Calvin Law examines a common television archetype through two cult shows.

(WARNING: spoilers for Stranger Things and Stranger Things 2, Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return)

In many ways, David Lynch and Netflix could not be more diametrically opposed. Nonetheless, the long-awaited return of Twin Peaks and the arrival of the new Stranger Things begs the opportunity to draw parallels between the two series. There’s an argument to be made that, as much as Stranger Things loves Spielberg, Dante, Carpenter, and Carven, it has its own fair share of Lynchian themes. Outsiders with strange abilities, an otherworld one can be trapped in for a long time, a quirky sheriff’s department, and – perhaps most notably – the intriguing fashion in which it handles its two principal ‘jock’ characters: Dana Ashbrook’s Bobby Briggs and Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington.

Given how indebted it is to nostalgic 80s pop culture references and homages, one might have expected Steve to bite the dust in the first season of Netflix hit Stranger Things. Jocks with mousy hair don’t end well in 80s fare: from Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid and Biff in Back to the Future, to Stand By Me‘s redneck hooligans and the hapless secondary characters in any number of horror films, they’re usually obnoxious jerks who at best learn a bit of humility, and at worst die. Keery, however, so impressed the Duffer brothers on-set with his charismatic performance as Steve that they decided to not only let him (Steve, not Keery) live, but make him an essential part of the series’ climax.

In season 2 of the series, Steve not only returns but takes on a much expanded role; he becomes a sort of guardian angel to the kids, like Josh Brolin’s character in The Goonies with even nicer hair. It’s an inspired choice by the screenwriters, and makes great use of a character’s change of heart to turn him into an endearing, goofy, and altogether pretty awesome hero. It’s particularly fun to see him interact with Gaten Matarazzo’s Dustin, as they make a winning team.

Steve is a great example of making an unlikeable character gradually likeable. That brings us to Bobby Briggs. At the start of Twin Peaks, Bobby, Laura Palmer’s ex-boyfriend, is – for lack of a better word – a bit of an ass. He’s callous, uncaring, indifferent, obnoxious to pretty much everyone, and doesn’t seem to care much for Laura or her demise. One of the most brilliant parts of Twin Peaks is its ability to take apart soap opera caricatures and makes them vivid, realistic human beings. We begin to see the more tender side to Bobby over the course of the series; we see his hopes, his worries, and in a brilliant scene between him and his onscreen father (the magnificent Don S. Davis), the potential to become a better person – which he certainly fulfils in The Return. It may seem a bit odd at first to see Bobby Briggs in a position of authority, but as a deputy in the Twin Peaks’ sheriff’s department, we see he has grown from young punk to a wiser man. Steve and Bobby are two fantastic examples of how the medium of television can be used to create such complexity in its characters; whether over two years, or twenty-five, so much can be done with care and attention to detail.

Milo Garner reviews the sixteenth chapter of Lynch’s revival series.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

‘I am the FBI.’

We have waited a long time for these words. I don’t mean a long time since the original series, which aired before my own birth, nor even from the build-up to this new series, with its slow trickle of trailers and set photos. Within the series itself, in these first 16 parts, the Twin Peaks audience has been collectively holding its breath for this moment. At first it seemed inevitable; that it would maybe come a few episodes in. Then it started to seem like a mid-series twist. Then, perhaps, something that might never happen. The Lynch who brought back ‘Just You’ could easily have deprived his audience of something they actually wanted – it would be almost typical. But, in this penultimate episode, we have been granted our innermost desire, allowing this this sole moment almost to overshadow one of Twin Peaks’ otherwise finest episodes.

I am, of course, referring to the words spoken by Coop, moments after his return. Not Bob Coop, or Dougie Coop – this is special agent Dale Cooper, back as he was all those years ago. Kyle MacLachlan effortlessly slips back into the character (marking the third persona he has portrayed in this series), bringing his charm, cheerful demeanour, and supportive yet dutiful attitude immediately to the fore. As he awakens from a coma induced by an electric shock last week (electricity has been a recurring theme in the revival), Badalamenti’s classic soundtrack emerges and takes us all back, closing what could be the longest slow burn in television. The remainder of the episode gives us precious little time with the man himself; we see only his departure from Dougie’s family to catch a flight to Twin Peaks. But it’s enough, for now. Hopefully the final two hours will give us all the time we need.

Besides this, however, an excellent episode exists, and some storylines are actually tied up(!) The first of these is Richard Horne’s, who appears to be the son of Bob Coop, and finds himself dead by a trap meant for his father. This isn’t a plotline that really went anywhere, but at least there’s some closure. Another plotline for which progress seems alien is the double-team of Chantal and Mitch, who are seen often despite their lack of activity. They await Dougie at his home, hoping to kill him, though for them it is already too late. A neighbour approaches them and tells them to get out of his driveway, which they are partially blocking – they refuse and he rams them with his car. This triggers a ridiculous gunfight which finds Chantal and Mitch dead, riddled with bullets, in what might be the least-predictable action scene of the entire series. The Mitchum brothers look on. ‘People are under a lot of stress, Bradley,’ says Rodney.

