Twin Peaks Rewatch 42: The Return, Part 8

[Jake]

Twin Peaks Rewatch 42:

The Return, Part 8
Wow. After watching what is definitely the strangest, most world-expanding episode of Twin Peaks, we do our best to drink full and descend, talking through the whole episode scene by scene before coming up for air and sharing our immediate impressions of the episode as a whole.

Next week: A mid-season reflections episode: There isn't a new episode of Twin Peaks on the air next week (Part 9 doesn't air until July 9). We're taking advantage of the empty week to do an episode looking back on where we've been so far this season, heavy on reader mail. If you have any thoughts on the season as a whole, or want to dive deeper into Part 8, write us at twinpeaks@idlethumbs.net.

Looking for a place to discuss the season with fellow viewers? We recommend the Twin Peaks Rewatch forum.

 

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[JustFlo]

So yeah, did David Lynch make TV history again or what...

Entranced would best describe how I felt for one hour tonight!

[rooster423]

Hey, it was an episode without Dougie!

[FRENDEN]

Penderecki's threnody (the atomic bomb) begat, or ripped a hole for, the dark mother entering our world. We recently saw her trapped in the cube eating the couch couple and I am guessing that was the creature depicted here.

The dark mother puked up Bob in spirit. Bob manifested here in the form of a cicada frog. The woodsmen, also unleashed by a rift, or born from the aftermath, of the a-bomb, conditioned hosts for the Bob-frog via their radio message. Bob-frog climbed into, or rode, his first host (the way one might, say, ride a horse as mentioned in the woodsman's words), the girl on the bed.

The giant is the opposite of the dark mother and birthed goodness, in the form of Laura, to thwart Bob/the dark mother spirit thing that the bomb unleashed.

I don't think it's happenstance that technology is the means of Bob's first host's conditioning.

The woodsmen are asking for fire, the first human technology -- "Got a light?" They manipulate, and travel via, our electronics. That fits with all the themes of electricity, static, distortion, the light pole, etc. We doomed ourselves.

That's my guess. It's a bit literal.

[TacoDetective]

Good luck trying to do a podcast about this one, guys!

[Lechimp]

Man, I feel like the only person that liked this episodes. Everyone I know hated it.

[JustFlo]

1 minute ago, TacoDetective said:

Good luck trying to do a podcast about this one, guys!

Hehe. My immediate thoughts after watching this one as well!

 

[FRENDEN]

1 minute ago, MechaTofuPirate said:

Man, I feel like the only person that liked this episodes. Everyone I know hated it.

Pfft. I dug the heck out of it.

[Lechimp]

2 minutes ago, FRENDEN said:

Pfft. I dug the heck out of it.

 

Everyone said it was either too weird or nothing happened in it

 

Like it was weird but not anything that is that surprising? And I get that people just want people in Twin Peaks doing quirky stuff but I'm ok with this stuff too.

[FRENDEN]

1 minute ago, MechaTofuPirate said:

 

Everyone said it was either too weird or nothing happened in it

It laid bare most the bones for the entire mythology of Twin Peaks. It's debatable whether or not that's a good thing, but SO MUCH happened.

 

Edit: Shout out to Gordon's office having garmonbozia and the bomb hung up -- I think he knows a lot more than has been let on in regards to his Blue Rose cases.

[Lechimp]

Just now, FRENDEN said:

It laid bare most the bones for the entire mythology of Twin Peaks. It's debatable whether or not that's a good thing, but SO MUCH happened.

 

I absolutely agree. This feels 100% like something written by Mark Frost.

[FutureTuesday]

As someone that got into Lynch way before ever seeing Twin Peaks, this episode was wonderful.

 

Oh, hey Frenden!

[JustFlo]

8 minutes ago, FRENDEN said:

Pfft. I dug the heck out of it.

It was amazing!!!

[agorman]

Bob/Laura being literally a cosmic battle is something I do not like. 

 

This episode makes the bits I've heard about the planned follow up movies to FWWM make a lot more sense.

