James leaves town to get away from all this pain and tragedy, an attempt we’ll discover to be futile. Something I found particularly sad about the James story when recently rewatching this episode was how he, much like Sarah Palmer, never recovers from Laura’s death. By removing him, the show continues to fade Laura’s ghost into the background, creating a new identity for the series. James as a character is so heavily identified with our dead girl that no matter what he could go on to do, he would always be associated with Laura. Furthermore, writing James off the show can be seen, whether directly or indirectly, as another attempt in moving the show in a post-Laura Palmer direction. James receives a sizable amount of screen time, having him leave town allows Twin Peaks to establish new characters in his now-unoccupied place of importance. While James does lose his way in the show’s second season, writing him off the show, even if the intention was to bring him back eventually, was a serious move. While Twin Peaks is many things, part of its magic is its portrayal of teens and how effective the show is at conveying the complex emotions younger people were feeling as a result of the death of one of their own.

James is one of several of the show’s teenaged characters who begin their own investigation into who killed Laura Palmer in Season 1 and is also at the center of the show’s young-love subplots.

Now, despite the internet’s fondness for James memes and jokes, there is no denying that James, in the eyes of David Lynch and Mark Frost, was one of the show’s cornerstone characters. Just You…and IĮpisode 23 also marks the final appearance of James Hurley in the original series. Josie is discarded and damned, and while Cooper’s fate will look different, ultimately he will be trapped in his own way after succumbing to fear. It’s also another cruel bit of foreshadowing for Cooper. While many have speculated over why Josie would appear in the knob of the drawer, the simplest and most likely explanation to me is that after spending the last few years of her life embroiled in a feud over the Ghostwood development, in death she literally becomes a ghost in the wood. They’re present to illustrate the danger Cooper’s in, a warning he will not heed. Here, with Cooper bearing witness, Josie literally dies of fear, with the returning BOB and The Little Man From Another Place appearing upon her death. Throughout Season 2, Cooper receives warnings about fear and its literally soul-destroying ramifications. Josie’s death also foreshadows Agent Cooper’s fate. The fact of the matter is that despite being incredibly effective in Season 1, it had run its course, and it was time to reposition characters and reallocate screen time. If Twin Peaks felt the need to reinvent itself after the dismal run of episodes that followed the central mystery’s end, closing this story was crucial. First, it puts a firm end to the Ben/Catherine/Josie feud, allowing the show to push the two surviving characters in new directions. The decision to kill off Josie, masterly portrayed by Joan Chen, serves a few purposes. The feud becomes of lesser importance in the second season, which focuses on the demise of Ben, Josie’s past chasing her, and Catherine emerging as the likely winner of this struggle for power and wealth.

The feud, with its multilayered, soap opera-influenced twists and turns, is an undoubtedly rich element that serves as part of the glue that holds Season 1 together. When Laura Palmer’s killer was revealed, the ongoing feud between Benjamin Horne, Catherine Martell, and Josie Packard became the show’s longest-running story. It should be noted that while both James Marshall (James) and Joan Chen (Josie) allegedly asked to be written off the show, it doesn’t change the impact of their characters’ departures, even if those long-told stories are in fact true. What’s most noticeable about Episode 23 is that unlike the two preceding episodes, which bring more recent plots to their conclusion, Twin Peaks Episode 23 ends the show’s longest-running story and sees multiple long-tendered cast members take their final bows-whether that was the original intention or not. Twin Peaks Episode 23 continues the series’ trend of wrapping up ongoing storylines, clearing the path for the second season’s final run of episodes. Join us every day from January 30 to February 28, as we look at every episode of Seasons 1 & 2 for Twin Peaks Month. “ Twin Peaks Episode 23: A Fond Farewell” is also available in audio-visual format on the 25YL YouTube channel.

Twin peaks season 2 episodes