Last Monday here at Balladeer’s Blog I posted about how great Episode 16 was and mentioned the fact that the two final episodes would be shown back to back on Sunday, Sept 3rd.
Now that the final parts have aired I feel that Episode 17 was for the fans and Episode 18 was for David Lynch himself. Fans who want tidy closure got as much of that as Lynch is capable of providing in Episode 17. (And hey, looks like NOBODY can play a Long Game like Gordon Cole can. Although I guess that’s easy to do when it’s not your OWN butt trapped in the Black Lodge for 25 years.)
Episode 18 struck me more like a Lynchian horror film. Especially that ending. I loved it and if that is all the Twin Peaks we ever get I am just fine with it. If you aren’t, then blame our beloved hero FBI Agent Dale Cooper.
Cooper could have just left well enough alone, but no. And he piled foolishness upon foolishness in Episode 18, just like characters in a horror film do. As a MINIMUM, after all he had learned and all he had been through why would he go anywhere near any establishment bearing the name Judy?
I was disappointed to see Coop and Diane get together (however briefly) instead of him and Audrey, but what can you do?
The thing that impressed me the most about Lynch’s directing on this 18 episode run was the way he kept up with the times. More so than many of the long-time fans did.
The original Twin Peaks used the story-telling approach of soap operas, while this revival employed the dramatic structure of ARG’s. Frost and Lynch out-did some of the twenty-some year olds who have been flooding the internet with ARG’s for years.
And I was not disappointed at all with that closing scene. A clip of the final four minutes and 20 seconds is below. WARNING: If the names Chalfont and/or Tremond aren’t familiar to you from the original Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me then you won’t get the horror of the ending.
Since even the freeze-frame on the video gives away info, people who don’t want the closing scene spoiled in any way should NOT click to read more: Continue reading
MATEWAN (1987) – This John Sayles film examines the 1920 Matewan Massacre in the West Virginia coal fields. The workers were attempting to form a union and the owners – the kind of people that One percenter Carlos Slim’s New York Times has proclaimed to be “the conscience of the country” used hired thugs to harass – and even kill – the laborers. 
ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY RULES THE WORLD – Several times a year NAIA football teams manage upsets of teams from NCAA Division TWO! Yesterday saw multiple instances, too, like the ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM battling the Division 2 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY CLAN (as in Scottish Clan). The Firestorm won this Instant Classic by a final score of 34-28. 
TAYLOR UNIVERSITY TOPPLES D2 AS WELL – For newbies to these divisions these NAIA over NCAA Division 2 upsets are like when 1AA teams upset 1A teams. In this game the TAYLOR UNIVERSITY TROJANS did battle with D2’s MALONE UNIVERSITY PIONEERS. Spectators got more than their money’s worth in this matchup, too, which saw the Trojans emerge with a 28-21 victory. 
LANGSTON CRUSHES DIVISION TWO – The NAIA’s LANGSTON UNIVERSITY LIONS took on NCAA Division Two’s LINCOLN (MO) UNIVERSITY BLUE TIGERS in The LU Classic. The Lions dominated the Blue Tigers on both sides of the ball, defeating them 30-14 in their own house. REMEMBER: Any wins over D2 teams count as 2 wins each in my weekly NAIA vs NCAA Division Three tally. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s summer-long exploration of Marvel Comics’ Celestial Madonna Saga of 1973-1975 wrapped up last Saturday. For a light-hearted “dessert” after that 31-part examination here’s a look at a ONE-ISSUE tie-in from 1977 that Steve Englehart, the writer of much of the Celestial Madonna Saga, wrote for the Justice League of America (as it was then called) at his NEW employers: rival comic book company DC. 
His way of doing that is often pretty cutesy, like having his Mantis stand-in get interrupted at key moments when she’s about to answer very specific questions about herself and her background. 
In a coincidental bit of prescience regarding future depictions of Mantis when Marvel Comics finally brought her back (left), Willow has GREEN skin. She also has what appear to be antennae peeping out from under her pile of hair as a nod to Mantis’ pronounced antennae (again, at left).
NUMBER THREE GETS KNOCKED OFF – In D2 the UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS GREYHOUNDS welcomed the number 3 team in the nation – the GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS. The dynastic Lakers appeared to be in the driver’s seat with a 13-0 1st Quarter lead, but by Halftime the Greyhounds had made it a 13-10 game. 
AND NUMBER FIVE CAME TUMBLING AFTER – Over in the NAIA the 24th ranked SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS clashed with the nation’s number 5 team – the MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS. A 1st Quarter 6-0 edge for the Cougars turned into a commanding 26-7 lead by the Half. 
OUR DIVISION CAN BEAT UP YOUR DIVISION – 2017’s first round of NAIA football vs NCAA Division 3 football resulted in a split. 
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