Twin Peaks: Season 1, Episode 7 "Realization Time" Review

 "Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  Every day, once a day, give yourself a present.  Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen."

-Dale Cooper

"Realization Time" begins with Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) kindly rejecting Audrey's (Sherilyn Fenn) advances and offering to be her friend and help her with her problems.  The next day, Cooper, Dr. Hayward (Warren Frost), and Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) examine Jacques Renault's (Walter Olkewicz) bird, Waldo.  They learn that Waldo can mimic words, but will only do so when it is healthy.  They plan to help the bird get nourished again and leave a voice activated tape recorder in the room to capture anything Waldo says.

Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re) keeps watch outside of his house and sees that Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) is the one sleeping with Shelly (Mädchen Amick).  He plans to snipe Bobby as he leaves the house, but hears over the police radio that they have Waldo.  Fearing Waldo could identify him, Leo goes to the police station and shoots the bird.  However, the tape recorder managed to catch Waldo saying Leo's name and it sounds like Leo was hurting Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee).

James (James Marshall), Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle), and Maddy (Sheryl Lee) listen to Laura's tape to Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn).  The most recent tape, from the night of Laura's death, is missing and they guess Dr. Jacoby still has it.  That night, they send a video tape of Maddy dressed as Laura to Dr. Jacoby to lure him out of his office.  Jacoby figures out where they filmed the tape and heads to the park where Maddy is waiting alone along with an unknown figure hiding in the trees.  James and Donna arrive at Jacoby's office and Bobby seizes the opportunity to plant drugs in James' motorcycle gas tank.

At Horne's department store, Audrey overhears Emory Battis (Don Amendolia) recruiting one of her coworkers to work at One Eyed Jacks and that he had also recruited Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine).  Audrey tricks her coworker into giving her the number to Jacks and later convinces the manager, Blackie (Victoria Catlin), to give her a job as an escort.

Sheriff Truman goes to visit Josie (Joan Chen) and asks her why she was at the Timber Falls Motel.  She denies it at first, but later tells him she was spying on Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) and Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie) and that they are planning to burn down the mill.  Truman later asks Cooper to help him with the matter and he agrees.  Cooper and Ed (Everett McGill) then go undercover up to One Eyed Jacks where Jacques is working as a blackjack dealer. 

Catherine discovers that changers were made to an insurance policy by Josie and Ben when an insurance agent grows suspicious and approaches her in person to get her signature.  Catherine refuses to sign it and realizes Ben is trying to double-cross her when she discovers her second book of mill finances is missing.  Ben, Josie and Hank (Chris Mulkey) plot to get Catherine into the mill that night.

What Works:

My favorite part of this episode is Cooper's line to Harry at the top of this piece.  Cooper convinces Harry to pause for a moment and enjoy some coffee.  I think about this line all the time and try to follow Cooper's advice and give myself a small present every day.  It's a wonderful moment and makes Cooper even more enjoyable to watch.

The fact that Waldo, a talking bird, is an important witness in this case is a hilarious development for me.  It's something I wasn't expecting the first time I watched it and at first it's just another quirky aspect of this show.  I wasn't expecting Waldo to get murdered and it's a very dark moment.  It has a surprising amount of impact and makes you hate Leo even more.  Plus listening to the tape of Waldo's final words is chilling.

I've never been shy about how much I dislike the characters of James and Donna and how bad their storyline is.  This part is the exception.  While it's very stupid for them to get involved in this way, it's actually a very exciting storyline to have Maddy disguised as Laura and the trick they pull on Jacoby.  Since James and Donna are dumb, their plan doesn't fully work and Jacoby figures out where they actually were.  So, yes, it's all still dumb, but it's at least exciting and James and Donna don't get in the way of the storyline.  And the ending with someone watching the alone Maddy is a great cliffhanger.

Audrey continues to be awesome and although she's getting herself in way too deep, it's fun seeing her operate and make her way into One Eyed Jacks.

Finally, I love Cooper and Ed's undercover mission.  Ed is hilarious as he flirts with Blackie.  Everything with them is very fun.

What Sucks:

This is the penultimate episode of the season.  Like most penultimate episodes, there is a lot of setup and not much in terms of payoff.  That's fine and necessary, but it usually limits the impact a penultimate episode can have.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crustal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Realization Time," this Award goes to Dale Cooper for using his tape recorder to get Waldo's final words and for getting himself and Ed into One Eyed Jacks successfully.  This is his 5th time winning this award.

Verdict:

As far as penultimate episodes go, this one is great.  Cooper continues to be amazing, Leo continues to be the worst, James and Donna's storyline is actually fun, and Cooper, Ed, and Audrey getting into One Eyed Jacks is very exciting.  This episode does its job well and sets us up nicely for the finale.

 9/10: Great