Elsewhere, Diane’s story also seems to conclude, with Bob Coop inducing her to attempt to kill her FBI colleagues. It isn’t so simple as that – Diane is clearly resisting this inner urge in a great scene of tension and insecurity. As it turns out, Diane herself was but another double, and when she is shot she returns to the Red Room, leaving there another seed. But the best non-Coop-related scene is yet to come. Towards the end of the episode comes Audrey, with her story finally moving forwards. Now she is at the Roadhouse, though perhaps not the Roadhouse we know. It is announced that ‘Audrey’s Dance’, a track from the original Twin Peaks soundtrack, will be played by the band. Sure enough, they play that very tune, and suitably Audrey has a lonesome dance in the middle of the abandoned dance floor, with a crowd looking in from a distance. A beautifully surreal moment, this is another moment of payoff after some weeks of frustrating build-up. This scene also confirms a theory some had about Audrey’s current state, as at its conclusion she appears to ‘wake up’. She is in a bright white room, looking in a mirror. What, why, and where, we wonder collectively. With only a couple of hours left, and a good number more questions that need answering, Lynch has his work cut out in concluding Twin Peaks: the next double-part episode might possibly be the last ever. But even if it fails to completely satisfy our wonderings, the journey was more than worth it.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

Milo Garner reviews the latest chapter of Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks ahead of tomorrow night’s new episode.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

Pointing at Agent Cooper, David Bowie’s Phillip Jefferies asks Gordon, ‘who do you think that is there?’ He said this in the 1992 Twin Peaks prequel film, Fire Walk With Me, though in his dreamy recollection of the event Gordon seems to have realized new meaning in this question. And who wouldn’t – the mystery of Coop’s identity seems to be building to a close, and Part 14 pushes many of the necessary pieces into place for (the presumed) reveal to come. One such piece is a revelation from Diane, who reveals she has a sister called Janey-E – yeah, that one (probably). And so the FBI might finally be on the trail of Dougie Coop, though of course that is kept from us for at least another episode. Another comes with Sheriff Truman, Hawk, Andy, and Bobby, who reach the illusive Jackrabbit’s Palace. Once here, a mostly indistinct wooded area, they come upon Naido, that eyeless woman from Part 3 who appeared to live in some kind of interdimensional spaceship from which Coop escaped. She is lying on the floor and looking worse for wear, and so the crew decide to return her to the police station for protection, though not before Andy is transported to the black and white realm last seen in Part 8. Here he is met by images from that past episode, as well as the Giant who delivers some key information to perhaps the show’s least reliable character. Or one would think – immediately after receiving this information and being sent back to his world, Andy seems suddenly assertive and confident. A marked change from the man too squeamish to bear Laura Palmer’s blood back in the series’ initial pilot.

While this main plot steams forth the typical Lynchian aside takes the screen. In this episode the focus is on James, in his most substantial scene yet. He shares the screen with Freddie – Jake Wardle, perhaps better known as YouTuber Truseneye92, personally scouted by Lynch on the back of his first viral hit. He plays a ridiculously cockney security guard at the Great Northern and talks with James about various supernatural events that brought him to be where he was. The general gist is that the Giant told him to buy a glove that has granted him super strength (on the hand he wears it), and that he was told to come to Twin Peaks without explanation, and felt it right to do. In expected style this story is told over a long time without much bother paid to saving time for the other, perhaps more pressing, plotlines at play, but this is no problem. It’s an entertaining and interesting monologue, and one that Wardle gets just right – the cod English accent, complete with a blatant Beatles reference, could easily have fallen flat in less talented hands (or hand). Following this interlude, James travels into the Great Northern, and seems to have found the source of the noise that has been troubling Ben for some time. But what it might be is saved for another episode. Elsewhere in Twin Peaks we revisit Sarah Palmer, who is receiving a lot of screen time toward the end of this series, though to what end is yet unclear. She sits at a bar and is approached by a fairly reprehensible man (complete with a ‘truck off’ t-shirt) – after telling him to back off somewhat nicely, her face detaches and she bites his throat off. Yeah. Her face returns and she unconvincingly tells the barman that she isn’t responsible (how could she be, an unarmed old lady?) As for the audience, Sarah might have had a few strange moments in the last few episodes, but this is unprecedented and, predictably, inexplicable. With very few parts left to this revival series, it does seem many questions will go unanswered, though it seems Lynch is set on posing new ones until the very end.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

Ahead of tomorrow night’s new episode, Milo Garner reviews the latest chapter of David Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

