David Lynch deconstructed and re-imagined the original series as the fantasy of a schizophrenic (Richard), who for 17 episodes fights his way back to reality, attempting to cure himself in episode 17 by reversing the death of Laura Palmer (i.e. the raison d'être of Agent Cooper, aka one of the two major fake identities, Richard's good side that has previously just defeated Mr. C, aka Richard's evil side). Although he finally wakes up in episode 18, by the episode's end he suffers a breakdown and collapses back to the dream/ schizophrenia, and the series ends with the image of him in the lodge and Laura Palmer whispering in his ears.
With 17 episodes of David Lynch-ian dream-world, the series makes for a heavily unballasted watch. There's no beginning and no end, just random events occurring and random characters appearing and then disappearing. The sedated pace doesn't help, nor does the abundance of cheap-looking cgi.
Twin Peaks: The Return is the ultimate act of arrogance of an old artist (Lynch is 72) who is way past his creative prime (his last good work was 2001's Mulholland Drive), and who isn't afraid to tarnish his legacy by meddling with past masterpieces (i.e. the original Twin Peaks) but ends up falling flat on his face in the process. TP3 is a sketchy, swollen, boring, rambling work that repeats themes that have appeared in his previous films, but in a vastly inferior way.
Were there good moments along the way? Sure. The atomic bomb episode, the arm-wrestling scene, the moving performance of Rebekah Del Rio, bits and pieces from the last two episodes, these were all worthwhile moments, but they got lost in an incoherent sea of terribleness.
Let's just hope that this is the last we see of Twin Peaks, or indeed of David Lynch.
With 17 episodes of David Lynch-ian dream-world, the series makes for a heavily unballasted watch. There's no beginning and no end, just random events occurring and random characters appearing and then disappearing. The sedated pace doesn't help, nor does the abundance of cheap-looking cgi.
Twin Peaks: The Return is the ultimate act of arrogance of an old artist (Lynch is 72) who is way past his creative prime (his last good work was 2001's Mulholland Drive), and who isn't afraid to tarnish his legacy by meddling with past masterpieces (i.e. the original Twin Peaks) but ends up falling flat on his face in the process. TP3 is a sketchy, swollen, boring, rambling work that repeats themes that have appeared in his previous films, but in a vastly inferior way.
Were there good moments along the way? Sure. The atomic bomb episode, the arm-wrestling scene, the moving performance of Rebekah Del Rio, bits and pieces from the last two episodes, these were all worthwhile moments, but they got lost in an incoherent sea of terribleness.
Let's just hope that this is the last we see of Twin Peaks, or indeed of David Lynch.
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