Recap of Episode 3

Save your prayers man, she would have laughed at them anyway!

Season 1 Episode 3

Written by: Harley Peyton

Directed by: Tina Rathborne

Original Air Date: April 26, 1990

"Good Morning Kernel Cooper!"

At the Great Northern, Audrey waits for Agent Cooper to come into the dining room. They have a seat and he asks her to write her name down for him. Agent Cooper compares it to the "Jack with One Eye" note that was slipped under his hotel room door. Upon seeing her hand writing, he deduces that Audrey is the author of the note. She explains she wanted to help him and says One Eyed Jacks is a place where men go and women work. Audrey also tells Cooper that Laura worked at the perfume counter at Horne's department store. Cooper then tells Audrey her hand writing suggests a romantic nature. He sees Harry and Lucy walk in and tells Audrey she has to leave, but not before Audrey thanks Cooper for talking to her.

"Break the code, solve the crime."

When Harry and Lucy sit down, Cooper tells them he had a dream. He starts telling a confused Harry and Lucy about the little man in the red room and his cousin who looked exactly like Laura Palmer. Cooper says she whispered the name of the killer in his ear, but he can't remember. Dale thinks his dream is a code and if they can break the code, they can solve the crime. Then Harry gets a call from Andy about trouble at the morgue. Cooper simply responds, "Albert."

"I want no interference from this hulking boob!"

At the morgue, Albert and Dr. Hayward exchange some serious angry banter that leads to a near fight. Albert wants to run more tests on Laura's body and Doc Hayward thinks her body needs to be released. Andy stands back just watching as Ben Horne tries to diplomatically solve the problem. He tells Albert that he needs to consider the feelings of the Palmer family. Albert snarks at Ben and then tries to resume his work. In response, Doc Hayward pulls the plug on the drill Albert is about to use on Laura and they nearly start fighting again. Then Cooper and Harry walk in and break it up. Albert starts insulting Harry by saying, "I want no interference from this hulking boob!" Harry responds by punching Albert in the face and Albert falls onto Laura's dead body. Cooper quickly takes charge and tells Harry to wait outside. Then he orders Albert to finish his tests by noon and release the body for the funeral.

Meanwhile at the Palmer's house, Leland watches Invitation to Love while receiving a sedative from a nurse. The doorbell rings and then we hear a soft voice that says, "Uncle Leland?" Leland looks up and sees Laura's nearly identical brunette cousin, Madeline. Leland stands up in surprise and says, "Madeline...Maddy?" She smiles and nods, but then a sad looks comes across her face. She tells him how sorry she is and starts crying as they embrace.

"I have a homicidally jealous husband!"

Over at the Double R Diner, Norma has a meeting with her husband Hank's parole officer. He tells Norma that Hank will likely be released soon and asks how she plans on helping him adjust. Norma answers that she can give Hank a job at the diner. The officer hits on her and asks how she handles all the "romeos" that must come into the diner. Norma says she usually them tells about her homicidally jealous husband who is soon to be released from prison.

"Ducks on the lake!"

Cooper and Harry head to Leo Johnson's house where Dale is awed by ducks swimming on the lake. Then they go to interview Leo, who is outside chopping wood. Leo isn't friendly so Cooper cuts to the chase and starts running down Leo's arrest record. He asks Leo where he was the night Laura Palmer was killed. Leo answers that he was in Butte, Montana and says Cooper should verify that with Shelly, because he called her that night. 

"Afraid!?!"

Major Briggs tries to have a discussion about Laura's upcoming funeral with Bobby at their house. He asks Bobby to put out his cigarette. Then starts telling Bobby about the benefits of closure that a funeral can provide. Bobby acts disinterested and plays with his lighter. The Major tells Bobby not to be afraid of the funeral. Bobby cops an attitude and screams that he's not afraid and plans on turning the funeral upside down. Then Betty Briggs walks in and awkwardly asks if they're ready to go. 

"Look it's trying to think!"

Over at the Sheriff's station, Albert runs down the contents of his findings with Harry and Agent Cooper. He tells them Laura had a problem with cocaine and was tied up twice on two different locations the night she died. It makes Cooper remember that the little man's cousin told him in his dream that, "sometimes my arms bend back!" Albert tells them he found soap at the railroad track. He thinks the killer likely washed his hands before kissing the dead body. He also shows them a picture where claw marks are on Laura's shoulder. Harry says, "An animal?" Albert quickly snarks, "Looks it's trying to think!" Harry and Cooper both look offended. Then Albert shows them a fragment found in Laura's stomach with the letter "J" on it. Andy interrupts and tells them that its time for the funeral. Albert asks to speak with Cooper alone and shows him a report he wants to file against Harry for punching him. Dale tells him he's not going to file it, because Twin Peaks is a special place with good people. Albert isn't happy and storms out. After Cooper tells Diane to look into real estate for him in Twin Peaks, which he assumes will be at a very reasonable price.

"It's Laura, James!"

Nadine runs into Ed's arms at their house and kisses him. She's over the moon and says, "Last night was wonderful." She feels like they're really together again. Then Nadine talks about the past and Ed's relationship with Norma. She says despite what a good looking couple they made, she knew Ed would change his mind once he got to know her. Nadine hears a motorcycle and asks if it's his. Ed says its James' bike, but Nadine can't remember who James is. Then James walks in and tells them he's not going to Laura's funeral. Big Ed tries to encourage him to go and reminds him that it's for Laura.

