Friday, February 19, 2016

Firewatch PS4 Game Review

Whenever I hear that something has a "Twin Peaks" vibe I'm always curious to check it out. I would describe myself as a casual fan of gaming so I felt almost obligated to check out Firewatch when I read about the curious linkages it supposedly had to Twin Peaks. As a self described Twin Peaks Fanatic, I figured if Firewatch was anything like Twin Peaks, I'd no doubt love it. I decided to download Firewatch on my PS4 and figured for the price of $17.99 if I didn't like it, there wouldn't be a great loss. As it turned out, Firewatch surprised me in an unexpected way and turned out to be a very different and cool game.

(Spoilers below; don't read if you don't want to know what happens at the end)

The Story 

In the game, you are Henry, played by Rich Sommer, some may him know as the unlikable Harry Crane from Mad Men. In Firewatch, Henry is a somewhat lost soul, whose decided to take a job for the Wyoming National Park Service in the summer of 1989 as a lookout. In said job, he spends most of his time alone in a secluded fire tower while keeping an eye out for fires and potential fire hazards. Henry's only connection to the outside world comes from conversations on a walkie talkie from his boss, Delilah, played by Cissy Jones. She resides at another watch tower on the other side of the forest and you never see her. Delilah is a bit of a flirt and depending on what answers you choose to give her along the way, you learn more about Henry's emotional state from their conversations.

In the beginning of Firewatch, you go through a series of questions that fill in Henry's backstory and you learn that his wife, Julia, was diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease. Subsequently, Henry had to put her in a permanent care hospital at a young age and he seems to suffer from guilty feelings over that decision. Upon his arrival in Wyoming, Henry begins his summer of isolation and discovers some mysterious happenings within the forest. At the start of the summer, he encounters two teenage girls who set off fireworks and leave their trash all over the park. Later these girls go missing, which leaves Delilah and Henry concerned, since Henry was the last person to encounter them.

As the summer progresses, Henry and Delilah's walkie talkie chats become slightly more intimate and at the same time they grow suspicious that someone is listening in on their conversations. Delilah also talks somewhat often about a previous lookout who came to the park a few summers before with his son Brian, both of whom have since disappeared. As Henry searches the park on his daily hikes, he ultimately learns that poor Brian was left to die in a cave by his father when Henry finds the decayed body of the boy. Henry later learns that Brian's father is the one who was listening to him and Delilah and has been living as a hermit in the forest since Brian's death, which his father claims was only an accident. It also turns out the two girls who went missing actually just ran off and were discovered very much alive.

In the end, a controlled fire begins to burn wildly out of control and all the lookouts have to be evacuated from the park. Henry asks Delilah to wait for him at her tower so they can finally meet. However when he gets to her tower, Delilah is gone. He speaks to her one last time and she tells him she didn't want to meet, despite knowing that disappoints him, and advises him to go see his wife to make amends. In the final scene, Henry makes his way to the evacuation helicopter and the game ends.

Game Play

Compared to many other games I've played there isn't much actual gaming in Firewatch. I would describe it as more of an experience and it feels like you're in a type of virtual movie. Most of the time you're walking through the forest trying to find your way, via a map and compass. At times finding your way is daunting and frustrating and I thought took away from the fun of the game a bit. On the other hand, the exploring itself adds to the feeling of isolation and offers the player some free form fun. You can wander around discovering things as much as you like, which can be very lovely as the graphic scenery in Firewatch is often quite beautiful. Not to mention there is some cool/ominous music that plays throughout the game to enjoy.

The game itself is also on the short side, probably only about 6 hours in total. I thought it could have been extended a bit more and could have offered a few more missions around the park to draw it out. There is a large gap of time missing from the summer where you go from Day 9 to Day 77 with only a few hints of what happened in between. At first I thought that might be because Henry was imaging the whole thing or there would be some mystery to uncover, but that wasn't the case. 

Overall I liked Firewatch, but ultimately didn't think it was much like Twin Peaks. Outside of being set in the woods and having a mysterious feel to it, Firewatch was truly in it's own universe. Henry and Delilah were kind of cute together, despite having a bit of a weak ending. Regardless I enjoyed Firewatch for it was and would rate it 8 out of 10 on a whole. 

