Cheezwiz

I'm so glad someone started a thread for this program. I've gotten through the first 4 episodes and am absolutely riveted. Although I'm Canadian, and was just a small child when the U.S. finally pulled out in '75, I've always had an interest in the Vietnam War. Even in Canada, no one ever discussed the war when I was growing up. It was hush, hush, and swept under the rug. Never taught in school whatsoever - it was as if all 20th Century geopolitical conflict ended with the Korean War. I always wanted to know why. I can remember in the 70's being lined up in our elementary school gymnasium for some event involving parents and kids. There was a very dignified looking Asian woman simply dressed with her hair in a long braid down her back holding her small children's hands. I can remember other parents and kids eyeing her uncomfortably whispering that they were refugees from Cambodia. I didn't understand why this was significant and why people would be whispering so furtively about it. A bit later there were also whispers in my suburban neighborhood about new arrivals who were American. The story was that they were suspected draft-dodgers. I wanted to know why all of this stuff wasn't spoken about in a more open manner. I sensed a terrible rawness even though my own country wasn't involved. As an adult I've come to realize that only an accident of geography kept my Dad out of that conflict. He was the right age in the mid-60's, came from a working-class background, did not have the resources for a college education, and no influential contacts for deferment. Had he been born just a few miles south - below the 49th parallel, he most certainly would have been drafted. This is a weird thing to think about. Thoughts on the program so far: I am grateful they provided some background and context on the French colonial occupation. Am totally mystified as to why the U.S. did not take notes from their predecessors. Realizing I knew absolutely NOTHING about Ho Chi Minh. I had always assumed he was an autocratic vainglorious dictator along the lines of Stalin or Mao, and this clearly was not the case. Was shocked that he admired many American leaders and had tried to reach out to the U.S following WWII. I knew the South was a corrupt puppet state, but did not know the players. The detailed info on Diem, his brother Nhu and the deplorable Madame Nhu (ye gods!) was fascinating. They have done a good job of portraying the impossible situation Johnson was in. He was a fascinating and tragic figure. He was an SOB in many ways, but accomplished so much progressive legislation on the domestic front. You can sense genuine anguish on the tape recordings of his voice. He had such high hopes for his country and they totally got derailed by the war. The testimony from soldiers on both sides has been very moving. The two interview bits that have stuck with me the most were from the soldier who said he initially thought he'd be most scared in an ambush or fire-fight, and then realized the most terrifying thing was simply putting one foot in front of the other walking down a trail or through a rice paddy. Also from the North Vietnamese soldier who was moved when he saw Americans weeping over their dead comrades. My main takeaways: In an international conflict, there is rarely a binary "good-guy" "bad-guy" situation. Instead, there are usually a bunch of shifting competing agendas, with many innocent people caught in the middle. People never seem to learn. EVER. Will keep watching and look forward to reading comments from others.

Perhaps Audrey is hovering in some limbo between realities - not because of coma or mental problems, but because of Cooper's time-travel and fiddling with the past. She existed once, and now suddenly she's nowhere.

I always envisioned a completely different life for Audrey. In my mind she was badly injured in the bank explosion, but was never comatose and never impregnated. Inspired by her crush on Cooper, she recovers, leaves her fucked up family behind, and joins the Bureau. Becomes a bad-ass undercover agent (something she showed a talent for when investigating her Father's business). Has many hair-raising adventures. Never finds or reconnects with Cooper, but always thinks about him. The end.

After sleeping & waking up, I still don't have any further thoughts/theories on "what happened". My only thoughts are irritated ones. So much time spent on characters who seemed like they may have an important part to play and then were suddenly dropped in a perfunctory manner. What happened to Becky? What was the point of Richard Horne? Why the hell did we spend part of an episode on Ashley Judd arguing with her sick husband? Why was Ashley Judd even a character? Who was the beaten up guy in jail? Who was Billy? Why so many mentions of him missing? Why so many randoms yammering at each other in the bar? So many dead ends, dropped threads, and sooooo much highway driving. This took precious time away from characters we cared about. So much mental energy spent on doppelgangers and tulpas and whatnot, and now we're adding fucking time-travelling to the mix? We did get some satisfying resolutions (Big Ed & Norma, Nadine, Diane being Naido, another DoppelCoop being sent to live with Janey-E and Sonny Jim) but to tease us with bits of Audrey's story and to not follow through seems unnecessarily cruel. I feel like I was about to plant myself in a chair, only to have it yanked out from under me at the last minute. As someone mentioned previously, "What year is it?" is the new "How's Annie?". Meh. See everyone in 25 years I guess. (***blows raspberry***)

It might take me awhile to process, but Episode 17 was mostly satisfying if a bit rushed, and then it veered right off the rails about 2/3rds of the way in. I'm sad that I won't get to enjoy the weekly anticipation of new episodes to chew over, but I'm just feeling intense fatigue with all of the doppelgangers, tulpas, mystery realms, and indeterminate arbitrary rules governing the various lodges and mystery realms. I still don't understand why Phillip Jeffries is a tea-kettle. My brain hurts, and honestly, I'm feeling a bit ripped off. Mostly I'll really miss interacting with all the folks on these message boards. You've all been entertaining and thought-provoking, and I've enjoyed reading your thoughts and theories immensely!

