Review Tonight! "Twin Peaks" S01E08 "The Last Evening"

Watch it tonight and grade it tomorrow. Should it be the show's "Last Evening... Ever"?

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Mad-Pac

Member: Rank 5
Aired Thursday 9:00 PM May 23, 1990 on ABC

GRAND SEASON FINALE!

Ben Horne's plans are finally realized, with unforeseen consequences.


CAST

Kyle MacLachlan ... Special Agent Sheldon Cooper
Michael Ontkean ... Sheriff Harry S. Truman
John Dehner ... Capt. Vernon Rausch
Mädchen Amick ... Shelly Johnson
Dana Ashbrook ... Bobby Briggs
Richard Beymer ... Benjamin Horne
Lara Flynn Boyle ... Donna Hayward
Sherilyn Fenn ... Audrey Horne
Warren Frost ... Dr. Will Hayward
Peggy Lipton ... Norma Jennings
James Marshall ... James Hurley
Everett McGill ... Big Ed Hurley
Jack Nance ... Pete Martell
Ray Wise ... Leland Palmer
Joan Chen ... Jocelyn Packard
Piper Laurie ... Catherine Martell
Eric DaRe ... Leo Johnson
Harry Goaz ... Deputy Andy Brennan
Michael Horse ... Deputy Tommy 'Hawk' Hill
Sheryl Lee ... Maddy Ferguson
Russ Tamblyn ... Dr. Lawrence Jacoby
Chris Mulkey ... Hank Jennings
Walter Olkewicz ... Jacques Renault
Victoria Catlin ... Blackie O'Reilly
Wendy Robie ... Nadine Hurley
Kimmy Robertson ... Lucy Moran
Charles Hoyes ... Decker
Brian Straub ... Einar Thorson
Lance Davis ... Chet (segment 'Invitation To Love')
Rick Giolito ... Montana (segment 'Invitation To Love')
Peter Michael Goetz ... Jared (segment 'Invitation To Love')
Roddy McDowall ... Galen (segment 'Planet of the Apes')



DIRECTED BY

Mark Frost


WRITING CREDITS

Mark Frost ... (created by)
David Lynch ... (created by)

Mark Frost ... (written by)
 

Brimfin

Member: Rank 3
Well, the easiest cliffhanger to resolve this week – Room service will not be getting a tip from Agent Cooper.

A couple of mysteries were solved, others were left as cliffhangers. I give credit that the show moved along steady this week, no scenes where nothing was going on. But on the negative side, they left a whole bunch of things as cliffhangers. I’m fine with week to week cliffhangers; I grew up on LOST IN SPACE, TIME TUNNEL and BATMAN. Later, QUANTUM LEAP would show you Sam leaping into the personality for next week at the end of the show. But multiple season-ending cliffhangers do nothing for me. At least, we’ll only be waiting one week to see what happens.

All season long, I’ve wondered how two diverse personalities like Pete and Catherine ended up together. The first few episodes I wasn’t even sure if they were married, or if he was just some live-in help or something. At least the scene between the two where she asked for his help gave some background as to how they met. Scene was wrecked at the end by her eye-rolling reaction to his hugging her. Did it mean the whole thing was a sham or was it just a more natural reaction to his overreaction?

And Lucy’s problem was a pregnancy after all, which I thought she was in episode five, and then thought she wasn’t last week. (They should have just had her vomit at some point; that’s the usual giveaway.) But what is Andy’s reaction? He just walks off? I almost wonder if they haven’t had sex yet, and the baby is someone else’s. Naah, I can’t buy that. He’s just in shock, or being a jerk; but then, what was she being by giving him the cold shoulder and not telling him about it?

And Audrey found out who was the big boss pimping women. It was her own dad. Now there’s one scene I can’t wait to see next week. “Okay, baby, why don’t you slip out of those clothes and – AUDREY!” Actually, I was surprised she wasn’t brought in while he was trying to get the Icelandic man to sign the papers. Then, she would shout, “Daddy,” and the Icelander would go, “You pimp your own daughter? You’re a freak. The deal is off.” But Audrey didn’t wreck it for him this time.

