Angelo Badalamenti - Hank's Theme (Twin Peaks unreleased music)

Hank Jennings (played by Chris Mulkey) is one of my favourite characters in Twin Peaks, with Audrey Horne being the favourite (Sherilyn Fenn is the master of mixing sexuality with innocence and strong heart with vulnerability). Hank may be a common henchman-type bad guy, but there are many small things about Hank that make his character more interesting:

featured here really cool, sinister theme composed by Angelo Badalamenti. Badalamenti did not score specific scenes. Instead, he created a large base of musical cues that would match Twin Peaks mood before the show aired. Then it was music editors' job to choose and mix themes suitable for each episode. Whoever made a decision to make this cue Hank Jennings' main theme did a great choice. It's incredibly simple (practically four notes), but superbly conveys the menace and roughness of Hank's character. It also made Hank's first scene one of my favourite character introductions in the series. Thanks to this theme, Hank's first words ("Haven't seen you for a while Norma.") sound even more threatening and uneasy.

he used o be a good guy. He was a Bookhouse Boy and Sheriff Truman's friend. Unfortunately, we don't know what made him turn into a criminal.

badass leather jacket and badass shaggy hair.

domino piece, Hank's lucky charm. The hypothesis that the number of spots indicates the number of people killed by Hank is interesting, but does not hang together. In 2x08 his 3/3 piece changes to 4/4, and in 2x12 it changes to 3/4 piece. Chris Mulkey said that the reason of prop's changing was simple - the original was lost.

his quirky habit of sucking domino pieces and cut fingers.

continuous symbolic reinforcment of the fact that he's a cuckold: he "has" horns during his "Partner" conversation with Josie (his head is in one line with buck's head), he mentions the buck's head while visiting Truman at the sheriff's station, plus Benjamin Horne makes a shadow of buck with his hands when mocking Hank ("You're out Ben. You're out! Ben, you're out!").

The fact that he always stays cool, no matter if he confronts Horne brothers, Jean Renault or a wifebeater Leo (who may be courageous with Shelly or schoolboys like Bobby and Mike, but is shitlessly scared of Hank). And that Nadine utterly owns Hank, which is quite a humorous decomposition of Hank being always cool and tough.

Although I didn't like a lot of second season stuff, "Super Nadine" story arc wasn't that bad (and this particular scene is great). I much more disliked Evelyn Marsh and her "Postman Always Rings Twice" plotline or Ben Horne's Civil War madness (well, the final scene with Jacoby as general Grant is a gem, but the whole concept was wrong imo). The thing I loathed was Audrey's soapy romance with Wheeler - in my opinion, separating Cooper and Audrey was another nail in the coffin of the show, just after the reveal and death of the killer in ninth episode. And what's more irritating, it happened not because of pressure coming from the ABC, but most likely due to something such foolish and short-sighted like jealousy of one of the cast members (LFB, why were you so selfish?). If they hadn't cut out the continuation of Audrey and Cooper "special relationship", there would be no need to introduce new characters and find ideas for the storyline ad hoc. The relation between them could have evolve into some sort of mentor/apprentice (as Mark Frost said after years). Add the danger from Windom Earle, Ben Horne's dissatisfaction with his daughter's relationship, connections between Audrey and the Black Lodge, and there's no need to bring in new characters and plotlines to fill up the hole, because... there's no hole. Maybe then some "core" characters like Hank could have been developed better - for example more scenes with Sheriff Truman, Hank finding out that Bobby knows he shot Leo Johnson, Leo confronting Hank etc.

---

Here are several variations of the theme:
0:00 - Hank's Theme. Heard in episode 1x04, in the scene when Hank's character is introduced. He and Norma are having a small chat just before the hearing.
1:00 - Hank's Theme Short 1 ("Catch you later..."). Short variation of the theme from the same episode. Hank's got his parole and we can see a domino piece for a first time.
1:30 - Hank's Theme variation ("Partner..."). Heard in episode 1x07, in the scene of Hank's monologue to Josie (finger cutting scene). It is longer and has a great crescendo. Unfortunately I was unable to remove the ticks without destroying the original tempo, so I left them.
2:46 - Hank's Theme Short 2 ("I'll make you proud of me yet"). Another short variant heard in 1x07. Hank's talking to Norma about his willingness for changes and kisses her.
3:18 - Hank's Theme Reprise. Heard in episode 2x11. Hank confronts Ben Horne and tells him that there's been "friendly takeover" of One Eyed Jacks. Can also be heard in "Secrets from Another Place" documentary.