Let me start out by apologizing for my post last week and my assumptions about Twin Peaks. I shouldn’t make assumptions about a show I didn’t watch … and I think that’s the second time I did that with Twin Peaks. I probably should just frick’n watch it already, huh?
So, as I said before, I caught the first couple of episodes of this series via screeners from ABC, which was months ago and labeled as unfinished. Tonight I watched the second episode again as it aired on TV, and right away I noticed something I hadn’t on the screeners: the music (except for “You’re So Vain”). If it was present in the screeners, I didn’t notice as much as this time around, because I found it … distracting. I actually didn’t like its use in many of the scenes. Before, with different (or absent) music, the show came off a bit more serious. With this “plucky” music during the moments when we’re being told “hey here’s a funny part with goofy people!” I can see why some people might be turned off. And then the music when Henley made the key in the wax? Maybe it’s just a minor thing I’m obsessing over way too much.
One criticism people have for shows like this is the problem of too many loose ends, no advancement in the story and lack of answers. So far we seem to be getting somewhere fast with this show, as we already found out Big Dave is the ice house murderer and why he did it. We also found out what Henley was looking for at the boarding house. Sure, there are new questions from those, but I’m good with that.
As for the new questions, there’s the bodies Dave mentioned. Why didn’t Tommy come out and ask Dave where Friddle said they were? I think the problem there is this: if word gets out at all of where Friddle said any bodies were kept, the real Magic Man could use that information and plant a body or two there to make Friddle out to be guilty. In fact, I’m betting we’ll see a bit of that, making Big Dave a sort of hero to the town (until he actually goes to jail that is).
Obviously Ted the tapioca guy isn’t who he says he is, or at least has something to hide. It could be that he’s a real fed or cop, but he’s got a stake in the whole Magic Man thing, like a missing loved one. We could hear him ask Georgia if she saw what happened at the ice house, but was that just the drugs talking? Maybe he’s a fed who takes things way too far to get answers he needs, or he’s working for the Magic Man, wants to find Friddle’s killer and get the information out of him as to where Friddle said the supposed bodies are.
The other new question: what’s with the goat head hammer hidden away at the boarding house? My guess is it’s an old murder weapon that needs to be kept safe or destroyed, but even that doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. Why keep it at all if it’s damaging, and why hide it if it’s not?
So, are you sticking around for more Happy Town?
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on May 05, 2010 @ 23:44 EST5EDT
Don’t get where you’re coming from with regards to the music. I was thinking literally the opposite during this episode. Both the score and the chose of licensed music were good.
Totally agree about the pacing: it’s very fast which is great. I like how Henley/Chloe has an agenda and is just getting on with it. All too often in small town mystery shows there will be a character who comes to town for a reason only to dilly-dally for countless episodes.
The hints at the supernatural with the hawk (or whatever it was — I’m not really up on my bird taxonomy) is intriguing. One of the most shocking causes of a car crash I think I’ve ever seen on TV — very cool.
*POST AUTHOR*
I have a feeling the hawk won’t be supernatural and may instead be controlled by someone.
So I thought it was a little dubious that Frances Conroy could be believable as Steven Webber’s mother. A quick trip to imbd.com reveals they are only eight years apart in age! Eight years!
I agree with mister_d about the music. I found it all appropriate and enjoyable, and thought the “You’re So Vain” blaring as Georgia woke up/came down made the scene even creepier, rather than silly. Liked the urgency of Henley’s key-making music too, although why she didn’t just make the wax impression and save the casting for later when time was of the essence bugged me.
My problem with music comes on shows like Stargate Universe, Life Unexpected, and Parenthood, where it’s always a soft/alt rock song, and it’s always exactly on the nose to narrate the situation. It’s like the writers are too lazy to actually show us what’s happening through a character’s words or facial expressions, so they just slap some music over the scene instead every single week.
When I saw the goat head, I immediately thought of paganism or Satanism. It may be a ritual object, perhaps even sacrificial, so the owner(s) would want to keep it both safe and hidden.
The only problem I had with the whole episode was the bird attack. Raptors are supposed to only weigh a few pounds (hollow bones, right?), and should have been splatted all over that windshield. Even if it went right through the glass, it shouldn’t have been able to hop up and fly away afterward. So am I supposed to think it’s a supernatural creature, or is it just a case of physics giving way to a cool scene for the show?