The Final Hours Of Twin Peaks The Return: A Singularly Blazing Black Out

I don’t believe in escapism.

This is something I have grown to understand, and accept with age.

That my own personal enthusiasm for culture, and in this case, film and narrative, come from a place where the real intersects with our dreams. The wishes we impose on the public. A way in which we can explore our relationship with daily realities, much less contradict them. And in that way, effective filmmaking, is a lot closer in presentation to a prism by which we perceive and digest the real world. So when I continue to hear others beat the drum that they read books, watch movies, and go to shows to escape reality, I cannot help but wince.

Because reality will always win.

And this isn’t because the rift between realities and our greatest dreams are at any true odds with one another. But rather that after a good session of dreams, we have the capability of being renewed, inspired, possibly even enhanced by them. Reality may win, but this is wholly due to how we allow the mind to breathe through our most difficult of times.

Which brings us to the final two hours of Twin Peaks The Return, which not only lives up to its authors’ intent of closing a book that originally began twenty-seven years ago, but seeks to endlessly dispel notions of safety, comfort, fan appeasement, common logic, and expectation. And despite this, and having survived such a situation before, it remains something to be cherished and mulled for years to come.

When we last left our friends, all points seemed to be razor fixed on what seemed to be a shared destiny between a great majority of them. Mr. C, was seen heading toward Peaks along a darkened highway. Cooper, along with the Mitchum Bros & Candee, Mandee, and Sandee, are on a flight to Spokane. Word following their harrowing altercation with “Diane”, ends with them at last being notified of the recent history of “Douglas Jones”, as well as his current run north. All while Naido, the blind woman, remains in a cell beneath the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Station with a shifty Chad, the Mocking Man, James & Freddie. Come the start of this hour, destiny intervenes, allowing Mr C. to enter the Sheriff’s station with poor Andy, believing that he is indeed our Cooper. And what follows could only be described as one of the most overwhelmingly suspenseful sequences in the entire history of the series.

But what comes in the wake of this inevitable confrontation, is where our greatest deliverance begins.

After what seems to almost resemble a climactic convergence, and Naido has indeed been revealed to have always been the true Diane, hidden away while her tulpa duplicate walked the Earth with the Blue Rose Society, we are granted an overlapped, real time close up of Cooper’s baffled stare. As if to suggest that what we have been seeing all along, was but one dream of several. Almost as in flashback. What happens in these moments, may be crucial toward deciphering everything that follows. Which is where I admit to all of this being too fresh to completely digest. But what follows throughout this stunning emotional reunion of old friends, and meeting between generations, is a suggestion that Cooper has something big in mind.

“Now, there are some things that will change.”

“The past dictates the future”

Speaking, as if to say goodbye, Cooper has also placed the ring on the finger of his fallen, darker self, sending him back to the Black Lodge. All things seemingly in their place.

Having retrieved the old Great Northern Hotel room key from Sheriff Truman, another plan seems to very well be under way. The superimposed image of Cooper’s face, a reminder that perhaps none of what has happened had to. Emboldened by these events, the moves he makes beyond this moment, perhaps serve as but another possibility. Potential outcomes, being the ultimate blood that flows through the veins of the entirety of the Twin Peaks phenomenon, at last have become the objective focus for what follows.

However, none of what follows will play toward more casual, ardent, and traditional fans of popular culture. And this was the precise same feeling that overcame fifteen year old me the evening of June 10th, 1991. An hour remained, and by the dramatic shift in tone, and distension of quiet, it came clear to me that this was at last Lynch, unbridled by network, fan, or even co-writer expectations. We were in uncharted territory, tethered merely by the hope that everything would turn out something resembling fine.

Only it didn’t.

Viewers, are already expressing their lack of belief that Lynch and company would take their favorite characters , character threads, and sense of goodwill into such a dark, melancholy, nightmarish place, yet these are some of the same viewers that either didn’t experience that night I did twenty-six summers ago, or truly believed that so many threads could truly be tied in eighteen hours. The first hints that this was an improbability, came about throughout much of the Las Vegas sequences. The very thing that caused some to billow about the slow nature of said moments,  failed to consider that all of this has been deliberate from green light. That this was the Lynch we were going to experience should have been emblazoned on every scene following. The very nature of Lynch’s entire involvement with Twin Peaks, has been that of misdirection, and misalignment. His interest, isn’t solely that these beloved characters earn their happy endings, which echoes a bit of our scene a few hours ago with Ed and Norma. Moments like these remain idyllic, but falter in the face of the daily struggles we must endure to even earn such moments of transcendent peace. A depressing thought? Sure. But not a thought without merit.

Back to Cooper. Who we have learned, has been gathering revelations from the start, and seems primed to do the unthinkable;

He wishes to undo history by way of saving Laura Palmer.

“We live inside a dream”

Like Orpheus attempting to take Eurydice through and out of the underworld, the forthcoming hour presents to us both a man revived, and yet disconnected from the reality that so many have grown to accept. That the power of undoing the fabric of time and space, may be no domain for any mere person, let alone a well-meaning, hopelessly good man like Cooper. He wishes no pain on those he cares for. Yet, like many of Americans in this fractured era, he lacks the hindsight that we persist. That we move forward despite the heartbreak. That none of what came in the loss of Laura, was wholly bad, let alone unhealthy for the universe. He gambled on a sort of invasive surgery into the lives of those he held dear, and has now possibly broken it beyond repair. And by undoing the world we knew, he may very well have opened it to something far, far worse.

Hour Eighteen of Twin Peaks (2017), is that voyage beyond the voyage. A journey into the outer worlds of not only what we had already experienced, but deeper into the wants of even its most inspiring protagonists. Even they have bouts with selfishness when confronted with the ability to do great good for the world. Universal balance, meaning that the threads that interconnect and help define our lives, often do so without us knowing that the best possible path is already under way. He tried to escape. He tried to undo the pain. He tried to save her. And in doing so, redemption might be further away now.

It’s a truly shattering notion to end a series on. Let alone a series that has gone on to inspire a feature film, several books, and a fandom that remains ardent despite the often frayed relationship some may continue to have with it. With a denouement which ends with a horrific scream, a startling blackout, and a slow-motion visual callback during the credits, this is a wholly intentional reminder that none of what we have today is to be taken lightly. That life persists, and that this means potential for change going ever forward.

We don’t have to escape.

But we can confront the future in whatever way seems fit for more of us.

Twin Peaks The Return Hour Sixteen: All Stars Aligned

Nearly a week later, and I'm still in a total daze.

Special Agent Dale Cooper is back.

I just find myself giddy saying that.

Special Agent Dale Cooper is back.

But before this, we must also soundly clock all the amazing moments that preceded, and followed this most anticipated event. First we catch up with Mr.C, and Richard Horne, driving deep past the woods, and into a clearing where a large rock watches over the several acres. Having been given three sets of coordinates throughout the series, and only two matching, C hands Richard a tracking app to home in on the source of a beep. This is all while the eternally lost Jerry Horne watches from a distance through inverted binoculars. C, seemingly unfazed by what happens next, once and for all eliminates Richard from this mortal plane, and seals it that Mr C, has absolutely no care in the world for the human shields he creates and unleashes into the world, even his own seed. They are all simply means to an end.

Next, we are shown that Cooper has been rendered into a coma in the wake of his antics last week with an electrical outlet and a fork. And this is strangely fortuitous as Chantal & Hutch, have at last arrived in a van waiting outside of the Jones' home. From the still searching feds, to a pesky Russian agency man, our oddly charming fast food duo at last meet a simultaneously blazing, and tragicomic end. All while the also just arrived Mitchum Bros. look on with jaws agape.

"What the fuck kind of neighborhood is this?"

