Who Killed Laura Podcast Ep. 4 - Women Are Drawn from a Different Set of Blueprints

We’re back with a new episode, this one on Episode Four (the fifth episode of Season One), titled, “The One-Armed Man.” It aired May 3, 1990 and was seen by 11.9% of US households, up slightly from the previous episode’s 11.3%.

The episode was written by Robert Engels, who would continue his association with Lynch and Frost through 1992, co-writing Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and co-executive producing their short-lived follow-up series, On the Air. He worked on other series such as Andromeda and seaQuest DSV until 2005. He now teaches screenwriting at Cal State Fullerton. Engels writes two more episodes, 16 and 28, both in Season Two. In this episode, he writes most of Gordon Cole’s dialogue, drawing on his experience with his mother, who was also hard of hearing. Engels feels the three biggest influences on the series are The Wild, Wild West, Mayberry R.F.D. and The Fugitive, and the latter certainly is reflected in the One-Armed Man.

This episode introduces David Lynch as FBI agent Gordon Cole (contrary to Scott’s comments in the podcast that he had been heard before). Lynch liked the idea of idea of speaking his lines at high volume, and so the character was written as hard of hearing.

Tim Hunter directed this episode, citing the techniques of Otto Preminger as an influence. He knew Lynch from their time studying together at the American Film Institute. Hunter would go on to direct the 9th and 21st episodes of Season Two as well. He has had a fantastic directing career, working on such series as, Carnivale, House M.D., Deadwood, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter, Hannibal and even the Peaks-influenced, Wayward Pines.

This is the only episode of the series to use a Dutch angle shot (the camera is tilted so the horizon line is not parallel to the bottom of the screen, usually to suggest uneasiness, a world out of balance). Only Hunter was allowed to use this; the angle was otherwise forbidden by Lynch and Frost on the series.

The “washing Little Elvis” joke reminded Scott of SNL’s “Tiny Elvis” sketch, starring Elvis fan (to the extent he married his daughter) and Lynch alum, Nicolas Cage. It aired a couple years after TP, in 1992.

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