This was an amazing scene. The contrast between watching two grown thugs eat their favorite breakfast cereal like they were kids is yet another moment I've never seen in TV. It said to me, here are two evil men that were once as innocent as a child. It's all these little things and little moments that are adding up to making Twin Peaks the most remarkable show I've ever seen. And now that Dougie and the Mitchum brothers are allies, they will protect him from Mr. C making them the most likely scenario for the double header. The Mitchum's...an unlikely duet of heroes for our story?
This was an amazing scene. The contrast between watching two grown thugs eat their favorite breakfast cereal like they were kids is yet another moment I've never seen in TV. It said to me, here are two evil men that were once as innocent as a child. It's all these little things and little moments that are adding up to making Twin Peaks the most remarkable show I've ever seen. And now that Dougie and the Mitchum brothers are allies, they will protect him from Mr. C making them the most likely scenario for the double header. The Mitchum's...an unlikely duet of heroes for our story?
That's an interesting take - it's just that we've learned how well predictions go in this series, which is good part of what makes it so fascinating.
A friend of mine said, "Coop is acquiring an army" during the dinner scene.
A friend of mine said, "Coop is acquiring an army" during the dinner scene.
Yeah it's almost leading up to a Tarantino stand-off where multiple parties don't quite know who to point their shooters at...
They were always imperfectly evil though. I mean they do beat the tar out of the floor manager, but they did so for a reason; presuming that he was in on stealing $400k from them (and this, we learn later, just after they lost a claim judgement for $30 million, which would probably have anyone a bit more...emotional).
In the scene where Candie strikes the one brother with the remote, his reaction was anything but evil. "It's okay. It's nothing." And Candie doesn't seem scared of his retaliation as much as she seems to feel guilty she's committed some unforgivable sin that renders her unlovable.
A friend of mine said, "Coop is acquiring an army" during the dinner scene.
That is a very clever observation. And, since Mr C has the other Vegas guys on his side, do we get to see them all battling it out in the casinos?
They were always imperfectly evil though. I mean they do beat the tar out of the floor manager, but they did so for a reason; presuming that he was in on stealing $400k from them (and this, we learn later, just after they lost a claim judgement for $30 million, which would probably have anyone a bit more...emotional).
In the scene where Candie strikes the one brother with the remote, his reaction was anything but evil. "It's okay. It's nothing." And Candie doesn't seem scared of his retaliation as much as she seems to feel guilty she's committed some unforgivable sin that renders her unlovable.
There's varying degrees of evil. Clearly they're not "Hitler" evil. But if you order hits on people, and relish in the moment you get to kill Dougie Jones (pre-alliance), you're still evil. Even now that they are allied with Dougie they are still evil but perhaps on the road to redemption.
Even now that they are allied with Dougie they are still evil but perhaps on the road to redemption.
I doubt it. Money (LOTS of) softened them up. They have slight comedic charm/charisma, but don't let this detract from their brutal nature. Good allies for when other heavies come 'a knockin, but otherwise dangerous and largely heartless.
They were always imperfectly evil though. I mean they do beat the tar out of the floor manager, but they did so for a reason; presuming that he was in on stealing $400k from them (and this, we learn later, just after they lost a claim judgement for $30 million, which would probably have anyone a bit more...emotional).
In the scene where Candie strikes the one brother with the remote, his reaction was anything but evil. "It's okay. It's nothing." And Candie doesn't seem scared of his retaliation as much as she seems to feel guilty she's committed some unforgivable sin that renders her unlovable.
There's varying degrees of evil. Clearly they're not "Hitler" evil. But if you order hits on people, and relish in the moment you get to kill Dougie Jones (pre-alliance), you're still evil. Even now that they are allied with Dougie they are still evil but perhaps on the road to redemption.
True, but I think if anything, Lynch has shown us that there are no black/white characters from a purely good/bad standpoint. Even goodie two-shoes himself, Dale Cooper, slept with a married woman resulting in her death and his own wounding. Laura Palmer, who supposedly was some angelic-type being sent to the Earth for purposes we still don't really fully fathom was capable of prostituting herself to strange men at the local dive bar, and going to all night coke parties. And this is of course to say nothing of the more problematic case of Leland Palmer, who kinda sorta sounds like he was tricked to let "Bob" inside him at a very early age, but then also kinda sorta sounds like he bears responsibility for what "he" did to his daughter. It's all much more complex than it seems.
