“Part 10” started off the second half of the 18-part Twin Peaks series return. After nine episodes of Agent Cooper stuck in the Black Lodge then as Dougie Jones, viewers expected him to maybe snap out of it and become Agent Cooper again now that we’re in the second half of the season. Last night’s episode didn’t do much to advance the story, though, and Agent Cooper is still in a funk.
A lot of “Part 10” was dedicated to looking into things in the past, rather than moving things forward. This felt like a bit of a filler episode and was rather boring at times, which is unfortunate.
Something this episode did is take a look at the complete evil of some people—namely Richard Horne. In the aftermath of committing a hit-and-run that brutally killed a young boy, Richard decided to kill Miriam; for snitching, I guess. Richard acts like a tough guy, but as we saw earlier in the season with Red, he might not be as tough as he makes out to be. He’s just a wildly unhinged and out of control guy with some serious issues.
We found out for certain that Richard is the grandson of Benjamin Horne (so Richard is definitely Audrey Horne’s son), and he’s just a terrible person. Eamon Farren does an excellent job with the character because viewers straight up can’t stand him. His treatment of his grandmother and mentally disabled uncle is appalling.
So, when will Audrey show up in Twin Peaks? And does she have any control over her son? Probably not on the latter. There are a few theories about the inception of Richard, and Mr. C (Bob) being the father seems the most likely scenario.
In his hotel, we got a quick look at Ben, who has had a complete falling out with his wife. Season 2 from 25 years ago left us with unfinished business regarding Mr. Horne, who might be Donna Hayward’s father as well, and it was one of the things most people wish was settled before the abrupt end in 1991. I suppose Richard could be the daughter of Donna and not Audrey, but we might not even hear anything from Donna so that isn’t likely.
Now to Agent Cooper. What we learned from “Part 10” is that Coop is in amazing shape—he’s probably in as good of shape as he was when he entered the Black Lodge 25 years ago, which Janey-E really liked. Naomi Watts’ acting has been marvelous, and she kept it going in last night’s episode.
The Mitchum brothers also had their biggest role yet in this week’s episode. It was relatively funny scene with Candie smashing Rodney when trying to kill a fly, then totally being out of it (is she just an airhead, or is something else up with her?) What came of it is they’re going to try to kill Dougie Jones (Agent Cooper).
I’m not sure why Bobby, Sheriff Truman, and Hawk didn’t go to Jack Rabbit’s Palace yet after they talked of it in last week’s episode, but Hawk got another message from the Log Lady, telling him “Laura is the one.” Gordon, when opening the door for Albert, had a quick vision of Laura, but it didn’t give any indication and adds to the mystery amplified by the Log Lady.
In conclusion, time is running out for us to see Agent Cooper as, well, Agent Cooper. Kyle MacLachlan as Dougie Jones (and Mr. C/Bob) has been fine, but it’s time we see the man that was an integral part of Twin Peaks being a cult hit back in 1990-1991. It’s time for Agent Cooper to return.