Friday, June 26, 2015

Summer of Twin Peaks: Episode 4-The One-Armed Man




Directed by Tim Hunter and written by Robert Engels, the fifth episode of Twin Peaks entitled The One-Armed Man is an episode where Special Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman find more answers into the underworld and who is connected to who. Especially as they uncover certain things relating to the Renault brothers and their dealing with drugs as there is more that is going that the authorities don’t know yet. Notably as it plays into growing feud between Josie Packard and Catherine Martell over the sawmill and other events that lurks into the town where Deputy Hawk would finally track a mysterious one-armed man who could be a suspect relating to Laura Palmer’s death.

It’s an episode that plays into a lot of the things that are going behind the scenes in the town of Twin Peaks as the authorities would try to get answers as they confront this one-armed man in Philip Michael Gerard (Al Strobel) who admits to being in the hospital the same night Hawk was meeting the Pulaski family. Yet, it turns out to be a step back where Cooper receives word from a fellow FBI agent in Gordon Cole (David Lynch) about some of the marks in Laura’s body. The episode also reveals about Laura’s missing necklace where James Hurley and Donna Hayward realize that someone had took it based on a vision that Sarah Palmer had.

The episode would feature Donna making a secret alliance with Audrey Horne who wants to find out who killed Laura despite the fact that she and Laura weren’t close friends. It plays into the element of suspense and intrigue as Audrey would plea to her father to work at his cosmetics store as a way to please him who is unaware of her real motives. While it’s an episode that has a few elements of humor as it relates to Cooper’s unconventional methods and an encounter with a veterinarian’s building with all sorts of animals including a llama. It is a darker episode where it would feature the introduction of Norma’s husband Hank (Chris Mulkey) who is awaiting the results of his parole hearing where he promises Norma to do things right for her.

Tim Hunter’s direction definitely plays up the elements offbeat humor with elements of suspense and drama. Notably as it focuses on some of the things that goes on in the town where Josie Packard stakes out a motel where Benjamin Horne and Catherine Martell are having their fling. Much of it plays into Horne and Martell’s plans to ruin Packard while the episode would later reveal Horne being aligned with someone more nefarious as it relates to the underworld of Twin Peaks. Then there’s the Dr. Jacoby character who remains very ambiguous as Audrey believes that he knows something as does Agent Cooper. It all plays into the complexity of the case as well as some strange events where James Hurley meets Laura’s cousin Maddy for the first time as he is surprised at how much she looks like Laura.

The One-Armed Man is an excellent episode from Tim Hunter that maintains much of the film’s strange approach to mystery as well as exploring some of the drama that revolves around some of its characters. Most notably as it showcases some of the darker elements that is happening where those who are good are trying to set things right in a world that is very corrupt. In the end, The One-Armed Man is a riveting episode of Twin Peaks from Tim Hunter.

Twin Peaks: Season 1: Pilot - Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3 - Episode 5 - Episode 6 - Episode 7

Season 2: Episode 8 - Episode 9 - Episode 10 - Episode 11 - Episode 12 - Episode 13 - Episode 14 - Episode 15 - (Episode 16) - (Episode 17) - (Episode 18) - (Episode 19) - (Episode 20) - (Episode 21) - (Episode 22) - (Episode 23) - (Episode 24) - (Episode 25) - (Episode 26) - (Episode 27) - (Episode 28) - (Episode 29)

Season 3: (Coming Soon)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - (The Missing Pieces)

© thevoid99 2015

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