Twin Peaks, Season 2 Episode 20 (or episode 27)

By Jill Duffy, girl reporter [continuing her issue by issue look at Twin Peaks]

Rusty is dead!

Wait, who the hell is Rusty?

At any rate, some dupe named Rusty got nabbed by Windom Earl. Earl built a gigantic pawn chess piece has put Rusty on display inside it, in public park.

When Deputy Andy sees this and hears Rusty’s friend identify the body and talk about his deceased friend, he cries – no, he wimpers. Is that to point to how ridiculous the scene is?

We learn that Windom Earl may be in search of the Black Lodge more than he is after Cooper. Earl tends to think out loud, which is annoying and cliché, but serves to explain what the hell is going on.

Despite poor dead Rusty and the evil villain Earl, there’s some real creepy stuff afoot once again, thank goodness. Twin Peaks had substance to its uncanny style, and I want more of that.

I think what makes the uncanny parts work is that it’s not always explained. So much of the show very explicitly answers the questions it poses, as I’ve pointed out before. We learn what Bob is, where he came from, and where he lives. We learned and saw with our own eyes how Bob kills. But we never learned why the creamed corn disappeared from an old woman’s plate only to show up in the hands of a little boy. Neither have we ever been told who the giant is and why he comes to warn Cooper. The uncanny works.

Donna looking into her past by sorting through old photos, is in her family’s attic, where a fan whirls and creates a strobe effect, reminiscent of the fan clicking and whirling when Laura died. A few peoples’ hands start shaking violently at different points in this episode for no reason. A slow pull-out shot of Cooper and Annie as they are having a sweet conversation, overlaid with dark music, is juxtaposed with a close-up of them kissing, then a crash, as dirty diner dishes shatter on the floor, followed by one more close-up of disgusting goop dripping in slow motion from the broken coffee cup, with a spooky audio cue of a looping thud, like the telltale heart.

Later, as Annie and Cooper kiss a second time, the giant appears, with a frantic face, shaking his head, mouthing “no,” and waving his hands. Another reason moments like these are creepy is because they happen in the same scene as an exceptionally tender moment.

It’s also that we don’t know what’s going to happen when the giant appears. Is Bob taking another life? Evil is certainly stirring, but how? Why is the giant telling Cooper, “no!”?

Then, we see a shot of the woods and Bob crosses from the other side into the real world.