And we know what hold Hank has on Jocelyn – he went to prison for vehicular manslaughter apparently while leaving the crime scene of killing Josie’s husband at her request. Boy, that sweet, innocent thing has really soured as the season progresses. But Hank really scares her, and she’s stuck with him – at least for now. Is she going to try to use Harry to help protect her against Hank?

Dale pulled a nice con job on Jacques, getting him to return back over the border to be captured. Nice con all the way, though he must be quite the card counter to not go bust getting seven cards in blackjack. And who’s the hero when Jacques grabs the other deputy’s gun? Old sure shot Andy, who even leaves Jacques alive for questioning. Those practice sessions at the pistol range really helped.

What to make of Catherine, who stands there and lets the arson device go off and set the mill on fire. Well, she was the one who wanted it to burn down, but not with her inside. Did she and Shelly make it out in time? My guess is yes, as they seemed to have a decent head start. Will poor Pete lose his life trying to get them out?

And Jacques is not Laura Palmer’s murderer, but Leland kills him anyway thinking he is. Leo Johnson is still the prime suspect, but now he’s been shot. Dead, I thought, but Deputy Andy only said shot, so maybe the skunk dodged another bullet! (I’d say literally, but he didn’t actually “dodge” any bullets; he got hit both times.)

Dr, Jacoby got pummeled by a mystery man, so now he still thinks Laura is somehow alive. Writer/Director Mark Frost tried to be cutesy by showing him rolled over having his heart attack, then zooming in on this eye and turning it into the roulette wheel at One-Eyed Jacks. Trouble was, Jacoby was on the grass before he flipped over onto his back, but there wasn’t a blade of grass or anything else in sight when he changed the angle of the shot, just making it look sloppy instead of artsy.

Have Hank and Norma really been together 20 years? I wouldn’t have guessed it was that long!

The last scene showed Cooper being shot three times at close range. SPOILER ALERT – I’m pretty sure he’s not dead, being as he’s the star and all. Wonder if next week he’ll be thanking Diane for sending that nifty skinny bullet-proof vest along with the earplugs.

Okay, rank, rank, rank, right? I’ll actually give this one 8 pretty orange pills and blue pills that Nadine took an overdose of, leaving yet another cliffhanger. (Since Ed’s in love with Norma, Nadine will likely survive.)

Best lines:

(Best good line) Hank: “You want a lot for your money, and I want a lot for my time.”

(Best laugher line) Catherine: “I can’t make out what you’re saying. You’ve got a thing in your mouth.”
 

Cloister56

Member: Rank 3
Just musing over the intro credits, as both Josie and Catherine's actors get the "and" credit with it stating who their characters were. I always thought this was for either established actors who weren't the main character so I guess Piper Laurie might be that. My guess is maybe they thought Joan Chen was going to be a star so wanted to highlight her, unless she already was. I really should look these things up.

Donna and James discover the necklace they buried. I liked how James reasonably decided Jacoby wasn't the killer but I don't think Donna's counter point of "How did he get the necklace" was relevant. It didn't have to be the killer who saw them bury it.
James finally gets to hear Laura's tape and although it clearly hurts him I am glad his response to it. He has always had some guilt about being with Donna after Laura and I think this should help him move on.

Poor Jacobi takes a hell of a beating. I guess he was saying no at "Laura" leaving, though I wonder if he will remember Donna and James were there.

Cooper would make a good alternative Bond. He's got the charisma but would be a little quirky and less womanising, I think it would be a nice relief. I like Jacques little armband with a hand of cards on it and his dice necklace.
Coopers manipulation of Jacques to get him across the border and into his jurisdiction was well played. He also gets more information about what happened in the shack, including Waldo's pecking on Laura and how the chip get broke.
Leo hit Jacque with a whiskey bottle leading to the blood on the shirt, he blacks out missing the rest of events.
I get the feeling he is genuine so Jacques is out in the murder leaving Leo. I think there is a third party in this, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!

