Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) Cre: David Lynch & Mark Frost
- Ridley Coote
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
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"I'll see you in 25 years." At last, I had arrived at the most recent, and final, chapter of David Lynch and Mark Frost's cult classic series; 'Twin Peaks'. Set and released a quarter of a century after the first two seasons, this series was in the unusual position of continuing a story significantly after its original run and with almost all of its original cast. Knowing David Lynch, and knowing 'Twin Peaks', I was suitably high in anticipation for what these final 18 episodes would provide.
As it pertained to the cinematography, I had, by now, more than made myself comfortable with the expectation of visual absurdity from the man perhaps more famous for it than any other filmmaker; David Lynch. And, in some ways, this season was even more surreal and visually weird than either the two original television seasons or the film. In many respects, I enjoyed it. It felt good to see so much uniqueness on the screen.
With that said, some of that aforementioned uniqueness, and some of the visual imagery, just got to be way too much to enjoy. Episode 8 reached a point where I just had to sit back and accept that I had absolutely no clue what was happening. I had to really sit and think about it, and even then, I needed the help of online theories and analysis. It was the first time I'd really been at a loss with David Lynch - I had expected it to come a lot sooner, to be honest.
This wasn't that big a let down for me, though. What did disappoint me was the story. It just didn't engage me nearly as much as the arcs that Lynch and Frost provided in the early nineties. Some of it felt strange for the point of being strange, which might seem inkeeping with 'Twin Peaks' on a surface level, but something the series and the prequel did extremely well was to make almost everything feel important. This season failed to do that nearly as often.
It took far too long for the show to regain its familiar feel, and even that only lasted one and a half episodes. I found the ending to the show pretty underwhelming too, which is heartbreaking to say, for someone who held such high hopes for this last season. I know a lot of people consider this season and it's incredibly unique finale to be a masterpiece from Lynch, but it just wasn't close to that, in my opinion. It was far too disjointed, unfocused, and unsatisfying, for me.
Some of the acting wasn't great, particularly from extras and actors with minor roles, but one man who could not be faulted was the ever-popular Kyle MacLachlan, whose acting was very strong throughout the season, despite some very bizarre character writing. Other standouts for the season were Michael Horse, Miguel Ferrer, Naomi Watts, and Lynch's favourite actress; Laura Dern. These were the names that left the most consistently positive impression upon me.
There were several other names I wanted to at least mention, albeit some of them weren't too great, as far as their acting went, but their performances were significant enough to warrant being talked about. Those names being; Sheryl Lee, Chrysta Bell, David Lynch, Robert Foster, Kimmy Robertson, Amanda Seyfried, Matthew Lillard, and Harry Goaz. There was also a very jarring appearance from Michael Cera, for some reason.
Overall, I'm sad to say that I just didn't jive with this season as much as the other 'Twin Peaks' productions. It had moments of tremendous filmmaking and storytelling, but so much of it was bogged down by awkward, unnecessary, and nonsensical content, which I realise is not unlike Lynch, in regards to his style, but the sheer volume if it was far too much for my personal taste. My feelings on 'The Return' are unfortunately very mixed. In the future, I think I'll stick to the 90's content.
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