Twin Peaks: Season 2, Episode 13 "Checkmate" Review

 "Maybe you brought the nightmare with you.  And maybe, it will die with you."

-Jean Renault

"Checkmate" picks up with Major Briggs (Don Davis) explaining what happened to him to Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean).  Briggs doesn't remember much, except for a large owl.  He also has three triangular scars behind his ear.  Briggs starts to tell them about his investigation into the White Lodge, but two military police offcers arrive to take Briggs away.

Dick Tremayne (Ian Buchanan) recruits Deputy Andy (Harry Goaz) to help him investigate what happened to Little Nicky's (Joshua Harris) parents.  The two of them sneak into the orphanage over lunch and Dick finds Nicky's file.  They are walked in on by two prospective parents that are there to see the child they are adopting.  Dick tries to stall them by saying the child isn't feeling well.

Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick) grows frustrated in taking care of Leo (Eric Da Re).  Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) refuses to help due to baseball practice and working for Ben Horne (Richard Beymer).  They argue and Shelley slaps Bobby and he leaves.  That night, Shelly wakes up from a nap to find Leo's bed and wheelchair empty.  She is horrified to see Leo standing behind her.

James Hurley (James Marshall) calls Ed (Everett McGill) and asks him to send him all the money in his savings account, which Ed later gives to Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) to bring to James.  James fixes Evelyn Marsh's (Annette McCarthy) car and Evelyn asks James not to leave.  They end up having sex.  Later, Evelyn meets with Malcolm (Nicholas Love) and the two are revealed to be lovers with sinister intentions for James.

Nadine Hurley (Wendy Robie) continues to harass Mike Nelson (Gary Hershberger) to get him to go on a date with her.  She ends up kissing him at the Double R Diner.

Ben Horne has become less stable and becomes engrossed with reenacting the Battle of Gettysburg in his office.  He takes on the persona of General Robert E. Lee.  Audrey (Sherlyn Fenn) calls in Jerry (David Patrick Kelly) and Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) for help.  Later, Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie) visits Ben with the intention to gloat, but they end up rekindling their relationship instead.

Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton) visits Ed and they declare their love for each other.  Later, when Norma leaves, Ed is attacked by Hank (Chris Mulkey).  Nadine returns and beats the snot out of Hank.

Sheriff Truman deputizes Cooper as they prepare their sting to capture Jean Renault (Michael Parks).  They send in Ernie Niles (James Booth) and Agent Denise Bryson (David Duchovny), who goes to the meeting dressed as a man and going by Dennis.  Unfortunately, Ernie sweats so heavily that it causes his wire to smoke exposing the operation.  Renault and Preston King (Gavan O'Herlihy) takes Ernie and Denise hostage, but Cooper convinces them to trade the hostages for him.  As Renault and King discuss whether or not to kill Cooper, Denise walks up to the house, dressed as a waitress, and carrying food.  She also has a gun in her stocking, which she reveals to Cooper.  Cooper shoots and kills Renault while Denise arrests King.  Denise reveals that the ploy was Truman's idea.

Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson) receives a call about a bomb in the woods.  This is followed by an explosion that knocks out the power to Twin Peaks.  Cooper and Truman check out the dark and empty police station and find a dead body and a chessboard in Truman's office.

What Works:

Don Davis does a great job in the episode's opening.  Major Briggs is such a smart and capable character.  To see him broken down and traumatized in this way is very alarming and tells us that the forces he has been investigating are nothing to be trifled with. 

Ian Buchanan is so much fun in this episode.  I love how he dresses like a ridiculous detective in his investigation of Little Nicky.  Plus watching him tell some prospective parents that their kid is dead...tired is simply hilarious.  I love the way Buchanan chews the scenery.  Dick Tremayne is such an underrated character.

I can't believe the payoff for Nadie getting superhuman strength is that she saves Ed by beating the crap out of Hank.  In hindsight, it's kind of genius.  It's a hilarious take down for Hank.

Finally, we get an extremely creepy scene when Shelly discovers Leo isn't where he is supposed to be.  It's some classic Twin Peaks horror with the flickering lights and the skipping record player.  And the shot that reveals Leo standing behind Shelly is burned into my mind.  It's genuinely terrifying.

What Sucks:

Let's get the obvious out of the way.  The James/Evelyn/Malcolm storyline is still going on and it's still dumb.  James tells us stuff we already know and Evelyn and Malcolm are up to something.  Yawn.

Now for the new stuff.  I find the final confrontation between Cooper and Jean Renault underwhelming.  It's just over so quickly.  I like what happens inside the house.  We get a good monologue from Michael Parks and the way Denise and Truman save Cooper is fun, but the whole thing feels rushed.  A whole episode could have been spent on Cooper being held hostage, instead it's one scene.  It feels like a waste of Jean Renault with how much he was being set up as a new big bad.

After the hostage situation, we get the power getting knocked out to the town and Cooper and Truman finding a body in Truman's office.  That's all fine, except the power outage and the bomb and fire all happen off screen.  It's another sequence that is rushed through.  It's really strange.  This episode feels like they filmed too much and the episode was running long, so they had to cut stuff from the episode.  It makes the editing feel off.  I would have been okay with less James and General Ben Horne and more time at the standoff and better editing for this ending.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Checkmate," this Award goes to Sheriff Truman for deputizing Cooper and coming up with the plan that Denise used to save Cooper.  This is Truman's 2nd time winning this Award.

Verdict:

"Checkmate" is probably my least favorite episode of Twin Peaks.  For sure up to this point in my rewatch, but probably overall as well.  I love this show and still find plenty to enjoy in the episode.  Don Davis and Ian Buchanan both give excellent performances in very different ways, the Shelly/Leo sequence is very creepy, and I love watching Nadine beat up Hank.  However, the big moments of the episode feel rushed and badly edited at times.  We also spent too much time with James and Evelyn.

 

 7/10: Good