Twin Peaks - Binging on a Saturday / The Vision

I have been binging Twin Peaks first season (and early second season) and have reached the point of the series where Leo is in a coma, Jacques is dead, Shelly is nearly killed by Leo, Catherine is missing after rescuing Shelly from the burning shed near the mill, Benjamin and his brother have secured a partnership with Icelanders, Albert has pissed off all the Twin Peaks law enforcement with his insolence and disrespect (they are all bumpkins he considers worthy of his ridicule), Cooper uses his dreams as a guide to investigating Laura’s murder, Donna puts on Laura’s sunshades and starts behaving atypically (her walk, cigarette-smoking, and approach to James), Maddy (Laura’s lookalike cousin) assists James and Donna in finding cassette recordings of Laura’s (to Dr. Jacoby), Norma’s husband is paroled and heavily embroiled in various activities (responsible for shooting Leo before he can chop Bobby up with an ax, responsible for the death of Josie’s husband and secured money from her for going to jail, and involved with the Hornes regarding bumping off Catherine), Norma and Big Ed’s affair just can’t seem to go anywhere due to their spouses (Nadine attempts suicide through swallowing pills), Lucy reveals to Andy she’s pregnant, Sheriff Truman and Josie’s romance is put on hold when she suddenly leaves for Seattle, and Bobby is starting to teeter away from being such a douchebag towards a degree of decency. I have refrained from doing an episode to episode review for the first and second season because I am loosey-goosey with Twin Peaks. Now the fact that I haven't done any write-ups on Audrey Horne will be rectified soon enough. I have kind of been saving a write-up for her until after the One-Eyed Jacks escort storyline (going undercover to help Cooper, for whom she's smitten, to learn of details involving Laura) is finished.

This piece is essentially about a key scene that touched me deeply. Major Briggs is at the RR eating a Huckleberry pie when he notices Bobby arrive. He had a vision in a dream the previous night and wanted to share it with his son. I would say this will go down with many of Cooper’s scenes as one of my all-time favorites of the show. I absolutely love this scene. There is so much darkness within the universe of Lynch and Frost’s Twin Peaks that such sweet and profound moments as featured in this scene is all the more appreciated by me. Bobby is moved by this because he is often so frustrated with his parents as a lot of high school kids are. Bobby has so involved himself with Shelly that his own life has been in danger in the process. His involvement in drugs, relationship with Laura (as toxic as it was), and anger towards James (despite how volatile this was in the pilot, it was only just late in the first season that Bobby tries to kill James by putting coke in his motorcycle tank) has certainly done him no favors. Bobby has been quite a trouble-magnet. I had dedicated a write-up to Bobby not long ago so I won’t go that route for too long here, but I think this is a great highlight for Major Briggs. Intellectually and openly speaking to his son about this vision it is such a touching talk and Bobby can’t hold back his tears. The revival of the show has given Bobby further moments I consider some of the best of the entire run. Just the latest episode revealed that Bobby is the father of Shelly’s daughter and his realization that she’s involved with Red (Balthazar Getty; revealed in an earlier episode to be a drug dealer) shows an ache that is palpable. I like how the show gradually applies salve to this character—where we had seen him so seemingly impossible to get through to and harboring such anger—until he’s not so incredibly damaged without repair. Moments like the diner vision help to do that for Bobby. And not long before this Bobby is in a session with Dr. Jacoby where he comes to terms with what was wrong between him and Laura. He has a good cry there, too. He’s not without hope, and I think that is worthwhile to see that develop over a series. Now, what happened in 20+ years between the second and third seasons is lost to us (perhaps, but there is still some time left in the third season to see further development), but we still have evidence in the first and second season that there’s evolution in his character.