There’s a moment in Part 13 of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks revival series in which Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), in the guise of Dougie, drinks some coffee. No big deal, this has probably happened in every episode so far. Only this time, his reaction is not one of childlike amazement that we have seen formerly in the series; this time, if just for a moment, a little of the real Cooper seeps out. Despite the essentially frustrating nature of this long game Lynch is pulling, it’s the moments like these that really make it pay off, and MacLachlan’s performance can’t be faulted. After our first taste of his ‘damn fine’ cherry pie, it feels like we’re finally getting close to the real deal. Watching this series in week-long chunks probably doesn’t quite suit it in this regard, as the real nuance of Cooper’s transformation will surely only be clear in a more compact viewing arrangement. But even watching it across a quarter of a year (so far): the slow crawl, one which has been a little inconsistent at times, is falling into place excellently. This part of the story, however, is emphasised by more than its own merits. The parallel story of the evil Bob-possessed Cooper is really what props it up, with MacLachlan’s performance here so opposed to the dazed Dougie that it sometimes seems like they really are two different people, hairstyle notwithstanding. In this episode ‘Bob-Coop’ finds himself at heart of a certain criminal underworld, led there by the treacherous Ray (George Griffith). While there he has television’s strangest arm-wrestle (equal parts funny and sinister) and generally proves he’s still a force to be reckoned with. Even at a conceptual level, the noble Dale Cooper turned cruel is unsettling enough, but coupled with MacLachlan’s newfound fearsome aura – proving his utmost quality as an actor – it is something to behold.

On the domestic side of affairs, a certain sadness dwells over a particular relationship – or set of relationships – that have carried over from the original series. Nadine (Wendy Robie), whose ring was out of sight in previous episodes, seems still to be married to ‘Big’ Ed Hurley (Everett McGill). Though there is some joy in seeing her and Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) – with whom she is infatuated – meet (plus a cheeky Chuck Berry reference), this doesn’t shake the disappointing feeling that the lecherous Ed is still in her life. But for Ed, if anything, the situation is worse. While we see him sitting with Norma (Peggy Lipton) at the diner, as might be expected in any episode of the first two seasons, it soon becomes apparent that the two haven’t achieved their illicit love. While her business partner harps on to Norma about profits and authenticity (‘Norma, you’re a real artist. But love doesn’t always turn a profit’ – or did he mean to say Lynch?), the camera often cuts to Ed’s technically irrelevant reactions. Only we know what they mean. This is emphasised further by the end of the episode, which makes the unorthodox decision to cut from the Roadhouse’s obligatory musical act to Ed, alone. In many ways he deserves sadness, but considering the 25 years that we might assume this behaviour has carried on, it’s impossible to revel in it.

Otherwise there are a few interesting happenings here and there, such as the Las Vegas detectives discovering the truth behind the Cooper double and tossing it aside as a clerical error, Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn) continuing her obscure dialogue with husband Charlie (Clark Middleton), and Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) watching the same looped clip of a boxing match over and over again. But the absolute highlight must be the aforementioned Roadhouse performance, none other than James Hurley (James Marshall) himself. More than this, he plays ‘Just You’, the song penned by Lynch and Badalamenti for the infamous season 2 scene in which he sings – in a ridiculous falsetto – with Donna and Maddy without any clear context as to why. Aurally recalling the 50s, as Lynch is wont to do, it was a bizarre moment (and cringe-inducing for some) yet seeing in reprised in an almost perfect replication (complete with two female back-up singers) makes for one of the show’s strongest nostalgia hits so far. On reflection, perhaps this scene was put second-to-last not to give emphasis to Ed’s final shots, but to make sure everyone had to sit through James’ song a second time, even if (especially if) they can’t stand it. Either way is fine by me.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

As we head into the final act of the season, Milo Garner reviews the latest chapters of David Lynch’s 18-hour return to Twin Peaks.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

When Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) says ‘damn fine’ in Part 11 of Twin Peaks: The Return, perhaps for the first time, it’s Coop. Not Coop of the red room, or Dougie, or Dougie-Coop, or Bob. It’s Coop – fleeting, but so tempting. As has been a trend in this series, it’s a tease, but tantalizing. It seems undeniable now that Coop isn’t unravelling so that the story might continue – his unravelling is the story. This is something that I would like to have avoided – if only to see more of the good old Dale Cooper on screen – but by this point we, the faithful audience, must go with it. More importantly than giving another hint at the promised ‘return’, this scene makes up part of the show’s absolute highlights, an ending that hits filmic levels that the self-consciously ‘television’ nature of Twin Peaks has typically held back on. The Mitchum brothers (Robert Knepper and Jim Belushi), who continue their very entertaining strand from the last episode, first set out to kill Dougie, but after a strange confluence of dream and reality – as Lynch is wont to apply – they instead become his closest pals. This is centred around a cherry pie, naturally. But that isn’t the only Peaks regular to make an appearance. Playing the piano as the Mitchum brothers treat Coop is none other than Angelo Badalamenti himself, the show’s composer, who eventually plays it out with the credits. A new composition, ‘Heartbreaking’, freezes Coop for an extended moment as Badalamenti plays it diegetically. For a show that is so often set on being intently mundane, or off-puttingly strange, when it does brush with the sublime, we can feel it even more. The piece itself is transfixing, simple and beautiful, the only shame being that Lynch’s style holds back Badalamenti’s score from taking centre-stage more often – though when it does, it really does, which I suppose is the point.