So I've decided I'm not going to analyze. For me, mentally the series ended with Episode 17, and Episode 18 was some sort of weird fucked-up dream epilogue. Furious that they did not give us any more info on Audrey's fate. I wasn't expecting things to be tied up neatly with a bow, but this was indeed unforgivable. Something happened in episode 17 in the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Station: The point at which we see the ghostly image of Dale Cooper's shocked visage faintly superimposed over the action taking place on screen. I kept expecting the image to fade out, but it held onscreen for a very long time. In my opinion, this is where reality ended, and the rest became indecipherable dream-stuff. Agree with everyone else that the Cooper in 18 seemed to be some sort of Good Coop/Bad Coop hybrid. He had the same deadened deliberate speaking voice as bad Coop. I didn't understand the suddenly passionate relationship with Diane, and the sex scene was excruciatingly long. At first I wondered if it was a way for Diane to expunge the memory of Bad Coop's brutal assault on her, but since nothing that followed made any sense, I'm not even going to theorize. Final episode for me was a total bust, but I'm grateful that I had the experience of watching this show every week. There's never been anything like it. I've looked forward to coming here and reading everyone's thoughts each week as much as I've anticipated the show itself. Your thoughts have enriched my viewing experience! Thanks all!

Wow! @Giant Misfit, this is very similar to what I was imagining in my head! Very cool, thank you!

I feel like I would like to see some sort of topographic map or infographic poster showing all of the strange realms featured: The Black Lodge, The Purple Palace, The Lair of the Giant (Was that supposed to be the White Lodge?), The Convenience Store, possibly the Bang Bang Bar. I'd love to see how these places relate to one another, the beings that inhabit them, and how they enter and exit. As I'm typing this, it's calling to mind some wild Buddhist art that I've seen depicting different realms or planes of existence. I wonder if that was something Lynch took as inspiration, and mashed up with dream imagery. I dunno, but I think it would be a fun project to depict visually.

I find this part of the mythology confusing as well. As I understood it, it seems as though in the Black Lodge Lynchian universe, there seems to be a term limit for evil doppelgangers. They must return to the lodge at some point. EvilCoop created a tulpa, Dougie Jones, as a decoy, so that Evil Coop could stay out and continue his mayhem, while Dougie got sucked back into the lodge. His plans were altered by Mike (the one armed man) who released GoodCoop to assume Dougie's life in Vegas. You saw Evil Coop fighting his return to the lodge in that awful vomit scene when he was driving the car in the desert. I guess Good/Evil Coopers were able to coexist on the same plane via the vehicle of Dougie. Diane is also a tulpa, I have no idea who created her (EvilCoop?) or who the real Diane is (Naido? not sure why she looks different if that's the case). Something that has stumped me is why EvilCoop was apparently sentient right out the gate, while GoodCoop was barely functional when he re-emerged from the lodge.

When he was getting fried and we saw the heavy volumes of smoke, I almost wondered if he was being turned into one of those awful charred smoke hobos instead.

I can't believe we're almost at the end. I teared up at a few points: When zippy ultra-competent professional Dale Cooper finally re-awakened, and he had to say goodbye to his make-shift temporary family. He bid farewell in the kindest way possible though. I think the theory that others have posted about him having Mike fashion a new Dougie for the family is correct - he may walk back through that red door, but it won't be Agent Cooper. Which makes me worry about what will happen to real Agent Cooper in the finale. Eddie Vedder made me cry for some reason as well. Maybe because when the original Twin Peaks aired Pearl Jam were in their heyday, and so much time has passed since then. Was surprised Evil Coop had Junior fried so quickly - I thought he might keep him around a bit longer and use him in some way to further his own ends. So long Richard, you won't be missed. Who knew accountants could be so badass? A fittingly ignoble demise for Chantal & Hutch. I was puzzled by the :-) ALL, so I appreciate the explanations. Dying DYING to know what's up with Audrey - it seems she's in the process of reawakening from whatever state she's in. This ep had me fooled, because when I saw her and Charlie enter the Roadhouse, I thought "oh they're out and about in the real world, maybe she's not in a coma after all", and then we get the jump cut to her staring into a mirror wearing what looked like hospital whites. The fight that broke out during her dance did appear to be the same fight that James was in last week, so it appears timelines are being played with. I'm so sad we only get one more weekend to look forward to this. I wonder if we'll ever find out who JUDY is.

