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

Credit: Showtime

The Good, the Bad and the Verdict

The Good

While this episode was chockful of visual imagery and little dialogue, it was photographed well and the special effects were mesmerizing. I felt as if I were watching Lynch paint except his canvas was digital.

Rich in allegories and allusions, the audience is left to figure out and determine their own personal meanings from the various scenes. While we are given the tools, we are not given the answers. It is like a secret code and we are the ones to decipher it.

Kyle MacLachlan is doing some of the best work of his career in this revival. His Evil Coop is chilling and his flat delivery of his lines makes his character even creepier. You don’t want to mess with Mr. C because you know there will be consequences and they won’t be pretty.

The Bad

As much as I enjoy the musical performers who are currently gracing my iPod courtesy of this show and I do dig NIN, however, the Roadhouse set went on a little too long. It almost felt like an intrusive music video that was more of an interruption than an enhancement. There should have been something else going on at the Roadhouse to warrant that diversion.

The entire White Sands sequence, while impressive and wondrous, was too much of a good thing. We didn’t need the extra coverage of explosions or the rain of atomic particles. Sadly, most television viewers want a storyline and character development. They have no need for a cornucopia of visual beauty. Unfortunately, this could come across as Lynch being self-indulgent. Perhaps some editing could have been used to pare down to necessary images.

While I was into the woodsman taking over the mic at the radio station and throwing down some mad verse, this is another scene that went on forever. I sometimes think Lynch doesn’t want to throw footage away. It comes down to working within the television medium that demands immediate results and not longwinded storytelling.

The Verdict

Personally, I enjoyed this episode. I love being taken on a weird journey week after week. The element of surprise is a turn on for me. If there are many more episodes like this I fear that viewership may be lost.

Last week, the divergent storylines were converging. Things were going in the right direction and starting to make sense. That is not the case with this particular chapter in the “Twin Peaks” saga.

Next: Site launches honoring 35 years of 'The Thing'

Fortunately, there are ten more episodes to go. Plenty of chances for Lynch to experiment and have fun but also an opportunity for us to return to the show’s canon.