Elsewhere, the episode proves to be similarly entertaining, if not quite reaching the heights of the final few scenes. Amanda Seyfried’s Becky, now confirmed to be Shelly’s (Mädchen Amick) daughter, is on the loose, gun in hand, seemingly with intent to kill her abusive husband (Caleb Landry Jones). It turns out he wasn’t home, and any criminal charges that might have been put against her are covered up. Why? Enter her father: Deputy Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook). To see Shelly and Bobby again together strikes a nostalgic chord, though it seems old habits die hard. Shelly now appears to be an item with the sinister Red (Balthazar Getty) – she sure knows how to pick ‘em. This is followed by one of Twin Peaks’ trademark ‘weird moments’, in which gunshots ring out from across the road. Bobby goes over to check it out – a kid had managed to get his hands on his dad’s gun and fired off a few rounds out his the car he was in, and doesn’t look repentant about it. As Bobby tries to do his duty, the car behind is beeping incessantly. Bobby goes to check out the driver, who yells at him about being late in a loud and brilliant performance. Then a sick looking girl starts to vomit in the seat next to her. Perplexing, yes, but (for whatever reason) engrossing too.

Meanwhile, at the FBI, things are getting ever stranger – though this time more relevant to the plot at hand. Travelling to the coordinates given to them by William Hastings (Matthew Lillard), they find a strange portal in the sky, one that almost captures Gordon (David Lynch) if not for Albert’s (Miguel Ferrer) quick thinking. Before this, he managed to see briefly into it – a vision of the Woodsmen. One was, however, closer at hand, phasing in and out of vision, before attacking and, quite gruesomely, killing Hastings. All the while Hawk (Michael Horse) and Sheriff Truman (Robert Forster) mosey over a map, including a dark symbol that they mustn’t talk about – which is as funny as it is foreboding. Again, the pace is deliberate, but again, it works. In fact, Part 11 more than works, perhaps being the best of Twin Peaks’ ‘conventional’ episodes so far.

Now, Part 12 doesn’t match 11’s heights, nor does it include so much forward momentum in the plot, but that isn’t to say it isn’t effective. Perhaps the best scene in this episode is shared between Gordon and Albert, who while bit-players in the original series have become key components in this revival. Always having a soft spot for these characters, this suits me fine, and the intrigue building up around the ‘Blue Rose’ group and its doings is similarly welcome. In this episode, we see Tammy (Chrysta Bell’s beautiful cypher, who has been following G&A around in the revival) officially instated into ‘Blue Rose’, while Diane (Laura Dern) is deputised. Diane, however, is still secretly in communication with Bob-Coop, and G&A are well aware of it; she also searches the coordinates they found on a body last episode – they lead to Twin Peaks. Beyond the narrative, this part of the episode has a particular stand-out scene. It involves Gordon seemingly seducing a visitor in his room (Bérénice Marlohe) with Albert suddenly arriving with important news. As in any normal scenario, the woman is asked to leave, but unlike a normal scenario, Lynch decides to stretch this moment to its absolute extreme. Even when she has, eventually, departed, the conversation between Gordon and Albert is so stripped back that they actually stand there in silence – we cut from shot to reverse shot without any words being uttered several times. While this sounds incredibly awkward, it’s a certain kind of off-set humour that Lynch excels at, and even comes off as emotionally effective during Gordon and Albert’s exchange.

This same tactic, however, does not always function so well. The episode’s big comeback is none other than Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), probably the biggest character yet to have appeared. Her scene is a conversation with her husband, a small man named Charlie (Clark Middleton). The subject matter is inherently obscure, concerning someone called Billy (not Zane) and another called Tina. Shot in the typical drawn-out fashion, this scene isn’t particularly funny and is too far removed from anything we know to be overly intriguing. The wow factor of seeing Audrey is enough to pull it through, but it certainly seems a weak point in the episode. One point that can be gleaned from the exchange is that a truck was mentioned, possibly the same truck that Richard (Eamon Farren) was driving when he committed his worst crime (of many) some episodes ago. Richard himself wasn’t featured in the episode but said crime appeared more than once – the most important scene being between the sheriff and Ben (Richard Beymer), his grandfather, who is informed of what his son had done. The two also share another important detail, with Ben giving Truman Cooper’s room key, as a keepsake for Harry (who is not featured beyond conversation in the revival). Truman, however, knows this might have more significance than at first blush, given recent events. How this will unfold remains to be seen.

Asides for this episode include a surprising lack of Dougie Coop (one very short scene), as well as a return of Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie), acting suitably deranged. A later visit by Hawk doesn’t seem to calm her much; perhaps this isn’t the last we’ll see of her in this revival. Meanwhile, Hutch and Chantal (Tim Roth and Jennifer Jason Leigh) have a brief appearance, shooting Warden Murphy (James Morrison), and Jacoby’s (Russ Tamblyn) Alex Jones impression continues, with Nadine still watching intently. The episode is played out by the Chromatics, but not before a conversation plays out between several unknown characters. It doesn’t come to much and also doesn’t inspire an awful lot of interest, though how it might tie into the greater narrative is always intriguing in of itself. That’s assuming we see these characters again – never a guarantee.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

Milo Garner reviews the next chapter of David Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

