Jake

Twin Peaks Rewatch 36: The Return, Part 2

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About the population number, I'm fairly sure the Secret History book makes some offhand reference to the number on the sign being a misprint. Which to me indicates that Frost took the opportunity to override the unfortunate network note from way-back-when and has now restored the town of Twin Peaks back to only having a population of approximately 5000 people.

 

 

EDIT: Found the exact passage:

 

"Some believe the Bookhouse Boys’ most remarkable achievement came in 1968, when its members made up the entire starting lineup on the Twin Peaks High School seven-man football squad. That hard-nosed crew went undefeated for Coach Bobo Hobson during the regular season, a first for our small community—the misprint on the old town sign notwithstanding—and then thrilled their die-hard fans when they rumbled through the local, sectional and regional playoffs to reach the Washington State championship game."

Edited by ThatThomas

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7 hours ago, SpectreCollie said:

Obviously it'd be impossible to get a definitive answer even from somebody who wasn't as notoriously "the art speaks for itself" as Lynch, but I tend to side with "intentional" almost always.

 

 

 

I have a hard time seeing Lynch's work as anything other than purely intentional. Whether it's sound or visuals, i believe he has a clear vision and sees that vision is realized as precisely as possible.

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7 hours ago, SpectreCollie said:

Apologies for commenting before listening to the new podcasts, but the point where I most consistently disagreed with Jake and Chris in the podcasts for the original run was re: how much was intentional and how much was just poorly done. Obviously it'd be impossible to get a definitive answer even from somebody who wasn't as notoriously "the art speaks for itself" as Lynch, but I tend to side with "intentional" almost always.

 

For instance: one thing I'm really happy to see in the new series, and which I always associate with Twin Peaks*, is the way traveling in the woods at night is depicted. It seems to always be headlights or a flashlight against the trees, with a circle of stark, artificial clarity in the center of the frame and a huge completely black expanse everywhere else.

 

Technically speaking, it's poorly lit. And the "standard" technique for movies and series inspired by Twin Peaks seems to go the X-Files route and have enough ambient light to fill the whole frame -- X-Files often had flashlights diffused by fog, or a preternaturally bright light just over the horizon, to make everything seem creepy, but it was still well lit. Shots in the woods in Twin Peaks are just unsettling, though. Especially when they're going to the Black Lodge. It feels like darkness is closing in on everything, and your feeble attempts to fend off the darkness can barely make a dent. To me it does the same thing as that recurring shot of a traffic light in the original series, which is that idea of civilization feebly trying to hold off darkness everywhere.

 

So I tend to think the same for the VFX. Even when it's not intentional to convey an idea, it's still part of a unique look. The artifice draws attention to itself and is part of what makes it uniquely unsettling. I'd agree that there's some element of "good enough for what we're doing," but I don't see it as a limitation in any way -- I can imagine that "more professional" effects would just blend in with everything else and become forgettable.

 

*(It's in Wild at Heart and long stretches of Lost Highway I guess, but it's not used exactly the same way)
 

 

I agree with this for whatever it's worth. I think some of the mid season 2 visual effects choices were over reaching and not actually good, but the Lynch stuff usually feels deliberate even if it's aesthetically "bad" by normal tastes. I think season 3 showcases the intentional nature of the effects really well because there are traditionally "nice" effects next to the more weird pure-idea/pure-2D-composition Lynch stuff. 

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4 hours ago, Jake said:

 

I agree with this for whatever it's worth. I think some of the mid season 2 visual effects choices were over reaching and not actually good, but the Lynch stuff usually feels deliberate even if it's aesthetically "bad" by normal tastes. I think season 3 showcases the intentional nature of the effects really well because there are traditionally "nice" effects next to the more weird pure-idea/pure-2D-composition Lynch stuff. 

I guess you're referring to things like Josie in the doorknob? I remember not quite understanding what that was supposed to be, which might be a real signifier of failure.

