10 Things We Learned From Twin Peaks: The Return Part 11
2. Jim Belushi Is Also Brilliant
As we reacquaint ourselves with the brothers Mitchum, Jim Belushi's Bradley, almost endearingly pouring himself a bowl of children's cereal, recalls his dream of "killing that Douglas Jones f*ck" to Rodney. "I hate him so bad!" he whines in a fittingly childlike tone. He can barely last three more hours before killing him.
When we re-reacquaint ourselves with the brothers Mitchum, Bradley's juvenile bloodlust has subsided. His dream has stirred within him a sense of anxiety. He has seen this before - is it future, or is it past? - and in his dream, the cut on Rodney's face had healed. "I'll be damned," Rodney confirms. It has. When Cooper emerges from the limo, Bradley also confirms that the aforementioned box was part of the same dream. "Ah f*ck," the equally great Rodney says with an instantly, perfectly blunt despair.
It's when he discovers the $30M cheque made out to him and Rodney, screwing Duncan Todd's plan and saving Cooper's life, that his performance reaches the elusive 'Peaksian', erm, peak. He sort of makes an exaggerated, slowed down, about-to-feint gesture - an undefinable bit of physical comedy you will only see in a Lynch production.
His casting triggered concerns - Belushi is quietly good in a dramatic context, his reputation glowing following an acclaimed turn in Show Me A Hero - but the series' fondness for broad comedy did much to quell optimism. Lynch and Frost have subverted expectations by subverting the gangster trope.