Jake

Twin Peaks Rewatch 46: The Return, Part 11

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I suppose the non-matching Miriam surname stuff is less likely to be relevant if Miriam herself is still alive...  (Also, if she gives a statement to the Sheriff's Dept and tells them about the letter, and they put that together with what Lucy saw, Chad could be in some trouble.)

 

I rather enjoyed this episode - it had a few good moments that prompted me to startled laughter: "He's dead", the gun totin' kid, the zombie kid rising from the shadow :)

 

Shelly hooking up with Red is a downer in character terms, but does make me hopeful we'll get some more of him on-screen.

Seems like whatever the story is with The Zone, the woodsmen have it pretty well guarded.  I assume they are not necessarily working with Badcoop - given how deadly they are it would have been a lot easier to arrange for one of them to materialise nearby and just crunch Dougie's head rather than mess about with hit-men if it were an option.  (But then who knows what other rules or restrictions might be in play)

Also looks like the Hawk & Truman investigation is not leading to exactly the same spot as The Zone (although it still may turn out to be where Jerry Horne has been wandering). 

We got a lot of character stuff this week - Shelly's continued terrible choice of men; some more perspective on the dynamics of Becky's awful marriage; the Mitchums now have a friend in Dougie Jones; that Bobby is Becky's father (was this revealed earlier and I missed it?  It was news to me, anyway); Diane is definitely up to something, but in an ambiguous way - not sure what the point of changing her story about the woodsman as she did could be. 

I wonder what the point of killing Hastings was?  I got the impression that locating The Zone was the only time any of his studies about other planes and such had yielded anything significant, and he has already passed that information on.

 

It really does look like it'll be late in the series by the time we get Goodcoop back, but I am really looking forward to the FBI story intersecting Dougie's life - even having Gordon or Albert stand-in for us as the audience and remark on Dougie's detachment, or moments of near-clarity would be a relief in an odd sort of way.

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I think this episode is when I have finally completely accepted what this show is. Like some other people I was somewhat frustrated with the lack of plot progression and waiting for Cooper to wake up and the lack of Badalementi score etc.

But everything just seemed to click in this and to some extent last episode. I kinda stopped caring about forward plot progression and just got into these weird little vignettes as their own stand alone things. If they turn into something later, great! If not, who cares because I still enjoyed the scene. 

 

Also, best shot of the entire series right here

SesmJGW.jpg

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Good episode.  I am grading Twin Peaks on a Flynchian curve, of course.  These 18 hours could have been much better edited, even if they weren't pared down.  This episode is the first time the vignettes were actually "cut to the beat" and thus the hour felt whole and satisfying.  There's no reason every hour couldn't more or less cut this way, with footage and arcs slightly rearranged.

 

Two random thoughts:

  • Is Diane just smoking, or is she also mouthing words under her breath?  Mantras, spells, that's what it looks like. Any lip readers?
  • I so, so wanted that piano player to be Badalamenti himself.  I looked him up and it's not.  Aw. 

 

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9 minutes ago, purps said:

I think this episode is when I have finally completely accepted what this show is. Like some other people I was somewhat frustrated with the lack of plot progression and waiting for Cooper to wake up and the lack of Badalementi score etc.

But everything just seemed to click in this and to some extent last episode. I kinda stopped caring about forward plot progression and just got into these weird little vignettes as their own stand alone things. If they turn into something later, great! If not, who cares because I still enjoyed the scene. 

 

Also, best shot of the entire series right here

SesmJGW.jpg

 

I think that's fair and I respect that opinion. My only issue would be if that's the take away than it's really not Twin Peaks. It's something different Lynch wants to do using Twin Peaks to sell it. 

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1 minute ago, Ford said:

 

I think that's fair and I respect that opinion. My only issue would be if that's the take away than it's really not Twin Peaks. It's something different Lynch wants to do using Twin Peaks to sell it. 

I think that's true. Lynch has said for years and years that he's done with Twin Peaks. And he's also spent the last 10 years publicly complaining that the studios no longer have interest in funding the types of movies he wants to make and couldn't get anything off the ground. I think he wasn't really all that interesting in making something like old Twin Peaks again, but he recognized that television had become a place where more risks are being taken. And with Netflix, tons of people have been discovering the show in the last 5 or so years and have been beating the drum to bring it back. It was the perfect opportunity.

 

That's my theory

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24 minutes ago, Ford said:

 

I think that's fair and I respect that opinion. My only issue would be if that's the take away than it's really not Twin Peaks. It's something different Lynch wants to do using Twin Peaks to sell it. 

