Twin Peaks: The Return
i am often wary of endeavors to resurrect and extend some beloved bit of creative work from the long long ago. at best, the result is something that is easily digested and forgotten. at worst, it sours the stomach and curdles a cherished memory, leaving one worse off for the effort.
it is for that reason that it took me eight years to gather the courage to watch Twin Peaks: The Return. while i’d been quite intrigued when the project was announced, the reviews after its release made it clear that the series was quite strange and perhaps not the sequel audiences had hoped for.
maybe it wouldn’t be the sequel i had hoped for?
what kind of sequel had I hoped for anyway? what is it any of us want when some part of our past comes back to haunt us once more? it’s never satisfying to just see the thing again, i don’t think. it must be new and different but familiar. it must fit our sensibilities in the same way the original did, but it must account for the changes that have occurred within culture and meet us at whatever life stage we now occupy (in this case, a not inconsequential 36 years having passed in the interim).
first off, the reviewers were right. it is one weird show.
but? i couldn’t stop watching it. you see, there are things that happen in this show that will register in the viewer’s brain as being bad — as being things that one should not see in a piece of quality entertainment. bad acting, ridiculous props, absurd plot lines.
i mean, i don’t want to give anything away, but there’s a thing that’s supposed to be a thing and i think it’s… a stick with a piece of bubblegum on top of it?
but that’s in contrast to the very good acting. the very intense, grounded dramatic moments. the humor. the big cast and the many sets and locations that hint at a not insubstantial budget.
it becomes apparent, as the episodes roll past, that Twin Peaks: The Return is the work of a master. a work that is grounded in its history but not afraid of the new. it explores its roots, the camp and melodrama of the soap opera, in ways the original series did not. in ways it maybe could not under the not insubstantial constraints of capitalism (ie, 90s network tv). it makes it clear that one can not go backward, that time only moves in one direction. in fact, i think its safe to say that is one of the series’ major themes.
Lynch reminds the audience, again and again, it is an audience (in case it had forgotten) and that what it is watching is a play. a not reality. a construction of ideas and emotions that is not meant to be mistaken for the world the audience inhabits. the show is not beholden to its continuity. it’s not trying to fool anyone with its special effects. the show is not meant to be passively viewed, but considered. thought about. discussed.
the audience must participate. it can’t hold the show at arms length. it must engage with the work if it is to have any meaning. because Lynch certain isn’t going to do it them.
so the audience must ask itself why? why did Lynch choose to use a stick with a piece of bubble gum affixed to the top? he had the budget to do more. why did he not edit out the bad acting? its very clear in many other scenes that he could get great performances out of his cast. why does a show called Twin Peaks: The Return do so very little too… return to Twin Peaks?
the show has themes and purpose that set it apart from the original series. it does return to familiar territory, but often in new ways. it’s a delight to watch. and at seventeen episodes, it never wears out its welcome.
definitely one of the best things i experienced in 2025.