Part 10 of Twin Peaks: The Return is an episode picking up the pieces of story strands long left dormant. The two most notable might be the return of Harry Dean Stanton’s Carl Rodd – guitar in hand – and in his vicinity, Amanda Seyfried’s Becky (who may or may not be Shelly’s daughter) and her now-abusive husband Steven (Caleb Landry Jones). Naturally, we don’t get much more about any of these characters other than the vague descriptions offered above, but it’s something. Another returning narrative line is that of Richard Horne (Eamon Farren), now confirmed to be a member of the Horne family. Audrey’s son? Probably, though she still remains unseen. In this episode, Richard finds himself returning to his sinister ways, not only killing a witness to his heinous crime some episodes ago but also throwing his grandmother about and robbing her blind. While it is often fun to have villains who are just evil, at this point, many of the antagonists are becoming overly cartoonish. Richard appeared to show some remorse for killing the kid in his last appearance, if mainly self-pity, but any sense of humanity that might be inherent there is lost now. Hopefully there are some interesting horizons for this character – maybe his story arc will redeem this rampant behaviour. On the note of thinly written villains, another rears his head in relation to Richard, that being the unfriendly Chad (John Pirruccello) at Twin Peaks’ police department. In former episodes he had just been rather unpleasant, and as such the revelation that he’s a corrupt cop feels cheap – of course he would be a corrupt cop. He probably spits in everyone’s coffee too, because why not?

Besides this, the episode prefers the peculiar to the cruel: building on Dougie-Coop’s (Kyle MacLachlan) plot substantially – and no, he isn’t back yet. After word gets out about him spiking Ike, the powers that be decide that he must be dealt with. A mission of intrigue begins when Tom Sizemore’s insurance agent convinces the shady Mitchum brothers (Robert Knepper and Jim Belushi), who own the casino Dougie cashed out big time in, that Dougie was also responsible for their losing insurance money on a destroyed property. As such, they too decide he has to die. But more! On the less sinister side of things Coop is revealed to have a killer bod, and when Janey-E (Naomi Watts) catches this drift she sets out to seduce him. She succeeds (as close as success could be defined with the barely-there Dougie-Coop), and the ensuing love-making is possibly the show’s comedic high. While this plotline has been a little here and there, it does have some major pay offs.

Otherwise, the usual Peaks oddities reside: such as Gordon (David Lynch) opening a door to find Laura Palmer’s (Sheryl Lee) face superimposed across its frame (yep), one of the revival’s most inexplicable moments, of many. We also get a few moments of classic cameos, such as a return of Doctor Jacoby’s (Russ Tamblyn) Alex Jones-esque conspiracy-spade-selling show, and a brief shot of Nadine (Wendy Robie), who now owns a drape shop (perhaps there is some justice in the world). The episode closes with an extended jaunt in the Roadhouse, with Rebekah Del Rio singing ‘No Stars’, a song co-penned by Lynch himself, with Moby on guitar. Unfortunately it isn’t particularly good, but nonetheless gets the full-song music video treatment so far only otherwise seen with ‘The’ Nine Inch Nails. I guess Lynch digs it, after all.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

Milo Garner reviews the next chapter of David Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

Following the journey into the depths of Lynch’s mind that made up Part 8, this week’s episode of Twin Peaks is a return to relative normality. Gone are the monochrome murderers and nuclear adventures, back is the ever-expanding ensemble cast (say hello to Tim Roth and Jennifer Jason Leigh!) and the strange – if not too strange – happenings about town. As far as plot is concerned, the episode does essentially pick off where the last left off, with the villainous Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), returned from the dead, arriving at ‘the Farm’ and meeting the aforementioned new cast members. Shot but not got, his nefarious mechanisms are still unravelling. What exactly these are naturally escapes the audience, but it may become clear soon.

In the world of Dougie Coop things are also moving forward – Ike the Spike (Christophe Zajac-Denek) is arrested, and the three detectives we were introduced to earlier try to crack the case of Dougie. They do this by laughing a lot, in a way Lynch makes both amusing and uncomfortable, as is his wont. But the key to this section of the show this week is less the ongoing Dougie drama and more the unending tease that we might finally be reunited with Agent Dale Cooper. Not Bob, not Doug, not the Coop that was zoned out in the Red Room for over two decades, but the Coop we love. He glances to the American flag and music starts to play – perhaps his overwhelming sense of duty to the flag will awaken him? It would be an uncharacteristic moment of intense patriotism for Lynch if that had happened, but at this point we’ll take anything. Glancing from the flag he sees two key items – two outlets and a pair of red shoes. A reminder that he came from an outlet from the Red Room, though apparently not quite strong enough that he snaps out of his stupor. Once again Lynch leaves us on the edge, once again we hope it’s next week, now in the unsettling knowledge that the halfway point has been passed.

