"Traces To Nowhere" is less dense than the pilot/TVM, and slightly straighter in its attitude and style, possibly because Duwayne Dunham takes over from David Lynch behind the camera. Here, Cooper and Sheriff Truman interview Laura's secret boyfriend James Hurley (James Marshall), deducing that the kid had no part to play in her murder. We're also introduced to waitress Shelly's (Mädchen Amick) trucker boyfriend Leo (Eric DaRe), who passes her clothes to wash that include a bloodstained shirt. Knowing the significance of the garment, Shelly stashes them somewhere safe, and later takes a beating from her violent lover, who brandishes a soap-in-a-sock weapon and attacks her in a part of their home undergoing renovation and swathed in plastic sheeting (not unlike that used to wrap Laura Palmer's corpse...)Cooper and Truman are giving Laura's parents time to grieve before they interview them, so our only glimpse of Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) contains one of the episode's freakiest moments, when she flashes on a sinister Julian Sands look-alike, crouching at the foot of a bed. It's a really effective, chilling moment. Together with Sarah's climactic vision of someone unearthing the necklace James buried in the pilot's climax, it's evident she has some form of psychic ability. Has this manifested through the trauma of losing her child, or has she always been so gifted?
While interviewing Chinese immigrant Josie Packard (Joan Chen), who was being taught English by Laura before her death, Cooper again proves his heightened perception to Truman by casually revealing he knows the pair are secret lovers. It's almost comical how accurate Cooper's intuition is right now, which subconsciously primes us for a swift, easy end to this whole case. After all, how can someone this focused and shrewd fail to solve a simple small-town murder? Of course, we're gradually suspecting that there are supernatural undercurrents and Byzantine machinations that will test our hero to breaking point.
Elsewhere, the arrested Bobby and James are allowed to go free from jail after brawling at the Roadhouse, knowing that half the money Leo gave them for a drug transaction is in Laura's safety deposit box, to be kept under close surveillance; sultry troublemaker Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) is scolded by her father Ben (Richard Beymer) for frightening away the Norwegian businessmen by mentioning Laura's murder; her father is earlier seen having a secret affair with Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie); Big Ed Hurley (Everett McGill) reveals he was drugged by bartender Jacques Renault while at the Roadhouse last night; and the man who took the buried gold necklace is revealed to be Laura's Hawaii-obsessed psychiatrist Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn), who ends this episode listening to the audio confession his late-patient sent to him... where she mentions a mystery man I the woods. Laura's voice turns inaudible after Jacoby puts on his headphones, but her words provoke tears...Notes from the Black Lodge:
- A problem facing Twin Peaks is one encountered by all fledgling soaps; having to introduce a believable society, sketch the relationships of its inhabitants, and let us sample their personalities in an entertaining way. The show could easily get bogged down in less skilled hands (especially as, unlike a soap, a drama doesn't have months to settle) but it's handled well in Twin Peaks by Frost and Lynch. I doubt anyone will have a firm grasp on all the families and characters just yet, but it's all coalescing nicely, even though this episode throws even more new faces onto the pile.
- This episode introduces notable character "the one-armed man" (an obvious homage to The Fugitive.) Here, the red-shirted enigma was noticed by Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) as he guards Ronette, exiting a hospital elevator and disappeared into a black-lit morgue.
- By the way, while Twin Peaks never had official episode titles, many fans use the English translations of titles used when the series aired in Germany, so that's what I'm doing. It's easier to refer to things with titles, rather than numbers, see.
written by: Mark Frost & David Lynch directed by: Duwayne Dunham starring: Kyle MacLachlan (Agent Dale Cooper), Michael Ontkean (Sheriff Harry S. Truman), Ray Wise (Leland Palmer), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer), Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward), Lara Flynn Boyle (Donna Hayward), Joan Chen (Josie Packard), Piper Laurie (Catherine Martell), Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs), James Marshall (James Hurley), Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick), Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Lawrence Jacoby), Pete Martell (Jack Nance), Major Garland Briggs (Don Davis), Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Wendy Robie (Nadine Hurley), Richard Beymer (Benjamin Horne), Eric Da Re (Leo Johnson), Michael Horse (Deputy Hawk) & Catherine E. Coulson (Margaret Lanterman/Log Lady) / original airdate: 12 April 1990
