Twin Peaks: Season 1, Episode 6 "Cooper's Dreams"

 "It's the secrets people keep that destroy any chance they have of happiness."

-James Hurley

"Cooper's Dreams" starts off with a group of prospective business partners for Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) arriving from Iceland during the night and they keep the entire Great Northern Hotel awake.  Ben and Jerry (David Patrick Kelly) plan to throw them a proper welcoming party the following night and possibly take them up to One Eyed Jacks in order to finalize the deal.  Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) arrives in order to help Ben and Jerry, but he ends up just crying in Ben's office.

At Jacques' (Walter Olkewicz) apartment, Dr. Hayward (Warren Frost) confirms that the blood on Leo Johnson's (Eric Da Re) shirt was Jacques', not Laura's (Sheryl Lee).  Cooper finds a copy of Flesh World and they manage to connect Leo, Jacques, Laura, and Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine) to the magazine ads and that Laura had photos taken of her in a cabin owned by Jacques.

Andy (Harry Goaz) arrives at Shelley's (Mädchen Amick) to talk to Leo.  Shelley throws further suspicion onto Leo to Andy.  Later that night, Leo arrives home, but is attacked by Hank Jennings (Chris Mulkey) for taking over Hank's criminal enterprise while he was in jail.  Leo gets violent with Shelley, who shoots him.  The injured Leo flees the house.

With Hank released from prison and Nadine (Wendy Robie) not mentally well, Norma (Peggy Lipton) asks Ed (Everett McGill) to give her some space for the time being, much to their displeasure.

Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) starts work at her father's department store, but the manager, Emory (Don Amendolia), wants her to work in gift-wrapping.  Audrey forces him to let her work the perfume counter when she threatens to rip her dress, scream, and tell her father Emory made a pass at her.

Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) and James (James Marshall) meet with Maddy (Sheryl Lee) at the Double R Diner and ask her to help them investigate Laura's death.  She agrees and they ask her to look for Laura's secret hiding spot.  Hank overhears the entire conversation.  That night, Maddy finds the hiding spot and discovers a tape and tells Donna about it.

Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) is forced to go to therapy by his parents.  He reveals to Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) that Laura was the one who got him involved with Leo and got him to sell drugs at the high school so she would have easier access to them.

Cooper, Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean), Hawk (Michael Horse), and Dr. Hayward journey into the woods to find Jacques cabin, but come across the Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson) instead.  Cooper finally asks her log what it saw on the night of Laura's murder.  The Log Lady says her log heard two men and two women nearby and later there was a 3rd man and screaming.  They deduce it was Laura, Ronette, Jacques, and Leo, but they don't know who the 3rd man is.  The men continue on and find Jacques cabin.  Inside, they find his bird, Waldo, twine, a bloodstain, and poker chips from One Eyed Jacks, including one with a chip missing.

Audrey overhears Ben and Catherine (Piper Laurie) planning to burn down the mill.  Later, it's revealed that Ben told Josie (Joan Chen) about Catherine's secret hiding spot and she managed to get her hands on the 2nd ledger.

Cooper returns to his room to find Audrey in his bed, naked.

What Works:

Every episode with Jerry Horne is an absolute treat.  It's great having him back again and I find his love for Heba (Mary Stavin) hilarious and a little adorable.  David Patrick Kelly always manages to steal every scene he is in and watching him fawn over Heba and wanting to cook for her might be the best part of the episode.

The police investigation storyline continues to make a lot of process.  We finally figure out where Laura was before she got murdered and we know who she was with, except for the 3rd man.  It's fun watching Cooper, Truman, Hawk, and Dr. Hayward go on this journey together.  These are four competent characters and I love watching them work together.  

The Log Lady's tale is bizarre, but chilling.  She's such an odd character and has definitely had memorable moments before this, but I think this is the episode where she becomes iconic.  She's not just the town weirdo.  She and her log did have something important to say.  It's nice that she isn't just a joke character.  We get some more of her backstory and we realize she's a much more tragic character than we thought.

It's so satisfying watching Leo get the crap kicked out of him by Hank and it gets even better when Shelley shoots him.  His wounded cries are chilling, but it's still an awesome moment for Shelley.

Finally, I really like the scene between Bobby and Dr. Jacoby.  It's some more great shading for a character that could be very one-note.  Watching Jacoby get through to him and the revelation that Laura is the one who dragged him down is a powerful and emotional moment.

What Sucks:

There are a couple of nitpicks I have with this episode.  There's a weird moment where we see Josie in Ben's office, but then Ben and Catherine are in there smooching, but then we see the same shot of Josie in the office later.  Continuity error?  Plus I don't love the scenes with James, Donna, and Maddy.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For this episode, the award goes to Audrey Horne for getting Emory to give her the perfume counter position and for eavesdropping on Ben and Catherine.  This is her 1st time winning this award.

Verdict:

"Cooper's Dream" is another awesome episode of Twin Peaks.  We get some great character development for Bobby and the Log Lady, forward momentum on the investigation, Jerry Horne being hilarious, and Leo getting what he deserves.  It has a few small problems, but this episode has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great