Twin Peaks: Season 2 Finale "Beyond Life and Death" Review

 "Grand Theft Auto."

-Pete Martell

The finale of the original run of Twin Peaks picks up with Andy (Harry Goaz) and Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) comforting each other after the events of the Miss Twin Peaks competition.

Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean), and Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) manage to figure out where the entrance to the Black Lodge is.

Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh) brings Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham) to the entrance to the Black Lodge and brings her inside.

At the Hurley house, Mike Nelson (Gary Hershberger) professes his love for Nadine (Wendy Robie), but the sandbag hitting her in the head has jogged her memory.  She remembers she is 35, but has no memory of Mike and she is devastated to see Norma (Peggy Lipton) with Ed (Everett McGill).

Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle) prepares to leave home as both her mother, Eileen (Mary Jo Deschanel) and Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) try to console her.  Both Dr. Hayward (Warren Frost) and Sylvia Horne (Jan D'Arcy) arrive, which causes a big argument.  Dr. Hayward ends up punching Ben and he hits his head on the fireplace and falls unconscious.

Cooper and Truman head into the woods towards the Black Lodge until Cooper tells Truman to stay behind.  Truman secretly follows Cooper and watches as Cooper enters the Black Lodge.  Andy later joins Truman and they wait all night and all the next day for Cooper to return.

Andrew Packard (Dan O'Herlihy) sneakily takes the key from the puzzle box and recognizes it as a key to a safety deposit box.  Pete Martell (Jack Nance) catches him and the two go to Twin Peaks Savings & Loan together.  Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) is also at the bank and handcuffs herself to the bank vault in order to draw media attention to the bank's role in the Ghostwood Development Project.  Andrew opens the safety deposit box only to find a bomb, one last trick from Thomas Eckhart (David Warner).  The bomb goes off and we'll later learn it kills Andrew and Pete, while Audrey is seriously injured.

Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) brings Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) to the Double R Diner to see Major Briggs (Don S. Davis).  She seems to channel the voice of the Man from Another Place (Michael J. Anderson) and tells him, "I'm in the Black Lodge with Dale Cooper.  I'm waiting for you."

In the Black Lodge, Cooper meets the Man from Another Place and Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee).  She tells him she will see him again in 25 years.  Next, Cooper sees the elderly waiter from the Great Northern (Hank Worden) and the Giant (Carel Struycken) who are revealed to be one and the same.  Cooper journeys through the Black Lodge and meets Maddy Ferguson (Sheryl Lee).  Then he runs into the doppelganger of the Man from Another Place, who tells him of the existence of doppelgangers.  Cooper keeps moving and runs into Laura's doppelganger.

Cooper eventually finds what appears to be Annie, but she acts like Caroline (Brenda E. Mathers) before turning into her.  She turns into Laura and finally Windom Earle.  Earle asks for Cooper's soul in exchange for Annie's life.  Cooper agrees and Earle stabs him.  Time rewinds and the stabbing is undone.  BOB (Frank Silva) appears and explains Earle can't ask for Cooper's soul and he takes Earle's instead, which destroys Earle.  Cooper starts to leave the Lodge and runs into the doppelganger of Leland Palmer (Ray Wise).  Cooper than sees his own doppelganger, who chases him and tackles him as Cooper tries to flee the Lodge.

Truman finds Annie and what appears to be Cooper at the entrance to the Black Lodge.

The next day, Truman and Dr. Hayward are with Cooper in his hotel room when he wakes up.  He is acting strangely and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth.  He smashes his head into the mirror and we see Bob's face in the reflection revealing that this is Cooper's doppelganger.

What Works:

David Lynch, we missed you.  Lynch returns to the director's seat for the first time since episode 14 of this season, "Lonely Souls" and you can definitely tell.  The way this episode is shot has that special spark that only David Lynch can pull off.  It's very refreshing and even the way some of the more lackluster storylines are improved simply because of how they are presented.  The way the Hurley living room is shot is very similar to some of the shots from the Black Lodge.  It's unsettling and reminds me of season 1 of this show.  Season 2 may have some rough patches, but Lynch manages to stick the landing with his unique style.

After all this time, we finally get to spend some quality time in the Black Lodge and it's just as strange and nightmarish as I hoped it would be.  Everyone is delightfully creepy and the jerky movements of the actors add a lot when mixed with the strobe lights.  We get a great song performed by Jimmy Scott and I especially love the interaction between Cooper, Earle, and BOB.  It shows us that for all of the puppet-mastery Earle had over Cooper this season, even he was in way over his head against BOB.  What chance could Cooper have?

The reveal that the doppelganger we'll come to know as Mr. C is the one that made it out of the Black Lodge and not the real Cooper is heartbreaking.  It gives us the perfect cliffhanger to end the season on knowing that season 3 is right around the corner....  Seriously, this episode is emotionally devastating and the movie doesn't help things at all.  I was fortunate and only had to wait six years after watching this show for the first time for The Return to be released.  I can't imagine watching this when it aired.  It's a brutal way to end the show.  It's even harder to watch the moment Truman sees Cooper enter the Black Lodge.  They never see each other again and that's a tough and bitter pill to swallow.

Finally, we have the bank scene.  This scene broke me the first time I watched the show and I had to pause the episode for 10 minutes and process the information.  It's wonderfully drawn out with the inclusion of Dell Mibbler (Ed Wright).  I love Wright's confused performance and how much he draws out the scene.  It was definitely frustrating the first time I watched it, but now I appreciate it for being a creative way to draw the scene out and add tension.  Then the bomb goes off and Andrew, Pete, and Dell are all killed.  I thought Audrey was as well until The Return and thankfully she wasn't, but things go badly for her afterwards.  And Pete being killed in such a violent and sudden manner is devastating.  Pete is one of my all-time favorite TV characters and his death always makes me sad.  I have to give the show credit for making me feel this scene so deeply.

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Beyond Life and Death," this Award goes to Cooper's doppelganger, Mr. C., for escaping the Black Lodge.  This is his 1st time winning this Award.

Since we're at the end of season 2, here are the current standings.

Agent Dale Cooper: 11

Windom Earle: 4

Audrey Horne: 3

Sheriff Harry Truman: 2

Bobby Briggs: 1

Deputy Andy Brennan: 1

Major Garland Briggs: 1

Jonathan Kumagai: 1

Deputy Tommy "Hawk" Hill: 1

James Hurley: 1

Evelyn Marsh: 1

Lana Milford: 1

Catherine Martell: 1

Mr. C: 1

Verdict:

Twin Peaks ends its original run with one of the most devastating episodes of TV I've ever seen.  David Lynch is incredible, the Black Lodge is insane, and the end of the bank scene as well as the cliffhanger ending are emotionally brutal to watch.  This is a top-tier episode of the show and I'll never forget how I felt watching it for the first time.

 10/10: Amazing