SYNOPSIS
Eckhardt’s assistant attempts to murder Harry. Gordon reinstates Cooper as an FBI agent. Earle is listening in on the Sheriff’s office via a bonsai he sent there in Josie’s name. Donna tells Audrey that Eileen and Ben have been meeting. Ben sends her anonymous flowers. The law gang visits Owl Cave, where they find petroglyphs. Earle goes in after they’ve left and discovers a mechanism. Cooper and Annie decide to go out together.
REVIEW
David Lynch shows up as Gordon Cole, and, as if by magic, the show is on solid footing again. Gordon comes by to personally reinstate Cooper as an FBI agent, and it feels good. Aside from the joy of seeing Lynch again after feeling his absence behind the scenes for ten episodes, it should be noted that he’s not a bad actor, either. His scenes here are a lot of fun. My favourite moment was Cooper warning Harry (who has a hangover) that the loud-talking Gordon was about to arrive: “Brace yourself, Harry.”
Lynch didn’t direct this episode, but the person who did, Duwayne Dunham, is his usual editor. Maybe that’s why the tone and atmosphere are on point. Most of the episode is on the lighter side, and, apart from some tedious Andy silliness, it’s delightful. There is lots of humour, including an awesome penguin joke from Cooper.
I liked that the attempt on Harry’s life seemed to bring him out of his misery, but other than that, the non-humour parts of the episode weren’t very effective. The writers tend to give Ben some boring dialogue, which happens here. And though it’s nice they’re giving Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward) some screen time, that subplot feels like pure soap opera without a twist, and it’s a little too blatantly designed to give Donna something to do. As for Owl Cave, they failed to make it mysterious, or even interesting.
Stray observations:
- Wtf is Billy Zane wearing.
- I loved Harry getting to ask Cooper how long he’s been in love with Annie, just like Cooper did to him about Josie 24 episodes ago.
- James is in San Francisco and says, “Next stop, Mexico”? Cause, you know, between those two places, it’s a vast wasteland.
- Is it just me or are they exaggerating Annie’s disorientation? Heather Graham was 21 years old when this episode aired. How long was she supposed to have been in that convent?