Recap of Episode 10

"He used to flick matches at me!"

Season 2 Episode 10

Written by: Robert Engels

Directed by: Lesli Linka Glatter

Original Air Date: October 13, 1990

"I was visited by a Giant!"

In Ronette's hospital room, the nurses' try to restrain her as she thrashes around wildly. Ronette screams while Harry looks on with concern. Then Dale and Albert come in and Albert notices what appears to be blue dye in her IV solution. Dale looks under Ronette's ring finger nail and finds the typed letter B. He realizes the killer has been there. After he decides to tell Harry and Albert about his visits with the Giant. Dale describes his dream and tells them about the three clues he received from Giant: the owls are not what they seem, there's a man in a smiling bad and without chemicals he points. Albert snarks and asks if the Giant is any relation to the dwarf.

"A Lady Slipper."

Donna goes to meet Harold Smith at his house. He offers her lemonade, saltines, apple butter or the option to wash her hands. Donna refuses and notes how warm it is in his house. Then she asks why he contacted her. Harold tells Donna that he came to know Laura when she first began Meals on Wheels and she asked him to get in touch with Donna if anything happened to her. Harold also explains that he "can't" go outside and Laura liked to think of him as a mystery in her life. Harold explains that he raises orchids, which is why it's so warm, and he was hoping Donna would place one of the orchid's on Laura's grave. He steps away to pick one out and Donna notices something sticking out of his bookshelf. Harold returns with a hybrid orchid, which he refers to as "a lady slipper." Harold also notes that Donna is as lovely as Laura described her to be. Donna is flattered and blushes. Then she takes the orchid and tells Harold she'll be back. He responds, "I'll be here."

"I love you, Sheriff Truman!"

At the Sheriff's station, Dale draws what he believes is a psychic path to the killer on the blackboard in the conference room. He connects Ronette, himself, Maddy and Mrs. Palmer with a wanted flier of Bob in the middle. Dale also has the letters R, B, T written on the top and wonders how that connects to the long haired man. After Harry asks Dale what the Giant sounded like. Dale says he spoke softly. Albert jokes that Cooper gave him the magic beans he was supposed to use to buy the cow. Dale says no, but he did gave the Giant his ring. Albert blows it off and goes right to the facts. Albert says the cocaine in James' gas tank matched the same they found in Jacques car and at Leo's house. He also says the Circle Brand boots are a rare brand and the letter R was cut from a copy of Flesh World. Albert says the long haired man hasn't shown up in anyone's database either. Then as Albert prepares to exit he tells Cooper he was shot with James Bond's gun, a Walther PPK. 

Harry asks Albert if there anything they should be working on. Albert advises him to try walking without dragging his knuckles on the floor. Harry gets angry, grabs Albert by the collar and threatens to knock him down again with pleasure. Albert sharply responds by passionately spouting, "Now you listen to me. While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchet man in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I'll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method...is love. I love you Sheriff Truman." Then Albert calmly walks out. After Dale puts his hand on Harry's shoulder and remarks, "Albert's path is a strange and difficult one."

"We'll go dutch."

Outside the conference room, Hawk talks to James. Dale approaches and asks for a moment alone with James. In private, Dale tells James he's not being charged, but he wants him to stay out of trouble. Then Dale checks in on Lucy at her desk and asks how her project is going. She excitedly tells him she's found 78 words. Hawk inquires what she's doing so she tells him Agent Cooper asked her to find as many words as she could that contain the letters, B,T and R. Hawk says he used to be good at that. Right then, a distinguished gentlemen walks in and Lucy tells Hawk that's her lunch date. Hawk asks if it's the same date that made Andy call in sick. Lucy nods and says hi to, Dick, her date. Dick comes over with a cigarette in his hand. Hawk immediately tells Lucy to note the word Prohibited and breaks Dick's cigarette in half. Dick introduces himself as Richard Tremayne, Horne's Department Store, Designer Menswear. Hawk looks at Lucy and says,"Robot" then he walks away. Dick then asks Lucy if he offended Hawk, but notes that it's not like native people don't have enough to be angry about in general. Lucy ignores his question and says they should leave for lunch. Dick smiles generously and announces, "we'll go dutch!"