Rest In Peace, Chantal & Hutch. Somehow, I never found myself capable of utterly disliking this pair. Even in the moments before it all blasted apart, their passion for greasy food, polyamory, and regret thinking about past debts, made them into somewhat likable marks. They too, game pieces working for a cold, calculating king in black leather.

Not only does the subtitle of this new season at last come to full clarity, it also defines the very arduous and challenging road it took to get here. And it doesn't skimp on allowing viewers to feel just how difficult it was to allow the stars to align in such a satisfying way. In an hour that now seems far more deliberate than previously wondered, we are at last capable of looking back at the Chaplin-esque adventures of a half-aware Cooper, living the life of a construct. The episode inevitably lets us in on that fact. Cooper, has always been here. He was here every step of the way, while inability hindered his body long enough for him to live the life of a seemingly simple man. The scene where he at last awakens as Janey and Sonny Jim are out, and he confirms the score with the One Armed Man, now back at 100%, so much emotion began wracking my body. The calm efficiency in which our favorite Fed gives out orders, and in such a soothing manner, reminds me of why so many of us wanted to follow him in the first place. As he gets Bushnell to help, and soon hops into a car with "Wife and Child" in a car, tearing through a sunny freeway as "Falling" plays loudly as emotional compliment, the show has at last fulfilled one of its great promises.

Now able to obtain help from the ever sweet Mitchum Boys, Cooper now has access to a flight to Spokane. But first, his goodbyes to the family he had for a time called his own, becomes one of Lynch's most classically human moments. When he still cannot properly explain what has happened, and what has happened to their Dougie. Sonny Jim's cries of him being his father hit like a brick to the chest. Still short on time, Coop has to reaffirm to them that one way or another, he will return. Aware that not everything is wholly clear, Janey's last kiss and passing words, "Whoever you are..Thank you." All while our hero races against time to put an end to everything, it is probably this moment that has hit me the hardest throughout this new series. Ordinary people, caught in a maelstrom of something beyond comprehension, being torn away by embers of truth that have at last come in from the edges, is a powerful story move if done with care. And Lynch completely sends it home.

This is where it must be said, I absolutely adore the work that both MacLachlan and Watts have done throughout this Twin Peaks experience. I'll admit to not being sure about Watts initially, but once it came clear to me what kind of person would be so tough, yet so vulnerable to such a lug as Dougie, she soon became one of my favorite Lynch characters. And the work MacLachlan displays here in various roles, and often within the same hour, between edits, the end result is nothing short of magic. There is no hyperbole when I say that their work must be recognized come awards season. Like everything else that works here in Twin Peaks, it all comes together because of this sense of family, something both these performers carry with them beyond their past roles for the director. They understand the world they are in, and have no compunctions about making these roles theirs.

But what comes immediately after this spat of euphoria, brings with it some new jolts of their own. Especially in the form of Diane, who's receipt of Mr. C's cryptic post Richard fry text of...

";-) ALL" With expressions that range from hypnotic to panicked, to resolute, she at last steps from the bar, seemingly ready to kill her Blue Rose comrades with a gun neatly packed away in her purse. But what follows, offers not only a stunning bit of performance on Dern’s part, but also grants us a window into our worst fears regarding Mr.C, and ultimately, who (or what) Diane truly has become. A climactic moment ensues, leaving us with naturally greater questions, but also deep implications as to what has happened to the real Diane. Could she be split into multiple tupla? Is she gone forever? And what’s her connection to Naido; the blind woman now at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Station. If she wasn’t her, then what has happened?

And then, there’s the Roadhouse finale, serenaded by none other than Eddie Vedder, and an acoustic track that underlies one of the show’s great questions regarding one of Lynch’s greatest obsessions; identity.

I stare at my reflection to the bone

Blurred eyes look back at me

Full of blame and sympathy

So, so close

Right roads not taken, the future's forsaken

Dropped like a fossil or stone

All while Audrey and Charlie at last enter the venue. The very heart of the series, this location, and possibly the unheralded heart of the series itself. Still seeking Billy, the two reach the bar. And it isn’t long before the announcer follows up Eddie’s prophetic song by introducing a familiar musical interlude. Only, the jukebox of the RR is but a memory, and even the song, Audrey’s Dance, a truly meta moment among a project awash in meta ideas and crossovers, is met with applause as the jazz ensemble hits a familiar slinky rhythm. Spotlight dawns over Audrey, with her in an almost Pavlovian response, beginning her dazed movements as the song fills us with memories of a precocious teen we once knew. One might also not be blamed for expecting credits to roll at this moment, but we linger with Ms. Horne, until she overhears more drama from near the bar. And in a panic, she bolts over to Charlie, imploring that he gets her out of here-

FLASH. Light. Light, everywhere. And a less kempt, breathless version of her is seen gasping into a circular mirror.

We’ve all be taken for a ride. Not unlike last hour’s moment with Charline Yi, The Roadhouse is a conduit of sorts for so much of Peaks’ people and their individual pockets of distress, drama, and despair. A cross-section of people, still living in a Shadow of loss many current patrons have little to no care about. And yet, we’re here. Many truths on the cusp of being revealed. Something terrifying about the real that keeps us enraptured by the dream.

“But who is the dreamer?”

We may at last know who it is. But does this also mean the same for everyone? And what of the viewer? Lynch & Frost’s special alchemy, has long been that of being true to the notion that film is little more than a series of expressed dreams, with its viewers as paying dreamers. Where do we go, when we at last wake up? It’s something I often think about when watching, talking about, and writing about the film experience. That we ourselves are continuing the process by allowing these dreams to pass through us. And said process does not end the moment we leave the darkened theater, or favorite chair at home. The gift that Twin Peaks The Return offers to us, is the chance to delve further into why we watch the things we do, and consider what it is we are truly seeking, vicariously living through the lives of fictional characters, concepts, and environments. It has been a strange, beautiful, eerie, and funny ride being able to experience this. And something tells me that it will be years before we are ever granted anything quite like this again.

Not since Fury Road, have I felt such a cathartic connection with a filmed work. But unlike many, I do not lament its passing. Like all wonderful things, it is not meant to stay. And as such, I’m very grateful that we even had a chance.

Hour Fifteen Of Twin Peaks: A Symphony Of Triumph, Terror & Tragedy

Beginning the hour with what feels like a short dedicated to the series’ most distended, frustrating love triangle.

A bright, shiny morning in Twin Peaks.

At last inspired by the piss and vinegar speeches of none other than Dr. Amp, Nadine at last comes to clarity to tell Big Ed that he could at last move forward.

It’s a huge gimme to longtime fans, one that feels a bit on the easy side. But considering how long this triangle has suffered from day one of the original, it seems like Frost and Lynch, know that this is as bright a moment as we could possibly have before matters proceed. It’s vindication for sweet ol’ Ed Hurley, and a much needed wake up for Norma, as she seemed almost ready to waver on everything she has held dear with the RR. Sure, her arc lasted no longer than an episode, but her lack of confidence about going full franchise should have been a glaring hint.

That protracted shot of Ed at the counter, eyes closed, feels like something our creators had long envisioned. There’s true catharsis in clocking McGill’s age, and the use of Otis Redding in the background as a certain hand reaches out for him. It’s a moment many fans have waited for, and it is well-deserved.

The climax has begun.

Through the darkened highway, mere miles from Peaks, Evil Coop has at last come to Washington where he finally arrives off the path to the fabled Convenience Store. Heralded by several of the soot covered men we know and fear, his walk from his vehicle, deep through numerous stairs, doorways, and courtyards, we also see what seems to be the motel Leland Palmer once used to spend time with Teresa Banks. A darkened, dusty, nightmare world rendition of the place in easily what is one of the most unwelcoming in Lynch’s entire film history. Penderecki’s Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima, erupts again, signaling that we are at last reaching the belly of the beast.