Truman is very commanding at the arrest of Jacques, Andy get's to be a hero later winning himself a kiss with Lucy who is pregnant. So that's why she is pissed at him ahh.

But what is Andy’s reaction? He just walks off? I almost wonder if they haven’t had sex yet, and the baby is someone else’s. Naah, I can’t buy that. He’s just in shock, or being a jerk; but then, what was she being by giving him the cold shoulder and not telling him about it?
I'm a little confused about Andy and Lucy. Sometimes they seem like they are a couple, but mostly like they just like each other but are too awkward to actually act on it.
The way it was played at first I thought maybe Andy had failed to show his interest at some point and that's why Lucy was cold to him. The scene in this episode would fit with that, Andy embolden by doing something heroic takes her in his arms and kisses her. Then it reveals she is pregnant, which I also doubt is someone else's. Her reaction wouldn't fit with this, first expectant then anger if she had just admitted to being with another man.

Audrey has a very nice outfit, though I'm not a fan of the lace and netting. I remember in Last Action Hero where Jamie Lee Curtis takes a dress with similar lacing and rips it off to make a much hotter dress. Err where was I?
Who was the strange stooped woman sewing the queen of diamonds onto Audrey?

Shelley decides to take a sink shower. It has struck me how not built their house has been and I guess a shower wasn't a priority. Leo ties her up ready to kill two birds with one arson. I've stated before I've not been a fan of the actors performance for Leo and again in this scene, he fails to deliver any malice. I think he is dead this time but you can never rule anything out.

Now we find out later that they had surveillance on Leo's house (which they then pull after Bobby's phone call) I guess they must have not placed it for long as they missed his return and Shelleys abduction. But this does allow Bobby to go to Shelley's house.

Nadine tries to take her own life, I am guessing her back story comes in season 2. If I've missed it please let me know.
I really like Ed so I hope things work out for him.

Ze Evil voice it never lies. So Josie paid Hank to kill her husband, Hank then ends up in jail for killing a homeless guy in his car on the way from the scene. I wonder how the domino is a sign of this or is that just Hank's thing, though I haven't seem it since his first episode.
Did they frame Hank with the stags antlers coming out of his head on purpose? What does it mean?
Urgg the blood bond scene, don't do it on your thumb it's gonna hurt for ages and not heal well. Why not cut your forearm a bit if you have too.

Hanks a busy boy in this episode :
Meets with Josie
Places calls to both Catherine and Ben
Shoots Leo
Works a shift at the diner


All season long, I’ve wondered how two diverse personalities like Pete and Catherine ended up together. The first few episodes I wasn’t even sure if they were married, or if he was just some live-in help or something.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I thought at first they were brother and sister. I think it was a nicely played scene, Catherine realises what she has become and how that has influenced events leaving Pete as the one person she can trust. I really like the eye rolling in reaction to his hug and her eventual embracing him, it remained consistent with her character. I think it was genuine.
Her searching technique is very Finder's Keepers (go to 6:20)


It's not particularly efficient and it leaves a lot of mess afterwards.

So questions which go unanswered:
Who was the masked man who attacked Jacoby?
Who killed Laura Palmer? - I'm guessing if it was Leo at all he wasn't alone, (I bet it was Jerry)
Did Shelley and Catherine survive?
Will Pete survive?
Who shot Cooper and will he survive?

It is heavily implied that the mysterious "Diane" does exist and has sent Cooper anti Icelandic earplugs, so we've learned that.

A good finale to the season, I'm glad the main mystery is continuing and that it seems some third party as yet unidentified was involved. My guess is still Jerry but with Ben involved, I can't see another suspect unless Hank had a day trip.

8 tasks Hank can complete while still pulling a full shift, out of 10.
 

Bob Peters 61

Member: Rank 2
A little disappointing that Audrey saw Cooper at Jack's but he didn't see her. Got to love her initial reaction to seeing that the owner she was supposed to "service" was her daddy. She'll probably be grounded till she's 30.

