Mentalgongfu

@Marius I don't recall that. What Part is the screengrab from?

@Owl I noticed the lamp too. If I recall correctly, there was also a miniature one on a table in the same style. I am not yet on board with Diane having anything to do with manufactured Dougie. It is weird for her to admit to having the Janey E/Dougie connection, though we know she is communicating with someone about directing the FBI to Las Vegas, but I can't buy she was in on Dougie's creation without seeing something more explicit about how she ties into all that has been going on. Her continued refusal to talk about the last time she saw Cooper seems important, though the why and how are still unclear. My feeling is Sarah's apparent possession/habitation is relatively new. It's possible it was ongoing when Laura and Maddie were alive, but I think it might be related to the return of the woodsmen ("men are coming") or the Experiment/Mother coming through the box in New York.

James is definitely not part of the sheriff's office - I'm sure we would have seen that before. My impression is that he and his Hulk-handed friend are sort of security guards/maintenance staff at The Great Northern. Otherwise, I agree with your take on the rest.

I wondered if it had any significance or was just a comment on Andy being a little "different." I'm inclined to believe the former, but if it did have deeper meaning, perhaps it is because he is not eating meat? I haven't noticed anything else in the series relating to vegetarianism, but it would be in line with the Buddhist principle of "ahimsa," non-violence to all beings.

I am so glad we got the Andy scene. Especially him jumping into confident action after his return from the Other Place. My love for his character was re-kindled in just those few minutes. Until this point, he has had very little to do in The Return that had clear relevance to the overall story. The only thing I can think of he has done prior to this episode, aside from odd and wonderful scenes with Lucy and Wally Brando, was his child-like observation when searching for info related to Hawk's heritage that he was looking for "an Indian," which might have seemed dumb at the time, but (as is often the case) turned out to be exactly what was called for after an image of a Native American led Hawk to find the missing diary pages. He and Lucy both seem to have innocent, savant-like abilities that come into play once in a blue moon, so maybe that's why the Trumans have kept them around the sheriff's office all these long years.

There's soooo much to talk about.... Andy's Big Fireman Adventure Sarah Palmer and the Westworld Neck Biter Gordon Cole's Magical Mystery Tour Chad Is Still An Asshole Billy Is Bleeding Tina is Not a Coma-Dream ????? Gets A Name I need at least a day to digest this episode before I can say anything substantive, but Wow, Bob, Wow!

I remember the guys saying something about being out of town so the podcast would be delayed, but no Part 14 thread either? And there's soooo much to talk about.... Andy's Big Fireman Adventure Sarah Palmer and the Westworld Neck Biter Gordon Cole's Magical Mystery Tour Chad Is Still An Asshole Billy Is Bleeding Tina is Not a Coma-Dream ????? Gets A Name And with all these developments, of course, the recurring complaint that nothing is happening (or not enough, or not fast enough, or not GoT enough....)

Sure, there isn't any character development in those particular scenes you cite. And clearly that's not what those scenes are there for.... But we have seen development of characters like Janey-E, Candie, Gordon, Albert, Tammy, and more. There is motion in the plot and in the world in each part, even if some of it is extremely subtle or merely filling backstory or creating tone. It's fine if you don't like the presentation, but I take issue with the assertion that "things are drawn out to no end but to mess with the viewers." I don't think it's fair to ascribe that motive to Lynch and Frost. The idea that because a viewer doesn't like something, Lynch must be trolling, showing disdain or deliberately messing with said viewer - to me that smacks of arrogance and a preference to believe that your dissatisfaction is the specific intent of the artist rather than simply your own personal reaction. Considering it bad story telling is legitimate, even though I disagree personally, but I am tired of this idea that because some of the audience dislikes the way The Return is going, it must be because Lynch wants them to dislike it, and that he just enjoys screwing with people for 18 vieweing hours. There are much easier ways to troll the public for him than investing 3 years of his life and all the associated effort to make the series happen.

