Twin Peaks Rewatch 40: The Return, Part 6

[Jake]

Twin Peaks Rewatch 40:

The Return, Part 6
A long-awaited face makes a tantalizing appearance in the shape of Laura Dern, much to the internet's delight. Meanwhile, the swirling Dougie-related conspiracies seem to intertwine ever further, even as new threads continue to appear and bodies pile up. We aren't entirely sure what to make of it all, but we give it a shot.

 

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[Mister]

Well, this is pretty much exactly what I expected when Lynch got Showtime to double the episode number.  Remember when this series was gonna be over 3 episodes from now?

[Argobot]

DIANE!!!!!!!

 

Gotta say, it's really nice to hear Albert say "fuck."

[Gregalor]

When Ike "The Spike" opened his envelope and music started blaring, did anyone else think it was one of those greeting cards that plays music? Haha

[agorman]

42 minutes ago, Mister said:

Well, this is pretty much exactly what I expected when Lynch got Showtime to double the episode number.  Remember when this series was gonna be over 3 episodes from now?

Holy hell

[Argobot]

It was the song playing when his first victim was introduced in the previous episode. And then it played again when he killed her.

[agorman]

The scene with the drug dealer unnerved me quite a lot.

 

I think I'm going to need to rewatch this episode tomorrow.

[pyide]

This episode..

[Jake]

7 minutes ago, pyide said:

This episode..

Gonna need more than that!

[Sigrath]

I noticed Sonny Jim had another backward moment this episode. I'm really wondering what this indicates. Is it a hint that Janey-E and he are also constructs like Dougie was? Unlikely since Janey-E doesn't seem to have these moments. Is he going to be some sort of hybrid, who will have some weird tie to the Black Lodge? He's awfully chill for a kid.

[LadyHawke]

Seeing the light at Sparkwood and 21 was as exciting as seeing any returning cast members. And then everything went dark. Kind of like the remainder of the episode. 

[marblize]

The magic scene is the kind of moody fuckery I am Here For.

 

I've seen some twitter folk shit-talking the hit-by-truck scene but I think we were due for some excruciating pathos ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I thought the soul leaving (???) was pretty silly at first but once it was revealed to be from Carl's POV I was down.

 

I really need to rewatch FWWM.

[Gregalor]

1 hour ago, gormanate said:

The scene with the drug dealer unnerved me quite a lot.

 

I think I'm going to need to rewatch this episode tomorrow.

 

Can we call him Finger-gun Sorcerer?

[WickedCestus]

Disconnected thoughts:

• It's striking to me how differently murder is treated in The Return as opposed to the original series. The first 1.5 seasons explores the impact of a person's death exclusively after the events of the murder, whereas in The Return, murder constantly feels like an endpoint to character's stories. The principal's wife, the couple in the box room, Darya, this random office worker - all their stories basically end as soon as they are dead, with only a scene at most to explore the aftermath. 
• I don't know if I feel like the show earned anything from it, but it definitely feels like this episode addressed a few of the complaints regarding the treatment of women that were raised last episode, with Janey-E being a lot more assertive, and Any Explanation At All for Truman's wife being the way she is. However, it then proceeds to depict the gruesome murder of a young woman, again.
• I didn't like the murder scene, just because, well, I don't like murder scenes, but the drill guy's dejection upon realizing his weapon was bent felt incredibly Lynchian.
• The way the scenes leading up to the hit-and-run gradually came together was incredibly well done. What a scene.
• The Diane reveal is perfect. I love it. The Hawk's Heritage moment was also exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for.
• The Dougie portions were so tense; it felt like at any moment he was about to snap back. I wonder if it will be a sudden moment, or if it will be a long drawn-out scene. So far, Dougie is gradually becoming more and more put together, as his single words are becoming sentence fragments, and his gait becoming slightly quicker.

[Gattman]

What film did that guy say he liked ?

[WickedCestus]

Just now, Gattman said:

What film did that guy say he liked ?

 

The King And I. I haven't seen it though so I don't know what it could mean.

[Gattman]

20 minutes ago, WickedCestus said:

 

The King And I. I haven't seen it though so I don't know what it could mean.