Mr. C’s reason for stopping by is simple; he needs to meet with Philip Jeffries.

A meeting that I admittedly have been awaiting since the voice reveal of the character in lieu of the painful passing of one David Bowie.

But before that, the man at the switch..And the being in the red mask. Sarah Palmer? Again, imagery we have only seen in FWWM. At last, this is all coming together? The meeting itself between Mr C., and Jeffries plays out in what I can only describe is the last motel vacancy in hell. Their face off is comprised of questions that C can’t seem to gather any answers to, further frustrating our villain as his one time comrade seems to have taken on the guise of a giant coffee kettle, complete with steam billowing out, not to mention further puzzling statements. Power cuts in and out, electric humming switches from on to off, and a phone rings, further leaving Mr. C, and us to more fervently ask, “Who is Judy?” After all, Judy was someone Jeffries refused to talk about back in Philadelphia in 1989 with Gordon and Albert present. We were going to keep her out of this. But now, C has to see her himself. And has been granted some coordinates. (Similar to ones previously shared? Or..The Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department?)It is hard to describe the utterly uncompromising nature of this entire sequence, as it is the epitome of one filmmaker’s ability to render an entire environment into an unsettling statement in atmosphere. When thinking of the influence Lynch has had on popular culture over the years, moments like these are why the Silent Hill game series at the start left such a deep impression. And even that franchise pales in comparison to what is presented here. Evil Coop’s return is something that sticks to the back of the mind days after we leave it. Just as soon as he leaves, and at last comes to meet possible son, Richard Horne, taking him along for the remaining ride, the Convenience Store, and all of its denizens, back into non-existence.

Then we’re whiplashed back to daylight, where a desperate, and horribly strung out Steven is ready to commit the unthinkable with almost as wired Gersten Hayward in tow. A misty morning suicide jag, isn’t what a lot of us expected, but here it is. So this, is what has become of Becky’s husband. Becky, daughter of Shelly and Bobby. It’s a wrenching scene considering how little screen time we actually had with him. It’s confirmation again that Peaks, in the wake of all that has happened, has become this desolate place where desperation consumes families, and leaves so much potential dead in a ditch. There was one witness to this seeming awful, pathetic ending(Hey, is that Mark Frost?), but what this means to the rest of our friends in town, remains to be seen.

Back at the Roadhouse, we get our first real look at the Hand Of Justice in action as silly James walks over to gawk at very married Renee, which only naturally ends in disaster. And Freddie, being the spry pal he is, unleashes the power of his White Lodge given new power a spin. And it is a scary wallop to witness. Yikes. Hope he didn’t kill anyone.

Meanwhile, in Vegas..

FBI continues to seek out Dougie Jones, but to little success while Chantal and Hutch begin to close up loose ends in killing Duncan Todd(Patrick Fischler), and his assistant. Apparently, they’re down to one last target? Dougie? Again, the hands seem to be reaching a clock’s ultimate toll with this accelerated narrative. There’s an almost Terminator-eque race to see who will reach our hapless golden boy in time-

And yet, nothing this amazing episode has already dished out, can compare with a pair of bombs designed to amp the emotional stakes to the highest possible plateau. I’m of course speaking of the passing of the one and only Margaret Lanterman, also known as The Log Lady. Her final words piercing numerous levels of reality, thereby proving that Peaks above all else is a direct, personal interaction between writer and director and performer and audience. With her words to Hawk that she is moments from death, and the warning that follows, her ascension is akin to the intense sunlight of the hour’s beginning being quietly snuffed out. The vigil in the sheriff’s station afterward, is a moment we are all invited in sharing. It’s a strong blurring of the lines between real and fiction, that finally sets the stage for a three-hour finale that could at last close a book twenty seven years in the reading. It’s an unbelievable amalgam of time, life, and creation regardless of the bumps, and pauses along the way.

The second? As recently hinted at in interviews, the final hour of half-present Cooper in Dougie’s shoes, may at last be at an end. Please. For the love of Pete, never do what he did. As basic a home safety tip as that has always been, few things are as nerve-rending as seeing a curious party approach a power outlet with such curiosity. It’s the scratching away at a most domestic of horrors, and yet perhaps the charmed life he had indeed been living was more than enough. Poor Janey. Poor Sonny Jim. Welcome to reality.

A stunner of an hour that feels a little late in the earning, but survives by way of sheer love for these characters, new and old. (Okay, maybe not Steven), and a deep need to remain an outlaw piece of surreal cinema. It's a gift that only has three hours left, and with that, I choose to enjoy every remaining second.

Parts Twelve & Thirteen of Twin Peaks The Return, A Needed Rest Stop?

Are there enough words to properly describe what a gift Lynch and Frost have granted this world with Twin Peaks? Even when this new rendition finds itself grinding gears in the name of a few supplemental plot points, there's always that feeling that despite its problems, you'll still never guess where they'll take us next. This also applies to the very nature of time itself. The more closely one looks at the events unfolding, there's little here happening in any fashion that remotely resembles earth time. The world of the show, and its characters seem to exist outside of traditional time and space, and as such it is hard to get a handle on whether or not this is all intentional. In any case, the tales both intertwining and happening parallel sink into an almost placid mode with these two hours, making them among the least propulsive, and possibly most frustrating episodes yet.

From Tammy's (And later, Diane's) induction into the Blue Rose Society, which was founded in the 1970s after a mystery involving one of our agents here, to the startling, and ultimately stymie-worthy reveal of a fan favorite. They are a collection of moments that feel less like the current series, and more a supplemental heavy rendition of some of the more seemingly aimless latter episodes of Season Two. Which isn't to say that they are bereft of astonishing moments. Beginning with a stretch of minutes, catching up with Sarah Palmer(the ever terrific, Grace Zabriskie), who's stressful trip to the market is followed by a visit by Hawk, in a series of scenes that heavily evoke Fire Walk With Me. Moment of pure, distended unease and crippling terror. What is established here, is a series of scenes that take an unusually prolonged amount of time to get occasionally nowhere. But these scenes with Sarah, underlie something potentially central to the finale of the story. 

We also gather more Ben Horne in the aftermath of the latest wrath of his now confirmed grandson, Richard. What begins as an assessment of the damage left in his wake, becomes a classically Ben tangent regarding his treasured childhood bicycle. Perhaps reinforcing that a previous generation's values often were whittled down to items they possessed. A remnant of a world quite alien from the youth of not only those with less, but of even those with more today. Meanwhile, Brother Jerry remains out in another dimension out in those woods.

But episode twelve's most startling section heralds the return of Sherilyn Fenn's Audrey Horne, who now seems inexplicably trapped in a situation, and in turn, so is the audience. Near frantic in the search for her lover, the once before mentioned Billy, the once plucky and mischievous Audrey is locked in a quandary with a little man who claims to be her ineffectual husband, Charlie (Clark Middleton). His unwillingness to take her seriously, let alone help her find Billy, is both one of the most demanding and ultimately frustrating moments of the series to date. Demanding in that it isn't readily apparent what seems to actually be taking place, and frustrating in just how protracted the scene becomes. It perhaps is only made more painful when considering this beloved character, seemingly in an emotional prison of sorts as Charlie opts to make a phone call to a mysterious, unseen Tina (whom we will soon come to realize is another invisible player, ala Billy). The scene, like many in hour twelve, seem to exist in a space firmly planted between functional plot, and individual shorts built on absurdist foundations. After a while it becomes hard to tell whether it's mere padding, or outright trolling. But where the scene's most compelling notion is that dreams are again regarded as a window into a larger reality. Which could also inform the larger implications of Peaks as a whole; a world shattered in the days following the death of one young girl. There will always be mysteries, but the scene, like Eraserhead alone seems closest in tone to that film in the way that conversations have a specific cadence and air that recalls some of our most baffling dreams as they seem to loop endlessly. 