 

The only effect I've really questioned so far this series is in Episode 4 

Spoiler

the floating red room graphic over the machines in the casino

because I felt it could have been something subtler. Maybe they wanted something a bit gaudy to mirror the environment. A big pointing finger or the one-armed (!) man's face or something might have been better. It didn't hamper my enjoyment so who cares, I guess. It just felt a little cheap.

 

Edit. I just went back and watched the Josie doorknob (actually a chest-of-drawers knob) and actually it's fine. I mean, it's crazy, but it's not a confusing effect like I remembered it. The video of her tortured face morphs to an early '90s CG face model which moves a bit and freezes when the credit appears. She's quite clearly trapped in a wooden knob. Obvs! I still don't get it, but not because of the shot.

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3 hours ago, ThatThomas said:

About the population number, I'm fairly sure the Secret History book makes some offhand reference to the number on the sign being a misprint. Which to me indicates that Frost took the opportunity to override the unfortunate network note from way-back-when and has now restored the town of Twin Peaks back to only having a population of approximately 5000 people.

 

 

EDIT: Found the exact passage:

 

"Some believe the Bookhouse Boys’ most remarkable achievement came in 1968, when its members made up the entire starting lineup on the Twin Peaks High School seven-man football squad. That hard-nosed crew went undefeated for Coach Bobo Hobson during the regular season, a first for our small community—the misprint on the old town sign notwithstanding—and then thrilled their die-hard fans when they rumbled through the local, sectional and regional playoffs to reach the Washington State championship game."

 

Haha.  Well, the small town is what they always wanted, and once the network was out of the way, it's what Frost got :P

 

I like TP the most when it has that very small town feel, and generally I think the idea of a murder being so shocking works best for the smaller size.  But as I said in my earlier post, there's other elements of the town that just feel off if it is that small.  Thankfully it's a weird place and feeling off is kind of what it does best.

 

 

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David Lynch tearfully receiving a standing ovation, with a beaming smile and a disbelieving shake of the head has made me very happy today.

 

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That's especially poignant after hearing about how people booed Fire Walk With Me, and also booed him for winning the big award for Wild at Heart:

 

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I'm going to drop my thoughts on the first 2 episodes in here. Great to have the show (and the podcast) back again.

 

  • I think the casting and direction so far have been really strong. The NY scenes in episode 1 managed to feel really appropriate to Twin Peaks despite being modern day footage of city people in HD.
  • On a similar note, the actor who plays Mr. Hastings is my current favourite actor in the show, and the scenes with him have all been excellent from a dialogue perspective. In my mind he's filling a similar role to Leland in season 2 right now.
  • I agree a lot of the VFX look weak, and I'm not sure how much of that is intentional. There definitely could have been improvements there, and I'm not sure intentional sloppiness is a good choice anyway
  • Disappointed by lack of man from another place. Electric tree thing is no substitute.
  • I remember hearing people say you didn't need to see S01 and S02 for this season to make sense. Firstly I think the black lodge stuff is far too confusing for anyone new to the show, but more importantly I'm worried that people will walk in on this season first, and get heavy spoilers for the first 2 seasons worth of good stuff, making it boring if they go back.
  • Sarah and Leeland Palmer were both great in their brief appearances. I found myself constantly looking in the mirrors above Sarah's head in case there was something hidden
  • I haven't seen anybody talk about it, but during the New York scenes, each time they went into the bathroom the way the basin and mirror were set up together in the foreground gave me strong flashbacks to the season 2 ending. In Episode 1 I was half expecting the security guy to have bashed the mirror with his head or something. I wonder if there's any connection between that bathroom and why Coop appeared in the box nearby.

That's it for now.

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On 22/05/2017 at 6:58 PM, Gattman said:

Having just watched EPs 1 & 2

One thing I am curious about is

Where does Ep 1 end and Ep 2 begin?

The end of episode 1 is the shot where the cops are holding the flashlight on the chunk of flesh in the car.

Start of episode 2 is Bill Hastings anxiously holding his head in the jail cell

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Regarding the appearance of Jacques Renault in the roadhouse at the end, it does indeed appear to be a new Renault brother.

