FWWM The Missing Pieces

[Sparky]

This might be a bit off topic (but I’ll justify it by saying it’s still technically “missing pieces”) I wonder if there was anything more significant in the Sheriff Cable fight considering Chet is just a substitute for Dale? I really have no idea how much was preconceived vs on the fly some of these seeds being planted were but there’s some interesting potential payoffs with scenes in season 3 with Cooper’s physical prowess: “squeeze his arm off” or the confrontation in Judy’s. You could even compare the way Bob is defeated with a literal (is it literal?) knockout.

It’s hard to say because Twin Peaks seems to pursue sometimes the obscurest of its own threads and others just remain completely unresolved. Mix that with some very clear cut cases of having to take an alternate route around some real life obstacles (ie Desmond, Two Trumans, the evolution of the arm, Bob himself etc etc etc) that changes the narrative.

Personally it’s the scene I’m least fond of and every time I see it I wish it was Cooper instead so that there’s some more weight to the scene for the audience by seeing Cooper behave so seemingly out of character. I don’t for a second question Desmond’s approach which is why I think the scene feels so long.

 

[Dom]

I love the fight scene with Desmond and Sheriff Cable. I suppose it could be further evidence of Deer Meadows inversions of characters and situations from TP — Desmond, the noble FBI man, putting Cable, the embodiment of local law obstruction and incompetence, in his place effectively flips the dynamics of Truman and Albert’s dust up from S1 on its head.

Even without that, it’s still just a fun and kind of goofy scene. It almost feels like it could be in an Indiana Jones film (or other action-adventure franchise). Definitely a unique scene in Lynch’s oeuvre.

I always thought Chester Desmond was a bit cold, with a rather mean streak. He certainly didn't have any of the nobility or sweetness of Dale Cooper.

In a sense, Deer Meadow worked well as the 'other' view people have of the FBI and local law enforcement. Events in Deer Meadow are a flip side of Twin Peaks: a meanspirited FBI agent bludgeoning his way into a local investigation, arrogantly not even bothering to try to bring around an uncooperative Sheriff's office, resulting in violence, and the FBI pathologist is a sweet-natured, slightly overweight bumbler. This shady subdivision of the FBI then take away the body of Teresa Banks. Meanwhile Cooper represents the idealised James Stewart perception of the FBI, with Twin Peaks as the idealised Sheriff's department readily accepting his control of the case.

 

[Dom]

Personally it’s the scene I’m least fond of and every time I see it I wish it was Cooper instead so that there’s some more weight to the scene for the audience by seeing Cooper behave so seemingly out of character. I don’t for a second question Desmond’s approach which is why I think the scene feels so long.

Yes, given Cooper does the Teresa Banks investigation in My Life, My Tapes, I remember I found the Deer Meadow section intriguing. We know history can be altered in the Twin Peaks universe, so was Desmond the original agent who investigated and was erased from history to be replaced by Cooper as the investigating agent or was it something to do with Cooper in the future or even Philip Jefferies in the past? I know there's discussion about what happened to Jefferies. My take on it is that he vanished from our world when he picked up the ring.

I know I can't imaging Coop doing that fight scene. Desmond enjoys baiting and hurting the Sheriff in a way I can imaging Mr C doing.

 

[Mr. Reindeer]

Yes, given Cooper does the Teresa Banks investigation in My Life, My Tapes, I remember I found the Deer Meadow section intriguing. We know history can be altered in the Twin Peaks universe, so was Desmond the original agent who investigated and was erased from history to be replaced by Cooper as the investigating agent or was it something to do with Cooper in the future or even Philip Jefferies in the past? I know there's discussion about what happened to Jefferies. My take on it is that he vanished from our world when he picked up the ring.

I know I can't imaging Coop doing that fight scene. Desmond enjoys baiting and hurting the Sheriff in a way I can imaging Mr C doing.

The fight scene was originally written for Cooper, before Kyle quit the film, then returned on the condition of a limited number of shooting days. I’m sure Kyle would have played it very differently, though. Although Cooper in FWWM does seem less chipper than the series version of Cooper, more serious.

 

[Dom]

The fight scene was originally written for Cooper, before Kyle quit the film, then returned on the condition of a limited number of shooting days. I’m sure Kyle would have played it very differently, though. Although Cooper in FWWM does seem less chipper than the series version of Cooper, more serious.

Yes, he's more like the pilot version, who is noticeably tougher in the interrogations. A lot of aspects of the Twin Peaks pilot are 'softened' a bit in the regular series. That said, I can't see Kyle playing that fight scene with the sadistic enjoyment that Chris Isaak's Chester Desmond does. Sheriff Cable is clearly a hardnut, but the fight is one-sided. Desmond toys with Cable and clearly enjoys himself.

 

[Mr. Reindeer]

Yes, he's more like the pilot version, who is noticeably tougher in the interrogations. A lot of aspects of the Twin Peaks pilot are 'softened' a bit in the regular series. That said, I can't see Kyle playing that fight scene with the sadistic enjoyment that Chris Isaak's Chester Desmond does. Sheriff Cable is clearly a hardnut, but the fight is one-sided. Desmond toys with Cable and clearly enjoys himself.

Agreed. I think he would have played it more as something he regretted having to do, not as something he took pleasure in.

 

[Dom]

Agreed. I think he would have played it more as something he regretted having to do, not as something he took pleasure in.

Yeah, I think Cooper's sense of humour would have been more obvious too. I can imagine a charming quip or two being ad libbed. He'd put up his hand and flash that smile at Sam, tell him not to worry, then do what had to be done. Trouble is, Chris Isaak isn't particularly an actor. He does a serviceable job performing his lines and stage directions, but he doesn't have that 'something extra' an actor like Kyle has to play with the script. Isaak also has a peculiar affectation of wobbling his head from side to side when he talks that reminds me of a Gerry Anderson puppet. That woodenness applies to Christa Bell in The Return as well, unfortunately. There's a certain self-consciousness there that reminds you it's someone playing a role rather than you're watching a character.

 

[AXX°N N.]

To play devil's advocate, because I don't want to say it's not an objective difference in acting talent, but there's a certain dynamic at play when something only has actors. I'm not sure how to describe it other than it creates the impression of a reality where everyone is photogenic and carefully composed, or even if distraught, distraught with skill. Lynch has used non-actors since the beginning, and I can't claim to speak for why, or for why any director does it. But as a viewer, it creates a more believable world where there's some sense of variety. People are stilted in real life, or more like, there are several flavors of how ordinary people react to and process things, many of which would be turned away by a casting agent. It's these peculiarities that make Twin Peaks feel realistic and true, even though so much of it is outlandish and exaggerated.

Even when he works with A-listers, I've always felt that Lynch pushes them into idiosyncrasies, and that part of why he returns to certain actors and actresses is because they readily understand the actorly qualities he wants them to unlearn or amp up. As for casting non-actors, I don't think it's done with the expectation they'll come across as seasoned.

 

[Cappy]

Re: the fight scene

I can’t picture Cooper wailing on Sheriff Cable at all, at least not the way Desmond does.

When I try to imagine the Dear Meadow stuff with Kyle and no Chris Isaak involved, I picture Coop filling the Sam Stanley role, and maybe Albert delivering the “this one’s coming from J. Edgar!” line with the same vitriol with which he denounces Gene Kelly in The Return.