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Twin Peaks
Episode 18:
"Masked Ball"
TV episode
Written by Barry Pullman
Directed by Duwayne Dunham
Original air date: December 15, 1990 |
While Cooper reports Major Briggs’
disappearance, a DEA agent arrives, and Windom Earle makes his
next move; Nadine develops a crush on Mike; Dick becomes a Big
Brother; Ben loses One-Eyed Jacks.
Read the episode
script at GlastonberryGrove.net
Didja Know?
For the titles of the Twin Peaks TV episodes, I have taken
the unique approach of using both the episode numbers, which were
the only titles given the scripts by series creators David Lynch and
Mark Frost, and the translated German titles of the episodes that
were assigned when the series aired in that country. Frequent
readers of PopApostle know I like the aesthetic of actual episode
titles, but I also wanted to honor the simple numbering used by
Lynch and Frost, hence the expanded titles presented in these
studies.
The role of Andrew Packard, who appears for the first time in this
episode, is played by Dan O'Herlihy. His son Gavan plays Canadian
Mountie Preston King in this series.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode
James Hurley
Betty Briggs
Major Briggs (mentioned only)
Dale Cooper
Sheriff Truman
Deputy Andy
Deputy Hawk
Dougie Milford
Lucy Moran (mentioned only)
Gordon Cole
Agent Hardy
Nadine Butler (Hurley)
Donna Hayward
Mike Nelson
Evelyn Marsh
Jeffrey Marsh (mentioned only)
Dick Tremayne
Little Nicky
DEA Agent Denise Bryson (formerly Dennis)
Mountie Preston King (mentioned only)
Buck Wingate (TP High School wrestling coach; unnamed here but name
revealed in the script of
Episode 19:
"The Black Widow")
Josie Packard
Thomas Eckhardt (mentioned only)
Andrew Packard (mentioned only)
Norma Jennings
Hank Jennings
Ernie Niles
Ben Horne
Jerry Horne (as child in home movie)
Ben and Jerry's father (in home movie)
Ben and Jerry's mother (in home movie)
Jean Renault (mentioned only)
Windom Earle (voice only)
Lana Milford (née Budding)
Mayor Milford
Reverend Clarence Brocklehurst
Pete Martell
The Log Lady
Catherine Martell
Notes from the Log Lady intros
When cable channel
Bravo
obtained the rights to air reruns of Twin Peaks
in 1993, David Lynch directed all-new introductions to each
episode featuring the Log Lady, portrayed by original
actress Catherine E. Coulson. These intros also appear as
options on the DVD and Blu-ray collections of the series.
The Log Lady is back to wearing the same sweater she wore in
Episode 0A:
"Wrapped in Plastic",
but a different shirt. The china is now missing except for
her tea cup.
"Is life like a game of chess? Are our present moves
important
for future success? I think so. We paint our future with
every
present brush stroke.
"Painting. Colors. Shapes. Textures. Composition. Repetition
of shapes. Contrast. Let nature guide us. Nature is the
great
teacher. Who is the principal?
"Sometimes jokes are welcome. Like the one about the kid who
said: 'I enjoyed school. It was just the principal of the
thing.'"
Didja Notice?
This episode opens on Wednesday, March 15, 1989.
As James cycles down the highway at the beginning of the
episode, notice at 2:16 on the Blu-ray that he passes a road
sign reading "Entering Snoqualmie" in the opposite
direction.
Snoqualmie is one of the Washington towns where
exterior establishing shots for Twin Peaks were
filmed.
Mrs. Briggs' shirt has a diamond shape on the breast pocket.

As Cooper explains Major Briggs' disappearance to Mrs.
Briggs, it's clear she knows more about his classified work
than anyone else we've met so far, but she's largely
tight-lipped about it.
Mrs. Briggs tells Truman and Cooper that the major left some
notes on his bedside table and she could call back with
them. Truman agrees they might be very helpful. But we never
hear anything more about it. What did the notes say? (In the
original script, the notes turn out to be nothing more than
a grocery list!)
Hawk tells Cooper about Native American
legends of the White and Black Lodges and the Dweller on the
Threshold, a being whom you meet in the Black Lodge, your
own shadow self.
According to the Occult Glossary, a 1933
compendium of Oriental and Theosophical terms by Gottfried
de Purucker, the term "Dweller on the Threshold" was a
literary invention of the British mystic and novelist Sir
Bulwer Lytton in his 1842 novel Zanoni. But some
occultists, have claimed that the Dweller is an actual
entity existing in the astral realms and that Lytton only
fictionalized it. Theosophists Helena Blavatsky and Alice
Bailey claimed that the Dweller was something along the
lines of the astral double of any given individual's
previous life, drawn to that person's current life, and
imbued with the unconquered negative attitudes of that prior
life.