 

Capture.PNG

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I love the freight train speeding through the level crossing. It evokes the stop light, but also suggests passage, maybe between worlds, big and heavy and fast and dangerous, all the while the horn blasting out an incessant ominous warning. I wonder if it'll be back. It's too substantial to make the same kind of use as they did for the stop light. Maybe it's better as a one off.  

 

Edit: Also, Chris and Jake were unsure as to whether James' friend was British. He's definitely a Londoner; his only line is to describe Bang Bang Bar as "the dog's bollocks".

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Hi everyone, 

during the first run of the Rewatch podcast i missed out on he forum discussion, and I promised myself I wouldn't miss it when Twin Peaks cane back, so here I am: watched the show as a preteen when it first ran, and then went on to make video art in college, so it must have influenced me somehow.

I'm thrilled to see Lynch has not backed off of his dreamlike vision since Inland Empire. I've watched a lot of unwatchable film made by artists, and Lynch straddles the border between 

Terrence Malick and Matthew Barney. Twin Peaks' return has inspired me to dive back into my art practice, while bringing back old friends (including Jennifer Jason Leigh, an old crush, as Bad Coop's crew member Chantal-- good eye, Mington).

 

Is it Future? Or is it Past? It is Now, and I'm loving every second!

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On 26.5.2017 at 5:50 PM, Woodfella said:

David Lynch tearfully receiving a standing ovation, with a beaming smile and a disbelieving shake of the head has made me very happy today.

 

 

This is a really sweet thing. Thanks for linking. 

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On 5/27/2017 at 1:51 AM, Spud said:

 

  • On a similar note, the actor who plays Mr. Hastings is my current favourite actor in the show, and the scenes with him have all been excellent from a dialogue perspective. In my mind he's filling a similar role to Leland in season 2 right now.

 

I agree. I've always liked Matthew Lillard, but he is absolutely killing it here. It's really different from his usual vibe which is one of sorta goofy likeability. 

 

He's so good as Bill. 

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On 5/25/2017 at 8:21 PM, Jake said:

 

I agree with this for whatever it's worth. I think some of the mid season 2 visual effects choices were over reaching and not actually good, but the Lynch stuff usually feels deliberate even if it's aesthetically "bad" by normal tastes. I think season 3 showcases the intentional nature of the effects really well because there are traditionally "nice" effects next to the more weird pure-idea/pure-2D-composition Lynch stuff. 

I only saw afterwards that y'all talk about this on the first episode of the podcast, and FWIW I agree completely with your conclusions there. I was happy you mentioned that establishing shot of Manhattan because I was struck by how eerily unreal it looked but couldn't think of how to describe it.

And probably a better example than my failed attempt at over-explaining David Lynch lighting is the way "comedy" succeeds or lands, since it can be super-tough to figure out the show's sense of humor. For me, nothing's landed as well as Nadine excitedly opening and closing the silent curtain runners; everything else is just an uncomfortable uncertainty.

 

Also: I've gotten so annoyed hearing people go all-in on auteur theory with Twin Peaks and attribute every single thing to David Lynch and David Lynch only, so I was happy to hear y'all not only acknowledge Frost, but succinctly describe what is probably Frost's main contribution. I'm a huge fan of Frost's novels (at least the Sherlock Holmes ones) but have never been able to identify exactly what he does for Twin Peaks apart from a vague guess of "balance."

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I don't think I'd seen this brought up here.  I've been reading The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, and ran across this exchange last night (which may be imaginary or not, its hard to tell what's real BOB and what's Laura's imaginings of BOB). 

 

img_20170707_010003_1024.thumb.jpg.137bc52deda84001107bff95bccf2aef.jpg

 

It's a direct echo of the conversation in the diner where BadCoop says the Need/Want line to Darya and Ray.  A neat callback to the Secret Diary, and arguably points to these mental and written exchanges with BOB being entirely real rather than partly imagined. 

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