Review: TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN

The two-part debut of the new TWIN PEAKS series is being marketed as just that, as a new series. It isn’t, though. It is in fact season three of the same series fans already know and love. It’s just that there was a quarter-century between seasons two and three, is all. And lest anyone doubt that this is exactly the way series creator David Lynch planned it, the first episode of season three opens with a flashback to the finale of season two, wherein Laura Palmer tells Agent Dale Cooper that she will see him again in 25 years. (Yes, technically it has been 26 years since season 2, but it had been 25 years on the nose when they started filming season three.)

David Lynch is a mad genius. He’s also a sadist. He knew that fans would be champing at the bit to see our old friends again, all the residents of Twin Peaks. He makes us wait. He gives us brief glimpses of some of them, interspersed with a lot of new material featuring all new characters. The narrative plays out at a maddeningly slow pace. At the end of episode two (the first two episodes were shown back to back, with no break in between), you are left feeling like you just got started. Don’t think this wasn’t done intentionally.

So what’s going on? Cooper is still trapped in the Red Room, and his evil doppelganger is on the loose, up to all kinds of mischief. Other than that, it’s hard to say exactly WHAT is going on. There’s some kind of portal in New York City that’s being monitored, and some sort of entity escapes through it and kills a pair of horny twentysomethings. (One thing that is notable is that, now that it’s on cable, Lynch seems committed to going all out with the series, leaning more on the Horror aspects of the show. There’s more in the way of blood and guts, as well as language and nudity, than we saw on network TV back in the day, that’s for sure.) If I had to make a guess at this point, I’d say that there was an invasion underway. There are other entities like demon BOB who are trying to get into out world, and Evil Cooper is trying to facilitate this. That’s my guess. Am I right? Who knows.

As an aside, I LOVE the evolved-arm-slash-talking-brain (that sorta looks like a sponge)-on-a-tree—which also has its OWN evil doppelganger.

Seeing Log Lady Catherine Coulson, who died during production of the new season, looking all sickly and weak in her brief appearances, broke my heart. We will miss you, Log Lady. The world of TWIN PEAKS won’t be the same without you.

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

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