Twin Peaks Rewatch Project - Season 1, Episode 6
The staff of the Talk Film Society takes you on a journey back to Twin Peaks, episode by episode. All leading up to the premiere of the new season in May.
Title: "Episode 6 aka Realization Time"
Original Air Date: May 17, 1990
Written by Harley Peyton
Directed by Caleb Deschanel
Episode 6 starts off right where the last episode ended, in Agent Cooper's room at the Great Northern Hotel. Audrey has broken in, to crawl into his bed and wait for him, naked. It's just the type of impulsive action we've come to expect from the spunky fireball that is Audrey Horne, but it leads to something that almost seems out of character for her: tears. It's not her first display of emotion in the series, but it is the biggest, and the first to be done in front of another. She certainly feels she can confide in Cooper. But alas, this relationship between a high schooler and an FBI agent in his mid-30s, who is nothing if not consistently moral, wasn't meant to be, so Cooper let's her down easy. He reminds her that they can only be friends, and she seems to agree with this (thankfully, it's by no means the end of the flirting between these two for the series).
We then move to the Sheriff's office. Lucy is upset with Andy, for reasons neither we nor Andy fully understand. That's important for the next episode, but for now what's important is what's happening in the conference room. Doctor Hayward has been examining the Myna bird, Waldo, that was found in the cabin with the red curtains. It's dehydrated and starved, but should make it through. Waldo's species is known to talk, so before he moves on, Cooper sets out a voice activated tape recorder to record if the bird says anything while they are away. Cooper decides it's time to follow the next lead on their list, the broken poker chip also found at the cabin, and this looks like a job only the Bookhouse Boys could handle. *wipes finger on face*
Cut to Leo's POV. He's sitting in his pickup truck outside of his house holding a rifle and staring through binoculars at Bobby, who just showed up to be with Shelly. Leo's tendering his arm, a result of what happened at the end of the last episode when Shelly fired her gun at him in fear. This fact is backed up when Shelly tells Bobby, which he meets with the understanding that he saves just for her, and tells her that he will do anything to protect her. Before anything too bad can happen, Leo's CB radio picks chatter that the bird, Waldo, is at the station. Leo gets in hos truck, slams the door shut, and hightails it out of there.
Audrey is now behind the perfume counter at Horne's Department Store, the job that she blackmailed her way into getting. After angering a customer with her blithe attitude, she decides to do some snooping. She heads to the manager's office, lights a cigarette, and hides in the closet. The manager arrives with a young woman who also works at the perfume counter, who's worked at the One Eyed Jack's. Seemingly while ignoring the smoke billowing out of the slates of the closet, the woman is talked into maybe becoming a working girl in the seedier part of the casino. After the meeting, Audrey coerces the woman into giving her Blackie's (Victoria Catlin), the head madame at One Eyed Jack's, number.
Meanwhile, Donna, James, and Laura's cousin Madeline, "Maddy", are sitting around Donna's house listening to some tapes they found hidden in Laura's bed post. They are recordings from Laura's sessions with the inimitably goofy Dr. Jacoby. There is one tape missing, so the group hatches a complicated plan to break into the weird doctor's office to find what they believe is the missing link in solving their friend's murder.
Before heading off to One Eyed Jacks, Cooper and Truman stop off at the diner to sternly remind Norma's husband Hank (Chris Mulkey), who seems to be assimilating to his new busboy job well, that he is a felon and needs to keep in check with his parole officer or else it's back to the slammer. That's not all they are there for, though. The sheriff is propositioned for some coffee and pie, and before he has time to turn it down, Cooper jumps at the opportunity, leading to the best exchange in the episode:
"Harry, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just... let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair. Or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."
Harry gleefully takes the note, and the two take the time to enjoy their coffee. Not too much time, though, because they have work to do. The Bookhouse Boys meet up to prepare for their undercover operation at One Eyed Jacks. Agent Cooper shows up in a swanky tuxedo flashing around ten grand in FBI dollars. Ed, who's still reeling from a meeting with his depressed wife, wherein she revealed that the patent for her silent drape runners was denied, grabs a few hundred and takes off with his fake mustache and cowboy getup. Everybody gets mic'd up and gets ready to head out.
The biggest action of the episode comes next. Before the Boys can leave they hear a gunshot ring out, glass shattering, and truck tires screech. They rush to the conference room to see feathers flying and blood dripping on a plate of donuts. Waldo has been killed by Leo, who shot the bird from out in the darkness, using his rifle. Unluckily for Leo, he shot the bird too late. After a quick inspection of the tape recorder that was left out earlier, they hear all they need to hear. "Laura. Hurting me. Hurting me. Stop it. Leo, no. Leo, no."
James, Donna, and Maddy set their plan in motion. Maddy, in a blonde wig and looking like the spitting image of Laura Palmer, calls Jacoby from a pay phone and convinces him that she is Laura and to meet her at a gazebo in ten minutes. When Jacoby leaves, Donna and James sneak into his office to search for the missing tape. Outside, Bobby is setting up his own nefarious plot by shoving a big bag of cocaine in the fuel tank of James's motorcycle. The episode ends with a creepy shot of Madeline standing by the gazebo and an unseen figure staring at her through the bushes.
The episode may as well have been called the Season Finale: Part One. Not much new information is learned. It's for the most part just a set-up for the absolute craziness that is the season finale. The train may go fully off the rails and maybe none of your questions will be answered, but it's a doozy!
