Twin Peaks, Season 1, Episode 6

by Jill Duffy, Girl Reporter

Very often, an episode of Twin Peaks will pick up right where the previous episode has left off. (I’ve watched up to season 2, episode 4, so I really have seen the show enough to gather that this is the pattern.) And so is the opening scene here: Audrey is naked and in Agent Cooper’s bed, right where we left her last time.

But just before this scene begins, we see a shot of a half moon, tinted blue. It is in contrast with the introductory shot from the previous episode: a full moon, tinted red. I’m guessing this shot was done in error, from full moon to half moon in a single day, but maybe not. If it was intentional, this is an odd symbol that’s not even creepy, and I can’t make heads or tails of it.

One of the very traumatic moments of this episode comes when Shelly tells Bobby that she has shot Leo. In my mind, this is one of the most moving performances of the show. Shelly doesn’t seem to be a highly complex character, but here we see her at odds with herself, her actions. She trembles with true fear in her heart at what she has done. She is a contrast to Laura who, as we’re slowing learning, had an unrepentant side to her.

It’s in this episode that the show picks up with action, drama, and murder. Hurtling toward the season finale, Leo is shot, Dr. Jacoby is surreptitiously lured from his office and into harm’s way, Nadine is in her worst state yet, Audrey slips off to work in a whore house, which, unbeknownst to her, is owned by her father. Lucy is pregnant. Maddy, Donna, and James are all guilty of breaking and entering (sort of). Bobby plants drugs on James. And Waldo the bird is shot dead