Or Lynch, is simply parodying the very nature of this elusive narrative event. Maybe there is no carrot. 

Let us also consider the awaited hit on Warden Murphy, a seeming complete repeat of Doc Jacoby's show and sales pitch. Framing the heart of the show as something wholly concerned with America as a nation on an economic precipice. It's a refrain that has grown louder and louder since the series began. With history being made in the real America at this very moment, the show can also be seen as a somewhat more innocent summation of what led to this specific moment in time. Either way, all signs continue to point toward northern Washington for a final culmination. 

The meetings at the Roadhouse, continue to offer up clues as to who these unseen characters in the periphery of the story are, and how they may very well play into the finale. Clark, Angela, and now Trick, all continuing on like a cast of characters we will never truly meet. Never truly know. Like real life, and it's many transient conversations that might even involve something tangential to our own lives. Perhaps a reminder that we all share the same seemingly endless story.

Part Thirteen, continues in this placid realm where we are granted further shades of what is building up on all sides. We have the next big moment in the Vegas story with the Mitchum boys, conga lining with "Dougie", and the girls thanking Mr. Bushnell Mullins at Lucky Seven Insurance in lieu of Part eleven's charming twist of fortune. Not to mention, the glow on Janey E's face at the revelation that this little victory also included a new car, and an absurd beyond absurd backyard gym set for little Sonny Jim! Such the turnaround for the wife who was ready to lay down laws with Batman-like deal but a few hours ago. "Dougie's" license become a cheery mirror to every encroaching darkness at the corners of the story, and he isn't even wholly there. What Frost and Lynch are saying here, should lead to some interesting debate for some time..

Meanwhile, what serves for me as the reason this episode truly exists, is the scene that follows, where Evil Coop at Las arrives in Montana to catch up with Ray who left him for dead back in Part Eight. Only, he has to get through this compound of pure wickedness and it's imposing leader to get to him. Which mounts to an arm wrestling match that not only displays just how out of their depth this criminal organization is in dealing with this man, but in just how in control of the situation he truly is. It's easily the most compelling section of the hour, only made better by the presence of Frank Collison, as the kingpin's right hand(sic) man. The confrontations here remain as surreal as anything else in this world, but the outcome grants a seething amount of dread for what's come. Evil Coop, is in control. Evil Coop, will get the information he needs. He is now aware of Philip Jeffries, and the conspiracy against him. This includes the ring that was supposed to be put on him post his "murder". He also is in possession of those much wanted coordinates.

Now, Evil Coop has an army.  

Worse? Our suspicions as to the identity of Richard Horne's true father might just be on the money. 

Meanwhile, back in Vegas where police make one dollar bets on paper baskets while utter horrors adorn the halls of the station, rattled cheat, Anthony Sinclair caves in after being pressured to take care of the Dougie problem once and for all, leading to a charming and again impressively funny "confession" at the insistence of both Dougie and Mr. Mullins. With Dougie Coop, so easily mapped via his predilection for coffee, again evades death by merely being a silent comedy protagonist. 

Never underestimate the power of coffee and cherry pie. 

And speaking of coffee and cherry pie, the revelations that love in the Peaks universe seems reserved for the wholly innocent, the reveal of what became of Norma and Ed, is further bruised by another appearance of that dreaded refrain. Couple this with the moment Nadine meets her idol in Jacoby, and the melancholy heart at the center of this grand opus remains inescapable. Not at all unlike Sarah Palmer, seemingly trapped in an endless loop of the same conflict time and again, and not unlike Audrey, still unable to leave to search for Billy. Fearing that she is someone else. That she, like each and every one these characters are trapped. Endlessly bond by an inexplicable gravity. Spiraling ever closer toward each other yet irrevocably apart.

 "What story is that, Charlie?"

Then there's James.

 -Wait, what?

-Oh, and the less we talk about the French woman with a mother who has a turnip farm, the better. And those last moments, while beautiful in their own right, make me worry for good ol' Ed.

There's Fire Where You Are Going: Some Words About Twin Peaks Part Eleven

Looking back to the start of this new chapter in Lynch's increasingly monumental work, it's coming quite clear that none of what we ever imagined will come to pass in Twin Peaks. At almost every turn, the eighteen hour event has presented us with near collisions with expectation, only to dash them time and again with an assured hands. It's almost become something of a game for me to discern where the swerves will appear as the story becomes more linear. And yes, since part eight's stunning artistic and thematic mic drop, the larger narrative has opted for a more traditional format, and has been settling in with ease ever since. And what a difference a broadening of the scope with exteriors, varying locations, and a tapestry of new characters makes in lieu of a show once restricted by simple sets and budgets. More and more, Peaks feels like a full fledged novel of deep horrors, absurdist musings, and pointed personal commentary.

And through his characters, boy have he and Frost brought to the proceedings some serious ammunition, and in some of the most unexpected ways imaginable. From Becky's vengeful run against her junked out  guy, Stephen (who by the way, is also spending time with GERSTEN HAYWARD? - Alicia Witt, from a memorable moment in the original series, and little sis to the long lost Donna Hayward.), to the heart crushing aftermath, continuing the Ballad Of Bobby Briggs. In what amounted to an emotional rollercoaster of a first half, we not only discover that the now dutiful lawman with a troubled past, indeed fathered Becky with Shelly(Madchen Amick) of the RR. But we also learn definitively, that Becky indeed takes after a mother, who truly hasn't learned the lessons of the past. For those unfamiliar with Bobby, as the often insufferable little jerk who was hopelessly smitten with Laura Palmer, despite his own affairs, not to mention his own hand at a murder that only she knew about, it is helpful to know just how much of a 180 his life has truly undergone. Coming through the tunnel of restless youth, and back to the man his father always knew he'd be, it's incredibly tragic to witness the revelation that Shelly, has indeed run from him during this transformation, and is apparently now very much in love with Red(Balthazar Getty), the clearly dangerous criminal magician who Richard Horne seems to frighteningly admire. Let's also keep in mind, such an ardent fan of a psychopath, hasn't done much for his own ability to tie up loose ends.

Then there are Gordon, Albert, and the rest following up on Hasting's directions to Sycamore street out in Buckhorn, where matters further manifest into the deep weird. With Gordon, almost being taken by a spontaneous vortex in the sky during broad daylight, and another appearance of The Woodsman, which Albert calls, "it". Followed by the sudden, horrific death of Hastings, seemingly at the hands of the dark specter itself. A vision shared by Diane, who never mentions it, soon to the suspicious gaze of Albert. Her role, ever more unclear as an outsider to the group. A reality further displayed by her seating in the aftermath with everyone as they recap these events over a reliable pot of coffee. The coding of the moment, couldn't be more glaring; she isn't a part of them, and has aims of her own, further bolstered by her need to smoke.

But the real hard left of the segment comes in the form of Good Coop's adventure with the at one point murderous Mitchum Brothers. With a sequence that plays like a comedic riff on Mulholland Drive's "Dream Of Winky's" scene, a dream undoes all tension, returning Coop's life to the almost loveable cinematic clown tale that it has largely been from the start. It's almost as if Vegas, has become something of a reminder of the possibility of redemption in even some of the most dire situations. It borders on a Buster Keaton, or Chaplin film where happenstance, and luck conjure up unexpected friendships in a world so often misunderstood. At this point, Cooper's life has become a refreshing antidote to much of the show's displays of humanity in America, as stretched beyond it's ability to hold life together without animosity, duplicity, or avarice. While women scream about their own ability to get across town, and children dress like their survivalist dads, further bolstering both Lynch's penchant for doppelgangers, and notion that we are inextricable from our parents in both our best and worst ways, here are a pair of powerful crooks, who somehow find it in themselves to communicate well enough to not murder, and in turn welcome a once sworn enemy into their circle of trusted friends. In a scene that qualifies among some of the most disarming of the series, the boys play a game of "what's in the box", only to defuse that particular bomb due to a dream. And the body language of one James Belushi, as Bradley, is among the most surprising in not only this show, but in the man's thirty year career. It's like a spark awoke within the man, and it's a moment of palpable joy that is so well rewarded, that everything that follows, is rife with an awkward charm, and reminder that planted information may be no match for a well-considered pause. 