"Do you want to play with fire little boy?"

Back in the conference room, Harry continues to be fascinated by Dale's experience with the Giant. He asks how tall the Giant was and if his head hit the ceiling. Hawk chats with them and all three of them start to walk into the hallway. Dale answers that the Giant's head was almost to the ceiling. Hawk says that's at least 10 feet tall. Then Leland approaches them and asks for a moment of their time. Dale looks slightly off put by Leland. Harry asks what's on Leland's mind. Leland pulls out the flier of Bob from his pocket and says, "this man, I know him." He goes on to say that he recognizes him as a neighbor of his grandparents from their house on Pearl Lakes from when he was a child. Dale asks if Leland remembers a name. Leland answers Robertson. Dale realizes that must be what the letters are trying to spell and asks Hawk to get up to Pearl Lakes right away. Leland also says that he remembers this man flicking matches at him. He demonstrates by lighting a match and tossing it into a nearby ashtray. Leland says the man would ask him, "do you want to play with fire little boy?" Dale takes the lit match from the ashtray and remarks, "that's our man." Then he blows the match out.

"How about a maternity dress?"

Over at the Double R Diner, Dick bores Lucy with stories from his job. He prattles on about organizing argyle socks. Then he asks if she thinks it's odd that he doesn't switch his hand when putting his fork to his lips. Lucy says her mother calls it "piling", but Dick notes it's the European way. Lucy finally asks why he hasn't called her in six weeks after their last date where they drank two bottles of wine and ended up on a bed in Horne's home furnishings. Dick apologizes and offers to arrange a discount for her at the department store to make up for it. Lucy gets mad, stands up and yells, "How about a maternity dress?" Dick looks confused. Lucy sits down and tells him she's pregnant. Dick takes a drag of his cigarette and with a nervous exhale he remarks, "preggers."

"I don't know anything anymore."

In a nearby booth, James sits with Maddy and asks her if Donna seems different lately. He wonders if Donna smoking and acting tough all of a sudden bothers Maddy. She answers that James knows her better than she does. Then he shares with Maddy that Donna acted strange when she visited him in jail and it seemed like she wanted to "do" him through the bars. He sighs, "I don't know, I don't know anything anymore." James debates if he should just get on his bike and go. Maddy takes his hand and says running away won't solve anything. Right then Donna walks in and sees them. She looks upset and slowly walks over to their booth. James looks happy to see Donna and asks where she's been. Donna tells him she was visiting a young man from meals on wheels who was bright, intelligent and completely unlike anyone she knows. James asks what she means by that. Donna seethes, "why don't you sit here and hold hands and try to figure it out!" Then she storms out. 

"Just like her daddy did to me."

At One Eyed Jack's, Blackie and Emory Battis tie Audrey up and video tape her as they inject her with heroin. Emory thinks they should get rid of Audrey, because she could bring trouble they don't need. Emory is afraid he'll lose his job. However Blackie wants to blackmail Ben Horne and orders Emory to stop whining and get on board. Blackie takes pleasure in seeing Audrey messed up and remarks, "look at her, riding the white tiger." Blackie thinks if they give Audrey a few more doses she'll never want to come back down. Then Black coldly reveals some details of her own past by saying the way they're treating Audrey is, "just like her daddy did to me."

"Bob, I know you're near!"

Philip Gerard gives Harry a demonstration of all the boots he has to offer in the conference room at the station. Then he notices a flier of Bob on the table and looks alarmed. Philip gets light headed so Harry gets concerned and asks if he's okay. Mr. Gerard explains that he sometimes gets disoriented and says he has medication. Then he asks where the bathroom is. Harry points him in the right direction and then goes into his office. Shelly is waiting there for him with Dale. She tells them that she's not going to testify against Leo. Shelly claims she loves Leo and won't say anything against him. Dale realizes what's going on and escorts Shelly to the door. After he tells Harry it smells like insurance money. Meanwhile, Mr. Gerard begins to thrash and struggle in one of the bathroom stalls. Then he calms upon failing to inject his medication. Philip then slowly opens the door, looks cunningly around the room and says out loud in a deep breathy voice, "Bob, I know you're near...I'm after you now!"