I found that whole scenario confusing. It seemed Steven was suffering both from withdrawal and suicidal tendencies. I hope he didn't kill Becky. We didn't get to know her very well, but for Shelley & Bobby's sake I hope Steven didn't harm her.

Thanks @PeteMartell, I wondered if the FBI scene was supposed to be a comedic mix-up, but wasn't sure, as the family was kind of surreal looking. Also, there was a whole lot of screaming this episode: the kids screaming in the FBI office, Janie-E screaming when DougieCoop forked the electrical socket, and screaming girl in the Bang Bang bar.

This episode felt much more disjointed than any previous ones to me. The hour seemed to fly by, and I'm still more confused than ever. Was happy things finally worked out for Ed & Norma. As mentioned in a post above, it's refreshing to see deeply felt romantic longing between older people in a tv series. Those feelings don't go away as people get older. Teared up at the log lady's final goodbye. That must have been very difficult for all involved to film. Is Steven dead? did he shoot himself? I could not understand what was going on in that scene at all. I'm hoping he's gone, because he's absolutely repellent. Also still can't believe that's Alicia Witt. She looks nothing like she did when she was younger. The scenes with EvilCoop roaming the blackened gas-station/hotel were effectively creepy - something straight out of a nightmare. It was immensely satisfying to watch EvilCoop punch Richard Horne out. I was confused by the scene in the FBI office - first the agent is told that Dougie & Janey-E are there, and then he walks into a room full of little kids - who were those people? I guess we'll have to wait and see what DougieCoop's fate will be: is he shocked into his former self? Electrocuted? or has he been sucked into yet another dimension? I was baffled by the screaming girl in the glasses at the end in the Bang Bang bar. Wasn't digging tonight's closing band either. Only three episodes left to wrap everything up - I fear there will be lots of hanging threads.

I didn't mind the closing act on this episode. The only real miss for me the whole series has been the resurrection that godawful "Just You" by James. And I liked James this episode too. Middle-aged James is fine - as long as he's not singing!

@dwmckim, when I first saw it, I immediately thought of this image from the Italian horror film Suspiria, but... wrong facial feature. Speaking of body parts, we haven't seen "the arm" (aka talking brain) for awhile. I've been missing it!

I'm sort of speechless. So much of this episode seemed like standard forward-moving narrative, but then it was studded with all kinds of surreal-bombs. Like a chocolate chip cookie with exposition dough, and freaky dream chips. On the standard narrative side, I was delighted to see Chad get tossed in jail, and was surprised at the big reveal concerning Diane and Janey-E. Yowza, I wonder if they are going to be reunited in an upcoming episode. I predict many more F-bombs from Diane. On a more mundane note, the run-down of the sandwich orders made me giggle. On the surreal dreamy side: Never thought we'd see the mysterious eyeless woman again. For some reason I never pictured Andy being sucked into the mysterious realm inhabited by the Giant/Fireman, so that was also a surprise. Sarah has always freaked me out - even in Season 1, but the whole bar scene was just nuts. Her face removal reminded me of a bunch of things - spooky surreal collage art I have seen - Man Ray springs to mind immediately, but I'm sure there are others (thanks @Giant Misfit for posting that bit of Lynch art! Yikes!). The whole Monica Bellucci dream scene was amusing, since it seemed clear Lynch wrote her into the show just so he could cast her and gaze upon her in person. I take it the bloody drunk guy in jail is probably Billy - did anyone catch the credits on that one?

I was intrigued by the first few episodes, but by the end it got a bit draggy for me. I might give a second season a look, but I won't be heartbroken if it isn't renewed. I thought the cast acquitted themselves well. Jason Bateman is usually stuck in straight-man, dry humour mode, but I actually thought his performance in the final episode when he was apologizing on the phone & thought he might be saying goodbye to Wendy forever quite affecting. Overall, though, things seemed to get very repetitive as the series went on: crisis arises, Marty temporarily fast-talks his way out of it, things seem like they might look up, new crisis, rinse, repeat. On Breaking Bad, this sort of thing was elevated to a non-stop thrill-ride (and had some humour to leaven the dark violence), but on this show it started to feel like a chore. I probably shouldn't compare the two shows, but anything that mines the same territory as Breaking Bad is bound to suffer by comparison. What did surprise me is that I wound up feeling much more invested in the Langmore kids than in the main characters. I felt both sympathy and worry for them in a way I didn't for the Byrde kids. The actress playing Ruth did an excellent job - I assumed she would be a manipulative conniver from start to finish, but her softening once people started showing her a bit of decency seemed authentic to me. Didn't care about the crazy Fed, or his ex, or his backstory at all. He absolutely made my skin crawl - something about his appearance reminded me of a blob-fish. Was sorry to see Esai Morales killed off - he had a scary charisma that was entertaining. Things that might be interesting or fun if it comes back for a 2nd season: The now deceased kingpin boss's undoubtably much bigger scarier boss Ruth having to face her scary Dad The funeral home has comedic potential And, related to nothing in this thread, but damn that house the Byrdes settled in is super ugly! The bottom part isn't bad - looks sort of mid-century-ish, but that crazy asymmetrical angled part on top is just hideous. It drove me nuts for the entire run of the series! Man, the decade of the 70's was a dark time in architecture (not to mention fashion & decor).

