Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episode 3 "The Man Behind Glass" Review

 "I love you, Sheriff Truman."

-Albert Rosenfield

"The Man Behind Glass" picks up with Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine) thrashing wildly after her I.V. liquid was replaced with dye by someone.  As she is restrained and sedated, Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) finds a small letter "B" under her fingernail.  They have Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) do more analysis.  He discovers the "B" came from a copy of Flesh World.  He also confirms the cocaine planted on James Hurley's (James Marshall) bike was from Leo Johnson's (Eric Da Re) stash, which allows the police to release James.  As Albert prepares to leave, he insults Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) again.  When the Sheriff threatens to punch him again, Albert refuses to retaliate due to his pacifism.  He says he loves Sheriff Truman before leaving.

Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) arrives at the police station and tells them that he recognizes BOB (Frank Silva).  He lived next door to his grandfather's summer home and use to flick matches at Leland when he was a little kid.  Cooper sends Hawk (Michael Horse) to investigate further.

Phillip Gerard (Al Strobel) arrives at the station to sell the Sheriff some boots.  When he sees the picture of BOB, he has a strong reaction and leaves to the bathroom to take his medication.  He doesn't take it in time and MIKE takes over and begins pursing BOB.  Cooper later finds the medication and Gerard missing and realizes this is the Giant's (Carel Struycken) 3rd and final clue.

Shelley (Mädchen Amick) refuses to give a statement to the police about Leo and Cooper catches her off guard by not forcing the issue.  He tells Truman that Shelley is after insurance money and is probably working with someone else to get it.

Cooper approaches Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) for an update on the missing Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn), but Ben is unconcerned because Audrey has gone missing before and always come home.  Audrey is still tied up by Blackie O'Reilly (Victoria Catlin) and Emory Battis (Don Amendolia).  They bring in the 3rd Renault brother, Jean (Michael Parks), to help with the situation.  They plan to force Ben to pay a ransom for Audrey and get Cooper to deliver it.  They will take the money and kill Audrey and Cooper so Jean can get revenge for the deaths of his brothers.

Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle) visits Harold Smith (Lenny Von Dohlen).  He reveals he knew Laura (Sheryl Lee) through the Meals on Wheels program.  He asks her to put an orchid on Laura's grave.  Donna notices a piece of paper sticking out from a bookshelf, but is unable to get it.  Later, after a series of misunderstandings about a possible relationship between James and Maddy (Sheryl Lee), Donna goes back to Harold's house.  She ends up finding Laura's diary.

Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson) goes on a date with the stiff and posh Dick Tremayne (Ian Buchanan), who had ghosted her after several dates.  She reveals that she is pregnant.

Nadine Hurley (Wendy Robie) wakes up in the hospital after Ed (Everett McGill) sings to her.  She believes she is 18 and plans to try out for the cheerleading team.

Cooper and the Sheriff hypnotize Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) to help him remember who killed Jacques Renault (Walter Olkewicz).  He names Leland, so Cooper and Truman arrest Leland as he is comforting Maddy.

What Works:

I love the confrontation between Truman and Albert in this episode.  It's the culmination of all the tension between these two characters and the climax of this arc is pretty much the last thing I expected to happen.  Albert's dialogue here is incredible and the way he peacefully defuses the situation is just wonderful and bizarre.

This episode introduces Dick Tremayne.  I know a lot of people don't like this character, but I've always enjoyed him.  He's likably unlikable.  I love how much he annoys the other characters and he never fails to make me laugh.

This episode also introduces another controversial character, Jean Renault, played by Michael Parks with a ridiculous accent.  He's another character I know people don't love, but Michael Parks is fantastic and I like how he plays the character.

Finally, Ray Wise is excellent in this episode, as per usual.  I love how he tells the police how he knows BOB and about the flicking matches.  It's chilling, especially when you consider the subtext.  I also love the scene where he comforts Maddy about everything that has happened.  It's a sweet moment that turns sour when Leland is arrested and it makes their storyline even more tragic.

What Sucks:

I don't care for the love triangle between Donna, Maddy, and James.  It's not terrible and there's some good acting, but it's just not overly interesting.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "The Man Behind Glass," this Award goes to Dale Cooper for sucessfully using hypnosis to find Jacques' killer.  This is Cooper's 7th time winning this Award.

Verdict:

"The Man Behind Glass is another very solid episode of Twin Peaks.  The confrontation between Truman and Albert is iconic, Ray Wise is wonderful, and we get two new characters that I really enjoy.  The love triangle I could do without, but this episode has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great