A dear friend sent me Tennyson’s Ring out Wild Bells as a New Year greeting and its words are always apt;
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
the civic slander and the spite,
Ring in the truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Over this break I’ve watched Twin Peaks Seasons 1 and 2 for the umpteenth time. Every time I watch it, I experience it differently, according to my context. Bob always terrifies me, the uncanny nature of it always disturbs and I always love Special Agent Dale Cooper but this time I found much that hasn’t travelled well through time. I found Donna and James insufferable, and the presentation of most of the female characters much more problematic than previously. I also found the Norma and Ed relationship more tragic and moving this time, perhaps reflecting my age and I was much more drawn to Deputy Hawk than to Harry Truman.
When I first watched Twin Peaks, in weekly instalments in the early 90s, I was utterly compelled by it and David Lynch is an artist who I have admired greatly ever since. When Dale’s shadow emerged from the Black Lodge at the end of season 2, leaving the fan base in a state of shock, I was desperate for closure, for a different ending. I went on to explore Lynch’s work with obsessive interest, writing my MA dissertation on the place of the unconscious in his films and Twin Peaks, travelling to Paris in 2007 for his major exhibition, The Air is On Fire at the Fondation Cartier and experiencing tears of joy when Twin Peaks The Return was announced in 2016.
Lynch finally gave the dedicated fans their different ending. I am saving my next watch of Twin Peaks, The Return for my next extended break. It is the ending of season 2 that I am dwelling on, after seeing that terrifying face in the mirror looking back at Dale, who is not Dale at all; because ‘the good Dale is in the lodge,’ and Laura has told us that she’ll see him in 25 years.
The good Dale is an archetype. The good Dale, Special Agent with the FBI embodies spiritual and material qualities of goodness and virtue throughout seasons 1 and 2. He is a philosopher who follows the Dalai Lama and practices stoicism. He guides the dying Leland Palmer into the light and exercises restraint and good self-governance at all times. Even in the most violent and painful moments, he is composed, compassionate and brave. Kyle MacLachlan portrays a different kind of lawman to the jaded and cynical cops that are the mainstay of TV dramas. He makes friends with local law enforcement, becoming an honorary Bookhouse Boy and a deputy to Sheriff Truman when he is suspended from the FBI. He is the moral centre of the show, which is why it is so devastating to see him overcome by his shadow, the doppelganger that leaves the Black Lodge to bring forth the dark id into the community the good Dale has loved, served and protected.
There is no doubt in my mind that we are living through a time of great harm to our individual and collective psyches, a time of id rampaging unchecked through our culture, a time of shadows and darkness in the ascendant. We lack strong moral figures in the culture, where influencers and billionaire antics instead dominate our discourse. All times bring their challenges but we are facing the threat of nuclear conflagration, climate catastrophe and deepening inequality, while those that are in government show nothing but libidinous self-centredness, lack of moral character, lack of compassion, lack of emotional intelligence. The lack list goes on and on.
I’ll draw this to a close with Tennyson’s words in my ears and the good Dale’s moral character as a reminder of what goodness and virtue can be. They have to, like all things, be imagined before they can be enacted. We would be wise to seek out the good, the virtuous, the decent and the loving. In reaching for these things, we are reaching for better versions of ourselves. Better versions of ourselves can make the small differences that lead to big changes. Our shadows are ever present, our id part of who we are, but they don’t have to be in charge. We begin the process of being better by beginning. The last word goes to Special Agent Dale Cooper;
I have no idea where this will lead us. But I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
Josie Moon 