I agree - it definitely doesn't seem she has any awareness of having a son, let alone an evil one running amok. I think your theory may be correct - either she's in an alternate reality, or she's in this reality but mentally diminished in some way, and her "husband" may actually be some sort of care-giver (or hired to control her). If something like this is the case, and she crosses paths with DougieCoop, will they, in effect "wake each other up"?

Alternate Episode 13 Title: "James was never, EVER cool". I feel like there was lots of new info, yet I am more puzzled and confused than ever. No idea what the deal is with Audrey. I thought the theories about her still being in a coma were ludicrous last week, but now I'm not sure. She didn't know where the roadhouse was? The bit with Tony weeping and dumping the poisoned coffee down the urinal, and the guy next to him dead-panning "that bad, huh?" had me howling. Grant Goodeve! I laughed out loud when he came striding into the diner. I remember him from "Eight Is Enough", but I also grew up just across the border from WA, & remember watching all kinds of local shows that he used to host, like Evening Magazine, and Northwest Adventures. I had NO idea that he'd been cast in this - totally caught me off guard. So we see Demon Spawn Richard might now be aligning with EvilCoop. D'Awwwww, poor Big Ed. I feel bad for him.

Yeah, the little detail about the job interview bugged me too. She could've smiled broadly and said "Great! what time would you like me to start?" and then gone and punched the kid in the face. I'm very intrigued by this relationship as well - I like the actress playing Rachel. There was a lot of stuff I enjoyed this episode: Laura Linney being all bad-ass and swinging the dead possum at the Langmore kid, and I laughed out loud at the Sarah McLaughlin pet rescue ads that Marty kept seeing on TV. I still can't figure out how the Langmore family are related. Is Ruth older sister to the two younger Langmore boys, or are they cousins? Who are the two older men? Uncles? Curious about their backstory.

Good grief @Winston9-DT3, that is a horrifying story. I hope the kid recovers. The story I posted turned out to have a much happier ending. They mystery person was simply an artist who was down-on-his-luck, and was allowed to stay rent free in the attic. The owner wanted him to continue living there after the house sale. He had no idea that he and the house listing had become a viral sensation until news crews showed up trying to find out his identity!

I am now fully invested. Pardon the pun. I enjoyed both Bateman & Linney this ep - especially Linney's hilariously blunt explanation to her kids at the very end. I'm curious to see where the relationship with their new house-mate will go. It reminded me of a funny news story I read a few months ago, where a house was put up for sale, but a condition of the sale was that the new buyer be willing to take on a mystery person who lived in the attic: http://nationalpost.com/news/world/nightmare-house-a-mystery-tenant-a-hole-in-the-ceiling-and-the-tweet-that-started-it-all/wcm/2d36142a-1747-4d0c-957c-db28a0a39e1b Although faux, I am enjoying the scenery - Lake Allatoona GA looks very beautiful. I guess the substitution rankles people who ARE from Lake of the Ozarks.

I was lazy and didn't IMDB while watching episode 1. Wow, I didn't even realize the kingpin was portrayed by Esai Morales. He's been in tons of things over the years going all the way back to La Bamba in the 80's, but I didn't recognize him - I found him riveting in this.

I kind of thought this might be a warmed over Breaking Bad, but I like Jason Bateman & Laura Linney, so I decided to give it a try. It was a pretty slow start, but I got into it about halfway through once Bateman's associates were wiped out. The actor who plays the Mexican Cartel kingpin was really excellent - he's one of the things that kept me watching. The scramble to accumulate the cash and move house was suspenseful, although I don't know how realistic it was. I'm unclear on the police investigation - it seems they were bugging Bateman's partner, and hoping to nab the kingpin as a govt witness? Wouldn't they be hot on Bateman's trail? I was a bit confused by that bit. Even if the family managed to get new identities in that short time-frame, it seems someone would have caught up with them for questioning at the very least. It will be interesting to see how the marriage dynamic plays out - and how similar it will be to Breaking Bad. It's going to be hard for this show to escape those comparisons, but so far I'm liking it. I actually thought Linney's side-dish was supposed to be her father at first! Agreed about the bratty teenage daughter - I was over her within the first 5 minutes or so. I hope she doesn't spend the rest of the series bitching and whining.