Best Geeky Finds – Another Lynchian Brain Clench

“I’ll see you again in 25 years.”

These were Laura Palmer’s last words to Agent Cooper in 1992, right before he became trapped in the Black Lodge and the evil spirit Bob hijacked Cooper’s doppelganger and escaped.

Twenty-five years later, the show returned, this time with not quite as positive results as fans had hoped for. There are now 2 Coopers, only neither are actually Dale Cooper. This time there is the evil doppelganger, traveling the country on his own agenda set forward by Agent Jeffries (formerly portrayed by David Bowie in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me), while Dougie Jones, an overweight simpleton philanderer, gambles and consistently sleeps around on his wife. 

So where’s Cooper? Coop finds his way back to this plane of existence, only in the wrong form. Taking over Dougie Jones, a tulpa of his original form, Dougie becomes mentally retarded, which his family and employer do not seem to notice, leaving both Dougie and Cooper unable to make sense of the world around them.

Twin Peaks: The Return did not receive rave reviews during its initial 8 episodes, pointing out the series slow moments with very little happening. Even several of my friends whom I convinced to sign up for a Showtime trial, saying it was worth it to watch the series, came close to quitting on the show before the middle of the season. Too little was happening and too few of the original characters had appeared. Heck, we didn’t even get to see Audrey Horne until near the end, and even that ended with a cliffhanger of which we’ll never learn more. Let’s also not forget the risky 1940’s art film known as episode 8, featuring a 15-minute interlude of colored chrome film exposure of inside the Hiroshima bomb explosion.

To make matters worse, the series ended with as opaque a picture as it opened. While Cooper and his doppelganger’s story ended as it should (with a cloud of hate and the Immortal Iron First), the show still continued unnecessarily. Cooper went on his own journey to return a very living Laura (who, again, has been dead for over 25 years) to her family. In true Lynch & Frost fashion, this story escalated to extreme confusion, only to end with a scream and shift to black, leaving the series in the dust for fans to ponder for the next 25 years or more (if the series ever does return). As of now, a fourth season has not been discussed, and if one does happen it may not be on Showtime. Given the possible time jump in the finale, another 25 years wait may not be beyond reason for this duo.

So with all that went wrong, including the very disappointing finale, what made this series so good? For one, even though it took a while for many characters to return, we still got to see what became of many of our favorite people – Doctor Jacoby, Nadine, Big Ed, Andy and Lucy, even the Log Lady (whose final scenes had been filmed early in production from her home during her last years prior to dying of cancer). Even Sheryl Lee, whom the most we saw as Laura took place in the prequel movie, returned in a brand new role. While “The Secret History of Twin Peaks” book, previously reviewed in my blog, helped elaborate on many characters after the original series end, seeing them on screen was much more enjoyable.

I encourage everybody who enjoyed the original series to sign up for a free trial of Showtime and watch Twin Peaks: The Return. Despite is downfalls, it will be worth it come episode 17.

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