 

But Season 1 is not Season 2 is not FWWM is not Season 3 is not the Frost Books is not the Secret Diary. 

 

The idea that Twin Peaks "is" something leads from an expectation created by Season 1 that is never carried forward by any of the creators.  Every incarnation of it has shifted and changed, sometimes rather radically from Season 1 (which I think is what people mean when they say Twin Peak is something specific). 

 

30 minutes ago, Crunchnoisy said:
  • I so, so wanted that piano player to be Badalamenti himself.  I looked him up and it's not.  Aw. 

 

 

I did the exact same thing.

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3 minutes ago, Bjorn said:

 

But Season 1 is not Season 2 is not FWWM is not Season 3 is not the Frost Books is not the Secret Diary. 

 

 

 

I disagree. Even though the original two season run had levels of quality, it had a series of progressive narratives and cohesion around the town and its characters. This has none of that. It's Lynch remaking Dumbland with TP characters as special guest stars.  I don't include the books as part of or necessary to the show. 

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Like mother, like daughter (Shelly, Becky)

 

Like father, like son (camo dad, camo kid)

 

Both repeating the dangerous mistakes of the past.

 

That whole sequence might have been my favorite so far.

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This episode was a highlight for me. Absolutely my favourite of the season so far. Because of the convergence occurring over the course of the last 2 episodes (or so), we were able to fit every major plot line into a single episode for the first time this season. Having characters and story lines bounce off each other, instead of existing totally separately, provides so much more depth to the show. I think that this episode justifies the style of the previous 11 episodes. While it was sometimes frustrating to be unsure about whether anything would actually come together, now that we know they do, it becomes satisfying to think about how things slowly, slowly, slowly blended into each other until we reached an episode like this one, where having the knowledge of everyone's personal story up to this point increases our empathy and tension. A re-watch of this show, with the knowledge that the payoff looks like this, is starting to seem like a much more fun experience. It seems a lot of people on here will disagree with me about this, though :P

 

It was also funny! The show has had its moments before, but this episode was by far the goofiest, from the Jim Belushi's dream, to hysterical car lady, to Gordon Cole's "He's Dead", to Carl playing a gosh darn flute to summon his van. These moments just felt so Twin Peaks, encouraging the kind of delayed "What the hell is this?" laughter that I associate strongly with my viewing of the first 2 seasons.

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I am bummed that we are most likely done with Matthew Lillard after this episode.  Although we've only had a few scenes with him, every one of them has been an absolute treat. 

 

Also, no Roadhouse song this time.  Instead Viva Las Vegas plus lounge piano.  Which, in regards to music, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima showed up again, although I'm not familiar enough to know when it was used to be honest.

 

 

Oh, the scene in the desert was such a goofy ass mirror of the climax of Seven.  "What's in the box?!" 

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2 hours ago, Ford said:

My only issue would be if that's the take away than it's really not Twin Peaks. It's something different Lynch wants to do using Twin Peaks to sell it. 

 

I find myself wondering what season 2 would have been like if Lynch had directed the whole thing and had creative control. I've read that he never really intended the "who killed Laura Palmer" mystery to be solved, that it would just sort of work its way into the background. 

 

It's possible Twin Peaks would have been very different in season 2 if he had had his way. 

 

That said I'm sympathetic to the notion that Twin Peaks used to be this goofy show in the woods and now it's this strange nationally distributed thing. 

 

I know Jake and Chris think there won't be a season 4 but Kyle MacLachlan has hinted he wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the last of Twin Peaks, so maybe a season 4 can be more like what we're used to once Cooper is back. 

 

If he's back that is. 

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I totally understand all the frustrations with how this show is turning out, and there are certainly moments where my eyes cannot roll any further (as an example, in the scene back at the Buckhorn police station where all the FBI regulars are just lounging around, regurgitating plot so that we can know that everyone is aware of *some* of what happened, I thought - man, this is just badly written, and acted, and even blocked). The show from an experiential standpoint could almost certainly use some more stringent, or even coherent, editing. It's not tight, but it also doesn't intend to be tight. 