Bobby has the best dumb luck with surviving Leo. First, Leo gets called away and then the old as screen trope of a shot ringing out and the person about to get finished off is relieved to see their assailant stopped by someone else's bullet at the last instant. That one got used twice in this one episode.

And Lucy’s problem was a pregnancy after all, which I thought she was in episode five, and then thought she wasn’t last week. (They should have just had her vomit at some point; that’s the usual giveaway.) But what is Andy’s reaction? He just walks off? I almost wonder if they haven’t had sex yet, and the baby is someone else’s. Naah, I can’t buy that. He’s just in shock, or being a jerk; but then, what was she being by giving him the cold shoulder and not telling him about it?
I think it was somebody else's. Which would explain Andy's reaction and her moody hesitance before hand. I agree with the mutual attraction gone previously unsatisfied. But who would be the father, then?

"I can't understand you. You have that thing in your mouth." Cut her some slack on that account. She's a little tied up at the time.:emoji_imp:

Also interesting the re-use of the shooting scene in Invitation To Love used to suggest that this time Leo was mortally wounded.

One last note: I found it a bit odd that Bobby imitating Leo couched his tip in a movie reference from before his time. I guess he's just Fonda the classics.

I’m fine with week to week cliffhangers; I grew up on LOST IN SPACE, TIME TUNNEL and BATMAN. Later, QUANTUM LEAP would show you Sam leaping into the personality for next week at the end of the show. But multiple season-ending cliffhangers do nothing for me. At least, we’ll only be waiting one week to see what happens.
And the main one: Who shot JR I mean Cooper? Nice season-ending cliff hanger episode. I'll have to give it all of 8 queens of diamonds.
 
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Bob Peters 61

Member: Rank 2
Urgg the blood bond scene, don't do it on your thumb it's gonna hurt for ages and not heal well. Why not cut your forearm a bit if you have too.
Isn't the palm the usual method? But it would have been more difficult to force on her that way.
 
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Cloister56

Member: Rank 3
Isn't the palm the usual method? But it would have been more difficult to force on her that way.
Yeah the palm probably is more common but that's probably even worse with all the tendons there.
Can they not just spit on their hands, is that not enough :emoji_grimacing:
 

Mad-Pac

Member: Rank 5
Hello. Sorry for the late review. Been traveling.

OK, here's what I think will happen. Cooper, of course, is dead, because nobody would be able to survive after be4ing at the receiving end of three point-blank shots in the chest. Naturally, next episode will show Cooper's funeral with all the honors he's due to receive. But it turns out Jacques really did kill Laura Palmer, so Copper will go down having solved his most important case. I just don't know what else they possibly could be doing the remaining 21 episodes of season 2. Well, at least that would be the story, had Twin Peaks been cancelled after one season. I can remember quiet a few short-lived shows with an inconclusive ending, and how fans try to find a simple explanation for the cliffhangers in order not to dwell on the fact their favorite show is no more.

Anyway... What attracted me to the show was the fact it was bizarre and unusual, with a distinct directorial mark. And we even got that in the beginning, and now the "shooting stones at a bottle" and weird dream scenes come to mind. However, soon the surrealism took a back seat to a regular crime investigation, and that has been less satisfying. I want next season to be much trippier.

All season long, I’ve wondered how two diverse personalities like Pete and Catherine ended up together. The first few episodes I wasn’t even sure if they were married, or if he was just some live-in help or something. At least the scene between the two where she asked for his help gave some background as to how they met. Scene was wrecked at the end by her eye-rolling reaction to his hugging her. Did it mean the whole thing was a sham or was it just a more natural reaction to his overreaction?
Even though Catherine is a detestable person and she did way too little to get him on her side, I can sympathize with her in that situation. Pete is a typical Beta male, and when Catherine needed someone strong to rely on (considering how threatened she felt), he failed miserably. He could've showed being kind to her without being pathetically needy and clingy. And Catherine is the kind of person who despises a weakling, so his attitude didn't help the situation at all, even if she had been sincere until that point.