Enjoy this fan made clip below, which I think summarizes the ending well!

Sunday, February 14, 2016

"Love Me Tender" - Revisiting Wild at Heart

You mark me the deepest!
Written & Directed by: David Lynch

1990 Palme d'Or Award Winner

Romance, danger, lust, violence, humor, and of course true love all combine to make Wild at Heart a literal wild ride. Set as a 'lovers on the run' road movie, David Lynch's film adaptation of Barry Gifford's book Wild at Heart, delivers a sexy surrealistic visual playland that, in my opinion, is one of his best films, and by far his most romantic. 

Beginning in Cape Fear, Sailor Ripley and Lula Fortune's young love is torn apart when Sailor violently defends himself at a public event. A local thug named Bob Ray Lemon arrogantly approaches Sailor and makes dirty comments about his girlfriend Lula. Then Bob Ray whispers to Sailor that Lula's mother, Marietta, wants him dead. He attempts to stab Sailor so Sailor responds by smashing Bob Ray Lemon's head into the floor repeatedly, ultimately killing him. After Sailor ends up in the Pee Dee Correctional Institute for nearly two years for manslaughter. When Sailor is released, Lula disobeys her mother and picks him up from jail. She brings Sailor his snake skin jacket, which he reminds her is a symbol of his individuality and his belief in personal freedom. Then they hurry off to make love at the Cape Fear motel. 

After they exchange pillow talk and Lula flashes to a traumatic incident where she was raped by one of her father's business associates at age 13. It appears that consequently the rapist ended up dead from a car accident, likely caused by her mother. Meanwhile, Marietta Fortune talks to her boyfriend, Johnny Farragut, at home about the situation with Lula. She tells Johnny she wants to bring Marcelles Santos, a mob type figure, into the fold to stop Sailor. However Johnny thinks that's a bad idea and offers to help her out instead. While discussing it, Marietta flashes to the night Bob Ray Lemon was killed and we see that she tried to get Sailor to have sex with her in the bathroom, but Sailor turned her down. We also learn that Sailor used to drive for Marcelles Santos and was witness to a fire that killed Lula's father. 

Johnny heads out to find Sailor and Lula, but Marietta decides to involve Marcelles Santos anyway. He comes to her house and it appears that they have a romantic history. Marietta gets excited when Marcelles describes how he will shoot Sailor in the brains. Santos also wants to kill Johnny Farragut so he doesn't find out about their business with a mysterious Mr. Reindeer. Marietta pleads with Santos not to hurt Johnny, but Santos puts a hit out on Johnny anyway. 

Later Sailor and Lula go dancing to Powermad at a club where Sailor once again feels obligated to defend Lula's honor when she is bumped up against by a random club goer. This time it ends with only a minor scuffle and after Sailor decides to sing "Love Me" by Elvis to Lula in front of everyone. Lula loves it and they end up back at the motel for more romance. After Lula asks Sailor why he didn't sing Love Me Tender to her, which is his favorite Elvis song. Sailor explains he will only sing Love Me Tender to his wife. Lula then flashes to imagery of the Wicked Witch of the West and talks about how her father died. Sailor looks guilt ridden knowing she believes her father killed himself. 

Unbeknownst to Sailor and Lula, Mr. Reindeer receives two silver dollars from Santos, which indicate a hit for Sailor and Johnny, and he calls a mysterious voodoo woman, played by Grace Zabriskie, to perform the task. Sailor and Lula head to New Orleans, where they check into another motel and make love again. After they go out for a night on the town while Johnny is making a beeline to reach them. Back at home, Marietta panics that Santos is going to kill Johnny and begins to paint herself red with lipstick. She calls Johnny and tells him she did something bad and is coming to New Orleans to meet up with him. 

Meanwhile Mr. Reindeer receives a visit during a kinky dinner party from the mysterious voodoo woman and her associates. (I should note that Francis Bay, aka Mrs. Tremond from Twin Peaks, was in this scene as a madam) Mr. Reindeer tells the killers to show Johnny something when they kill him and hands them an envelope. Out in New Orleans, Sailor regales Lula with a sexy story that gets her hotter than Georgie asphalt so they go back to the hotel for more sex. After, during more pillow talk, Lula tells Sailor about her cousin nicknamed, Jingle Dell (Crispin Glover), who loved Christmas, couldn't stop making sandwiches and thought aliens were out to get him. She tells Sailor that Dell declined so badly he ended up with cockroaches in his underwear. 