 

loved this episode. It might be my favorite of the more 'narrative' episodes so far. I've constantly thought of this season as a semi-interesting plot being languidly unfurled and some strange short films as the punctuation, and this episode was absolutely that. Stuff happened, Frost's plot list is getting checked off slowly but surely, but the experience of watching it was really weird and great. I loved the nightmarishness of Shelly's daughter's entire rampage, the unhinged RR shooting and the detour into that poor middle aged woman's meltdown. It was so portentious and unnerving. I loved the FBI investigation bits, for the most part. Lynch's outrageous video effects exploded off the screen for me. I loved everything with Dougie/Coop/Mr. Magoo. The Mitchum Brothers are delightful, and Candy is an enigma that we can't seem to figure out the importance of solving. The entire desert showdown is blocked and shot like a Breaking Bad climax, but then the hilarious reveal of the apple pie, and then the Mitchum Brothers insane glee at the whole situation. They take up the Horne mantle so admirably. 

 

Does anyone have any deeper thoughts on the ending dinner scene. I don't recognize the piano piece, though I'm sure it is obvious and has some specific relevance to Coop that I should know. I thought the juxtaposition of his semi-awakening with the Mitchum's girlfriends and the old woman calling him Mr. Jackpots was fascinating, even though I don't have any real thoughts on it. Dougie-Coop makes me think of Lynch's meditation practice. He is in this seeming fugue state that, at times, appears to be some higher form of concentration that mere mortals don't get much access to and cannot understand (they also aren't interested in understanding it). Dougie kind of even focuses on certain words in a way that reminds me of explanations of transcendental meditation Lynch has given, such as in Catching The Big Fish.

 

This is all just free-form and I don't have a lot to concretely say about the episode, but the experience of watching it was just fantastically entertaining. 

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Joanna Robinson on the Peaks TV podcast said that every part is a differently balanced cocktail. Like, they shot all these various scenes, and then assembled them into these uniquely constituted one hour blocks. Each part is a different combination of the ingredients they shot, mingling and merging and balancing the neighboring scenes with a mixologist's logic. Just thought that was a really apt description. 

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3 minutes ago, Gamebeast23456 said:

I totally understand all the frustrations with how this show is turning out, and there are certainly moments where my eyes cannot roll any further (as an example, in the scene back at the Buckhorn police station where all the FBI regulars are just lounging around, regurgitating plot so that we can know that everyone is aware of *some* of what happened, I thought - man, this is just badly written, and acted, and even blocked). The show from an experiential standpoint could almost certainly use some more stringent, or even coherent, editing. It's not tight, but it also doesn't intend to be tight. 

 

loved this episode. It might be my favorite of the more 'narrative' episodes so far. I've constantly thought of this season as a semi-interesting plot being languidly unfurled with a bunch of punctuations of strange short films, and this episode was absolutely that. Stuff happened, Frost's plot list is getting checked off slowly but surely, but the experience of watching it was really weird and great. I loved the nightmarishness of Shelly's daughter's entire rampage, the unhinged RR shooting and the detour into that poor middle aged woman's meltdown. It was so portentious and unnerving. I loved the FBI investigation bits, for the most part. Lynch's outrageous video effects exploded off the screen for me. I loved everything with Dougie/Coop/Mr. Magoo. The Mitchum Brothers are delightful, and Candy is an enigma that we can't seem to figure out the importance of solving. The entire desert showdown is blocked and shot like a Breaking Bad climax, but then the hilarious reveal of the apple pie, and then the Mitchum Brothers insane glee at the whole situation. They take up the Horne mantle so admirably. 

 

This is all just free-form and I don't have a lot to concretely say about the episode, but the experience of watching it was just fantastically entertaining. 

 

The FBI exposition scene was whatever but I don't like to go through a show rating scene by scene, it feels like a weird way to take it in. Also, I got the feeling that the coordinates shown in front of Diane were fake, that Albert brought a photoshopped picture back to see if she would send "someone" the wrong details. 

 

Also if anyone is interested I have a lot of stuff on how things in this show are connected to real world occult mythology and history. Mostly Thelema (Aliester Crowley's deal for those who dont know) for  and Sumerian stuff 

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2 minutes ago, therealdougiejones said:

Also if anyone is interested I have a lot of stuff on how things in this show are connected to real world occult mythology and history. Mostly Thelema (Aliester Crowley's deal for those who dont know) for  and Sumerian stuff 

 

<raises hand, glancing around>

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15 minutes ago, therealdougiejones said:

Also, I got the feeling that the coordinates shown in front of Diane were fake, that Albert brought a photoshopped picture back to see if she would send "someone" the wrong details. 

 

My thoughts (and hopes) exactly!