So it makes sense that the "bad" guys would have redeeming qualities about them. One suspects even Duncan Todd and Anthony Sinclair, somewhere deep inside their tortured souls, have redeeming qualities about them that we don't see on stage. Perhaps they too, like Ronnette, are just a few prayers away from having an angel materialize at their zero hour?
More problematic for me is that in the Lynchian hierarchy, there seems to be a level of intelligence associated with where people line up on food chain. The more bumbling and stupid you are, the lower down the pecking order you are. We see this with common thugs who are unable to pulloff hitman jobs all throughout the early episodes, or even unable to collect the $50k they've been sent to obtain (going home with $25k instead).
The Mitchum brothers seem powerful; they have a multi-million dollar casino after all, but they also have a bit of a bumbling quality to them that makes you wonder how much of their wealth they obtained on their own versus how much someone else may have, for lack of a better term, "manufactured" for them?
Just to lower the tone, I did laugh at the announcement that Belushi Mitchum would 'just be a minute as he's in the bathroom' before he then sat & stared forlornly at a big bowl of bran flakes... 🙂
I loved this episode so much, even James Belushi didn't annoy me!
They were always imperfectly evil though. I mean they do beat the tar out of the floor manager, but they did so for a reason; presuming that he was in on stealing $400k from them (and this, we learn later, just after they lost a claim judgement for $30 million, which would probably have anyone a bit more...emotional).
In the scene where Candie strikes the one brother with the remote, his reaction was anything but evil. "It's okay. It's nothing." And Candie doesn't seem scared of his retaliation as much as she seems to feel guilty she's committed some unforgivable sin that renders her unlovable.
There's varying degrees of evil. Clearly they're not "Hitler" evil. But if you order hits on people, and relish in the moment you get to kill Dougie Jones (pre-alliance), you're still evil. Even now that they are allied with Dougie they are still evil but perhaps on the road to redemption.
True, but I think if anything, Lynch has shown us that there are no black/white characters from a purely good/bad standpoint. Even goodie two-shoes himself, Dale Cooper, slept with a married woman resulting in her death and his own wounding. Laura Palmer, who supposedly was some angelic-type being sent to the Earth for purposes we still don't really fully fathom was capable of prostituting herself to strange men at the local dive bar, and going to all night coke parties. And this is of course to say nothing of the more problematic case of Leland Palmer, who kinda sorta sounds like he was tricked to let "Bob" inside him at a very early age, but then also kinda sorta sounds like he bears responsibility for what "he" did to his daughter. It's all much more complex than it seems.
So it makes sense that the "bad" guys would have redeeming qualities about them. One suspects even Duncan Todd and Anthony Sinclair, somewhere deep inside their tortured souls, have redeeming qualities about them that we don't see on stage. Perhaps they too, like Ronnette, are just a few prayers away from having an angel materialize at their zero hour?
More problematic for me is that in the Lynchian hierarchy, there seems to be a level of intelligence associated with where people line up on food chain. The more bumbling and stupid you are, the lower down the pecking order you are. We see this with common thugs who are unable to pulloff hitman jobs all throughout the early episodes, or even unable to collect the $50k they've been sent to obtain (going home with $25k instead).
The Mitchum brothers seem powerful; they have a multi-million dollar casino after all, but they also have a bit of a bumbling quality to them that makes you wonder how much of their wealth they obtained on their own versus how much someone else may have, for lack of a better term, "manufactured" for them?
Oh I agree. I feel like Lynch is the master of showing how everyone has varying degrees of both good and evil in them. And he shows that good people can be drawn into very evil acts in a crisis situation.
I love the weird dynamic in this house. And if you order a hit on a hitman does that neutralize the "evilness" of the hit? 😀
I love the weird dynamic in this house. And if you order a hit on a hitman does that neutralize the "evilness" of the hit? 😀
An eye for an eye and all that jazz...
But, erm... yes.
A friend of mine said, "Coop is acquiring an army" during the dinner scene.
Coop and the Mitchum Brothers VS Mr. C and Mr. Todd.
I wonder if Mr. Todd is part of the funding source for Mr. C. And that Mr. C. is already set up to be at odds with the Mitchum brothers.
Fire walk with