According to the later 1953
Dictionary of Mysticism, the Dweller on the Threshold
was "a demon or evil elemental or nature-spirit capable of
obsession." And the defintion of "obsession" in this book is
"the control of a living person by a discarnate spirit which
suppresses the normal personality of the person obsessed".
This sounds quite a bit like what happened to Leland Palmer.
Upon hearing of Dougie Milford's nearly seasonal weddings,
Cooper jokes, "Marry in haste, repent in leisure." This is a
popular paraphrasing of a line that originally appeared in
William Congreve's 1693 comedic play The Old Batchelour.
When Gordon calls Cooper at the sheriff's station, he says
he's in Bend, Oregon. Recall that he was on his way there
when we last saw him in
Episode 14:
"Lonely Souls".
Agent Hardy's FBI assistant is seen to be using a 1989
Apple
Macintosh Portable. The date on the computer's screen shows
October 22, 1990, even though the episode is supposed to
take place in March 1989!

James flees from Twin Peaks and Donna in
Episode 16:
"Arbitrary Law", which was four
days ago. Where has he been all this time before we see him
pull into Wallies Hide-out?
James stops at a bar called Wallies Hide-out. There he meets
Evelyn Marsh and agrees to fix her husband's car which she
says she ran into a ditch. The car in question turns out to
be a 1948 Jaguar Drophead Coupe. The car Evelyn drove to the
bar is a 1959
Chevrolet Corvette C1. Wallies Hide-Out
exteriors were shot at what was the Santa Susana Cantina in
Simi Valley, CA...notice there is a big "S" on the front
door!
As Evelyn is seen sitting alone at the bar at 12:22 on
the Blu-ray, the post next to her can be seen to have the
etchings of past patrons carved into it. There appears to be
a Superman "S" symbol carved at the top of the screen! At
Evelyn's shoulder level, an etching appears to read "Sean
was here." |
 |
James is depicted throughout the series as still being in
high school, yet he is somehow able to order a beer at
Wallies...the drinking age in Washington at the time, as
now, was 21.
The jukebox in Wallies Hide-Out is a Wurlitzer. The tune
James plays on it is the same one Bobby played on the RR
jukebox in
Episode 0A:
"Wrapped in Plastic",
"I’m Hurt Bad" by Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch from
Lynch's 1989 avant-garde play, Industrial Symphony No. 1.
When Dick brings Little Nicky into the sheriff's station, he
tells Andy that they just came from Horne's department store
where Nicky was fitted for a new wardrobe. Probably one of
the outfits Nicky was fitted for was the one we later see
him wearing in
Episode 19: "The Black
Widow" that is identical to Dick's own.
In Truman's office at 16:14 on the Blu-ray, there appears to
be a carved wooden owl statue behind Hawk.
Besides Hawk, Truman also seems to recognize the name "White
Lodge".
Cooper remarks that he worked with DEA Agent Dennis Bryson
in Oakland. This was depicted in
The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special
Agent Dale Cooper (he also worked with
Bryson in
San Diego and
Tijuana in that book).
At 20:43 on the Blu-ray, we see that Truman has a picture of
a motorcycle hanging on the wall of his cabin. Another
motorcycle image is hanging above his bed. Is he a
motorcycle nut? We don't get any other indication of it in
the series.
At 20:45 on the Blu-ray, notice that Truman has Native
American totem images on the drapes in his bedroom.
Josie tells Truman that she came from a poor household and
was sold to Thomas Echardt. But according to
The Secret
History of Twin Peaks, Josie's father was a
member of the Siu-wong triad, an organized crime unit in
China, and reasonably well-off.
At 24:50 on the Blu-ray, Agent Hardy sits in a booth at the
RR, reading the Twin Peaks Post, which has the
front page headline "Leland Palmer Laid to Rest" (this
happened the previous day in
Episode 17:
"Dispute Between Brothers").
Below the main headline is another article about the Milford
marriage, but the rest of the article title is not legible.
At 25:28 on the Blu-ray, Carnation Barber Shop can be seen
outside the window of Ernie's booth at the RR. This sign was
photographed during some on location shooting in the town of
Carnation, WA.
When Norma serves Nicky his Super Snow-Frosted Chocolate
Malted, Andy remarks that it looks like Whitetail Mountain.
Whitetail Mountain is one of the twin peaks of Twin Peaks
(the other being Blue Pine Mountain).
At 27:46 on the Blu-ray, a number of car photos and trophies
are seen on a long display shelf in the Marsh house garage.
Jeffrey Marsh must have entered his prized vehicles in some
kind of collector cars competition over the years.
At 29:41 on the Blu-ray, as Ben watches his old home movie
of the ground-breaking ceremony for the Great Northern Hotel
from when he was a kid, the "Future Home of the Great
Northern Hotel" sign has a line at the bottom that reads,
"JJ Horne Developing Inc." JJ Horne must be Ben's father,
though Twin Peaks: An Access Guide
to the Town tells us that Ben's father was actually
Ben, Sr. (and the grandfather was Orville Horne).