"Park your jalopy in someone else's garage."

Dale gets off the elevator at The Great Northern and is unaware that the mysterious Asian man is watching him. Dale walks up to Ben Horne and asks if he's heard from Audrey. Dale tells Ben that Audrey called him the night before. Ben says Audrey has gone missing regularly before and wonders if Dale is interested in more than just friendship with Audrey. Ben advises Dale to park his jalopy is someone else's garage, because men fall under the spell of Audrey's charms like ducks in a shooting gallery. Dale looks taken aback and assures Ben his intentions are of the utmost integrity. Ben light's a cigar, gives Dale a cynical look and says, "that is achingly clear and not unappreciated." Ben promises to call Dale the moment Audrey comes home to roost. Dale flatly thanks Ben and Ben smugly responds, "no, thank you."

"Candy's Dandy!"

Audrey lays semi-conscious in one of the bedrooms at One Eyed Jacks. A man and woman stand over her and the man runs a piece of black lace over Audrey's face. Audrey starts to open her eyes and the man tells her his name is Jean. He gives Audrey candy to stuck on and says, "Candy's dandy," as poor Audrey takes the candy eagerly. Then Jean injects Audrey with more heroin. After Jean joins Blackie and Emory in Blackie's office with the unknown woman. Blackie says the woman is her sister, Nancy. Jean sees them watching a security video of Dale the night he came to One Eyed Jacks and says he wants Dale dead for killing his brothers, Jacques and Bernard Renault. Jean tells Emory to bring Dale to him. Emory fearfully agrees, but Blackie wants her sister gone. Nancy tells Jean to tell Blackie to behave. Jean advises Blackie to play along so everyone can be happy. Then he says they can't let Audrey live.

"Without chemicals, he points."

Dale brings coffee and donuts into Harry's office at the station just as Harry is getting off the phone with Pete. Harry tells Dale that Josie called Pete and said she'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Harry asks to speak with Josie alone first and thinks there is a chance that Josie's isn't involved in any wrong doing. Dale puts his hand up and says, "Harry, you have my blessing." Then Hawk comes in saying the county is working on the title for the property in Pearl Lakes that Leland told them about. Harry asks if Hawk saw Mr. Gerard on his way in. Hearing that, Dale perks up and reminds Harry that in his dream the one armed man knew Bob. They go looking in the bathroom and find Mr. Gerard's still full syringe on the floor. Dale picks it up and recalls the Giant's third clue, "without chemicals, he points." Dale almost gleefully tells Harry they have to find the one armed man.

"On top of Old Smokey!"

In the hospital, Doc Hayward has Nadine restrained to the bed in her hospital room. Big Ed asks if that's necessary. Doc Hayward says it's for Nadine own protection, because she ripped two restraints the night before like tissue paper. He also says he ran a blood test and learned that Nadine is, "pumping out more adrenaline than a wild cat well," and notes he has never seen anything like it before. Doc Hayward suggests that Ed sing to Nadine. Ed asks for privacy to do so and once alone he begins to sing 'On Top of Old Smokey' to her while holding Nadine's hand. Nadine starts to come around as Ed sings and squeezes his hand hard. She breaks free of her restraints, starts clapping frantically and sings a cheer. Then she opens her eyes and tells Ed that Doc Hayward told her tonsillitis or no tonsillitis, she's going to cheerleader try outs. Ed looks wildly confused. Nadine then tells him, "You know what they say. You're only eighteen once!"

"I know him!"

Sheriff Truman and Dale head to Dr. Jacoby's room in the hospital and find him there with his Hawaiian wife, Noelani. The room is full of lays, candles and Hawaiian decor. Dr. Jacoby tells them he's ready for hypnosis and gives Dale his preferred auto suggestion reading. Jacoby asks Harry to hold a crystal up for him to look at while Dale reads. Then Dale begins to read the auto suggestion speech, which describes an ideal round of golf. The sound of Dale's voice nearly puts Harry to sleep as well. Once Jacoby is fully under, Dale asks about the night Jacques Renault was killed. Jacoby recalls the sound of tape ripping and Jacques making a sound like a dog barking. Dale asks if he can see who the killer is. Jacoby looks afraid, gets a memory flash and then gasps, "I know him!"