Further rewarded by a reappearance by the once homeless woman our Mr. Jackpots once helped. It's a deeply affecting moment, which again reaffirms that this is indeed our Cooper. He's definitely in there, reaching out ever gradually. Nodding to Rodney's celebration of good drinks and astonishing cherry pie.

"Damn good."

Back with Hawk & Truman, make no mistake, something huge is on the horizon. But it could come at great cost. Where all of this will come to a head, no one can truly say. And that remains the most singularly exciting thing about this. But on the other hand, the reality that we only really have seven hours of this remaining, is nothing less than a little depressing.

Children Of The Atom: More Musings On Twin Peaks The Return, Part Eight

It has already been several nights since David Lynch, blew the roof off of expectations, yet I continue to sift deep into the very back of my mind as to what else was delivered through some of his purest instincts, and Frost's layering of story foundation. Without much dialogue, so much was allowed to at last spill out after what has seemed a lifetime of anticipation. It's no exaggeration to say that much of Sunday night's hour, i have been waiting to experience since early summer 1991.

So, upon watching this again moments after writing about it, the details begin to paint one interesting tapestry of story expansion. Starting with the reunion of Evil Coop, and Ray, which blindsided me long enough to realize how this was going to end. At the side of a dirt road, and with a double cross. Ray, believing he had the drop, scampering understandably from a horrific and bizarre scene. What's more, is that he notifies Phillip Jeffries(David Bowie, in FWWM), that the deed was done, yet he anticipates a possible form of retaliation. Saying he witnessed something that may explain some gaps in their story about this otherworldly Cooper. Meaning, that for the longest time, the presence of the unknown has been at the edge of the lips of a select few, and that at last, even for them, things are coming together. As to how deep this goes, and what the Bureau, actually knows remains to be seen. 

Evil Coop's seeming resurrection, even seems like a foregone conclusion. There's no way we could eradicate evil with a simple volley of bullets. The scene much more about exposing these existential elements to the human world, makes it am exciting hint that everything that happens after, will be crucial not only to the entire Twin Peaks mythology, but to our heroes at last seeking ways to contain this invasion decades in the making. Which makes the rest of the segment not unlike a nonlinear novel of pure, Kafkaesque dread. Taking us back to the moment when our culture not only found itself out of the seeming endless moral more of conflict, with a deceptively simple technological solution. A solution that not only provided a sudden ending to war, but ushered an era of imagined prosperity for all, without ever considering the spiritual cost. In Lynch's vision , such imagery of uniformity beneath a justification of white bread Americana as a beacon for the just and fair, often brings with it hidden suffering and inevitably a bubbling underworld, just waiting to consume all innocence. If one thinks of it as a less crass, and more melancholic take on the Nightmare On Elm Street themes of the "sins of the parents", it all comes into sharper focus. 

It has long been an ongoing theme with his works. Only now, does it take on a grander scope than ever before. 

1945. White Sands, NM

Impact. Fury. Trinity.  

From the vomiting maw of what resembled the creature from the glass box. Contents liquescent, viscous, containing what appears to be Bob, himself. This along with the appearance of the soot beings corralling around perhaps the one and only Convenience Store. The one Jeffries, once spoke of before vanishing before Cole, Cooper, and Albert days before the murder of Laura. Sound magnified, stretched, and helplessly warped as the fabric of reality is torn open just long enough for evil to amass in ways unprecedented (Or perhaps flared beyond the days of slavery, and the mass slaughter of native peoples.) . And entire moment granting viewers the chance to at last absorb the truth beyond a simple, and all too familiar infodump.

Continuing this method, we are brought into a familiar art deco-esque tower overlooking vast oceans. (The White Lodge?) Where we are granted a crucial moment with the Giant, and "The Mother", as they are both alerted to the events unfolding on Earth. Possible that their roles in the overall scheme of the planet, are those of virtue, innocence, and light. Their world, adorned with lavish early 20th century design, coupled with the power of mythical machines resembling woodwinds. Music, the power of light. Sphere. Laura, in origin form. Kissed, and sent out into a now gravely troubled planet. Parents, bringing a child into it in hopes of inspiring humanity to rise beyond an impending abyss.

On to a decade later, and a lone egg the size of a small mammal lands deep in the desert. It isn't long before the egg is hatched, revealing what seems to be borne out of Lynch's own personal memories; what he has called a frog moth. Unable to fly, the creature in an infant stage awkwardly crawls toward an unknown future. Bringing us to a young pair, walking along a lone series of dirt roads after a night's meeting. Clearly a first for these children, it becomes an ache in my side to want to declare one of these children a young version of someone we know good and well from Twin Peaks. Only, no name is dropped, even as they bid their goodnights as the young girl waves from her family porch. I'm almost positive, I was far from the only one thinking, "Say Leland, please", but oh that would be too pat. As of tonight, a big guess persists, but wait for it. 

Meanwhile, the arrival of the soot men has become something akin to a zombie invasion just outside town limits, leaving several witnesses petrified of what shambles along in the dark. No mere vagrants, these ash covered beings may not move very fast, but one lanky fellow among them dubbed, "The Woodsman", comes ever forward to the unsuspecting with the simple words, "Gotta light?" A seemingly innocuous question that quickly gathers menace with each iteration. The terror only magnifies when The Woodsman takes over the local radio station, ending in several deaths by bare hands, and the broadcast of his passage regarding the water and the well. Shrouded creatures with a message of a most dangerous slumber. As to whether or not this was to facilitate the frog moth's entry into the sleeping young girl's mouth, remains to be seen. But what if the race between light and shadow merely appeared in town simultaneously a decade after their respective appearances? What if the frog moth, is no mere invader, but rather the protector? 

And by that logic, would this make the young girl a teenage Sarah Palmer? Which would go to great lengths to explain one of the mythos' great questions; what kind of link does Sarah have with the Black Lodge, and in turn, Bob? It was something that occurred more than a few times in the original series, but hardly addressed. This could be it. Laura, being something of an ephemeral being, brought to our world via forces beyond our understanding, while in itself something more akin to your classic hero myths than of other genre, offers up an even more unusual canvas than has ever been hinted at. Then again, this is the same show where we witnessed the leaving of a child's soul towards electricity- the vessel of choice for many of these interdimensional beings.

Technology, for all its abilities to save us from the darkness, offers up its own world of toil and danger. Children of the atom, grown from tract home realities, and TV dinner education, never knowing what was sacrificed in order for them to inherit reality. Ever yearning, but never illuminated beyond convenience. With Blue Velvet, this universe seemed to side with overt innocence. But with Twin Peaks The Return, that innocence would serve to be but one vital element within a larger family. We can't have one without the other. And this is perhaps the ultimate condemnation of Bob Cooper, and America's neglected heart.

And maybe a sign that hope, isn't too far away.

She's Gone Away: Twin Peaks The Return Part 8, Dives Into Deepest Lynch For Revelation

"This is the water. And this is the well; Drink full, and descend. The horse is the white of the eyes, and dark within."