They head back on the road and Lula drives to give Sailor time to rest. While she drives Lula hears nothing but terrible news on the radio and freaks out. She pulls over and orders Sailor to find some music for her to listen to right now. He ends up putting on some Powermad and they dance wildly on the side of the road. Eventually they calm and end up getting close against the backdrop of a sunset. (that might be my favorite scene from the film) Meanwhile Marietta arrives in New Orleans, but denies to Johnny that she involved Santos. They tell each other they love each other and decide to look for Lula and Sailor together. However when they head back to the hotel, they separate just long enough for Mr. Reindeer's hit men to capture Johnny. 

As Lula and Sailor drive through the night, Chris Issac's Wicked Game plays on the radio and Sailor tells Lula that he knew her daddy. He explains that he saw her house burn when her father died and her mother and Santos think he knows something. Lula imagines her mother as the Wicked Witch riding on a broomstick beside the car. Then she tells him,"it's just shocking sometimes when things aren't the way you thought they were." They stumble upon the scene of a terrible car accident and find a bunch of dead bodies on the side of the road. One girl remains, Sherilyn Fenn, walking around profusely bleeding from her head and in a state of confusion. She eventually succumbs to her injuries and sadly dies. 

Back in New Orleans, Marietta freaks out when she can't find Johnny. She receives a note from one of the hotel workers, (also Dell from the bank in Twin Peaks) saying Johnny went buffalo hunting. At first she assumes Johnny took off, but then Marcelles Santos arrives and says she's his girl now. He swears he didn't hurt Johnny, but we see that poor Johnny is kidnapped by Juana, Dropshadow (David Patrick Kelly) and Reggie aka Mr. Reindeer's voodoo people. Reggie shows Johnny Santos' ring so he knows who is behind it. Then Juana yells,  "fuck me now, Reggie!" and Reggie shoots poor Johnny dead.

Sailor brings Lula to Big Tuna Texas where he meets up with an old associate of his, Perdita Durango, played by Isabella Rossellini. Perdita tells Sailor that Marietta and Santos killed Lula's daddy and they think he saw them. Sailor asks if she knows about a hit out for him, but she says no. Later he goes back to the motel where he and Lula are staying and learns she is sick to her stomach. Lula asks if they can stay for a few days to rest. They end up hanging out with some of the other motel residents later that night, one of which is Jack Nance, who tells them about his dog who barks some. They also learn there is a porn movie being filmed in one of the nearby motel rooms. Then we meet Bobby Peru, played by Willem Dafoe. He's quite a character and sports a mouth full of awful teeth. Later that night, Lula has a disturbing memory of having an abortion after she was raped by her father's associate. It makes her realize that she's probably sick now, because she's pregnant. She decides to write a note to Sailor saying, "I'm pregnant!"

In response, Sailor lights a cigarette and says, "it's okay by me, Peanut." Lula isn't sure how she feels and keeps hearing laughing like from the Wicked Witch. Sailor promises he will take care of things for them so their situation doesn't get worse. The next day, Bobby Peru comes knocking on the door looking for Sailor when Lula is alone. He asks to use the bathroom and notices the smell of puke. Bobby gets rude to Lula and asks if she likes to fuck like a rabbit. Lula tells him to get out, but instead he toys with her, grabs her, gropes her and crudely describes how he would "fuck" her. He insists she ask him to fuck her before he'll stop. Lula is almost seduced by him, but when she finally whispers it to him breathlessly, Bobby pulls back laughing and leaves. Lula gets upset, starts crying and smacks her red high heels together three times, like Dorothy does in the Wizard of Oz.