"Your problems keep hanging around!"

Donna goes the cemetery to bring Harold's orchid to Laura's grave. An owl watches her from above in a tree. Donna is keyed up and wants to talk to Laura. She tells Laura she's mad at her, because she loves James, but it's a mess. Donna tells Laura that Maddy is in town and she thinks something is going on with her and James. Then Donna slumps down and says how she wanted to like Laura, to have her courage and strength, but Donna thinks those qualities destroyed Laura. She gets mad and yells at Laura's grave. Donna screams that they were always trying to solve her problems and they still are. Donna cries, "You're dead Laura, but your problems keep hanging around. It's almost like they didn't bury you deep enough!"

"Why!?!"

James goes to see Maddy at the Palmer's house and says he can't find Donna and needs to talk to someone. He tells Maddy he went home and his mom was there all "loaded" and he hates her. Maddy touches him and whispers, "god, you're on fire!" Then they kiss. Right then Donna walks in and sees them. She runs from the house in shock. James chases after Donna and breaks a lamp on his way out. Leland comes into the room just has James runs outside. Out in the street, James cries out to Donna as she drives away. After James simply yells, "Why!?!" Meanwhile back inside, Maddy cries to Leland about how everyone is treating her like she's Laura and she's not. Leland holds her and says, "Oh Maddy, if life could only be like those summers up at Pearl Lakes." Right then Harry and Dale walk in and tell Leland he's under arrest for Jacques murder.

"Donna Madonna, there's always manana!" 

Donna goes to Harold Smith's house in tears over what happened with James. He lets her in and tries to make Donna feel better. Harold quotes something Laura used to say to her, "Donna Madonna, there's always manana!" Donna asks how he knew that as Harold wraps a blanket around her. Harold simply smiles in reply and offers to get her a drink. When Donna's alone, she casually looks around and notices a red journal on Harold's desk. She opens the front cover and is shocked when she sees, "This is the diary of Laura Palmer," written on the front page in Laura's hand writing.

End of show!

One of my favorite elements of this episode is the introduction of Harold Smith. I remember watching him as a kid and finding him so mysterious and intriguing. I also think he made Donna much more interesting, as the drama between her, James and Maddy does seem a bit soap opera-ish in season 2. I also find it very interesting that an owl was watching Donna at Laura's grave. It made me wonder who might be interested in keeping an eye on things at Laura's tombstone. Could it be Bob, one armed Mike or some other spirit within the owl? 

It's weird to say spoiler alert for something that aired in 1990, but just in case anyone who is new to the series and may be reading this, spoiler ahead. Leland's scenes at the station with Cooper, Harry and Hawk also got me thinking. Knowing what seasoned fans know about Laura's killer, was it really Leland telling Dale about Pearl Lakes and the matches or was it Bob toying with Dale? This again complicates Leland's character quite a bit and makes it hard to draw the line between Leland being a victim himself or a more calculated participant in his wrongful doings.

Based on Blackie's scenes with Audrey and Emory Battis at One Eyed Jacks, it would appear like Ben is a likely suspect as Laura's killer in this episode. Blackie's reveal that Ben had at one point forcibly turned her into a heroin addict doesn't make him appear to favorable or likable. Also Ben's cold attitude toward Cooper and the absence of Audrey make him look like a real cold hearted jerk. Yet I always love seeing Ben on the screen. Perhaps it's Richard Beymer's terrific acting that make him such a fun character to watch.

On a lighter note, this episode also has a fair amount of laugh out loud moments. We get introduced to Dick Tremayne in this episode for the first time and his caddish ways never fail to amuse me. Nadine waking from her coma to --> On Top of Old Smokey both disturbs and delights me, in a good way. However I think hands down the best humorous moment of this episode is by far Albert's speech to Sheriff Truman. Watch below!

Recap of Episode 9 <-----> Recap of Episode 11