-The Woodsman

And descend, do we all. Social media echoed sentiment by many involved with the series that Part 8, would present to us something we've yet to experience. This in no way, was an exaggeration. Uncompromising to the end, this long form extension of a series known for flirting with the outright uncanny and frightening has opted to go full dark dream, offering little relief throughout most of its hour running time. A segment centered largely on the dark forces that have been floating about the larger story all this time, starting with the ride between Evil Cooper, and his erstwhile accomplice, Ray (George Griffith). A drawn out drive into the middle of nowhere leads to an altercation that reveals a little more about BobCoop, as well as ushers in the return of the soot covered men we've had hints of over the last several episodes. These foreboding creatures are seen in one moment dancing jubilantly, only to have them descend into what resembles a bloody mangling, which features the appearance of none other than Bob himself. The first ten minutes of this segment alone offers us little but the promise that we are at last going to have a greater taste of these otherwordly beings.

Then Lynch lets us have it.

In one of the most eloquently personal, and utterly baffling hours of television since that final thirty minutes of the original. So without going into too much detail that is better experienced than written about, here is where I currently am with it.

This, along with Cooper's journey between worlds in episode 3, feel very much like two major components of why this series not only exists, but what made the doubling of episodes something worth celebrating. Not only are we at last back in the ultimate sandbox of early Lynch, we are also in a sense living up to the visual text that the entire series has been binding together with all of his previous film, and art work. His choices here intimate that whether it be a painting, an installation, a music piece, stage show, or television series, that they are part of a whole. An examination of both his middle american childhood in the 1950s, but his own concerns about what led to his own incarnations of overt light and dark. The realms we explore in the wake of the atomic bombing tests in White Sands, is explored as origin point. That within that particular deal with unknowable evil, America's fate was sealed beyond any injustice that one culture has perpetrated on others for generations. It was an act of scientific checkmating that allowed for the proliferation of seeds that have now spread toward every corner of the nation. 

Most impressive, are the visions of within a mushroom cloud, visualizing the deployment of Bob into the world, further examining the denizens of the ocean tower we has seen Cooper escape before, natural elements erupting within and without a rural gas station. And perhaps even the birth of Laura's goodness into Earth as some form of counter against encroaching darkness. However, the pervasive evil somehow caught wind of such power, and sought it wherever possible in order to claim it. (Not unlike how Leland himself was claimed as a young man.) And as abstract as this all is, again such care for the emotional texture of the entire hour, carrying with it the sense that this has been the kind of work the director hadn't been able to indulge in for well over twenty years due to studios and cold feet, and perhaps a need of some soul searching. We haven't seen sets, costume design, color grade, and homebrew effects work of this caliber since perhaps even the ill-fated, DUNE. There is even a great amount more ERASERHEAD and The Elephant Man, in here for measure. And while not laser direct about it, the reverberations are there without sense of irony or humor. We are at the nucleus of the trouble in Twin Peaks, and it is both alluring and deeply terrifying. 

This is advanced level, hard left Peaks that opts for pure cinema. I can't think of any television event this willing to go here. This begs to be on a large theatrical screen with the soundtrack blaring.

Oh, and having Nine Inch Nails stop by was pretty rad too..

He Was Like A Cobra: Twin Peaks The Return Part Seven, delivers on years of build-up

"Has anyone seen Billy?"

In a feat of near-impossible grace after so many years of anticipation, Part 7 of Lynch's singular voyage back to our favorite northwestern town is the kind of achievement that will reward for years to come. Friends have remarked that this above every segment thus far, is a Mark Frost special. And while this at first glance seems about right; so many mythological threads at last beginning to gather central steam, and greater emphasis on world building, there is an equal power at play through Lynch's passionate eyes. He seems to be relishing at last beginning to use the gravity of all we've absorbed up until now, delivering what is for me the most satisfying hour to date. And yet, I am struggling with exactly how the hell they've both pulled it off with such deceptive ease. 

From Deputy Hawk's discovery of three of the four long lost pages from Laura Palmer's diary(a moment I've been awaiting since 1992), detailing the fate of our favorite special agent, to the incredible face-off with Ike The Spike, to the long awaited revelation on the face of Diane upon meeting "Cooper" in a South Dakota cell, to the eventual conclusion of that prison arc, therein lies a strangely intimate feeling between all events that is only capable through careful concentration on emotional elements, rather than intellectual ones. We are, after all, digesting yet another one of Lynch's waking dreams. A place where truths come from often illogical places, yet feelings are justifiably amplified. Almost beckoning the viewer to easily accept it. It's the kind of magic trick that only film can deliver, and Lynch remains a master of misdirection. Letting us marinate in a mood, rather than explaining away the cause of our distress. This includes the morgue encounter with what's supposed to be the long dead body of Major Garland Briggs-sans head, made all the more upsetting by the presence of a soot-darkened stranger in the background we've yet to fully comprehend. And, the terrible reminder that the Renault family bloodline remains morally broken to the bitter end.

I've made remark before that this new Peaks, seems to be a straight razor reflection to the America we seem to be occupying today. Almost like the crew of Twin Peaks, couldn't help but ingest what exactly has been haunting the heart of everyday people on the small patches of civilization across the nation. Sometimes, even suggesting that perhaps Evil Cooper, is at the heart of every displaced worker of a now defunct energy industry, every debt ridden ball of angst, ready for a swipe against a world that seems to have slighted them. Every person feeling left behind after spending their whole lives chasing a vision of their country that was never more than illusory. Through the show's establishment of character and predicament, there's this sense that there are those looking to either pass the buck of responsibility, only to be pushed back by citizens eager to uphold their end, or others ready to blacken the eyes of this betrayed bargain.  It's a travelogue of 2016, before darkness fully took hold, perhaps existing as artifact warning arrived too late to stop an apocalyptic alien infestation.

But for me, the biggest, most powerful weapon in seven's arsenal was the numerous levels brilliant casting of Laura Dern in the role of Diane, as a woman understandably hurt by time. Without explicit details, we are made very clear that the FBI (more specifically Gordon and Albert) remain prime on her shit list. There is little love throughout their initial meeting, but it is nothing compared to her realization that the source of all twenty five years of pain, might be something completely otherworldly. Her crumbling to Gordon after the meeting, was especially powerful as it elicits Lynch fans' familiarity with his entire filmography. This is a truly meta fiction moment, where Sandy at last comes to discover that Jeffrey, may have at last succumbed to the darkness. It's a moment that exploits our love for her presence in these works, yet it all works. It's a family distressed at the possibility that one of their own may be truly lost.  And the way the entire scene is captured is in the very best tradition of his works. Painterly, overt, and hopelessly raw. Reaffirming us that Peaks, belongs right up there with 1986's Blue Velvet as another dream in the same mind.

Sure, we can certainly highlight Dougie Coop's encounter with his would be assassin. And we should. But to even best explain why that moment is so well earned, we need remember how many were at first off put by the arc. Playing with our collective patience. Leaving us to wonder if we would ever get the old Dale Cooper back. This moment, more than any other is a promise that he will indeed be back. Albeit, through one barnburner of an arc that seems truly deliberate at this point. Both MacLachlan and Watts, continue to shine here, only making me increasingly sad that he may have to leave her and child soon.  

And what of Beverly's odd sound at the Great Northern with Ben, and the recovery of the key Jade sent their way from Vegas? Old habits truly die hard as we also may be getting acquainted with our own generation's Catherine Martell. But who is Tom, really? Sure, we could speculate. But again, since this is a feature film of rare length, these just the type of bread crumbs that are best examined once they play out a little longer. Sure, the end wound up being a playful bit of padding in between segments, but even they had a bit of atmospheric fun to them that didn't diminish the effects of the almost overwhelming first half. Something tells me, this episode will be getting the most replay from me for a while. But as the credits roll, it's pretty clear, something truly terrible is on the way. It's time to lean in closer, with headphones perhaps.