Later Bobby and Sailor take a ride for a beer and Bobby asks Sailor to help him with a robbery. Sailor says no, but Bobby works him by saying he talked to Lula and guessed that she's pregnant. Bobby thinks a little money in Sailor's pocket might help them out. Bobby says he'll bring the car around in the morning if Sailor changes his mind. Sailor ends up drinking a bit more and goes back to the motel room later pretty drunk. Lula wonders if he's up to something with Bobby. She thinks Bobby is bad news and Sailor will regret it if he hooks up with him. Lula cries and says she wishes he would sing Love Me Tender to her and they could go somewhere over the rainbow. 

Bobby goes to see Perdita and we learn she is part of Mr. Reindeer's hit squad. Bobby shows her a silver dollar and says Sailor might have an "accident" during the robbery. Then they go to pick Sailor up. Sailor isn't happy to see her, but Bobby explains that Perdita is his girl and they're all going to make some easy money. However the robbery quickly goes bad, Bobby starts killing people for no reason and Perdita takes a cop down outside with their getaway car. She ends up driving off without Bobby and Sailor. Inside the robbery, Bobby turns his gun on Sailor and tells him he's next. Sailor tries to shoot first, but learns that Bobby gave him a gun with dummy bullets. Bobby psychotically laughs, "those are dummies, dummy!"

Sailor decides to make a run for it. Bobby follows with his shot gun ready. Outside the cop gets up from the ground and starts firing at Bobby. Sailor dives to the ground with his hands up and watches in horror as Bobby gets shot and ultimately blows his own head off with the shotgun. Inside the store, the clerks Bobby shot up fumble in a pool of blood. One of them searches for his shot off hand while the other tells him it can be sewed back on. Then we see a random dog runs off with the hand in its mouth. Afterward Sailor ends up in jail and Marietta arrives with Santos to take Lula home. Then we see that Lula writes to Sailor in jail and tells him she's keeping their baby.

Five years, ten months and twenty one days later, very much against Marietta's wishes, Lula takes her son to pick up Sailor for his prison release. On her way, Lula passes by yet another deadly car crash with more dead bodies on the road. Upon seeing Sailor for the first time in so many years, Lula is overcome with emotion. Sailor meets their son, but thinks it's a mistake for him to be with them. Lula pleads with him not to walk away, but Sailor says his goodbyes and walks off nonetheless. On his walk, Sailor encounters an eclectic gang of multiple nationalities who are looking to rumble. He foolishly asks, "What do you faggots want?" to which they begin kicking his ass and knock him out. While unconscious, Sailor gets visited by the Good Witch (Sheryl Lee) who reminds him that Lula loves him. Sailor thinks he's a no good manslaughterer who never had any parental guidance, but the Good Witch tells him Lula forgives him and if he's truly wild at heart, he'll fight for his dreams. She says, "don't turn away from love."

When Sailor wakes up, sporting a humongous broken nose, he apologizes to the gang for referring to them as homosexuals. He says they taught him a valuable lesson, then screams Lula's name and runs off to find her. Sailor finds Lula stuck in traffic. He races toward her car, leaping and running across other cars to get to her. When he reaches her, Sailor finally sings Love Me Tender to Lula as their son watches with a smile. The credits role, Sailor finishes the song and finally they kiss.

The End

I think the final scene of the movie really captures the essence of the whole film. Watch below!

What I love the Most 

If you're driving into a new town and see this sign just turn back. Nothing good can happen in town called Big Tuna, but still I think the last third of Wild at Heart is really when the movie is at its best, so thank you Big Tuna, you were thoroughly entertaining.

Diane Ladd, Laura Dern's real life mother, was terrific has the crazed Marietta Fortune/Wicked Witch. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this role and it's no wonder why, she knocked it out of the park. 

Willem Dafoe is so incredibly creepy yet nothing short of awesome as Bobby Peru. Despite how gross and disturbing he is, I find it impossible not to enjoy every moment of him. 

The soundtrack from Angelo Badalmenti in this film is fantastic. In many scenes, I feel it's truly the music that defines the romance between Sailor and Lulu. 

Even though I don't recall the heavy Wizard of Oz references in the book, I did enjoy them in the film. I think it adds to the surrealistic side of the movie in a really fun way.


