tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post5974053248052941205..comments2024-03-29T09:13:52.064-04:00Comments on Doux Reviews: Twin Peaks: Masked BallBillie Douxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-43460676390133464172017-07-20T00:21:26.740-04:002017-07-20T00:21:26.740-04:00Nice review, Josie! I liked this episode better t...Nice review, Josie! I liked this episode better than the previous one, even though there weren't any supernatural or surrealistic events. There was some Lodge info, as you point out. It seems to me there are two alternatives to explain the Lodges:<br /><br />1. Religious: analogous to heaven/hell in the Christian afterlife.<br /><br />2. Shamanistic: the Lodges are 'places of power', and people go there to obtain power (or reside permanently). The Black Lodge gives 'dark side' power and is the residence for evil entities, and the White Lodge gives 'positive power' and is the residence for good entities. At some level the Lodges represent a yin-yang balance of power.<br /><br />I have a lot of issues with #1. Clearly, people can be there without dying (Cooper), which is my main concern with #1. "...pass through on the way to perfection" doesn't necessarily mean going to heaven, and I don't get the sense that <b>everyone</b> is destined to pass through the Lodges, which is the case for a religious afterlife.<br /><br />#2 seems more likely to me. The catch is that to achieve mystical power you have to go through the ordeal of facing your 'weaknesses' (shadow self) in order to achieve that power.<br /><br />Also, we are told that the White Lodge is the place where "the spirits that rule man and nature reside." This seems more shamanistic than religious, since there is only one God in Christian theology. Of course, we have to somehow deal with Leland's dying statement that he sees Laura and she is welcoming him. That seems to be heaven-like scenario. But it really complicates things to have both a Christian afterlife and shamanistic Lodges in play.<br /><br />Well, enough of that speculation. The Nadine arc is silly--but I'd rather it be silly without a super-power involved. Is the new James arc necessary--or is it just an excuse to add a vamp to the show? Josie is still not telling the whole truth. The big reveal is Andrew Packard being alive--which means Josie may not be as guilty as she thinks she is, even though she apparently conspired to kill him.<br /><br />The Denise bit was bold for 1991. Not that cross-dressing had never been done on TV before--Flip Wilson played Geraldine in the 70's to great comic effect. However, the idea of a cross-dressing DEA agent was something new. I agree that it was nicely done by F&L.<br /><br />One thing I've realized is that the parts of the show I dislike the most are the ones that are the most like a soap opera. I like Donna and James as characters, but I don't like their soap opera relationship: one minute he's giving her a ring, and the next he's walking away from her for an unexplained reason. The mill/Josie/Catherine/Ben arc is very much like a soap opera. The parts of the show that are least like a soap opera are the Laura Palmer murder mystery (Cooper) and the supernatural arc--which is why I like them the most.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09499845492120364597noreply@blogger.com