Back in Twin Peaks an assortment is going on, including a minor domestic dispute between Andy (Harry Goaz) and Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) on what kind of chair to get. More pressingly, Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) and the Boys set out to discover the truth about Major Briggs by asking his wife (Charlotte Stewart) exactly what he told Coop before his disappearance and presumed death. We find out that he had instructed his wife that should this day come, or rather when it came, that she would give them a small metal tube. Bobby, who had been more a miscreant while Briggs was alive, knew what to do with the tube and how to interpret its instructions – his father had somehow predicted his exact course in life, and it feels as comforting for Bobby as it does from the audience. The few scenes Briggs and Bobby shared in the original had some excellent moments showcasing the emotional, if distant, connexion Briggs had to his son. Even beyond the grave these moments are still quite effectual. But as far as the narrative is concerned – the Twin Peaks police department are on Coop’s trail, now with set of cryptic instructions to follow.

But they aren’t the only ones, with Gordon (David Lynch) & Co.’s FBI squad still reeling after learning of cruel Coop’s escape. They decide to take another route and go to South Dakota, to figure out what’s up with Briggs’ mysteriously young corpse. While there we catch up with a plot strand that kicked off in the first episode but has been left dormant since – that of William Hastings, the headteacher-cum-murderer (apparently). As it happens he is more than a victim of the supernatural, but an enthusiast of it, running a blog that talks of various strange happenings, and other ‘dimensions’, one he has said to have visited. More than the potentially interesting direction this takes his subplot in, it was a display of very raw emotion in what is often an intentionally sterile show. Matthew Lillard gives a powerful performance – one that might well be classed as overacting, but in effect this counteracts the underacting that is often employed around him. It is Twin Peaks’ continued devotion of a significant amount of its length to deadtime that gives these moments of emotion or extremity their power, and it’s a formula that works consistently.

Beyond this we get various strands of various other subplots, though none get particularly far – Twin Peaks is a show that inches along, a little happening over a lot of characters. These include Ben’s (Richard Beymer) continued search for the hum in his building, Jerry’s (David Patrick Kelly) escapade with The Talking Shoe, and Sky Ferreira’s uncomfortably loud rash-scratching in The Roadhouse. These are intriguing, entertaining, and unsettling in that order which, I suppose, is a succinct description of Twin Peaks as a whole. Entering the second half of this new (and probably final) season the overall quality has remained fairly consistent, with twin peaks (haha) in Parts 3 and 8 – here’s hoping this consistency will be maintained to the finale.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

Milo Garner reviews the next chapter of David Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

Despite a very surrealist first few episodes, the Twin Peaks revival has since settled into a form more familiar to its original run. Sure, it’s a lot more Lynchian than before; but the provincial, ensemble dramatic form is fairly similar to what we’ve already seen. As such, when Part 8 opens with Ray (George Griffith) and Bob Coop (Kyle MacLachlan) conversing in a car, my expectations were pretty set. It was strange as always – with some mention of a new obscure location, ‘the farm’ – but no more than the usual. Following this is some quite sudden action – the pair pull guns on one another, but Ray had sabotaged Coop’s attack. Coop is shot, seemingly dead. Shortly after his apparent demise, ghostly figures begin to surround Coop’s body, touching and rubbing it. They fade in and out as Badalamenti’s bassy synth is muffled in the soundtrack, accompanied by the terrified screams of Ray, similarly obscured. It’s a shocking and frightening opening – even for Twin Peaks – and sets the tone for the rest of the episode. The surreal is back, and better than ever.

Following this early section is a switch in formula – most episodes in this new season have concluded with a band playing at the Roadhouse, whereas here we are presented with one very early on. And the band in question are none other than ‘the’ Nine Inch Nails, an industrial outfit with whom Lynch had formerly collaborated with on the soundtrack for Lost Highway. They play ‘She’s Gone Away’ as the camera treats the scene like a fully-fledged live music video – the performance is great and suits the tone of the show perfectly. This is also as close to normalcy as we will get in this particular episode. Quickly following the song’s conclusion we are taken somewhere Twin Peaks has never yet strayed – that’s right, the 1940s. As a title informs us, the date is July 16^th 1945; and as has been foreshadowed by a massive poster in FBI HQ, we witness a nuke go off. But more than that, the camera slowly pushes toward the mushroom cloud. It closes in, maintaining its unhurried pace, until we are enveloped by the dark. Following is one of Lynch’s most compelling – and terrifying – sequences yet, one that bears far more similarity with Douglas Trumbull’s groundbreaking work in 2001: A Space Odyssey’s closing sequence and The Tree of Life’s ‘universe’ section than to any of his own filmography. Only an additional dose of chaos and fear are injected into this journey through oblivion. Aside from the fractious and often abrasive visuals, the soundtrack is key to instilling an intense feeling of unease. On it is Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima – perhaps an obvious choice in some ways, but also one utterly chilling. Penderecki’s music has the ability to terrify even unaccompanied, as I am well aware, so linked with such engrossing and off-putting imagery it is given ever more power – that Kubrick used his music in both 2001 and The Shining to a similar end is further evidence of this. Following this, we are again shown a giant purple ocean (a la Part 3). The camera tilts up to a great rocky structure reaching for the sky, atop it a lighthouse-like building. We cut within – the visuals suggest the 1920s, but the music that we are still in the forties. A woman (Joy Nash) sits alone and beside her in a bell-like steampunk-esque looking object, and soon she is joined by the Giant from the Black Lodge (Carel Struycken) – though this room, and the colour of the remainder of the episode, is monochrome. In the next room, the iconic Giant rewatches the last section of the episode on a projector, then ascends into the sky and spews a golden substance, and an orb (there’s always an orb).