Lula and Sailor's free wheeling ways and utter devotion to one another is a secret fantasy that I think most people dream of on some level. The cynic in me has learned that real life isn't like that, but who wants the muck of real life when you want to get lost in a movie? I feel like that is the magic of film and David Lynch, in particular, is a director who takes you in a different world. In Sailor and Lula's world, all the matters is each other. Laura Dern and Nicholas Cage had such amazing chemistry in their perspective roles that despite some flaws in Wild at Heart, its core story, their love story, never stops delighting throughout, which is why Wild at Heart is one of my all time favorite Lynch films.

You may also like --- > Thoughts on Mulholland Dr. 

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Recap of Episode 9

I'm in trouble!

Season 2 Episode 9

Written by: Harley Peyton

Directed by: David Lynch

Original Air date: October 6th, 1990

"A Mind That Wanders"

At the Great Northern, Dale and Albert have breakfast while Dale delightfully tells Albert about the theory of Dharma. Albert wants to cut to the chase about Laura's murder. Dale says he's going to show Ronette the drawing of Bob now that she's awake, although not speaking. Albert asks if anyone has seen Bob on earth. Albert also mentions that Jacques will take any last secrets he may have had to the grave and jokes about the contents found in Jacques stomach. He also says Shelly is now well enough to give them a statement about Leo potentially burning down the mill. Then Albert asks how Dale is doing since being shot. Dale thanks him and asks who shot him. Albert doesn't know yet, but snarks that "Senior Drool-cup" aka the elderly waiter at the Great Northern has "a mind that wanders." Dale then shows Albert that his ring is gone and says he's glad Albert is working with them. Albert informs Dale he didn't come back just for the call to duty, but also because of Windom Earle. Dale goes pale at the mention of that name and asks what happened. Albert says Windom, Dale's former partner, escaped from the mental hospital he was in. Nearby the mysterious Asian man watches Dale as he sips his coffee.

"Do you see creamed corn on that plate?"

Donna delivers her first Meals on Wheels to Mrs. Tremond's house. Inside the house, Donna finds an sickly elderly woman and her grandson, who is studying magic. Mrs. Tremond looks at her plate and sees creamed corn. She says she requested no creamed corn and asks if Donna sees it on the plate. When Donna looks down, the corn suddenly disappears and reappears in the grandson's hands. After Donna asks if Mrs. Tremond knew Laura well. She oddly and fearfully responds, "No." Then Mrs. Tremond advises Donna to contact Mr. Smith next door, because he and Laura were friends. The grandson then says "J'ai une âme solitaire" and Mrs. Tremond explains that Mr. Smith doesn't leave his house. Donna looks uncomfortable and walks out. In private, the grandson says to Mrs. Tremond that Donna seemed like a very nice girl. Meanwhile once outside, Donna decides to knock on Mr. Smith's door, but he doesn't answer. She opts to leave a note and then walks away. We see that someone peeks out at her from the blinds as she leaves. 

"Are you in the train car?"

At the hospital, Sheriff Truman and Cooper go to Ronette's room. They have an awkward, but humorous struggle with a couple of stools they want to sit on next to Ronette's bed. Once they get situated, Dale asks if Ronette can hear him. She blinks yes in response so Dale starts to show her some sketches. The first sketch is of Leo. Dale asks if he's the man who hurt her. Ronette struggles to focus her eyes, but once she does she shakes her head no. Then Dale shows her the sketch of Bob and once Ronette focuses in on the drawing, she freaks out and slaps the sketch out of Dale's hands. Ronette begins to thrash around and struggles to speak. She screams something about a train car so Dale asks her, "Are you in the train car?" Ronette nods yes and then knocks the light out.

"Ben, where are those hickory sticks?"

In Ben's office, Ben and Jerry debate which Mill ledger they should burn, while Jerry holds a smoked cheese pig in his hands. Ben states the pluses and minuses of both ledgers and says Pete needs to sign off on Josie's sale of the Mill, as Andrew Packard's will decrees. Jerry thinks it appears that both ledgers have merit and that they're one hundred percent certain that they're not sure. Ben thinks something needs to be burned, especially since Jerry won't burn his smoked cheese pig. Then Ben gets up and shows Jerry a bag of marshmallows he had stashed in his desk. Jerry gets excited and enthusiastically asks, "Ben, where are those hickory sticks?"

"Achievement is it's own reward, pride obscures it."