Things are about to take a huge turn.

Rest In Peace, Warren Frost. ("Thanks, Doc.")

Dougie Jones' Strangely Charmed Life: Twin Peaks The Return (Episodes 5-6)

 "When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out. The tender boughs of innocence burn first. And the wind rises. And then, all goodness is in jeopardy."

  -The Log Lady

As we delve further into the bottomless Chinese box Lynch and company have been devising for us, it again grows ever clearer that the boughs of innocence extended far beyond the youthful visage of whitebread American goodness in Laura Palmer, but in everything we grew to know as familiar within Twin Peaks' particular town limits. For sure, the weird has always been a pervasive element. But never before has it been captured with such an ominous set of oils. On the surface, it may look like classic Peaks. But gone is the bonkers humor or reaches for sheer camp. On top of this, these last two episodes seem ready to keep us at bay for any real answers for quite some time. 

Six hours in, and the story continues to spread across the country, yet seems ready to ease itself defiantly in Vegas as long as Lynch and Frost feel comfortable challenging the average viewer with extended and crushingly awkward moments of Dougie/Cooper, continuing his voyage back to total selfhood. And why not? So much of his reactions to the world around him, and the in turn utter confusion and exasperation from everyone else seems to be playing hard against the very gawking audience that pushed the original series into an early grave. But what such viewers may be missing , is both the cackling humor of it all, coupled with some truly touching moments as Kyle MacLachlan patiently and often brilliantly delivers hints that things are coming together. Whether it's his fascination with a classic statue of a dutiful lawman, or uttering terms like "case file", pieces seem to be coming back for our favorite G-man. It's a singular and affecting performance that a television show, let alone a feature film could rarely deliver. 

He's in a dazed. Probably not too different from how Lynch himself views the contemporary landscape. Like anticipating a return to an almost infant state as age takes hold. It's both a distressing and hilarious feeling that almost renders parts of the series hard to watch. 

But. Take heart.  

Just going to up and say it, Dougie Jones is one lucky guy. Yeah, sure he seems to have a gambling problem.  The mob seems to be hot on his tail. He has extramarital concerns. He doesn't even seem to exist anymore. But through the eyes of a dazed, half alive Special Agent Dale Cooper, we are host to the man's world, a host of both the hyper-ordinary, coupled with extraordinary circumstance. He's no simple Las Vegas insurance salesman. Heck, just take one good extended look at his family life, and take in the fact that despite all the drama surrounding him, he's just damned lucky to have run across a morally upright, understanding firebrand like Janey E. She'll meet with potentially deadly thugs out in a public park, talk shop, and end a threat with some common sense based on current percentage figures as per her job at the bank, and end it with a solid counter offer. The kind with the kind of rare authority, that even said thugs have to step back and admire it. This together with their amazing child, Sonny Jim, it almost seems terribly tragic that very soon, they may come to realize that Dougie, is indeed gone. 

I bring this all up at the very beginning, because It seems important to highlight the complications that are mounting in lieu of the events that are now swirling well beyond the town limits of the show's titular community. Even as Evil Coop has been in a cell in South Dakota, pieces are moving about wildly, ever glacially drawing events closer to where it all began. Unfinished business is at the heart of Twin Peaks: The Return, and it seems ready to tease matters out as far as possible. Not at all unlike a novel. With the author savoring every opportunity to bask in these moments with characters one clearly has affection for. 

Hawk, after some dogged investigating, has stumbled upon what could be a nuclear revelation connected to the events of twenty five years past. And it wasn't among the mountain of case documents and articles left behind during the Laura Palmer case. Wilder yet, it may very well have been hinted at in a dream she had days before her murder. 

Albert, has at last found who he and Gordon were speaking of a few episodes back. Red herring edit to the Bang Bang Bar aside, we are at last somewhere in New York where we meet the never before seen Diane(Laura Dern!) before cutting away. 

Meanwhile, we at last have who will likely become a central figure in this 18 hour saga. And we get it within the most familiar of Twin Peaks locations, the Double R with Shelley Johnson revealed to still be working for Norma, being approached for money by her teenaged daughter, Becky(Amanda Seyfried). This is not long after being introduced to Becky's loser boyfriend,  Steven (Caleb Landry Jones) who has been struggling to get work in between hits of coke. The stage seems to be assembling for a repeat of history, while events thousands of miles away seem to be ever gravitating closer to the origin point. 

Couple this with the fact that some of Dougie's Vegas pursuers have been killed by another party by mistake. The ensuing chain reaction, has activated what has become one of the series' most utterly baffling characters. Ike the Spike, who's diminutive stature and accompanying hip-hop theme music have done in three minutes what takes most horror films 90 minutes to make frightening. This is no joke when I unpack just how genuinely scary and milk spitting hilarious this guy is. It seems to come completely out of nowhere, and will be a character worth watching out for. Especially since Dougie seems to be next on his hit list! One can only hope that Cooper wakes up soon enough to put his long neglected boxing abilities to the test. Because in his current state, we'd be lucky to get a sprint out of our hero. 

And let's not wind down without considering Peaks' next generation of pure sociopaths in Richard(Who may very well be a Horne), who's allegiance to the clearly psychotic magical gangster Red(Balthazar Getty, doing a mean Frank Booth) is being tested by being endlessly called "kid". Richard, also in record time, has gone from being wholly detestable to outright pathetic monster as his mission to traffic a Chinese designer drug hits a speedbump in the form of a child in the street. A scene that again melds sheer horror with over the top cackle fuel. Thankfully, Fat Trout manager, Carl (Harry Dean Stanton) witnesses the whole awful event with what seems to be a reassuring epiphany. 

And all of this as we have yet to find out just who Linda is from the Giant's message at the very beginning. "Two birds, one stone", he said. Whether this means incarceration for the duo, or a straight up hit list, remains to be seen. 

Which brings us to what seems to be gnawing at the corners of the entire series for me this far. Not unlike Margaret's troubling words in Fire Walk With Me, the bugs had only begin to infect the community of Twin Peaks during the days of the Palmer investigation. While the powerful were feuding over the fate of the Packard sawmill, and Ghostwood, these were elements that invited small time thuggery as extension. In the past, elements like th3 Renault brothers, were but a fixture on the outskirts of town. But what seems to be bubbling up now in lieu of economic uncertainty, is both an arms race of entropy and apathy. This is exhibited by a deputy, who's not only an openly cruel human being, but a man on the take. Janey E's impassioned retort to the gangsters, and ultimately the former Doctor Jacoby's nutbar InfoWars conspiracy/marketing scheme show. Let's also consider the show equating the gangsters with the bank Janey works for, not to mention Dougie's job at an insurance company rife with the adulterous, and venal side by side during group meeting. The world of Peaks, has gone full opportunist vampire. The show seeming to suggest that in the years since the disappearance of Dale Cooper, and the emergence of Bob/Coop, the ensuing moral chasm that appeared in the wake of these events threatens not only some of our beloved friends in the north, but of America as a whole. It's a vision of a society aimlessly longing for an illusory past, despite considering the world so vibrantly passing them by. Too many find themselves in planted denial. Unyielding. Thereby inviting the classic Lynchian bugs that once thrived beneath Lumberton, North Carolina. And while we really should be pacing ourselves with any semiotic reading since this is much closer in form to a feature film than a series, it could be way too early to hone in on what exactly Frost and Lynch have in mind for the series thematically. But even at six hours, its ambitions cannot be underestimated. Here's hoping a long neglected slumber is about to come to a well-earned end. 

A Return To Dreamland: Impressions Of Twin Peaks: The Return (1-4)

"My dream is a code, waiting to be broken. Crack the code, solve the crime."