Even for Lynch, this is very bizarre yet utterly compelling. On the day of watching this particular episode, I had recently finished Matthew Barney’s somewhat deranged Cremaster Cycle, a surrealistic series based around the muscle that lowers testicles (it’s weirder than it sounds). I feared Lynch’s ‘TV surrealism’ would seem muted in direct comparison, but as is evident in the above description, he held his own, and then some. In fact, this might be some of the bravest TV of recent times – certainly, it is some of the best. By this point, actual implications for the plot are limited at best – it seems that Bob may have been created, or triggered, by the nuclear blast (though we can’t be sure) and that Laura Palmer might have some greater significance as an orb with her face on it drifts toward a representation of Earth. Maybe hers is the ‘Return’ in the series’ title? Regardless, this is an episode very much worth watching for the ride rather than the scant plot that can be found between the cracks.

Continuing on, the episode then fast-forwards to 1956, and we see a sinister being descend from the sky. This one of many Woodsmen (Robert Broski) is a hobo-looking character whose otherworldly nature is fairly clear – he wonders around his desert locale repeating ‘gotta light?’ while crushing the heads of those who he passes with his hand. He ends up at the local radio, who are playing ‘My Prayer’ by The Platters. After killing a woman and the host (with a horrifying [s]platter of blood) he speaks into the microphone: ‘this is the water, this is the well, drink full and descend, the horse is the white of the eyes and dark within’. Of course, we all expected him to say ‘gotta light?’, but a cryptic message is at the very least not unpredictable for Lynch, unlike the majority of this episode. All the while this is happening, a young couple are parting ways after what seems to be a first date. The girl, once home, is sent to sleep by this hijacked radio message, and we see a small creature – a frog crossed with a fly, at first glance – climb into her mouth. We had seen it hatch from an egg a while earlier – but what it is or what it is doing remains totally obscure. As might be clear, this episode has almost nothing to do with the events that directly preceded it, and indeed only featured a trio of recognisable characters. But, nonetheless, it was totally compelling and has instantly become a favourite episode of mine, not just of Twin Peaks but of TV as a whole. This sort of experimentation, regardless of its meaning, rarely graces the small screen and rarer yet at this quality. Let’s only hope Lynch has allowed himself a few more such flourishes as this before the curtain closes on Twin Peaks once again.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

Milo Garner reviews the next chapter of David Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

After a couple of weeks that seemed to tread water a little plot-wise, Twin Peaks: The Return hits us with some forward momentum in Part 7. This is clearest in Hawk’s (Michael Horse) subplot – the documents discovered in the toilet door turn out to be missing pages of Laura Palmer’s diary (though with one still unaccounted for). Using these pages, Hawk and Sheriff Frank Truman (Robert Forster) come closer to understanding the truth of the Bob – Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) relationship – the many plot strands are beginning to close in. Frank goes on to reveal that within his desk is an absolutely incongruous screen that slides up from the woodwork, and using it he Skypes Doc Hayward (Warren Frost, to whom this episode is dedicated) to ask about when he last saw Coop; this is mostly an aside, besides a name-drop of Audrey Horne, confirmed to be in a coma following the Season 2 finale rather than dead, but an interesting invasion of clearly modern tech into the still-leafy town of Twin Peaks.

But despite this movement in Twin Peaks itself, the star of this episode is surely Diane; introduced in Part 6, hers was perhaps the best reveal of the series so far. Now we meet her as an actual character, and in an almost-expected reversal from her absolute silence in the original series, she is mouthy and sassy; she’ll take nothing from no-one, and it’s great to see. Laura Dern pulls this off excellently, as might be expected from an actor of her calibre, and lights up the screen in any of her featured scenes – especially when she is face to face with Bob in Cooper’s form. But we aren’t done with bad Coop yet – we later see him talking to the warden, forcing him into a deal that would set him and his crony, Ray, free unto the world again. This Coop seems to have some serious influence, and the ominous sounding ‘Mr. Strawberry’ sounds like a character we’ll be spending a lot more time with in future episodes, for good or ill.

Besides this eventful business returns a story strand from the first couple of parts – the decapitated body with a different head. Here we find that this body is confirmed to belong to Major Briggs (Don S. Davis) – though with a twist. The body is the age he would have been 25 years ago and it appears to have been dead only a few days. ‘Blue rose’ indeed. Returning to the weird world of Dougie Coop, we get mostly what would be expected. Police turn up at his office and Janey-E ends up doing most of the talking as would be expected (and Naomi Watts is still brilliant as would also be expected). That said, it isn’t entirely uneventful: the dwarf from last episode – Ike ‘the Spike’ – approaches the couple with a drawn gun. What ensues is a bizarre fight scene featuring perhaps more karate chops than the rest of Peaks combined, with the mysterious Arm appearing and telling Cooper to squeeze the dwarf’s hand off. Coop obliges, with some of Ike’s skin ripping off and attaching itself to his gun (for some reason). Ike gets away and we’re thrown into interviews on the scene – interestingly shot from news-eye-view. To my memory, this is the first time Twin Peaks has indulged in interview shots and it is a mildly jarring stylistic decision, but it mostly works. Exactly what is going on with this Ike character, and why Arm seems to have it in for him, is predictably unclear, but it has spiced up Dougie’s subplot quite effectively nonetheless.