Back at the Great Northern, Audrey sneaks into her secret room in the wall to listen to Ben's conversation in his office. She hears her mother and Ben disagreeing about how to explain to Johnny that he can't wear an Indian headdress to the funeral. She peaks through the hole in the wall and sees her brother Johnny crying. Dr. Jacoby whispers to Johnny, "let it go." Then Johnny reluctantly takes the headdress off and cries as Jacoby hugs him.

"Don't Ruin This Too!"

Later the funeral begins in the graveyard and the minister reads a lovely sermon for Laura. Cooper keeps watch of everyone and he exchanges a flirty smile with Audrey. He notes that Bobby perks up when he sees James lingering in the background. Then the minister says that he loved Laura and will miss her the rest of his days. Johnny Horne screams "Amen!" and it prompts Bobby to scream amen too! Bobby then screams at the crowd and claims everyone knew Laura was in trouble, but no one helped her. He tells them to save their prayers, because Laura would have laughed at them anyway. James gets worked up hearing him and starts to charge at Bobby. In return, Bobby charges him back as Cooper, Big Ed, Mike and Harry try to keep them from killing each other. Bobby screams at James, "You're a dead man!" Then out of nowhere, Leland completely breaks down and jumps on Laura's casket. The casket bobs up and down from his weight as he cries, "Laura...my baby!" Sarah Palmer kneels downs and scolds him through tears, "Don't ruin this too!"

"It Felt Like Somebody Hit Me With A Log Splitter!"

At the Double R Diner, Shelly entertains a couple of old salts at the counter by imitating Leland at the funeral crying on Laura's casket. They all laugh as the camera pans over to a nearby booth where Harry, Hawk and Big Ed are sitting together. Cooper walks in and Ed warns Harry to be careful who he trusts. Then Cooper sits down and Norma takes their order. Cooper immediately notices that Ed is in love with Norma. Then Harry starts to tell Dale about a case they've been working on to stop drugs from getting into Twin Peaks. He says they've been investigating Jacques Renault and they think Jacques drugged Big Ed at The Roadhouse. Ed describes the experience by saying, "It felt like somebody hit me with a log splitter!" Dale enjoys some pie as Harry goes on to explain that there is a secret society in Twin Peaks called The Bookhouse Boys. Harry says there has always been a sort of evil in the woods for as long as anyone can remember and the boys have always been there to fight it. 

After they take Dale over to the Book House, where the coffee is free. They meet up with Joey Paulson and James Hurley, who have Bernard Renault, Jacques' brother, tied to a chair and gagged. Harry says they found Bernard with a ounce of cocaine. They question Bernard about Jacques, but Bernard says they need to ask Jacques themselves. He says Jacques should be coming to work at the bar soon. Dale wonders why Bernard would tell them where to find his brother. Outside we see Jacques Renault waking up to the Roadhouse. He notices a red light blinking on the top of the building and runs off. Jacques heads to a pay phone and calls Leo to say Bernard is in trouble. He tells Leo they need to make a border run. Leo takes off just as Shelly is coming home. He coldly tells her she doesn't need to know where he's going. After Shelly hides a gun in the kitchen.

"Josie What's Wrong?"

Harry asks Josie what's wrong at the Packard's house. She tells him nothing as he tells her how beautiful she is. Harry gets Josie to open up and she says she thinks Catherine and Ben Horne want to hurt her. Then we see that Catherine is listening to their conversation via the house's intercom. She hears Josie tell Harry that she found two ledgers for the saw mill, but when Josie goes to get the ledgers, she only finds one. Then we see Catherine smile and hide the other ledger in her desk. Pete walks in and Catherine tells him to be a man next time and ask her directly when he and Josie want to snoop. Nearby Josie asks Harry if it's possible that someone killed her husband Andrew. She wonders if they'll kill her too. Harry promises to protect her and they end up making out on the floor. 

Over at the graveyard, Cooper sees Dr. Jacoby show up with flowers to put on Laura's grave. Cooper asks Jacoby why he wasn't at the funeral earlier. Dr. Jacoby starts to tell him about how he feels like a terrible person, because he stopped caring about his patients long ago. He explains that Laura changed that for him and he just couldn't come to her funeral. Jacoby says he hopes Laura can forgive him. 

"Somebody Dance With Me!"

In the Great Northern dining room, Dale and Hawk talk about dream souls. Hawk tells Dale about a Blackfoot legend where dream souls wander to far away places. Dale wonders if that's where Laura is. Hawk says the only thing he knows for sure is that Laura is in the ground. Then they toast to Laura. Nearby Leland starts begging women on the dancefloor to dance with him. Leland becomes distraught and begins crying again. Hawk and Cooper decide to intervene and take him home. They walk him out in tears and then we cut to a shot of the light at Sparkwood and 21 turning red.

End of show!

This episode is definitely one of the most classic of the series. The funeral scene where Leland jumps on the casket is such a uncomfortable mix of tragic yet humorous emotion. Albert shines in the early part of the episode with his amazing one liners, but we also get a good blend of mystery. The reveal of the Bookhouse Boys is so much fun. I noticed Harry said they were going to take a "ride" to the bookhouse, but it was always my impression that the Bookhouse was very close to The Roadhouse. Either way, the end scene where Leland once again needs to dance always touches me. Knowing how the series plays out always makes me feel conflicted about feeling bad for Leland. However I do feel his struggle and I think Ray Wise is a damn fine actor! 


Recap of Episode 2 < ----------> Recap of Episode 4