Over at the Double R Diner, Andy fumbles with tape by the front door as he tries to post a Wanted flyer for Bob. Major Briggs sips coffee and watches Andy confused while sitting at the counter. Then the log lady walks in and sits next to Major Briggs. Norma walks up to the Log Lady and firmly asks her not to spit her pitch gum on the wall anymore. Margaret looks
embarrassed, but then flatly responds, "I'll have a bear claw." After the Log Lady looks at Major Briggs and notes that he wears shiny objects on his chest. She asks if he's proud. The Major answers, "achievement is it's own reward, pride obscures it." Then she says her log has something to tell him and asks if he knows it. He responds that they've never been introduced. She gets irked and says she doesn't "introduce" the log. She offers to translate for her log and tells him, "deliver the message." A knowing look comes across Major Brigg's face and he says he thinks he understands what her log is referring to. 

"I thought it meant I didn't have to take a bath!"

Lucy tries to kill a fly at her desk over at the Sheriff's station, while Andy paces anxiously outside. Then he walks in with a piece of tape stuck to his head and tries to talk to her. She tries to blow him off, but Andy pushes the subject and tells her that he found out he's sterile, which he first thought meant he didn't have to take a bath. However now he knows what it really means and he wants to know how it is that she's pregnant. Lucy decides to pull the tape off his head and slams her reception window shut, thus ending their conversation. 

Meanwhile in Harry's office, Hank waits for his parole check in and stares at the buck on Harry's wall. Then Sheriff Truman and Dale walk in and Harry advises Hank to sign in and keep his nose clean. Hank arrogantly does so and walks out. Dale senses a history between Hank and Sheriff Truman. Harry tells Dale that Hank used to be one of the best Book House Boys and they grew up together. Then Lucy painstakingly transfers a call to Harry from Ben Horne. Once Harry picks up, Ben tells him that Audrey has been missing for two days. Dale looks crest fallen by the news. Later Lucy gets a strange phone call from a person who refuses to identify themselves. She seems uncomfortable by the call and hangs up the phone.

"Let's get those pickled Ice Men on the blower!"

Jerry walks into Ben's office while flying an unsigned insurance policy around. He informs Ben that the insurance agent showed Catherine the policy with Josie as the beneficiary so she refused to sign. Jerry thinks its for the best that Catherine expired in the fire. After Ben says, "Let's get those pickled Ice Men on the blower!" As they call Iceland, Leland walks in and suggests they make a strategic call to Iceland, which they are already in the process of doing. 

Once they get Inor on the phone, they learn that Leland already called to tell them about the fire at the Mill. That information causes the Icelanders to have second thoughts about the Ghost Wood Estates project. Ben and Jerry's faces fall as they realize that Leland isn't thinking clearly. Ben thinks maybe doing his tax return is a better job for him. Then Leland takes notes of a wanted flyer of Bob that Ben has on a nearby coffee table. He looks entranced and says he knows "him" meaning Bob and that the man lived next door to his grandfather's house on Pearl Lakes when he was a little boy. Leland then takes off saying he needs to tell the Sheriff about this. Upon his exit, Ben looks frustrated and seethes, "Jerry, please kill Leland." Jerry responds, "Is this real Ben or some strange and twisted dream?"

"He's in a Coma."

Doc Hayward tells Shelly about Leo's condition at the hospital as Leo lays in a coma in front of them. He tells her that they can maintain Leo's current state, but otherwise they have to wait to see if he wakes up. Shelly wonders if they'll put Leo in prison, but notes he's sort of in prison in his condition anyway. The thought upsets her and Shelly starts to cry. Doc Hayward offers to take her home. Later Bobby and Shelly park by the river and listen to blues music. Bobby tells Shelly that he pretended to be Leo's cousin and found out that they can gets disability money for Leo if he stays at home. Shelly doesn't want Leo back at home, but Bobby says Leo owes her, she just can't testify against him now. Shelly thinks it over and says it would be nice not to have to have to worry about bills. Bobby thinks it will be a whole new way of life for them. Shelly ultimately agrees to the plan and they start making out. 

"Look at those toes!"

