“Rest in Pain” is a melancholy installment of Twin Peaks. This week we see many of Laura Palmer’s friends and family cry out in anguish as she is finally put to rest. Meanwhile, Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) uses the funeral as a litmus test as he continues to scope out suspects for her murder.
Prior to the funeral, Cooper fends off Albert (Miguel Ferrer), one of his callous peers from the FBI who seems to care little for emotional attachment. He knows the importance of forensic testing, but he also doesn’t take kindly to mistreatment of his new friends. I was moved to see Cooper make a big statement in support of his Twin Peaks compatriots.
J and I also observed that the townspeople’s opinion of Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) may not be as positive as we’d thought. Throughout his grieving, often to the embarrassment of his wife, Sarah (Grace Zabriskie), no one save the sheriff (Michael Ontkean) and Cooper bother to help him through his pain.
The centerpiece of the episode is undoubtedly the funeral. In preparing for Laura’s (Sheryl Lee) burial, Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) wrestles with his father and James (James Marshall) contemplates attending at all. Once there, the two quickly find themselves at odds, angrily lunging across the space in slow motion.
We also learn about the Bookhouse Boys this episode, which I’m sure we’ll discuss more in the future. For now, why doesn’t Cooper mind that there’s a vigilante group seemingly working beyond the scope of the law, even if they’re ostensibly the “good guys”? It will be interesting to see these two work together moving forward.
~ Søren
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Next week, we’ll be discussing Episode 5 of Season 1, “The One-Armed Man.”
This podcast uses a clip from the song “nightRain” by airtone / CC BY 3.0.
