Twin Peaks: Season 1, Episode 4 "Rest in Pain" Review

 "There's a sort of evil out there.  Something very, very strange in these old woods."

-Sheriff Harry Truman

"Rest in Pain" pain begins with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) meeting Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) for breakfast.  Cooper figures out that Audrey is the person who slipped a note under his door.  She also informs him that Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) worked at the perfume counter of Horne's department store along with Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine).

Cooper meets with Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) and Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) and tells them about his dream.  He no longer remembers the name of Laura's killer, but if they can figure out the code of his dream, they will discover the killer.  They get called over to the morgue to break up a fight between Dr. Hayward (Warren Frost) and Agent Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer), who wants to do more tests on Laura's body instead of letting her be taken to the funeral.  Sheriff Truman ends up punching Albert and Cooper orders Albert to release Laura's body.  He later tells them that Laura had been tied up twice on the night of her murder, she has scratch marks from an animal on her, and something with the letter "J" on it in her stomach.

Laura's cousin, Maddy (Sheryl Lee), arrives in town for Laura's funeral.  She looks exactly like Laura, but has brown hair, while Laura is blonde.

Cooper and Truman question Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re) who claims not to know Laura personally and that he was in Montana on the night of the murder.

Laura's funeral becomes chaotic when Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) calls out the entire town, including himself, for not helping Laura when she clearly needed it.  James (James Marshall) and Bobby attempt to fight, but they are pulled apart from each other.  Leland (Ray Wise) jumps on top of Laura's coffin and the crane lowers him up and down over the grave.

Truman, Cooper, Hawk (Michael Horse), and Ed (Everett McGill) eat at the Double R Diner, where Cooper quickly deduces that Ed is in love with Norma (Peggy Lipton).  Truman tells Cooper that there is a a drug-running operation through Twin Peaks coming from Canada and that there is some sort of mysterious evil in the nearby woods.  He, Hawk, Ed, James, and others are part of group that fight the evil and call themselves the Bookhouse Boys.  They take Cooper to the Bookhouse, where they have Bernard Renault (Clay Wilcox), a drug mule and janitor at the Roadhouse, tied up.

Bernard's brother, Jacques (Walter Olkewicz), realizes Bernard is in trouble and flees.  He calls Leo to pick him up and get him back into Canada.

Josie (Joan Chen) tells Sheriff Truman that she thinks she may be in danger from Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie) and Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) and tells him about the two ledgers, but when she opens the safe, there is only one inside.  Catherine is listening in on their conversation and hides the second ledger in a secret compartment in her desk.

Cooper visits Laura's grave and finds Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) there.  He tells Cooper that he doesn't actually care about any of his patients except for Laura.  Later, at the Great Northern, Cooper and Hawk have a drink and watch people dance.  Leland is among the dancers and has a mental breakdown.  Cooper and Hawk take him home.

What Works:

The feud between Albert and Sheriff Truman grows in this episode and it's fantastic.  Albert continues to be a massively entertaining a**hole and I enjoy every second of it.  That said, when Truman finally snaps and punches Albert, it's wonderfully cathartic.  Even Cooper pretty much says Albert deserved it.  The arc of Truman and Albert is one of the best on the show, but we need the early lows to appreciate the highs later on.

Ray Wise was one of the only actors on this show I was familiar with before watching Twin Peaks for the first time.  We don't get to see a whole lot of range for him in the early episodes, but man is he good at being distraught.  I love his meltdown on the dance floor and watching him jump on Laura's coffin is both awful and hilarious.  Definitely iconic.

This episode fully introduces us to the Bookhouse Boys, which I would say is the most underutilized story in all of Twin Peaks, but that isn't the case in this episode.  The fact that characters like Truman, Hawk, and Ed are all in a secret society fighting an unknown evil is amazing.  It explains a lot about why Truman and Hawk are willing to go along with Cooper's unusual method of solving the murder.  They are familiar with a spiritual evil and it's a part of their live that doesn't fully make sense.  It's some excellent shading of the characters and Michael Ontkean does a fantastic job at explaining everything at the Double R Diner.

We also learn some of the bikers are in the Bookhouse Boys.  It's so cool that it's not just cops and adults in this group.  We have teenagers here as well to fight the good fight.  They've got a guy tied up in their clubhouse and Cooper doesn't even blink.  It's such an awesome introduction and exciting plot development.  It's a shame we don't get more of the Bookhouse Boys in the series, but that isn't this episode's fault.  "Rest in Pain" did its job in giving us the introduction.  I'm not going to hold it again the episode that the rest of the series didn't do enough with it.

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Rest in Pain," this award goes to Agent Dale Cooper for figuring out Audrey was the one who slid the note under his door, putting Albert in his place, figuring out that Ed is in love with Norma, helping to break up the fight between Bobby and James, and helping to get Leland away from the dance floor.  This is Cooper's 4th time winning this award.  Can he get a shutout for the entire season?

Verdict:

"Rest in Pain" is another incredible episode with Laura's funeral being absolutely iconic.  Leland jumping on the coffin is so damn funny, while also being just awful.  Truman punching Albert and the introduction of the Bookhouse Boys help put this episode near the top of the pile.  It has absolutely got it going on.

 10/10: Amazing