Aether

Incorrect, though I understand what you're getting at. I didn't bring a set of expectations to this season. I've been a fan of Lynch's films for a long time, I assumed the return would be elliptical and challenging. Given the way the first iteration of TP ended, it always seemed very clear that Lynch is more interested in complex human feelings and vagaries of self than story/lore. That's just his style. I would agree that Lynch cared about different things than I did if The Return consisted entirely of those final two hours. The problem is that we had to wait through 16 hours of events that we now know to be largely pointless...and that intentionally set up expectations Lynch ultimately laughed off (Freddie/Bob) or simply discarded (Audrey). To give a more obvious example: there were many scenes of Dougie/Coop seeing things he almost recognized, having moments of alertness and "almost" waking up. I think it's fair that many people thought Cooper was going to wake up and be himself again...those were the pieces Lynch put in place. Now, it's more clear: the entire Dougie/Cooper story line served no purpose. The build up fizzled out...Cooper never truly woke up...we got a few token minutes of Cooper one liners and then he was Richard, an Evil Cooper-esque figure. The point is: I didn't want things and feel disappointed that they never happened...I wanted the things that were there to mean something. I didn't want to waste 16 hours of my life feeling and thinking all so that I could get a finale that spit in my face and then...once again...just stranded Cooper in a state of failure. Those 16 hours of build up are more of the problem for me than the finale. The one story line that ultimately proved meaningful happened right at the beginning. Two idiots staring at a box and getting attacked...that meant something. That was Lynch indicating his views about the audience and the art. I don't think the return was simply trolling or making fun of the audience. I think it was a complex, difficult creation that was specifically about the artist and the audience. For whatever reason, and I blame myself, I didn't get the message. The finale made his antagonism for the viewer far more explicit. I regret having watched this season. And unlike some folks, I don't think there is any chance Lynch intends a follow up. That was it. He decided that his last run with TP would be this bullshit finale. It's just bitterly disappointing.

Believe me, I want to agree with you, I just poured 18 hours of my life into the season and many more thinking about it. I want to agree with you. And yet: Cockney Freddie and the magic gardening glove. That scene is not the problem, it's just an example of the problem. But there was just too much that Lynch threw under the bus in overtly ridiculous ways (or ignored all together). Having Cooper spring back last week "100%" only to very quickly turn into a different, Evil Cooper influenced self...that was intentional. The build up to Cooper's return was intentional...it was done knowing we would never really see that character again, in any meaningful way. Which is fine...that's Twin Peaks. You can mine rich stories out of expectation and altered selves. Lynch does it in his other work all the time. This season was just structured in such a way that the build up never really meant anything. It's hard for me to see that as anything other than contempt for the audience. I'm glad so many others disagree and enjoyed the season. I just wish it had hit me the same way. I'll leave it at that, I'm being overly repetitive at this point. Thanks for the discussion forum people.

I tend to enjoy the journey, especially with Lynch's films, I just thought the finale was weirdly bitter and petty, it was genuinely a let down. The questions it left me with had nothing to do with TP lore...I'm not trying to understand Audrey's plight or the new Cooper reality. Lynch doesn't give a shit about that, so it's not worth thinking about further. Mostly I'm trying to figure out why I watched. You mentioned "skip it"...given how the original finale played out, why did I watch this? I love Lynch's films, but for some reason TP takes him to this place where his conclusions generally undermine the rest of series. And now I'm trying to figure out why I put myself through another round of this...a "fuck you" finale seemed incredibly likely to happen again...that's how it played out the first time. It's like I have some sort of Twin Peaks Stockholm Syndrome. However, it's on me. There were red flags and I ignored them, chose to watch...ultimately, I'm responsible for the viewing experience. I've been feeling sort of bummed out and miserable all day and definitely wondering why I watched. It'll work out, this shit happens with art...it's intense, it pulls you in and sometimes that goes wrong, the connections we try to make with artistic experiences: it's intense and messy. Other times it works out okay. Humans are weird.