Thank you. Your view mirrors my own. I am a big fan of Better Call Saul (which was unexpected, as I was very skeptical when it was initially proposed as a half-hour comedy), but it has faced many of the same complaints, especially in its most recent season. I don't think there are a ton of apt conparisons between BCS and Twin Peaks, but pacing and tone is the big one. With BCS, viewers complained that 'nothing happened' in particular episodes, when in fact there were major character developments, reveals of the past that set things in a new light, beautiful moments that lent to the depth and understanding of the story and its characters - but because there was little action and no big, game-changing cliffhanger episodes, many people felt like it was not moving. Viewers considered the slower, deeper story development to be more place-setting than actual plot growth. I think The Return suffers from the same type of complaint. People who were anxious for Dougie to become badass old Coop in episode 5 are even more frustrated and anxious now, just as people anxious for Jimmy McGill to become badass Saul Goodman were even more anxious and frustrated to see his change by the time the end of season 3 rolled around. To put it another way, Breaking Bad is to Better Call Saul as ABC's original Twin Peaks is to Showtime's Twin Peaks: The Return. And I have found much love for Dougie and The Return in general since I stopped expecting Coop's return to his old self, or anything else to be what it used to be, which, when you think about it, would be the ultimate fan-service cop out anyway. But hey, Wally Brando's monologue about his shadow has been my favorite literal laugh out loud moment of The Return so far, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I just don't see how you can not laugh at the deadpan delivery of a bit like, "My shadow is always with me. Sometimes ahead, sometimes behind... Sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right. Except on cloudy days. Or at night." As Zoidberg would say, "Now that's humors!"

I disagreed with the podcast's take on the Fusco trash moment. Of course they disregarded the info and threw it away. From their perspective, there's no way he could be a former FBI agent recently escaped from Federal prison when he has been in Vegas, having his car blown up and being interviewed by the L.V.P.D. during the same time period. I realize time passage is questionable in The Return, but Dougie has clearly been in Vegas during the entire time Bad Coop was locked up and escaping, and he has numerous alibis to prove it. There is no sane reason to believe Dougie is Cooper unless you already accept the idea of dopplegangers and strange Blue Rose happenings. That's why no one will figure it out unless it is Cole and the gang.

The new hope people are hanging onto is that it has to be coffee plus one of Norma's real Double R pies and not the franchise ones using sub-par ingredients. I don't think we're getting old Coop back at all, and if so, not till the final episode. Then again, i hear Part 14 is a real humdinger from those who saw the German Sky TV mistake that ran in place of 13, so who knows?. If I saw a link I don't think I could help myself from scratching that itch, but it doesn't seem to have made its way to the web, surprisingly.

Interesting thought. Someone at Mild Fuzz pointed out that when Ray says the Dutchman's isn't a real place, DoppleCooper shoots him and says he knows what it is, rather than where it is. Might just be parsing words, but we'll see.

Fair enough @unimural I get the complaint about female characters in The Return; I just don't share the perspective. Everything has worked for me so far, and I haven't been interpreting the women as shrews (not that you said that, but others have). I actually think an argument could be made the female characters in this revival have more depth and variety than in the original run, despite having less screen time. As far as Audrey specifically - I loved her character in the first two seasons, but I didn't expect to see her back in the same way in The Return, at least not after we got a ways into it and she hadn't yet appeared. I believe that's a major theme running through this extended movie - aging, change, the inability to go back to the old days. Bobby Briggs seems to be one of the few characters who has changed for the better, while others like Norma and Shelly are basically the same they always have been, still making the same mistakes. Audrey appears to have changed dramatically, and by appearances not for the better, though we still don't really know what's going on with her even after Part 13.

Watching on a phone? Mr. Lynch says:

I believe I've mentioned this before, but the more I think about the Project Blue Book/UFO connection to Blue Rose cases in Twin Peaks, the more I think there is a lot of inspiration drawn from Jaques Vallee and his take on the UFO phenomenon as terrestrial rather than extraterrestrial. In this old interview he mentions early on the implications of the atom bomb, the manipulation of time and space, witness responses that mirror those of characters like Sarah Palmer, energy/electricity, the speeding up of healing processes, and other ideas that relate to the mythology surrounding Twin Peaks. I'm biased, but I really recommend checking it out. Jaques Vallee - Thinking Allowed

You're right. Makes more sense that way.

Random speculation: With regard to Richard Horne's parentage, it seems the discussion everywhere has centered on Audrey and Mr. C, and occasionally the long-shots Donna or Johnny Horne, but most have dismissed the latter two and concluded Mr. C must be the father to explain Richard's evil behavior. But there's no reason Richard necessarily has to be the spawn of evil Cooper/Bob to be an evil man. And there are two other Hornes not usually considered - Ben and Jerry. Either could have fathered a child with a One-Eyed Jack's girl or some other woman, and we know Ben was having affairs. Granted, his presentation as Richard's grandfather would argue against him being the father, but he wouldn't be the first case of hiding a father's identity and allowing the child to be raised on a lie or omission. And it would explain his concern for Richard's actions and taking responsibility for Miriam's medical bills while Richard's presumed parents remain entirely absent from the scene. (On that note, the reference from Truman about the boys' parents would seem to argue against Mr. C being the father in the common theory, unless of course Audrey as mom hid the fact he was, since Truman is certainly not referring to DoppleCooper when he mentions parents). I don't really think the Ben as father theory is likely, but there's exactly as much direct evidence for that scenario in the show to date as there is for an Audrey/Mr. C coupling, which is to say, there's really no direct evidence for any scenario so far. And given TP's tendency to surprise, I wouldn't write it off until there's something more solid to go on.