Beyond these established stories we also delve into something quite new, returning to Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) in the Great Northern. He and Beverly (Ashley Judd) search for the origin of a mysterious ringing sound, with Ben then receiving the key to Room 315 – the room Coop was shot in. Beverly then returns home to a suspicious and sickly husband. Scant pickings here, but that Ben might have a deeper role the mere cameos afforded to some of the other veteran characters is comforting in of itself. Finally, Lynch offers the audience one of his patented ‘moments’ – the camera sits at a wide angle in the Bang-Bang Bar, showing us the sinister Jean-Michel Renault (Walter Olkewicz) behind the bar as an employee sweeps the floor. But for a good while, there is no cut; we simply watch the man sweeping to the sound of Booker T & the M.G.’s ‘Green Onions’. It’s the sort of thing that probably wouldn’t be replicated in any other TV show, and it’s the sort of thing that really makes me love Twin Peaks.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.

Milo Garner reviews the next chapter of David Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

Part 6 of the Twin Peaks comeback kicks off where 5 ended, with Dougie-Coop (Kyle MacLachlan) alone, entranced by a cowboy statue outside his insurance firm. And so the familiar model is replicated, with Cooper, part-zombie, being led along by kindly members of his world, while near-oblivious to everything going on in it. This time there is some change – the police officer that first escorts him home realises that he has some kind of genuine problem, something most other characters have failed to verbally articulate. Beyond this, we are given some tentative teases to Coop’s inevitable return (perhaps this is ‘the return’ heralded in the series’ title?), with him looking longingly at the cop’s police badge. However tantalising these little tags are, there is a continuing sense that the audience’s patience is being tried. But then we are pulled back in – following strange glowing marks (like in the casino in Parts 3 and 4), Coop seemingly unveils some inconsistencies in papers he was given by his boss, albeit chooses to reveal them in strange childlike drawings. What this is leading to is, of course, obscure, but engaging enough that it isn’t an enormous issue. The other side of this storyline concern Dougie’s outstanding debts with various crooks, this time with Naomi Watts’ Janey-E taking charge. It can’t be understated the amount Watts’ raises the acting bar in Twin Peaks – her performance is constantly and consistently great, and in honesty shows up some of the more ‘TV’ acting that has always pervaded the series (intentionally or not). Hopefully, her character has somewhere to go beyond this side part, as it would be a shame to see her relegated to the side for good.

But on the subject of tantalising teases – one in this episode is probably one of the biggest surprises of the season. Laura Dern makes her Peaks debut in a role that has been present since 1990, and though her screen time is only a few seconds, hers is a reveal we were all waiting for (even if we didn’t know it). Another big hitter an appearance is Harry Dean Stanton, reprising his character Carl Rodd from Fire Walk with Me. His role in the episode is very small, and it could well just be a cameo of sorts, but nonetheless, it’s nice to see some Lynch veterans appearing every episode or so. His main act is one of witnessing another – a terrible crime committed by Eamon Farren’s reckless rebel Richard Horne. In a sequence that was painfully telegraphed, yet still shockingly graphic, Richard runs down a child in the street while speeding. Stanton’s character sees something, maybe a spirit, rise to the sky – that’s all we know for now. As for Farren himself, he had just encountered another of Twin Peaks’ new and sinister residents, the ominously (hey, just like the -) named Red (Balthazar Getty). Red is seemingly in the drug business, and in a wonderfully intimidating performance, terrifies Richard via the use of some fairly advanced coin tricks – he flips a dime in the air where it remains suspended, before reappearing in Richard’s mouth, and then back in Red’s palm. But despite his efforts, he isn’t the scariest moment of this episode, nor is Richard’s hit-and-run the most shocking. In what appears to be a fresh strand, we are introduced to a new character – a murderous dwarf (Christophe Zajac-Denek) who seems set on taking Dougie’s life (no, not that one). Wielding an ice-pick, we follow him as he murders two women, one in graphic detail. As if Coop needed more problems.

As ever, despite running near an hour, we are left knowing little more, and with more questions than answers by the time the credits are played out. That a traditional weekly airing schedule has been chosen over the binge-friendly Netflix drop might not help the series itself, as it feels like something that would benefit from long concentrated doses, but it will keep the audience in a state of constant suspense for the next few months. And that’s no bad thing.

Twin Peaks: The Return airs Mondays at 2am in simulcast with the U.S. on Sky Atlantic, and is then repeated at 9pm on Tuesdays.