Can I give a post mortem on S3 of Twin Peaks? 7, maybe 7.5, out of 10. SPOILERS follow...
Twin Peaks is one of my favorite shows of all time and set the stage for a lot of American television that followed... but if you are familiar with the series, then I don't need to tell you any of this. Lynch always challenges his viewers and this season certainly does this. Much of the plot and understanding of the world is left up to the interpretation of you, the viewer. The first five episodes are very gripping and reveal a lot about the plot, but the next handful of episodes fall flat. They push pointless deadend plots forward, which is a criticism I also have with Mulholland Drive. Lynch has such a signature vibe and aesthetic though, it all seems to fit somehow. However, I feel that this season could have been condensed to half as many episodes, been straight and to the point.
"Gotta Light?"
For me, episode 8 was remarkable. This was Lynch close to his best -- not to mention Mark Frost, who as I understand it, developed much of the plot -- this episode REALLY challenges the viewer, offers no explanation, and forces you to draw your own conclusion. Like I said.... Lynch at his best. This was where the series really started to pick up for me again. The real story of Twin Peaks was always the supernatural, the struggle between the white and black lodges, and everything that came with that. Laura Palmer's death was only ever the catalyst, the back drop, and the first domino to fall that gave the viewer a look into Lynch+Frost's world.
I want to talk about Audrey though... because I did not like the way she was handled in this new season. I have seen Sherilyn Fenn express a similar sentiment as well. She feels very much like one of the deadend plots I mentioned earlier, and they could have done a lot more with her. It just doesn't seem to totally fit in with what's going in in the rest of the story. They followed her story like it would somehow be important later on, but ultimately just ended up being a red herring. The only characters that REALLY had any importance to the story were the FBI, coop + dopplecoop, and the Twin Peaks sheriff's department. Even coop's son seems like a bit of a deadend... really only a plot device for one particular scene. Oh, and of course Dark Mother -- which this season is really all about.
Twin Peaks always felt very gothic to me, like Edgar Allen Poe or something. Also very Lovecraftian... The idea that society is safe, and something lurks in the woods and the darkness -- in nature. The idea that we are removed from nature is always addressed, but we are constantly reminded that we ARE natrure. There is usually something supernatural going on in these stories, a sense of dread, of utter incomprehension, and some sort of cosmic game going on that we are unable to fathom. I would also put "Stranger Things" and "Dark" in this category as well. In this respect, S3 of Twin Peaks excels wonderfully. The less it tells you, the more you want to know, and the more it sets up a Lovecraftian/Gothic setting and aesthetic. I would say it perhaps excels better in this aspect than even the original series does. Unfortunately, it has too many flaws in other aspects for me to consider it better than the original...
This came out way too long. I just kind of let a stream of consciousness flow lmao, I hope I made sense...
