Decoding Messages
Owl in San Francisco in March, 2021. Photo: J. Waits
I’ve talked a lot about communication tools and communication breakdowns on Twin Peaks. Messages are often transmitted in strange ways in this otherworldly town and this week, we have a few new takes on that theme. Whereas on previous episodes we heard from Mina birds, voice-activated tape recorders, scanners, and home speakers; on Season 2, episode 2, our heroes and heroines find, decipher and deposit clues through notes, telephone calls, an all-knowing log and radio waves.
If you’ve watched Season 2, Episode 2 (“Coma”) of Twin Peaks, read on. If not, be forewarned. There will be spoilers!
Last week on the Season 2 premiere (listen to Back to the Double R’s two-parter here and here), Norma hands Donna a paper note saying “Look into the Meals on Wheels,” which sends her on a sleuthing mission this week. She ultimately leaves a note for a Mr. Smith under his door, which seemingly elicits a phone call to Donna. We only hear her reply of “I received yours.”
At the Sheriff’s station, Lucy cuts off Andy by snipping, “no messages, Deputy Brennan” as she freezes him out
At the Double R, the Log Lady sits down next to Major Briggs and says: “My log has something to tell you. Do you know it?...Can you hear it?” He replies, “No, ma’am, I cannot.” Margaret offers, “I will translate,” before saying, “deliver the message. Do you understand?” Briggs: “Yes, ma’am...as a matter of fact, I do.”
Following that, Briggs visits Cooper, telling him “I have a message for you” We learn that Major Briggs decodes and examines communication that he calls “space garbage” from far away galaxies…and that amid the “radio waves and gibberish” they found a message from around the time Cooper was shot. He shows him a printout with the words: “The owls are not what they seem” surrounded by seemingly random numbers and turns over the printout, showing a message from later in the morning that reads: “Cooper Cooper Cooper.” With all this talk of Major Briggs monitoring radio waves, we have to wonder if there’s added significance to the scene with Bobby in his dad’s car, asking Shelley to change the radio station.
And finally, at the close of the episode, Audrey, who is being held captive at One-Eyed Jacks, is still trying to get a message to Cooper after several thwarted attempts through notes, phone calls, and nighttime prayers. While Audrey’s unread note/missed message to Cooper remains under his bed, pastel pink sweater-clad Audrey calls Cooper and drops a clue as to her whereabouts (“I saw you in your tuxedo. You looked like a movie star.”) as the camera pans down the length of the curly telephone cord revealing Audrey’s saddle shoes. She gasps as Blackie breaks the connection and tells her “You don’t know what trouble is...not by a long shot” as Emory Battis lurks. Will Cooper finally get the message and rescue the damsel in distress?
Tune in to S2 E2 of Back to the Double R, to eavesdrop as we talk more about how messages are sent and received and why they are often delivered in code or by intermediaries.