Twin Peaks – The Return: Gotta light for the woodsman?

Carel Struycken and Joy Nash in a still from Twin Peaks. Photo: Suzanne Tenner/SHOWTIME

In Heaven, Everything is Fine

Hovering over an ocean, there is a sense of peace. The world has once again returned to black and white. Panning up a steep cliff, there is a stone structure. This is very reminiscent of the building where Good Coop found himself in during episode two.

Within this stone structure is a very small doorway. Once inside, a woman is sitting on a couch dressed in an opulent 1930’s style gown. In the background, music can be heard that sounds like a record on an old Victrola.

In the middle of this living room, there is a bell-shaped structure with some gauges on it and it could be a generator of some sort. Emanating from it is a shrill alarm. The giant man (Carel Struycken) appears decked out in a tuxedo.

Looking at the noisy generator, he fiddles with one of the gauges and turns it off. Before disappearing, he stares at the woman on the couch. The camera follows him to a staircase which he ascends. Once at the top, he makes his way across a floor and into another room.

The central feature of this room is a movie screen. I couldn’t help but think that maybe this was heaven and the giant man was some sort of guardian. On the screen is a shot of the Trinity test and the shadow woodsmen milling about in the gas station/Black Lodge.

When the footage focuses on BOB, the screen freezes. The giant starts levitating. A white light enters the room followed by the 1930s woman from the couch. She walks toward BOB’s image on the screen and up the staircase.

Gazing upward, she focuses on the giant who is expelling a gold light from the top of his head which matches the color of the soul leaving the body of the young boy who Richard Horne killed in episode six. This is very reverent and spiritual in tone. Ethereal music plays in the background only enhancing the mood. I seriously felt like I was in a cathedral.

Strangely enough, this whole sequence touched on my emotions. Perhaps because it was beautifully shot. A gold ball encasing the soul of Laura Palmer descends into the 1930s lady’s hands. She tosses it upward into a delivery system that sends Laura back to earth. The progress of her soul can be seen on the movie screen.