-Special FBI Agent Dale Cooper

Fewer words were more inviting of the authors than this piece of dialogue from David Lynch & Mark Frost's almost legendary crack in the fabric of broadcast network time and space back in 1990. It's suggestion that none of what we see will be as it seems, and that normalcy is but a petty illusion we grant ourselves is at the dark, somber heart of Twin Peaks. A television event so singular in execution, generations of longform storytellers have been sampling Promethean fire from it ever since. The quirky, occasionally disturbing revelations beneath the veneer of a quiet northwestern American community in the wake of the brutal murder of the town's misunderstood high school sweetheart, became the kind of lore that inspired ceaseless discussion and debate. Also inspired many a Twin Peaks party as far down as my own small desert community just south of Palm Springs, California. Coffee and Pie, as simple price of admission to becoming part of what became one of the briefest, yet intense pop culture phenomenons I have ever had the good fortune to be a part of.

And to think, that this largely came from the mind behind one of the most jarring cinematic experiences of my youth, Blue Velvet(1986).

The demise of Twin Peaks, was as aggressively swift as the show's overnight success. The kind of network meddling that once made many a filmmaker steer clear, and more discerning viewers avoid broadcast television for years. Being forced to reveal that ever present, driving core question of, "Who killed Laura Palmer?" became one of the great crippling decisions that render creative teams rudderless, and as such the show was never quite the same again. That is, until a harrowing season finale signaling the return of Lynch to help rescue the show after a several months absence. History, naturally borne that more than a little late as time slots went from barely manageable to outright impossible, thereby quashing much hope of the show being saved via life support. Thankfully, the season finale, which became the show's original death march, went into history as one of the most indelibly bizarre, nightmarish, and utterly frustrating endings ever made. I vividly remember gasping in utter astonishment as the credits for Frost & Lynch came up on the screen as our central hero suddenly reveals himself to be overtaken by the evil forces behind some of the stranger goings on up in those mountains. Special Agent Dale Cooper, is trapped in the Black Lodge, while his evil doppelganger walks the world we live in..triumphant.

The finale left me angry, befuddled, even depressed. The show had so clearly drawn the moral cartography with such clarity with this character, and here we were, ending with goodness. possibly in a fate worse than death. In many ways a good analogy for the show itself. An almost magical confluence of elements that could easily be manipulated into a cage of its own destruction.

Thankfully, in the decades plus since the demise of the series, and the subsequent and inexplicable booing at Cannes for Lynch's film prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, it seemed that despite all signs to Peaks being among the many casualties of myths that burnt out far too soon, here we are where creators, fans, and artists prevailed, granting David Lynch the utmost freedom to come back to a creation, and characters he so clearly still loves. The Showtime release of Twin Peaks: The Return, is not only another return to the success pool that so many filmmaking legends have. Rather, it is the kind of singular form of artistic revenge that only lands once or twice in our laps in a single lifetime. Much like a certain George Miller, what I've seen so far is reminiscent of his own vision unleashed. It is a wildly strange, unflinchingly Lynchian,  caustically funny, and occasionally terrifying opus of ideas that must have been percolating since 1991. Gone is the often screwball nature of the original series, but also not as tonally grim as the 1992 feature. What we have here, is the natural extension of all of Lynch's art spanning from as far back as his experimental films, not to mention ERASERHEAD(1974). 

 Opening within an enigmatic space of pure monochrome, a slightly aged Dale Cooper has now been within realms beyond the feared Black Lodge, and has been informed by The Giant, that the time to leave is nigh. Speech remains in eerie reverse, but the color has been completely bled out, perhaps implying that the show we had previously watched over the years had indeed entered the world of classic vintage television. We are also introduced to various characters from New York City to even Buckhorn, South Dakota, where matters have undertaken less the episodic, and often goofy feel of the original, and taken an almost novel-like structure. A school principal dreams of murdering a co-worker, only to awaken and be arrested for a similar crime. A woman with faulty memory, helps the police discover a murder victim with the wrong head on its shoulders. A young man, is tasked with watching a glass box in a city skyscraper that may or may not be a transportation device for alternate dimensions. Meanwhile, a man in black leather who bears a bizarre resemblance to Cooper is on a mission to obtain information, and kill a few along the way as his help might very well be in the process of betraying him. As new revelations that seemingly come from other Lynch worlds expand themselves into the larger story, it rapidly becomes clear that the tale of Peaks has bled out across the country.

All of this, as Sheriff Tommy "Hawk" Hill(Michael Horse) is given a call by Margaret (The Log Lady, played by the late, wonderful Catherine Coulson) that some new puzzle pieces have suddenly come to light. Little by little, it is indeed happening again. And whether or not anyone is ready, it seems like The Return, is not only a sober, more adult Peaks, but it's also something of a liberation from the confines of network broadcast. An existence that ultimately sunk the original show. Frost, makes good use of the lore he has helped hone over the years, helping Lynch further ground his series in a way that we had only been hinted at with Fire Walk With Me. The range is certainly lighter than that excursion into the bleak, but it is no less unsettling when Lynch goes full horror show. And not unlike 2001's Mulholland Drive, the tonal shifts somehow find even keel weaving an endlessly fascinating new life for a show that at one time captured the minds of many in its vision of a Rockwell dream gone malignant. Oh, for sure, innocence remains strong within Peaks, but it has begun to waver with the loss of Cooper, and Major Garland Briggs. Andy and Lucy(Harry Goaz & Kimmy Robertson), are good and well as they could ever be as fixtures in the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Office. And while we do not have Harry Truman who's apparently ill, we have his brother in Frank (Robert Forster!) taking care of the law enforcement family alongside Hawk. 

And as hours three and four have unveiled themselves, it rings louder than ever that Lynch has a fire within that even I though had long been diminished. It's the kind of creative fury that only the right producers and supportive entities could have allowed. In hindsight, this so easily could have flown completely off the rails, and yet somehow, even the most bizarre events of these two episodes seem perfectly in keeping with the world presented. No matter how insane things get, it's always in support of Cooper's journey toward not only the home of his beloved deep black joe, and pie, but himself. Playing at this point, three roles is easily the best work Kyle MacLachlan has ever executed on film. Years of describing him as something of Lynch's visual analog couldn't be more fitting as he traverses between worlds and personalities with the precision and trust only collaborating friends could ever conjure. And this is but one blip among a wealth of performances that further offer a depth that the show had only hinted at in the past. Sure, there are a few that hit those strange notes (Chrysta Bell, instantly comes to mind), but considering the universe of Peaks as something that exists in a plane not quite ours, it never milks the camp factor beyond tolerance levels.

But the real surprising juice comes in the form of elder Gordon Cole(Lynch himself), and fellow agent, Albert Rosenfeld(The late, great Miguel Ferrer) who upon receiving cryptic information about the long lost Cooper, venture out to meet a captured man, only to wonder who exactly they have behind bars. It's a truly mesmerizing final few minutes in this series of episodes that both sells the utter eerie nature of old events returning to haunt old friends, as well as their loyalty to their fellow agents. The final scene hued in a deep shade of blue, brings to the forefront revelations that harken to both the original series as well as FWWM, hinting at something both men had been troubled by for years. No, none of this feels normal at all. But maybe there is someone we know who can help. It's a bang-up way to leave us hanging. Needless to say, I am probably just as hooked now as I was back in 1990. Perhaps even moreso. Like Albert and Gordon, a part of me had lied dormant. Ever resigned to the idea that these forces would forever be ignored, leaving threads eternally neglected. And despite knowing of this project for over a year now, I never expected it to be rekindled with such energy and sincerity. It's the kind of return we rarely to never receive. At last, we have Twin Peaks as a complete story. Whether or not this is truly Lynch's great goodbye to narrative filmmaking, I'll be there with many others, savoring every delicious moment.  

14 hours remain..