Clearly that "twig" on the periphery of the frame is meant to represent Audrey, and how she is only on the periphery of The Return, at first not even visible and then moving ever so slightly into the frame.

Re: Audrey - Agitated? Sure. But, taking the scene at face value and ignoring the many theories about soap operas, comas/dream states, re-enactment therapy and the like, it would seem her agitation is quite reasonable and rational. Her friend and apparent lover has been missing for 2 days now, and she can't get her husband to help her go look for him. This is coming from someone whom we know was once abducted and nearly killed, in addition to the trauma of the bank explosion and resulting coma. He is not only disinterested, but seems to actively oppose her in this effort. We don't know why she can't go searching on her own, but she seems unable to do so (maybe she doesn't drive?). He then reveals relevant information about the theft of a truck that he has withheld until this point, and when he finally deigns to call this Tina as part of his stalling efforts, he refuses to share the apparently interesting information he gleaned in the phone call. And above all this behavior is some nebulous contract. You are certainly allowed to maintain your own interpretation, but to me, calling this an example of an unreasonable/irrational character is just reaching for something to criticize that fits this now well-established narrative about The Return and its female characters ( a narrative that I, frankly, just don't see). Given how little information we have to place the scene in any context, I think drawing that conclusion is both premature and undeserved.

I think a lot of viewers have romanticized what they want the original Twin Peaks to have been rather than what it was. Memory works that way. For me, this episode was as OG Twin Peaks as it gets; the only exception being the pacing, which is no longer dictated by the requirements of a prime-time slot on one of the 3 major networks and instead can take advantage of the luxuries afforded by Showtime and the era of streaming TV. Even back then, the show liked to take its time. Laura's murder wasn't solved until into the second season, and it wasn't yet fully solved at that point, since the mystery of Bob and the Lodges remained. Immediately upon seeing Audrey, I realized that no matter what scene Lynch and Frost gave us, people would be disappointed. They want to see the Audrey of the past, the young Audrey, dancing to a Badalamenti jazz number back in the good old days. That past is gone, and time has taken its toll. I, for one, was intrigued by her scene, which raises innumerable questions about what happened to land her in this apparently loveless and contractual obligation of a marriage. Of course it was confusing, as it was meant to be. But it did a wonderful job creating tension and raising questions, expanding the mystery. The Sarah Palmer scenes were disturbingly wonderful. The Truman/Horne scene was well done, and the transfer of the key will certainly advance the story when Hawk learns of it. Perhaps we'll see the Log Lady again. I am admittedly getting impatient for Truman, Hawk and Bobby to make their way to the coordinates, but I have to hope it will be worth the wait. And the FBI has officially brought Preston into the fold of Blue Rose and made it clear they are keeping Diane close in order to discover her secrets. Not my favorite episode of The Return, but I have nothing to complain about after my first viewing.

Correct. He said Billy. And subtitles are often wrong, not just on this show. I didn't think that needed to be pointed out, but many reviewers have gone off the deep end about the non-existent "Bing" as a result of that incorrect transcription. I wouldn't base anything important on them, especially when they conflict with your own eyes and ears.

Mullins was following Dougie into the shop . I just assumed he saw Dougie staring at the cherry pie and the conversation went similar to what @Urthman said. Mullins: Are you thinking we should buy them that pie? Dougie: Buy them that pie. Mullins: That's a great idea Dougie. You're a class act!

@Owl It wasn't keep away. One of the kids gently lobs the ball underhand directly to the youngest.

Very minor note: I think the editing in the first scene of the kids playing catch is quite deliberate. The two older boys are playing with each other and the youngest is basically just tagging along. The older boys throw to each other, but every once in a while they lob one to the little guy so he can feel included. He's too young to be relevant to their practice, which is why we barely see him at first, but they're good brothers, so they don't leave him out entirely. Perhaps I'm giving too much credit, but I got that sense immediately, conveying a family dynamic in just a matter of seconds.