And we know what hold Hank has on Jocelyn – he went to prison for vehicular manslaughter apparently while leaving the crime scene of killing Josie’s husband at her request. Boy, that sweet, innocent thing has really soured as the season progresses. But Hank really scares her, and she’s stuck with him – at least for now. Is she going to try to use Harry to help protect her against Hank?
Thanks for clarifying that part. I wasn't sure what her dynamics was, but ever since the beginning I've been hoping one of the seemingly innocent people would turn out to be not so innocent. Jocelyn is a good character for that twist.

Cooper would make a good alternative Bond. He's got the charisma but would be a little quirky and less womanising, I think it would be a nice relief. I like Jacques little armband with a hand of cards on it and his dice necklace.
Coopers manipulation of Jacques to get him across the border and into his jurisdiction was well played. He also gets more information about what happened in the shack, including Waldo's pecking on Laura and how the chip get broke.
Exactly what I thought. Cooper was carrying out a poor-man's Bond style investigation. Not a fancy casino in Montecarlo, but one near the Washington State/Canada border. Still, I liked his style, and the way he tricked Jacques and even got him to describe the weird and cringy moments he and his ilk had with Laura Palmer.

I'm a little confused about Andy and Lucy. Sometimes they seem like they are a couple, but mostly like they just like each other but are too awkward to actually act on it.
The way it was played at first I thought maybe Andy had failed to show his interest at some point and that's why Lucy was cold to him. The scene in this episode would fit with that, Andy embolden by doing something heroic takes her in his arms and kisses her. Then it reveals she is pregnant, which I also doubt is someone else's. Her reaction wouldn't fit with this, first expectant then anger if she had just admitted to being with another man.
Word to the wise, if your girlfriend ever tells you she's pregnant, you should program yourself to react this way: you smile, say, "that's great, honey!" then excuse yourself and when you're alone you have a a breakdown. If your reaction is anything less than absolute joy, that moment will come back to bite you in the ass, even if you later accept the situation and support her in every way. Andy's reaction was honest, to be sure, but not the most advisable one. Utter silence, even if attempted as an intentionally neutral attitude, can be easily interpreted as a negative reaction.

Urgg the blood bond scene, don't do it on your thumb it's gonna hurt for ages and not heal well. Why not cut your forearm a bit if you have too.
YES! They do that way too much. And all I could think of was the 1980s/90s AIDS epidemic. Besides, I hate these little paper cuts on my fingers and a knife slash is much worse. But this cliché is way too strong to die.

Catherine realises what she has become and how that has influenced events leaving Pete as the one person she can trust. I really like the eye rolling in reaction to his hug and her eventual embracing him, it remained consistent with her character. I think it was genuine.
Her searching technique is very Finder's Keepers (go to 6:20)
That was HILARIOUS! That's the way the KGB would look for stuff in your home (if you lived in the Soviet Union), at least that's how they always show it in the movies. Another crystallized trope..

A little disappointing that Audrey saw Cooper at Jack's but he didn't see her. Got to love her initial reaction to seeing that the owner she was supposed to "service" was her daddy. She'll probably be grounded till she's 30.
Audrey has a very nice outfit, though I'm not a fan of the lace and netting. I remember in Last Action Hero where Jamie Lee Curtis takes a dress with similar lacing and rips it off to make a much hotter dress. Err where was I?
Oh, yers, YES! Audrey was simply ravishing in that outfit. And the problem is that this is supposed to be a scene in which a very innocent girl is exposing herself to danger in pursuit of a noble goal. But showing her as such a sexy woman doesn't help conveying that message. But perhaps that was the director's intention to play with our preconceptions as things get way too messy and beyond repair when we imagine Audrey and her father coming face to face under those creepy circumstances.

There are other things I haven't talked about, but they seem to have been pretty well covered in other reviews. I'm just very glad Shelly seems to have survived. I'm not too impressed by the character, but I've always had a big crush on the actress.

"The Last Evening" gets 7 books on some Oriental philosophy.
 
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