
Emory asks to speak to her coworker in private. Audrey eavesdrops
and hears Emory telling the other girl that the people at One-Eyed
Jack's were pleased with her, and that she should call Black Rose,
the One-Eyed Jack's madam, about the possibility of a job as a
``hospitality girl.'' It is from this conversation that Audrey is
able to get Blackie's phone number.
Mr. Neff
Mr. Neff is the insurance agent who, either because he's very
cautious or because he detected a possible fraud, brought the new
life insurance policy to Catherine for her to verify. In so
doing, he alerted Catherine to the fact that Ben and Josie were
scheming against her. Catherine, sensing a possible ally in Neff,
asked him if he was an ambitious man, to which he knowingly
replied in the affirmative.
Mr. Gerard (``the One-Armed Man'')
Because a one-armed man figured prominently in Cooper's dream,
Cooper and Truman assign Hawk to track down a real one-armed man
who had been seen hanging around the hospital. When he is finally
found, he turns out to be a timid, frightened shoe salesman. In
Cooper's dream, the one-armed man is named Mike, and his friend,
the killer, is named Bob. Cooper asks Gerard whether he has a
friend named Bob, and Gerard names Bob Lydecker, a local
veterinary doctor, as his best friend in the world.
Waldo the Mynah Bird
Waldo is Jacques' pet mynah bird. Cooper et. al learn of Waldo's
existence by confiscating and scrutinizing the files of Dr.
Lydecker. (Several animal bites on Laura's body were determined
to have been inflicted by a bird, either a mynah or a parrot.)
They find Waldo in Jacques' cabin, where they also find many other
items of corroborating evidence. They bring the starved,
dehydrated bird back to the sheriff's station, where they hope
that, with its return to health, it will mimic the voices of the
visitors to Jacques' cabin. Cooper leaves his voice-activated
tape recorder near Waldo while they wait for the bird to
recuperate. Waldo begins to speak, but is shot by Leo before he
can say very much.
Dr. Bob Lydecker
A local veterinarian. Dr. Lydecker has been in poor health
lately, which explains Mr. Gerard's frequent visits to the
hospital. Dr. Lydecker's files were impounded by Cooper after
several indications that there was a connection between Dr.
Lydecker, and ``Killer Bob'' from Cooper's dream. (``Harry, as
sure as the signs on the highway, the bird that attacked Laura
Palmer is a client of this office.'') Cooper gives Lucy the job
of finding a pet in the files that is either a parrot or a mynah
(Laura's body exhibited bird bites inflicted by one of those two
kinds of birds), and Lucy finds a mynah bird in the files named
Waldo, owned by Jacques Renault. This double coincidence prompts
Cooper and Truman to investigate Jacques' apartment.
``Killer Bob''
A bizarre man, long-haired and appearing to wear a crown of thorns
or somesuch, who has appeared in two separate psychic incidents.
First, Cooper dreamed of Killer Bob, who promised to kill again.
Later, Sarah Palmer saw Killer Bob for an instant at the foot of
Laura's bed. When Andy rendered a police sketch of Killer Bob
from Sarah's description, Cooper confirmed that it was the same
man from his dream. (``I had an intuition that Sarah Palmer's
vision was linked to my dream.'') The drawing does not resemble
anyone in Twin Peaks, including Dr. Bob Lydecker.
``Man From Another Place''
The ``Man from Another Place'' is the dwarf from Cooper's dream.
He first appears with his back to Cooper, vigorously rubbing his
hands together. He then issues a series of confounding statements
in badly garbled English (vide infra).
Black (``Blackie'') Rose
Blackie is the madam at One-Eyed Jack's. Most recently, she was
hesitant to hire Audrey, but relented after Audrey demonstrated
her ability to tie a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue.
RUNNING THEMES
Birds
Birds seem to play a major role in the more metaphysical aspects
of this story. In Cooper's dream, there is the shadow of
something resembling a bird moving across the red curtains. When
James and Donna discover that the necklace is missing from the
woods, an owl that has been watching them hoots ominously. The
Log Lady's speech is littered with frightened references to owls
(``The owls won't see us in here''; before Laura's death ``the
owls were flying,'' afterwards ``the owls were silent.'')
Finally, there is the crucial testimony given by Waldo, the mynah
bird, prior to its death.
``Invitation to Love''
All of the residents of Twin Peaks watch TV, and no one watches
anything but the cheesy soap-opera, ``Invitation to Love.'' The
events in ``Invitation to Love'' often seem to closely parallel
the events in Twin Peaks itself. While Leland is watching the
opening credits (``starring [so-and-so] as Emerald and Jade [the
identical twin sisters]''), Madeleine (Laura's ``twin'') makes her
first appearance. While on ``Invitation to Love,'' Emerald plots
to steal the Towers from her sister Jade, Catherine plots to get
the Mill away from her sister-in-law, Josie. When ``Montana''
beats up ``Chet,'' Hank beats up Leo. When ``Chet'' shoots
``Montana,'' Shelly shoots Leo. When ``Jade'' is asked to toast
old friends, Jacoby gets a call from the long-dead Laura (actually
Madeleine). And on and on...
Duality
There is a strong sense of twins, doubles, etc., in Twin Peaks;
and usually, we only see one of the pair while the other is simply
implied. There is, first of all, the town's name (and in the
opening credits, we only see one peak). There's Nadine's eyes,
one hidden by a patch; Laura's lookalike cousin; the one-armed
man's one arm; the twin sisters Emerald and Jade on ``Invitation
to Love''; the double-three domino carried around by Hank; the
other murder of a girl, a year earlier; and many other suggestions
on this theme.
The Bookhouse Boys
The Bookhouse Boys is an underground organization consisting of
the members of the sheriff's department and some other local
citizens such as Ed Hurley. Truman explains to Cooper that the
Bookhouse Boys have existed for a very long time in Twin Peaks, to
combat ``the evil presence in the woods.'' The Bookhouse Boys are
not above going slightly outside of the law. Thus, when Cooper
decides that a trip to One-Eyed Jack's is in order, he suggests
that it is a job for the Bookhouse Boys (since One-Eyed Jack's is
in Canada, and out of their legal jurisdiction).
______________ _____________________________
Bob Glickstein | Internet: bobg@andrew.cmu.edu
Information Technology Center | Bitnet: bobg%andrew@cmuccvma.bitnet
Carnegie Mellon University | UUCP: ...!harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!bobg
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
(412) 268-6743 | Sinners can repent, but stupid is forever
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