Recall that in
Episode 5:
"Cooper's
Dreams", Ben's Ghostwood project was "A
project of Horne Development Corp."
At 30:27 on the Blu-ray, notice that there is a
Slinky toy on Ben's desk! I guess he had been digging
into all his old stuff from his childhood.
As Ben watches the home movie, he begins to mumble, "Now is
the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this
sun of York," and "Now are our brows bound with victorious
wreaths." These are lines from Richard's soliloquy at the
beginning of Shakespeare's Richard III. The
soliloquy explains that the speaker was once high-and-mighty
but has now been brought down and humbled.
At 35:59 on the Blu-ray, a couple of the envelopes Cooper
tosses onto his hotel room table appear to be from National
Bank. This appears to be a fictitious institution.
The envelope Cooper receives from
Windom Earle in the mail is addressed simply, "To Dale
Cooper, c/o Great Northern Hotel, Twin Peaks." |
 |
Earle's chess move of P to Q4 (Pawn to
Queen's 4) is not the most strategic move he could make, but
is an opening move of a Center Game strategy. By making this
move, Earle agressively places Cooper's pawn in jeopardy.
(See "Patterns and Conflicts: An Analysis of the Windom
Earle/Dale Cooper Chess Game", Wrapped in Plastic
#4, April 1993, which includes input from chess expert John
Jacobs, former chess columnist of the Dallas Times
Herald.) |
 |
 |
Earle's (white) Pawn to Queen's 4 move
(diagram from Wrapped in Plastic #4) |
A more strageic move, Knight to King's
Bishop 3, suggested by John Jacobs
(diagram from Wrapped in Plastic #4) |
In his tape to Cooper, Earle chastises Cooper's consistency
and predictability, chiding, "Hobgoblins, Dale." He is
referring to a line from Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay
"Self-Reliance", "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin
of little minds".
The Reverend Clarence Brocklehurst returns to marry Dougie
and Lana. He was last seen presiding over Laura Palmer's
funeral in
Episode 3:
"Rest in Pain".
Lucy is nowhere to be seen at the Milford wedding even
though, earlier in the episode, she was supposedly away from
her duties at the sheriff's station in order to help with
the preparations for the wedding!
The robe Cooper wears in his room at the Great Northern has
a design that is a bit reminiscent of the Owl Cave symbols!

The bouquet in Denise's hand when Cooper meets her at the
bar in the Timber Room indicates that she caught it when it
was thrown by the bride at the end of the Milford wedding
ceremony. In Western weddings, the newly-wedded bride tosses
her bouquet over her shoulder and the person who catches it
is believed to be the next person present who will get
married.
Behind the bar in the Timber Room, there are bottles of
Cutty Sark, Beefeater, Jose Cuervo, Jack Daniel's, and
Kahlua. These are all real world liquor brands.
Truman orders a draft beer at the wedding reception and he
seems to receive a mug that is already half empty!
Mayor Milford remarks that he was married to the same woman
for half a century.
When Pete remarks that the music at the wedding reception
turned out pretty good, Mayor Milford retorts, "Oughta' be a
death march." Ironically, his brother Dougie, the groom,
will die after a night of sex with his new wife this same evening
(as seen in the following episode
Episode 19:
"The Black Widow")!
At 45:33 on the Blu-ray, the side of Catherine's desk is
seen to have a diamond pattern on it.
The bookcase behind Catherine appears to have a Robert
Ludlum novel on it. The bookcase to Andrew's left hand
appears to have a row of
Encyclopedia Britannica books on it; to his right
is a copy of
Writer's Market, an annually published book for
freelance writers looking for places to sell their work.
During the close-up of Andrew at the end of the episode,
there is a click sound and he glances to his left as if
someone has just entered or passed by the room. But nothing
is said about it in the next episode and it's clear that
neither Josie nor Pete are aware of his presence in the
house until then. Who or what was it?
The closing credits of this episode show more of Ben's old
home movie.
Memorable Dialog
very
significant.wav
that's classified.wav
a powerful force that exists in those woods.wav
marry in haste, repent in leisure.wav
calling from Bend, Oregon.wav
is any of this true?.wav
it's
Gordon.wav
beyond the edge of the board.wav
the sound the wind makes through the pines.wav
he has the cutest buns.wav
let's be realistic.wav
there are other worlds.wav
the
White Lodge.wav
the
Black Lodge.wav
a
real surprise.wav
a pleasure to meet you, sheriff.wav
I've been looking forward to this pie.wav
catch
anything?.wav
Uncle Dick isn't mad.wav
Uncle Andy went funny boom-boom.wav
you're
out, Ben.wav
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