TV Review “Twin Peaks: The Return”

Published 2:00 am Thursday, October 15, 2020

This review may seem like it’s a few years late, but it feels fitting in mid-October to check out the sometimes spooky, a little unnerving and always slightly off-kilter world that Mark Frost and David Lynch created with their limited revival series of “Twin Peaks” on Showtime. The pair’s 1990 original series captivated the world with the question of “Who killed Laura Palmer?” By the start of the second season, it became clear that the real question audiences should have been asking was much deeper, sinister and crazier than anyone really anticipated.

The series was canceled after that second year but with so many more threads and story to explore and explain, the series’ cult following grew and supplemental books and a prequel/sequel film “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” (1992) and the 2014 compilation of deleted scenes that were released as “Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces” were released to keep the mystery alive without fully answering anything.

After 25 years, the series returned to the small screen to finish up some loose ends. But in typical Frost and Lynch fashion, we’re still left with questions and the hope of something more.

If you haven’t watched the original series and at least “Fire Walk With Me” in a while (or at all), they are required viewing before venturing into the new storyline. And while you don’t have to have read Mark Frost’s “The Secret History of Twin Peaks” or “Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier” (which has some spoilers from the new series), but they can help fill in some gaps.

This isn’t a show that you can watch passively. Every minute is important and, yes, at times it can feel like your brain may melt with the methodically slow-pace, but the ending will justify any liquefaction of your mental capabilities.

It’s very difficult to summarize the intricate and weird plot of the new series without spoiling anything and without getting too far down the rabbit hole, so I’ll just say this: Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) is still in the Red Lodge after all these years and Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) is still telling him cryptic messages. It turns out that Cooper’s doppelganger from 25 years ago, whom the evil entity BOB attached himself to, is still roaming the country wearing Coop’s face and murdering people wherever he goes. Cooper must get back to send BOB/Cooper back for good before he can get away with any more dastardly deeds, but there’s a hiccup, of course, and therein spoilers lie.

The whole plot is very difficult to completely summarize without spoiling the series, and with so many threads throughout the 18-episode arc, it would take longer than what I have here to give it justice.

The new series is pure Lynch, with long shots of random objects seeming just for the sake of competition. The acting is heightened, dialogue poetic and stilted, grotesque images and nightmarish situations. And it’s all perfect.

It seems like Lynch and Frost were able to do a lot more in terms of the story they wanted to tell without much pushback from the production studio, even including a nearly completely silent, somewhat standalone episode in the middle that is both stunningly shot and wonderfully strange.

Gathering a large percentage of the original cast, the new season/series is lovely as a kind of reunion. Seeing MacLachlan don his Agent Cooper suit again is oddly comforting and while many of the returning characters have little to do with the main storyline, it is nonetheless delightful to see them again.

We also get to see a lot more Gordon Cole in the revival with Lynch having a lot of fun with the hearing-impaired FBI Director.

Understanding Lynch’s Modus Operandi when it comes to filmmaking is key to appreciating “Twin Peaks” in its entirety. And knowing that there will be moments that leave you scratching your head saying “what the —?” at your TV can help you get through a show that is filmed like an 18-hour long movie. Know that everything set up at the beginning of the series, and anything that seems off, will probably come into play by the end of it. So save your questions for the finale.

“Twin Peaks: The Return”

18 episodes

Rating: TV-MA

4 stars