S2, E11: Masked Ball

Howdy, valued listeners! Welcome to our new regular post day, Thursday, a loving nod to the Peaks’ regular night back in the day. Here’s our hot take on the cold fish that is Season 2, Episode 11, “Masked Ball”—and we even found a few things to like! We’re cockeyed optimists like that. Jonathan covers what’s not working in this episode; Damon highlights characters haunted by their pasts; Jennifer shines a light on what did work; and Colin uses these doldrums to think about supernatural TV. In the Twist, we start to examine the show’s treatment of the character Denise Bryson (David Duchovny).

S2, E11 NOTES:
Duwayne Dunham (episode director)
Barry Pullman (episode writer)
Dan O’Herlihy (1919-2005, Andrew Packard)
Gavin O’Herlihy (b. 1954, RCMP Officer Preston King)
Tony Jay (1933-2006, Dougie Milford)
James Marshall (b. 1967, James Hurley)
Wendy Robie (b. 1953, Nadine Hurley)
Annette McCarthy (b. 1958, Evelyn Marsh)
John Boylan (1912-1994, Mayor Dwayne Milford)
Luke Perry (1966-2019, Beverly Hills 90210’s Dylan McKay)
Joshua Harris (b. 1978, Nicky)
Cousin Oliver Syndrome (television trope of adding a precocious child actor, sometimes considered a subset of Jumping the Shark)
Jack Nance (1943-1996, Pete Martell)
Catherine Coulson (1943-2015, Margaret Lanterman, aka The Log Lady)
Charlotte Stewart (b. 1941, Betty Briggs)
David Duchovny (b. 1960, Agent Denise Bryson)
Peggy Lipton (1946-2019, Norma Jennings)
Clarence Williams III (1939-2021, Agent Roger Hardy)
A Christmas Story (film, 1983, dir. Bob Clark)
The X-Files (1993-2002, Fox TV series, starring David Duchovny, featuring sci-fi themes)
Piper Laurie (b. 1932, Catherine Martell)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-75, ABC TV series with supernatural themes)
Darren McGavin (1922-2006, beloved American actor)
Dark Shadows (1966-71, ABC TV series, gothic soap opera)
The Twilight Zone (1959-64, CBS TV series focusing on the supernatural)
Rod Serling (1924-1975, American TV producer and writer, known for “The Twilight Zone”)
The Outer Limits (1963, ABC TV series)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1965, CBS and NBC TV series)
O. Henry (1862-1910, pen name of William Sydney Porter, American author, primarily of short stories)
Allegory (literary device)
Star Trek (The Original Series) (1966-69, CBS TV series)
The NeverEnding Story (1984, film, dir. Wolfgang Petersen)
Hero’s Journey (recurrent myth common in many narrative traditions)
Stephen King (b. 1947, author, primarily in horror)
Dr. Who (1963-89, 2005-present, BBC TV series)
Tom Baker (b. 1934, English actor known for, among other things, portraying The Fourth Doctor in the BBC’s long-running series, Dr. Who)
“Meglos” (1980, 4-part episode of the BBC’s Dr. Who)
Cisgender (also “cis”; gender identity descriptor where one identifies with their sex assigned at birth)

S2, E12: The Black Widow

S2, E10: Dispute Between Brothers