8/21/2017 Twin Peaks: Variations on Relations
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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr
enik1138-at-popapostle-dot-com
Twin Peaks
Episode 26: "Variations on Relations"
TV episode
Written by Mark Frost & Harley Peyton
Directed by Jonathan Sanger
Original air date: April 11, 1991
Cooper returns to Owl Cave and goes on a nature study with Annie; Windom Earle takes a pawn; Lana schemes to win the Miss
Twin Peaks pageant.
Read the episode script at Glastonberry.net
Didja Know?
For the titles of the Twin Peaks TV episodes, I have taken the unique approach of using both the episode numbers, which were
the only titles given the scripts by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and the translated German titles of the episodes
that were assigned when the series aired in that country. Frequent readers of PopApostle know I like the aesthetic of actual
episode titles, but I also wanted to honor the simple numbering used by Lynch and Frost, hence the expanded titles presented in
these studies.
The actor playing the young heavy metal band member killed by Windom Earle is Ted Raimi, brother of film director Sam Raimi.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode
Deputy Andy
Sheriff Truman
Agent Cooper
Deputy Hawk
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Windom Earle
Leo Johnson
Rusty Tomaski (Heavy metal band member, not named until the next episode)
Pete Martell
Josie Packard (deceased, mentioned only)
Catherine Martell
Thomas Eckhardt (deceased, mentioned only)
Dale Doolittle (mentioned only)
Dale Doolittle's twin brother (unnamed, mentioned only)
Annie Blackburn
Bobby Briggs
Shelly Johnson
Mayor Milford
Lana Milford
Audrey Horne
Dr. Hayward
Ben Horne
Mrs. Gardner (mentioned only, Shelly's fourth grade teacher)
Dick Tremayne
Lucy Moran
Gordon Cole
John Justice Wheeler (Jack)
Eileen Hayward
Notes from the Log Lady intros
When cable channel Bravo obtained the rights to air reruns of Twin Peaks in 1993, David Lynch directed all-new introductions to
each episode featuring the Log Lady, portrayed by original actress Catherine E. Coulson. These intros also appear as options on
the DVD and Blu-ray collections of the series.
"Pie. Whoever invented the pie? Here was a great person. In
Twin Peaks, we specialize in cherry pie and huckleberry pie. We
do have many other types of pie, and at the Double R Diner, Norma
knows how to make them all better than anyone I have ever known.
"I hope Norma likes me. I know I like her and respect her. I have
spit my pitch gum out of my mouth onto her walls and floors and
sometimes onto her booths. Sometimes I get angry and do things
I'm not proud of. I do love Norma's pies. I love pie with coffee."
Didja Notice?
This episode opens on the morning of Thursday, March 23, 1989.
As the camera pans past the young heavy metal band member (named as Rusty Tomaski in Episode 27: "The Path To The Black
Lodge") in Earle's cabin at 4:06 on the Blu-ray, notice that a copy of the Twin Peaks Post is sitting under a large tractor drill bit.
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At 4:33 on the Blu-ray, a Home Depot painters cap is seen among the tools and supplies Earle is/will be using to build a giant
chess piece around Rusty. Is there a Home Depot in Twin Peaks?
As Pete contemplates chess moves at the Blue Pine Lodge, he tries to compose his own ode to Josie aloud, mumbling in his grief,
"I think I shall never see, a girl as lovely as Josie. When she walked into the room, the flowers were all abloom..." He has altered
lines from the 1913 poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer, which begins, "I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree." Trees
are, of course, a motif in Twin Peaks. Some episodes of the series suggest that Josie's soul may be imprisoned in the wood
structure of the Great Northern Hotel where she died. The actual poem "Trees" follows:
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Attempting to help Catherine open the puzzle box left to her by Thomas Eckhardt, Pete mentions he saw one once when he was
on R and R in Guam. Guam is a territory of the United States and the largest island of Micronesia. That Pete took R and R there
suggests he was in the U.S. Armed Forces (or possibly the U.S. merchant marines) at some point in the past.