[Good_Account]

Man, I enjoyed that episode a lot. I  love the sound design in all of Lynch's work, but I though this episode really stood out on that front. Those ridiculous skull crushing sounds, the use of music in the bomb scenes, I even thought the ambient desert noise was incredible. It gave me the same peaceful but sorta uneasy feeling that I've gotten while out in rural west Texas or New Mexico at night. This was a Good_Episode.

[kaitbait]

As someone who likes this stuff but is also struggling with the extremely slow progression of plot this season... I have to say my immediate response was total frustration. Especially after finding out we have to wait two weeks until any new material.

 

BUT, I can feel like a lot of people (myself included) will appreciate it a lot more once the season wraps up. 

[FRENDEN]

It seemed way less abstract to me and more like a big, Frost exposition dump, which, again, the merit of is debatable. It depends on how dreamlike-Lynch vs. how cosmichorror-Frost your wants from Twin Peaks skew.

As someone that typically LOVES the Lynchian side of things and tolerates the Frost-mythos, I was surprised to really dig this. I think Lynch is a bit heavy with some of the imagery, but it's just batshit enough to not have gone too far in either direction for me.

[pretorhunter]

David Lynch:

15 Minutes: Twist on a crime film trope

45 Minutes: visual/soundscape representation of the creation of a metaphysical realm

 

I loved it.

[TacoDetective]

4 minutes ago, gormanate said:

Bob/Laura being literally a cosmic battle is something I do not like. 

 

This is my one major gripe with this episode. Fire Walk With Me is one of my favorite films, and what makes it work is the fact that it tells a story about a very real struggle through Lynch's lens. The more The Return explores Black Lodge lore and throws Laura into the mix, the less impact old Twin Peaks stuff has retroactively. It's cheesy and felt out of place in an episode that was good otherwise.

[FRENDEN]

That's the push pull of dream-like Lynch and cosmic-horror Frost. I tend to not like when things are spelled out, like I said above, but I felt like this episode rode the line pretty well as collaborations go!

 

What's funny is that most the people I see decrying it on other forums and Reddit and what have ya, are the ones that want more, literal mythos. And they just got it. And don't realize it apparently. Shrug!

[pyide]

I never thought the show would get this weird. I also never thought Lynch would want to go down the lore rabbit hole this deep. I also never imagined insanity could be so compelling.

 

While mesmerizing, it was also my least favorite episode so far, not just because I'm not a fan of NIN. Sorry, "The" Nine Inch Nails!

I did enjoy the stuff with Bad Cooper and Ray at the start a bit. Expected that pairing to drag out a little longer in the series after the setup from the earlier episodes.

 

As time goes on I'm assuming plenty of that imagery will stick with me and this episode might fare better in retrospection, but right now I'm still way more interested in the ongoing present day stories. This feels like a bizarre detour. Great episode to listen to via headphones, though. 

[richardco]

I would have loved to have seen the script for this episode. 

Was it just like 2 scenes and then in brackets [David stuff.]?

I did laugh out loud when Nine Inch Nails was introduced. I don't know if that was meant to be taken seriously, but I just couldn't.

 

I love that David Lynch is just getting to do what he wants. Loved the episode. Some good scares.

[Aaron M]

My favorite thing about reactions to this episode is the split between people seeing it as "Mark Frost mythology bullshit" and "David Lynch art-film bullshit".

[kaitbait]

One thing I enjoyed about this episode was the slomo effect that happened whenever one of the demons/woodsmen said "gotta light?"

It reminded me of Maddy's death back in Season 2, and tied the heavy Mark Frost lore together with the Lynchian directing and imagery.

[FRENDEN]

2 minutes ago, Aaron M said:

My favorite thing about reactions to this episode is the split between people seeing it as "Mark Frost mythology bullshit" and "David Lynch art-film bullshit".

I think that's what I like about it -- it's a total exposition dump from Frost told through the visual language of Lynch. It feels wholly collaborative. That people can see it either way is a victory IMO.