Does it have to mean anything this is why I think Social Media is ruining shows like this

Not EVERYTHING has to have a meaning this is how I live my life

[WickedCestus]

1 hour ago, Gattman said:

Does it have to mean anything this is why I think Social Media is ruining shows like this

Not EVERYTHING has to have a meaning this is how I live my life

 

At the very least, it means that this character likes The King And I.

[Mike Danger]

Someone had to point this out to me so I'm posting it here: the papers Hawk finds in the bathroom could be the pages from Laura's diary with "The good Dale is trapped in the Lodge."

[Vellan]

5 hours ago, Gregalor said:

 

Can we call him Finger-gun Sorcerer?

 

Balthazar Getty's character is listed in the credits as 'Red' (personally, I like 'Finger-gun Sorcerer' better).  I spent that entire scene trying to work out where I had seen him before...an earlier episode? An entirely different show?  At first I thought he was Ray (remember Ray, in prison for carrying guns over state lines? I wonder where that's going), but they just have similar cheek bones.

 

Nope, turns out he was on screen for ten seconds at the end of episode two.  In the Bang Bang Bar he makes a finger gun at Shelley, who smiles as though that's adorable.  I hope they're not an item.  That would make him Shelley's third drug running/dealing partner, and the domestic violence overtones are creepy.  Maybe he's just her marksmanship instructor or something? /wishful thinking

[Mike Danger]

20 minutes ago, Vellan said:

 

Balthazar Getty's character is listed in the credits as 'Red' (personally, I like 'Finger-gun Sorcerer' better).  I spent that entire scene trying to work out where I had seen him before...an earlier episode? An entirely different show?  At first I thought he was Ray (remember Ray, in prison for carrying guns over state lines? I wonder where that's going), but they just have similar cheek bones.

 

Nope, turns out he was on screen for ten seconds at the end of episode two.  In the Bang Bang Bar he makes a finger gun at Shelley, who smiles as though that's adorable.  I hope they're not an item.  That would make him Shelley's third drug running/dealing partner, and the domestic violence overtones are creepy.  Maybe he's just her marksmanship instructor or something? /wishful thinking

 

FWIW the vibe I got from that was less "boyfriend-girlfriend" and more "I got caught checking you out so now I'm gonna play it cool"

[ColonelForbin]

This was the episode that to me really brought forward the "soap opera" notes of original Twin Peaks without it explicitly being a soap.  We spent a lot of time with Dougie/Coop, he happened to solve something without realizing it(with the help of the special effects.) Got a tease about both the sheriff's relationship/what hawk found and learned that Janey-E is a boss.  I cant help but be a little suspicious of her due to the nature of this show. Everyone in the original Twin Peaks has some evil side and I am having trouble putting that aside, especially when the show is setting up these clearly despicable characters(Red, dude who ran over the kid, that jerk Deputy Chad, etc.)

[dartmonkey]

It would be really interesting to hear a Twin Peaks first-timer's perspective - does anybody know one? I'm really enjoying the indulgent, unhurried pace and am analysing every blink of MacLachlan's performance(s) but I really wonder how the average viewer is handling five solid minutes of Cooper scrawling over case files! How do you explain the nuance of every second when 1) I don't fully understand most of it, and 2) I've got 35+ hours of context and character affection built up. It's easy to fall into the trap of saying 'Oh, that's just Twin Peaks!' which is complete rubbish.

 

So much is happening in each episode, too! The opening almost had me tearing up. I also think they are mixing by up the old and new characters very well. There are so many new places and threads, and we also get to go back to Fat Trout.

 

Question - is the junction where the hit and run occurred significant? Is that where Mike drove up next to Leland and Laura in FWWM?

[Treasure Goblin]

I posed this in the Slack - but does anyone know if the shot of the traffic light going from green to red is the same one that is in the original series (in episode 1 I believe)?  

[aeonofdiscord]

6 hours ago, WickedCestus said:

 

At the very least, it means that this character likes The King And I.

 

Having him mention it out of nowhere felt like a deliberate callback to Leland singing 'Getting To Know You' and declaring "The King And I!" at the end, maybe hinting at some kind of connection between Red and BOB.

 

Or it's a red herring and he just really likes Rodgers and Hammerstein! who knows