Howdy, valued listeners! Welcome to our new regular post day, Thursday, a loving nod to the Peaks’ regular night back in the day. Here’s our hot take on the cold fish that is Season 2, Episode 11, “Masked Ball”—and we even found a few things to like! We’re cockeyed optimists like that. Jonathan covers what’s not working in this episode; Damon highlights characters haunted by their pasts; Jennifer shines a light on what did work; and Colin uses these doldrums to think about supernatural TV. In the Twist, we start to examine the show’s treatment of the character Denise Bryson (David Duchovny).

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S2, E11 NOTES:
 Duwayne Dunham (episode director)
Barry Pullman (episode writer)
Dan O’Herlihy (1919-2005, Andrew Packard)
Tony Jay (1933-2006, Dougie Milford)
James Marshall (b. 1967, James Hurley)
Wendy Robie (b. 1953, Nadine Hurley)
Annette McCarthy (b. 1958, Evelyn Marsh)
John Boylan (1912-1994, Mayor Dwayne Milford)
Luke Perry (1966-2019, Beverly Hills 90210’s Dylan McKay)
Cousin Oliver Syndrome (television trope of adding a precocious child actor, sometimes considered a subset of Jumping the Shark)
Charlotte Stewart (b. 1941, Betty Briggs)
David Duchovny (b. 1960, Agent Denise Bryson)
The X-Files (1993-2002, Fox TV series, starring David Duchovny, featuring sci-fi themes)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-75, ABC TV series with supernatural themes)
Darren McGavin (1922-2006, beloved American actor)
Dark Shadows (1966-71, ABC TV series, gothic soap opera)
The Twilight Zone (1959-64, CBS TV series focusing on the supernatural)
Dr. Who (1963-89, 2005-present, BBC TV series)
Tom Baker (b. 1934, English actor known for, among other things, portraying The Fourth Doctor)
“Meglos” (1980, 4-part episode of the BBC’s Dr. Who)
Cisgender (also “cis”; gender identity descriptor where one identifies with their sex assigned at birth)
Complete notes at our website: BackToTheDoubleR.com!