The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. The series will be rebooted in 2023 to reflect the third season (and patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public), but this entry will remain intact. There will be spoilers.
Lodwick feels at odds with his environment, never quite grasping what the people around him are interested in or want.
Monday, March 6, 1989
Lodwick, a state prosecutor, arrives in a small town where he is to attend two pre-trial hearings the next morning. He looks tired and hungry and just wants a cheeseburger with fries. The servers seem dismayed and keep talking amongst themselves and making faces, but Lodwick doesn’t pay them much mind, except when he gets up to ask for the bathroom.
Tuesday, March 7, 1989
In his first appearance before a hastily-assembled “court” in the village tavern, Lodwick argues that the first defendant, a local lawyer named Leland Palmer accused of first-degree murder, should “be denied bail on the basis of one, the great seriousness of the crime for which he has been accused, two, the apparently premeditated nature of this act, and three, the oft-witnessed instability of Mr. Palmer during the period following the death of his daughter." The judge responds by releasing Leland on his own recognizance. In the second hearing, Lodwick argues that Leo Johnson, charged with multiple crimes but currently in a vegetative state, be allowed to stand trial despite his mental condition. This way, the community can experience “resolution” over the death of Laura Palmer (Leland’s daughter), whom Leo is suspected of killing. The judge is irritated by this line of argument and interrupts Lodwick to call a recess so he can deliberate. The last time we see Lodwick he is sitting off, lonely, in the distance behind the judge, FBI agent, and local sheriff while they chat amiably at the bar. It's not looking good for his second argument either.
Characters Lodwick interacts with onscreen…
Norma Jennings
Lodwick’s journey
Lodwick is established as a loner, neither content nor
miserable in his isolation. His visit to the diner foreshadows his
performance in the courtroom; Lodwick is either incapable or uninterested in reading and responding to his environment. As a result,
he loses both his wallet (Hank probably wouldn’t snatch it if he wasn’t
curious about Lodwick’s identity) and two courtroom
arguments. Or perhaps the prosecutor's second argument is a shrewd shift following the reaction to his first, demonstrating an
ability to read the situation after all. Seeing how fond the community
was of Leland, how sympathetic to his grief, Lodwick attempts a Hail Mary with Leo:
shouldn’t that same community receive the catharsis of a murder trial? But if this lawyerly calculation is sound, his manner still makes the
judge’s skin crawl – he just can't connect with this guy (that said, Sternwood does express some respect for Lodwick’s fortitude, out of
earshot). Lodwick accepts the judge’s first pronouncement without any
apparent shock or disappointment. Presumably he will shrug off the second as well. Frankly, I think he just wants to fulfill his duties and go home. Then again, maybe even back there he’s like this, a
man who does his job only because he can’t think of anything he'd prefer.
Actor: Ritch Brinkley
Brinkley, who passed away in 2015, was a character actor with guest
appearances on many eighties and nineties TV shows and films. His most
famous recurring role was probably Carl Wishnitski, a cameraman on
Murphy Brown who was infatuated with the main character. He also
worked on Hill Street Blues when Mark Frost was executive story editor,
which may have led to his casting as Lodwick. His final role was in
the film Children on Their Birthdays, starring Sheryl Lee who was,
of course, Laura Palmer…the girl whose murder Lodwick was unable to
prosecute, and whose killer he was unable to keep behind bars. (film pictured: Cabin Boy, 1994)
Episodes
Writers/Directors
Lodwick’s first appearance is credited to Mark Frost, Harley Peyton,
Robert Engels, and Jerry Stahl, while his court scenes are penned by
Barry Pullman. He is directed by Todd Holland and Graeme Clifford.
Statistics
Lodwick is onscreen for roughly four minutes. He is in three scenes
and two episodes, taking place in two consecutive days. He’s featured
the most in episode 12, the hearings. His primary location
is the Roadhouse and he shares the most screentime with the characters present for both hearings (particular emphasis on Sternwood).
Best Scene
Episode 12: Lodwick’s attempt to place Leo on trial best represents
the tenacity beneath his mopey demeanor.
Best Line
“A trial does more than just punish the wrongdoer. It also brings a
feeling of justice and retribution to a community.”
Additional Observations
• Not much love is lost between Lodwick and Racine, the defense attorney who shoots him an occasionally testy side glance. When the judge cuts Lodwick off and asks him to return to his seat, Racine smugly waves at the chair. Lodwick doesn’t take the bait.
• At that first hearing, Harry compassionately speaks on Leland's behalf, praising him as a beloved member of the community whose grief may have driven him to violence, but who offers no threat to the good people of Twin Peaks. This moving tribute is offered as a stark contrast to Lodwick’s blunt, vaguely inhuman, by-the-book reasoning. However, Harry is wrong and Lodwick is right, and a woman in the room that very day will die because the judge listened to the local instead of the interloper.
• Lodwick will be going home without his badge. While he’s in the bathroom, Hank lifts it from his jacket, then pockets it for later use.
• Update 2018: This entry was written in 2017, before the third season, and did not need to be revised as Lodwick did not re-appear. Only the description/intro at the top and the ranking were updated. Since the criteria for inclusion was changed (originally three scenes with dialogue, now ten minutes of screentime), he retroactively became a "bonus entry" rather than part of the full rankings. In the original character series, Lodwick was ranked #75, between Nicky and Sylvia.
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SHOWTIME: No, Brinkley is not on the cast list for 2017. Long retired when the new series was announced, he died early in production. I wonder if the character returned to Twin Peaks in subsequent weeks or months to prosecute any other citizens. Perhaps Lodwick only came back many years later; if so, did he hear any whispers of the strange events that unfolded immediately after his last fateful appearance? Was he curious enough to pay them any mind?
Next: Rusty Tomaski
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Previous: "Little Nicky" Needleman
UPDATE 2023
To read advance entries every week...
(When the series resumes publicly, all new or revised entries will be published at least a month in advance for patrons.)
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