At One Eyed Jacks, Audrey intercepts a hospitality girl carrying ice and says she'll take over. Then she goes into one of the bedrooms and finds Emory Battis tied up and blinded folded while another hospitality girl runs the vacuum. Audrey ushers the girl away and once in private, she notes that Emory's toes are painted. She turns off the vacuum, which upsets him, and teases, "look at those toes!" At first when he learns she brought the ice, Emory thinks she's his friend Frosty, but then Audrey takes off his blindfold and chokes him with a string. She orders Emory to tell her everything he knows about Laura, because she's Audrey Horne and she gets what she wants. Emory confirms that Ben owns One Eyed Jacks and that Laura worked there one weekend, but was kicked out for using cocaine. Audrey wonders if her father knew Laura was there. Emory tells her that Ben always meets the new girls. Audrey then asks if Laura knew Ben owned the place. Emory says she probably did, because Laura always got her way, just like Audrey does. 

"Cooper, Cooper, Cooper"

Dale prepares to go to bed in his hotel room and makes a recording for Diane. He says he's worried about Audrey and is thinking of her smile. Then he gets a visit from Major Briggs who asks to come in. The major says he has a message for Dale, but can't reveal the nature of his work. He does tell Dale that some of his work tasks require him to monitor messages from deep space. The Major says it's usually just space junk and gibberish, until last Thursday night. Dale notes that was the same night he was shot. He shows Dale a print out of the space junk and in the middle of the gibberish is a clear sentence that says, "the owls are not what they seem." Dale looks alarmed and asks why Major Briggs is showing him this. The Major shows that a few lines down it says, "Cooper, Cooper, Cooper." Dale looks shocked and whispers, "oh my god!"

"Just you and I "

Donna, James and Maddy hang out in Donna's living room and play around with singing a song. James plays the guitar and sings while the girls do the chorus together. While they're all practicing a song called, "Just you and I", both girls try to steal glances with James, but he seems to notice Maddy more. Maddy gives him a seductive look, which Donna notices. The sight makes Donna feel insecure and she runs out of the living room. James chances after her and Donna starts kissing him desperately. Then she gets a phone call from Harold Smith. Donna takes the call while James listens and she makes arrangements to meet with Mr. Smith. Meanwhile Maddy sits alone in the living room and has a terrifying vision of Bob slowly walking into the living room, crawling over the couch and climbing directly toward her wearing a sick grin. Maddy screams in horror. James and Donna run in to check on her, but when they arrive Bob is nowhere to be found.

"This is no time for school girl games!"

Back in Dale's hotel room, he sleeps and dreams of Bob. He catalogs in his dream what he knows so far about Bob. Dale dreams of Sarah calling out for Laura and the image of Bob's face as it turns to an owl. Then he sees Bob walking toward him while smiling feverishly. Unbeknownst to Dale, The Giant is in his room and waves his hand over Dale while he sleeps. It almost seems like he's directing Dale's dream. Then Dale is woken up by a phone call from Audrey. Audrey is crying and asks why he's not with her. Dale tells her to come home immediately, because this is no time for school girl games. Audrey tells him she got into some trouble, but she's going to come home now. Her call is abruptly cut off by Blackie and Emory Battis. Blackie coyly says, "Trouble Miss Horne? You don't know what trouble is, not by a long shot!"

End of show!

This is another terrific episode directed by David Lynch, which makes it extra special to me. Also Harley Peyton's terrific snappy dialogue ranks high in this one, because, as always, there is a ton of unforgettable one liners throughout. In the first scene of the episode we get our very first mention of Windom Earle as well. I noticed that Andy seems to get progressively more dumb, yet lovable in this episode. His trouble with the tape is very Lynchian and humorous, but I think does make Andy seem a bit ridiculous too. 

Major Briggs message for Cooper raises a lot of interesting questions about the origins of Twin Peaks' mysteries, although (spoiler alert) we learn in a future episode that those messages were actually from the deep woods in Twin Peaks and not outer space. It did give me a little X-Files'ish thrill though! I think that scene is one of many good examples of how The X-Files was influenced by Twin Peaks.

Did we ever learn who called Lucy at the station mysteriously?

Also poor Maddy continues to be psychically tormented by Bob, watch below!