When I say “THOSE” Season 2 episodes of Twin Peaks, you know immediately what I’m referencing. Once Episode 2009 effectively closed the Laura Palmer story, the writers focused on other happenings (and mysteries) in this small Pacific Northwest town. Episodes 2010-2015 included a number of storylines – Ben Horne’s mental struggle, Dick Tremayne’s attempts at fatherhood, and James Hurley’s entanglement with Evelyn Marsh. I’ve grown to adore these episodes. They are filled with little treasures I look forward to seeing with every viewing. Here are 10 favorite things I love in no particular order.
MO’S MOTOR CAMEO
In Episode 2010, there is a brief cameo of Mo’s Motor which would later be seen in Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me.
It’s the service station where Leland and Laura Palmer stop for a moment after an intense encounter with Phillip Gerard (Mike the One Armed Man).
This scene holds a special place in my heart as John Thorne and the late Craig Steven Miller (yes, his middle name was actually “Steven”) published my letter about finding these matching locations in Issue #27 of “Wrapped in Plastic.”
It was a thrill returning to this spot on September 14, 2019. Sadly, the Mo’s Motor building, which was the former Brook Theatre in the town of Meadowbrook, is long gone.
BOOKHOUSE BOYS
Episode 2010 also contains the first appearance of the Bookhouse Boys logo on a patch. Sheriff Harry Truman first mentioned the secret society in Episode 1003 as noted in Harley Peyton’s script.
TRUMAN
(lowering his voice)
There’s a sort of evil out there. Something strange in the hills. [ed. note: Truman references “these old woods” not “the hills”] It takes different forms, but it’s been there for as long as anyone can remember. And we’ve always been here to fight it.
COOPER
“We?”
TRUMAN
Men before us. Men before them. More after we’re gone.
We protect our own. We have to. [ed. note – these two lines are omitted]
COOPER
(relishing this)
A secret society.
The “Twin Peaks Access Guide to the Town” states that it’s an “armpatch of the Bookhouse Boys.”
GO STEEPLEJACKS!
CORKSCREW! Yes, Nadine goes to high school is silly, but check out that athletic jacket! I wish there was an official reproduction available. I also wish I knew who these Twin Peaks High School students are and where they are today. Go Steeplejacks!
ANDY AT THE RECEPTION
If you want a good laugh, watch Deputy Andy Brennan throughout the Milford wedding reception at the Great Northern Hotel. Actor Harry Goaz was having a ball on set. When the bride and groom share cake, his facial expressions are priceless!
JOT IT DOWN
“Sonny boy, nobody stops Mr. Marsh. That’s the golden rule around here. You can jot that down and put it under your pillow.“
Oh, Malcolm Sloan. This episode was penned by Harley Peyton and Robert Engles. The scripted line reads, “Jot that down and put it under your pillow.”
MACINTOSH PORTABLE CAMEO
Agent Roger Hardy’s assistant is using a Macintosh Portable, which was manufactured by Apple Computers and sold between September 1989 and October 1991. The date on the screen reads October 22, 1990 even though the episode is set in March 1989.
The first draft of script, written by Barry Pullman, was shared with department heads on October 11, 1990. General distribution was on October 18, 1990.
There was one additional revision on October 23, 1990, which may account for the “October 22” on the screen. The first part of the scene with Hardy and Cooper was part of that October 23 revision.
It’s also entirely possible that this scene was shot on October 22, but I’ve not been able to confirm yet. The episode didn’t air until December 15, 1990.
TRUMAN’S COFFEE CUP “BIRD”
I can’t unsee this. In Episode 2014, Sheriff Harry Truman has a peculiar way of holding his coffee cup throughout the ENTIRE scene.
Supposedly, shooting this episode was tough as the director Uli Edel required multiple takes. Perhaps this was Michael Ontkean’s response.
BIG ED’S BELT
Norma Jennings visits Big Ed Hurley at his home in Episode 2013.
Wait a second. What is Ed wearing?
That would be a BIG ED BELT! Amazing.
THE ROMANTIC DEPUTY DALE
Deputy Dale Cooper pauses by the elevators at The Great Northern Hotel to examine a photo in his wallet.
It’s a black and white photo of Caroline Powell Earle played by Brenda Reed (known as Brenda E. Mathers at time of shooting).
Twin Peaks Archive interviewed Reed a few years ago about her work on the show:
Brenda Reed: “I signed with the extra’s agency and went to meet the producers. I did a photo shoot for the wallet photo for Kyle [MacLachlan] to take out and look at and they liked me so they kept me on to finish the season as a dead girl.”
Twin Peaks Archive: What did you do on the show and in what order?
Brenda Reed: “I did the photo shoot for the wallet and then they decided they needed the mask for the bed – I have that – and then we did the scenes where Kyle flashes back and I look like I am floating, then we did the last scene where Heather [Graham] and I are dressed alike. We also spent some time in Woodholly studios [City Studios] to do get all the script phonetically correct, backwards.”
YOU CAN CALL ME WINDOM
While Agent Earle is first mentioned by Agent Albert Rosenfield in Episode 2002, we don’t see actually him until Episode 2014. And what an entrance he makes! Kenneth Welsh who played Earle quickly became my all-time favorite thing from the last half of Season 2.
According to Harley Peyton’s AMA on Reddit in 2017, Earle was named after actor William Windom and Humphrey Bogart’s character from the 1941 film High Sierra: “Mad Dog” Roy Earle.
Is there a favorite thing I missed? Please share in the comments below.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include one of fellow Bookhouse Boy Aaron Cohen’s “favorite” things from this part of Season 2. Presented without comment.
