Twin Peaks: Season 3, Part 12 "Let's Rock" Review

 "Shovel your way out of the shit and into the truth."

-Dr. Jacoby

Part 12 kicks off with Gordon Cole (David Lynch) and Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) explaining what Blue Rose cases are to Agent Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell).  They invite her to join the Blue Rose task force, which investigates cases that were involved with Project Blue Book.  They reveal that the task force was originally led by Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie) and that the other members were Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and Chet Desmond (Chris Isaak), all of whom disappeared under mysterious circumstances.  They later bring Diane (Laura Dern) in as an official member of their current investigation.

Diane gets a text message from Mr. C (Kyle MacLachlan), who asks her if the Agents have asked about Las Vegas yet, to which she replies they haven't.  Albert intercepts those texts and informs Gordon.  Diane takes a look at the coordinates found on the arm of Ruth Davenport (Mary Stofle) and discovers they lead to Twin Peaks.

Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) has a meltdown at a grocery store after seeing a new jerky display.  Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) later goes to her house to check on her.

Carl (Harry Dean Stanton) finds out one of his residents has been selling his blood for extra money.  Carl tells him to stop doing that, gives him 50 bucks, and tells him not to pay any rent for the following month.

Miriam Sullivan (Sarah Jean Long) is brought to the hospital, but doesn't have insurance and needs an operation.  Sheriff Frank Truman (Robert Forster) goes to see Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) and informs him of his grandson, Richard's (Eamon Farren), crimes.  Ben agrees to pay for Miriam's medical expenses and gives Frank Cooper's old hotel room key to give to Harry (Michael Ontkean).

Hutch (Tim Roth) snipes Warden Murphy (James Morrison) outside his home, where his body is discovered by his son.  Hutch and Chantal (Jennifer Jason Leigh) take off and go to Wendy's.

Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) gets into an argument with her husband, Charlie (Clark Middleton), who Audrey wants a divorce from.  Audrey is worried about her lover, Billy, who has been missing for two days, and wants to go to the Roadhouse to look for him.  Charlie says he has too much work to do and wants to wait until morning.  He does agree to call Tina, allegedly the last person to see Billy, but does not tell Audrey what Tina told him.

At the Roadhouse, the Chromatics perform.  

What Works:

I really like Chrysta Bell's performance in this episode.  She only has one scene, but I love her reaction to being invited to join the Blue Rose task force.  Without saying much, she manages to perfectly portray someone who has worked her ass off to be the best her entire life and it's finally paid off.  It's just a really great bit of acting.

Speaking of acting without saying anything, Miguel Ferrer is also great as he goes up to Gordon's room to give him some information.  His response to Gordon's shenanigans and jokes is to say absolutely nothing and it speaks volumes.  It's very funny, as is Gordon's response to him saying nothing.

I also like how casual Hutch and Chantal are about their assassination of Warden Murphy.  Hutch asks Chantal if she wants him to kidnap the Warden so she can torture him before killing him, but she's hungry, so they make it fast so they can go to Wendy's instead.  Darkly hilarious.

Finally, it's great to have Audrey Horne back on the show, even if it's a very bizarre scene.  I remember feeling very frustrated by most of the Audrey stuff the first time I watched this season and I remember being so aggravated by Charlie.  On the rewatch, now I appreciate it and was laughing my ass off during this incredibly drawn out scene with no resolution.  I guess this is just a really funny episode.

What Sucks:

This is a fun episode, but it doesn't really have a truly iconic moment like many episodes of The Return have. 

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For Part 12, this Award goes to Hutch for his quick and efficient killing of Warden Murphy.  This is his 1st time winning this Award.

Verdict:

While lacking a iconic scene, this episode manages to be very funny, even during dark scenes.  Chrysta Bell, Miguel Ferrer, Tim Roth, and Jennifer Jason Leigh all do a great job, even with minimal screen-time and dialogue.  The Audrey and Charlie scene has really grown on me and I can truly appreciate how enraging it is now to the point I find it funny.  This episode has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great