Bobby tells Shelly he wants her to enter the Miss Twin Peaks contest because "Beautiful people get everything they want," and
she retorts sardonically, "Know any senators I can marry?" Ironically, Bobby's current employer, Ben Horne, said in Episode 23:
"The Condemned Woman" that he's considering a run for the senate!
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Cooper picks up donuts and coffee from the RR Diner for him, the sheriff, and the deputies. But according to Twin Peaks: An
Access Guide to the Town, the sheriff's station gets its donuts from Wagon Wheel Bakery. It may be that Cooper talked his
cohorts from the sheriff's station into stopping at the RR (after their morning excursion to Owl Cave) because he wanted to take
the opportunity to invite Annie on a nature study. Additionally, the RR does not really seem geared towards donut service, though
it's possible they contract with Wagon Wheel Bakery to provide them with some on a daily basis for customers who desire donuts
with their breakfast.
Cooper invites Annie on a nature study. "Nature study" is a philosophy that espouses a reconciliation of science and spirituality
through the study of nature, not books. As presented by Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954), one of the founders of the nature
study movement, in his "Leaflet I: What Is Nature-Study?", "Nature-study, as a process, is seeing the things that one looks at,
and the drawing of proper conclusions from what one sees...[it] is not the study of a science...it takes the things at hand and
endeavors to understand them...it is informal, as are the objects which one sees. It is entirely divorced from mere definitions, or
from formal explanations in books...it trains the eye and the mind to see and to comprehend the common things of life; and the
result is not directly the acquiring of science but the establishing of a living sympathy with everything that is." This sounds like
the kind of thing with which Cooper would be sympathetic.
Notice that the donut box Annie brings to Cooper has a label on it with a logo that reads "Donuts Donuts", similar to the logo of
the U.S. donut chain Dunkin' Donuts!
RR Donuts Dunkin' Donuts
At 11:37 on the Blu-ray, notice that the RR's "stock pot soup" of the day is "hearty beaver broth"!!
As the clueless Rusty is being entombed within a giant pawn chess piece, he asks Earle, "Hey, is this for, like, the Lilac Parade or
what?" He is presumably referring to the famous Lilac Parade that accompanies the 10-day Lilac Festival on Mackinac Island,
Michigan, known for its large and beautiful lilac flowers.
Interestingly, Leo seems to have gained some morality from his ordeal of injuries and time with the twisted Windom Earle. He at
first does not want to give any sort of aid to Earle in the murder of Rusty and, in Episode 27: "The Path to the Black Lodge" and
Episode 28: "Miss Twin Peaks", seeks to prevent the potential murder of Shelly (even though he tried to kill her himself way back
in Episode 7: "The Last Evening").
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At 21:03 on the Blu-ray, as Earle's arrow strikes the giant papier-mâché chess piece, part of the Twin Peaks Gazette banner can
be seen on one of the newspaper strips.
During the Miss Twin Peaks auditions, Donna sits at a table with Sheely and Bobby. Recall that she and Shelly shared a cigarette
in Episode 23: "The Condemned Woman". Possibly they were friends in school before Shelly dropped out.
The symbols on the inner box of Eckhardt's gift to Catherine are partially zodiacal and partially I-don't-know-what. There are only
eight stylized symbols, representing here the eight phases of the Moon (clockwise, as depicted below): full moon (w/ Libra
symbol), waning gibbous (w/ Pisces symbol), last quarter (w/ Cancer symbol), waning crescent (w/ unknown symbol; possibly
Juno, a large asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter), new moon (w/ Aries symbol), waxing crescent (w/ Sagittarius
symbol), first quarter (w/ Taurus symbol), and waxing gibbous (w/ Gemini symbol).
During their nature study, Annie implies to Cooper that her wrist scars (presumably an attempt to commit suicide) were related to
a relationship she had with a boy in high school. Who was the boy? Is he still in town?
As the wine-tasting gathering at the Great Northern begins, Dick says, "Good evening. Evening all. And welcome to our
oenophiliac soiree, another in a continuing series of public events, sponsored by Horne Industries, to benefit the Stop Ghostwood
Development movement." "Oenophiliac" is a Greek word for "one who loves wine".
Gordon remarks that "people who need people are the luckiest people in the world." This is a line from the 1964 song "People" by
Barbra Streisand, originally performed in that year's Broadway musical Funny Girl.