Bob, a major force in the show, was dispatched by a character we barely knew using a magic gardening glove that was revealed to the viewer in an exposition dump. So no, I didn't enjoy that, it didn't feel like Lynch intended for anyone to enjoy it. 3 seasons and a films worth of build up involving Bob was resolved with an abrupt mega punch. That entire story ended with a shrug. Fuck Lynch for that. However, that one scene is not what makes me feel that the finale was Lynch's middle finger to the viewer. Most of the finale seemed to be about brushing off everything that came before it, in terms of the structure of this season, and wallowing in the trajectory of Cooper's failure and loss of self. As I've said before, this season could have ended in all sorts of bleak ways that were also meaningful, but episode 18 just felt like Lynch spitting in our faces. The languid pace of the return and the ambiguity of so many scenes ultimately served no purpose and led to nothing. Where's Audrey? Lynch could care less. Her fate is not enigmatic, it was just discarded. In retrospect, a lot of the season meant very little, these were starting points that Lynch never intended to take anywhere interesting. The finale undid much of the season and much of Twin Peaks as a whole (literally) just so that we could witness Cooper (once again) lost and defeated. I only focus on the magic gardening glove nonsense because it's a window into how Lynch viewed the finale. Some of it was a joke to him, the rest was contempt for the viewer. You disagree and that's perfectly fine, it has been interesting to see the various reactions. Thanks, Frohike.

I agree. Cockney Freddie and the magic glove versus a Bob rock: that's not "simply disregarding viewer expectation". That's David Lynch laughing at you.

To those who feel Lynch was in no way making fun of the audience: first, I get that these episodes are complex and people will arrive at very different conclusions, that's all good. I'm glad a lot of folks liked the way it wrapped up. But Lynch didn't even try to hide his contempt for viewer expectations. Which can be a legitimate thing to have contempt for...but there are interesting ways to subvert expectations and then there is last night's finale, which, for me at least, was just Lynch creating a set of mysteries and complex feelings and shrugging it all off so that he could spit in the audiences face. And if you disagree, that's fine...but you have to contend with Freddie and the magic gardening glove. Sorry. That character and his super powered glove, that happened. He punched a Bob rock. Lynch was openly laughing at the audience with that, it was intentionally absurd. By design, the end of the Evil Coop story line was rushed, abrupt and involved a magic gardening glove. I don't think I'm off base when I feel like the finale was in many ways Lynch's middle finger to the audience. He wasn't even subtle about it. Anyway, thanks for the discussion everyone.

Quick overview of my reaction to the finale: I think wrapping up the Evil Coop story line the way he did, Lynch was clearly expressing a lack of interest in "resolution" and was openly making fun of the audience. I saw episode 17 as a sort of parody of a "series finale" and episode 18 as a more pure expression of what Lynch is about, which seems to be a pretty bleak and hopeless assessment of the state of the modern world. The fact that a lot was left unresolved (e.g. Audrey) and the resolutions that we did get were willfully absurd (guy with a magic gardening glove punching a Bob rock)...this struck me as being mean-spirited on Lynch's part...it didn't just feel like the normal sort of TP parody, where he is taking tropes from, say, soap operas to a more extreme level. The side-character with a magic glove stuff...it was just rushed and (by design) hard to take seriously. In a lot of ways, the 2-part finale reminded me of the films of Michael Haneke, where he often uses stories and characters to undermine expectations and scold the audience. His stuff is beautifully made and, like Lynch this season, kind of dickish. Fuck getting scolded, I didn't really need that. There are plenty of ways to undermine tropes and expectations without talking down to the audience. And 18 was just a straight up bummer. Cooper clearly had evolved into a Good/Evil hybrid... and he's continuing to struggle against forces he's not able to comprehend, grapple with. I didn't need anything easy or tidy...I assumed there would be zero resolution, this being a full blown Lynch experience. What I didn't expect was something this bitter. I couldn't help but feel like Lynch took all of his frustrations over narrative expectations and used them against the characters. Cooper's failure could have been a statement about how we navigate human existence..it could have been despairing and meaningful at the same time. Instead it just felt like Lynch's antagonistic swipe at the audience. In TP discussions, it is often mentioned that Lynch never wanted to reveal Laura's killer and chafed over the narrative rules of television. Season 3 felt like a reaction to that overall frustration. It felt like he got bogged down in engineering this cosmic Rube-Goldberg story that was designed to once again leave Cooper in a failed, lost state. As much as I enjoyed watching the return overall, the finale retroactively undid a lot of that enjoyment by making so many events from this season feel even more senseless and petty than they did upon first viewing. I stopped being a TP fan last night. I get the feeling this is exactly what Lynch wanted.

definitely glad you liked it, i think by design it will be hitting different people in different ways. and i'm with you about the show possibly ending, I'd prefer it be over, though we probably feel that way for different reasons.

I didn't like it because David Lynch didn't want me to like it.

"is it future or is it past"

reconsidering.

theories.

second thoughts

saving for later

I just want to say for the record that TP Rewatch is my favorite podcast. I really enjoy the personality and the insights and the articulate thoughts you guys bring to these discussions. It has been difficult to find another place with TP conversation that is this enjoyable. Thanks to Chris and Jake.