halfway thru the Second Season, and one thing I gotta point out is that any town where Jack "Eraserhead" Nance is far and away the most "normal" resident is one screwy place.
I don't know if it was the "shakes", an actorly affectation or some kinda medical condition, but his turn as Pete is full of twitches, blinks, winks and spasmodic facial contortions which, in terms of character, can be attributed to his yearly interactions with the rest of those loonies,
good performance in a series full of them.*
Ray Wise is spellbinding, particularly after BOB takes control of him. There are certain scenes where he runs the gamut of emotions, scenes shot in one take mind you, that you can't look away from, no matter how much you may want to. Also, pay attention to the slithery, lizard like jutting out of the tongue of Ben Horne (Richard Beymer)...ditto his compulsive need to clean the prison bars. Speaking of Ben and the great David Patrick Kelly as his brother Jerry, how about that out-of-fucking-nowhere flashback to their happy childhoods, both the home movies that play over the credits of one ep and the back lit, silhouetted sexy dance of their cousin?
and how much fun is it to root against James? Look, I know all sorts of horrible stuff happens around him, but am I alone in my mirth at his plight? Conversely, Bobby, who started the series as a near stereotypical Flash Thompson bully, earns major points with his faithful, devoted puppy love of Shelly and his just overall goofball charm. Seriously, fuck James. When informed of Maddy's death, in what's implied to be the very night after him and Donna bang a gong, what does he do...he leaves town! And before that, with the singing...I'm beginning to suspect we're supposed to be laughing at him.
He was EMO before there was EMO!
GAAAAH!!!**
Quote that pretty much sums up the show, in context.
After Leland's powerful death scene, Coop, Truman, Albert and Scully's Dad are waxing philosophic about what just went down. Coop, in response to Harry's incredulous "this is way off the map, I'm having a hard time believing...
"Harry, is it easier to believe a man would rape and murder his own daughter? Anymore comforting?"
only one real clunker of the first half so far, and that one even kinda gets a pass due to it coming after the death of Leland. I'm not saying every episode is on par with the Lynch directed ones or the double whammy of the repercussions to Maddy's death and Leland/BOB's capture, but there is some good stuff in each, and I can't, as of yet, fathom all the critical loathing and mass exit of viewers that blighted the second season.
*and as a shoutout to Doc Holliday...IMDB states that "Up to the last moment, he was considered for the lead in The Graduate (1967), the part that went to Dustin Hoffman."
**and I'm talking Lecko-level loathing of fast talking, sass mouth women here. At least with James I can hoot and holler and heap scorn upon him and not feel to bad about it, 'cuz, face it, there hasn't been a bigger putz on TV, like ever. Fucking Horshack, Urkel and Screech combined don't even come close to sniffing James' panties...
Personally, I'm an atheist in the voting booth and a theist in the movie theatre. I separate the morality of religion with the spirituality and solace of it. There is something boring about atheism.