As Gordon is about to kiss Shelly at the RR, Bobby walks in and the country music playing on the jukebox suddenly wipes out like
a phonograph needle dragged across a record!
Lana remarks that one of the wines has a banana flavor to it and Dick responds that it is the result of the metachloric acid. The
term "metachloric acid" is fictitious, though types of hydrochloric acid do add a banana flavor to various foodstuffs and beverages.
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When Jack sits down next to Cooper at the fireplace in the Great Northern lobby, he says, "Love is hell," and Cooper responds
with, "The Hindus say love is a ladder to heaven." As far as I can find, there is no such aphorism in Hindu philosophy.
The bellman who delivers the message to Jack has a name badge identifying him as Jeff Moore. This is the same name seen on a
piece of mail at the Hayward house in Episode 25: "On the Wings of Love", Moore being the prop master on the series! The
Bellman himself is actually played by John Charles Sheehan.
Where are Donna's sisters Harriet and Gersten at the Hayward family dinner?
As Donna presses her mother at the dinner table for information about her relationship with Ben Horne, her mother twice asks
her to pass the peas! And helps herself to two helpings within the span of a minute! This seems like an editing error...but the
scene is actually written that way in the original script as well! It could be argued that Eileen was flustered by her daughter's
questions about Ben and asked for the peas again, having forgot she already had some...but then why scoop out a second
helping? She would notice she already had peas on her plate!
Donna tells her mother she entered the Miss Twin Peaks contest because she figured she could use the scholarship money to
study overseas. But the fliers for the contest say the scholarship is for WSC (Washington State College), in her own state! Though
it is possible that WSC has an overseas studies program.
When Cooper's car pulls up to Easter Park at 44:01 on the Blu-ray, the reflections of several members of the production crew are
visible on the car door! Notice the car is not the same rental he drove to Twin Peaks in in Episode 0A: "Wrapped in Plastic".
Earle's chess move in this episode is BxP (Bishop takes Pawn), resulting in the death of another innocent. As pointed out in the
study of Episode 25: "On the Wings of Love", this is a bad move as far as the game goes, as Earle takes only Cooper's pawn and
would lose a bishop in Cooper's response. Of course, the game never proceeds beyond this point. Chess expert John Jacobs says
this move would lose Earle the game in a genuine match of experts. (See "Patterns and Conflicts: An Analysis of the Windom
Earle/Dale Cooper Chess Game", Wrapped in Plastic #4, April 1993, which includes input from chess expert John Jacobs, former
chess columnist of the Dallas Times Herald.)
In the next episode, Episode 27: "The Path to the Black Lodge", Earle sweeps the chess pieces off his board, apparently having
abandoned the game. We also never see Cooper respond with the next move, but how does he know Earle has abandoned the
game? It seems as if the producers of the show decided to abandon the plotline, therefore the characters do as well.
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Earle's (white) BxP move A more strategic move, B-QB4, suggested by John Jacobs
(diagram from Wrapped in Plastic #4) (diagram from Wrapped in Plastic #4)
Unanswered Questions
How did Windom Earle get the giant pawn piece with Rusty's body inside from his remote cabin in the woods to the gazebo at
Easter Park? Does Earle have a truck hidden somewhere? If so, why is he later forced to steal Pete's truck in Episode 29: "Beyond
Life and Death"? Did he steal another truck for this scheme?
Memorable Dialog
a ghastly place.wav
a power so vast.wav
you promised me beer.wav
what's the big deal.wav
I think that I shall never see.wav
sorry, Poodle.wav
know any senators I can marry?.wav
we need donuts.wav
a tingling sensation.wav
Windom Earle's work with Project Blue Book.wav
sometimes the urge to do bad is nearly overpowering.wav
I do not appreciate practical jokes.wav
don't zap the geek.wav
sexual maturity and superhuman strength.wav
some pretty strange neighbors.wav
trust.wav
a brief but touching funeral.wav
this world of Twin Peaks.wav
a goddess sent from heaven.wav
meeting you has been more than a privilege.wav
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Back to Twin Peaks Episode Studies
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