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I've come to realize that I like Twin Peaks (and to be honest Lynch in general) a lot better when there isn't a lot happening. In particular, I tend to like the bits immediately before and after big events.  I don't particularly love the Frost directed season 1 finale, but the first episode of season 2 is my favourite episode in all of Twin Peaks. I think Arbirtary Law (the episode where Leland is caught and dies) is actually kinda bad, but Drive With a Dead Girl is easily my favourite non-Lynch directed episode. I'm probably in the minority here.


So keeping with that trend, my favourite two scenes in this episode were the straight-talk for teens sit down with Becky after her rampage and the congratulatory gangster dinner that closed the episode. The moments surrounding those scenes were more exciting on paper but fell kinda flat for me in comparison. But I could watch The Mitchum brothers talk to Dougie about his son's lack of a gym set (?) all day long. It reminded me of the first half of Mulholland Drive where Naomi Watts shows up in Hollywood and everything feels like a wide-eyed hopeful dream. The lady from the casino showing back up was basically the best.

 

Other things:

-The opening scene with the baseball was awkwardly put together. What was with the editing when there was suddenly a third kid there?

-That kid vomiting in the car was the grossest thing we've seen so far. Really didn't enjoy that. 

-WHAT'S IN THE BOOOXXX!?!? WHAT'S IN THE BOOOXXX!?!
 

-Tammy's outfit looked extra ridiculous when 'covering them'.
Untitled2.thumb.png.98207c342251f742891cc07f4428f42c.png

 

-Cole's weird spiral sky vision went so fast that it barely registered in my brain. This is what he saw:

Untitled.thumb.png.1bff30587d1ad655ff50b3bff13cc99f.png

 

-I thought that Hawk's heritage-related coin discovery might have been Frost/Lynch subverting the original show's broad Indian mysticism. But then Hawk was all "Let me get out my gigantic cowhide map..."

Untitled3.thumb.png.25471735eea62d1937744c7050d13e19.png

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Also, does everyone have the same episode previews and taglines across your various streaming services? This is what they look like on Canada's Crave TV. They for sure affect my expectations going into a given episode quite a bit.

crave.thumb.png.32e40ac4be5c4e224353d6f0a4bbfa12.png

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4 minutes ago, UnpopularTrousers said:

Also, does everyone have the same episode previews and taglines across your various streaming services? This is what they look like on Canada's Crave TV.

 

Yep. Here they are on Amazon Prime Channels:

 

Amazon_com__Twin_Peaks__The_Return_Season_1.jpg

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12 minutes ago, UnpopularTrousers said:

 

 

-I thought that Hawk's heritage-related coin discovery might have been Frost/Lynch subverting the original show's broad Indian mysticism. But then Hawk was all "Let me get out my gigantic cowhide map..."

Untitled3.thumb.png.25471735eea62d1937744c7050d13e19.png

 

Groan. That may have been the laziest, most obnoxious moment in the history of the series. 

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19 minutes ago, UnpopularTrousers said:

 

-I thought that Hawk's heritage-related coin discovery might have been Frost/Lynch subverting the original show's broad Indian mysticism. But then Hawk was all "Let me get out my gigantic cowhide map..."

Untitled3.thumb.png.25471735eea62d1937744c7050d13e19.png

 

All I really wanted from this scene was the Real Sheriff Truman to be there and say, "Hawk, you and I have both been in this for years and understand the weird shit going on, please just tell me what the symbol means."

 

New Sheriff Truman just folding when Hawk is all "You don't want to know" is infuriating. 

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1 minute ago, Gamebeast23456 said:

 

All I really wanted from this scene was the Real Sheriff Truman to be there and say, "Hawk, you and I have both been in this for years and understand the weird shit going on, please just tell me what the symbol means."

 

New Sheriff Truman just folding when Hawk is all "You don't want to know" is infuriating. 

 

Like any reasonable person would just accept that bs. Just awful writing and direction. 

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6 minutes ago, pokysharpy said:

 

Yep. Here they are on Amazon Prime Channels:

 

Huh, so the taglines are the same but the images are all different. My episode 6 didn't have Laura Dern in the episode image, so it was a real shock when Albert went to the bar and she turned around wearing that white wig. But since she was in the image for episode 7 I went in thinking "Oooh, this is the episode where we find out more about Diane!" which it totally was. 

 

I'm sure the German preview images will wind up being canon when it comes out on Blu Ray.

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I've been watching on amazon fire tv the night of and i don't think the thumbnails go up immediately? i think it's just a generic twin peaks graphic until the next day (thankfully!)

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