So.... Twin Peaks is due to return.

[weyland yutani]

I watched the original two series quite recently when they were free to view on Sky Boxsets . . . and I still don't know what the heck is going on in the new one.

It's very hard to describe what the show was; part cheesy soap opera, part supernatural/surreal mystery but I'm not getting the same vibe from "The Return" at all. The pace is excrutiatingly slow now, the tone is very dark and the surrealness has reached a whole new levels of arty fartyness.

 

[easyrider]

I'm watching S1 at the mo and its great

 

[easyrider]

It's worth a watch just for the theme song.

 

[DrToffnar]

I watched the original two series quite recently when they were free to view on Sky Boxsets . . . and I still don't know what the heck is going on in the new one.

It's very hard to describe what the show was; part cheesy soap opera, part supernatural/surreal mystery but I'm not getting the same vibe from "The Return" at all. The pace is excrutiatingly slow now, the tone is very dark and the surrealness has reached a whole new levels of arty fartyness.

Yep, that's Lynch's work in a nutshell xD

A good friend once said to me that watching a Lynch production is like experiencing every human emotion at once. This wasn't really the case with the first 2 seasons, no doubt because David Frost directed most of the episodes and even the ones that Lynch did helm, the network most likely restrained him from going 'full on'.

Like I said on the previous page, 'The Return' is more akin to his movies then the original show and imo that's a great thing. It reminds me of the first time I saw 'Lost Highway'. Throughout the first 4 episodes I felt enthralled, aroused, angry, bored, annoyed and at times COMPLETELY terrified. I think Lynch would feel let down if we didn't experience all these emotions in one sitting.

Is his overly cryptic, perhaps slightly pretentious way of telling stories the best way to do it? Perhaps not, but by god is it an experience you can't get anywhere else.

 

[Dav4]

Having only been a very small child when Twin Peaks first aired "1990-1991" I grew up hearing my parents and other older family members often mention it saying how great it was and how it was the most crazy show they have seen. But they all spoke so highly of it.
So I got the blu ray box set when it came out about 2 years ago and I have now watched the whole 29 episodes over 2 seasons and the movie 3 times. The first season is perfection but the second is hit and miss while the movie is just too dark but does get better the more I see it.
I was so excited it was coming back but the first 2 episodes were a major disappointment imo. I don't know what I was expecting but it was way too dark and slow. In parts it just looked like a z list horror movie with poor effects.

 

[stewski]

Lynch is possibly my favourite director of all time, though Carpenter and Kubrick may cause problems for that!

From what I've seen (30mins or so) the return has the potential to eclipse the original.

 

[rubberduck]

My thoughts on the new series so far - (Mild Spoilers up to episode 4):

Spoiler

A bit of a mixed bag. I think Lynch has overcooked the whole black lodge thing just a bit too far... Fair enough, if you want Cooper trapped there for a few episodes just focus on other characters/stories and show 1 or 2 short scenes per episode remininding us he is there.... A little weirdness goes a long way but first few episodes probably too much. What I am REALLY missing so far however is the character interactions that the first 2 seasons had at their core... One of the great things about the first season especially is that is was sort of like a surreal soap-opera with the characters going about there day-to-day lives all framed within murder investigation of Laura Palmer and how it has made the cracks start to show up in people's lives. For example, one of the personal favourite scenes so far is when we catch up with Bobby Briggs (love he has ended up as a cop) and he walks in on the investigation room where Hawk has oppened up the old investigation files... Would like to see more of this but other than a few endings at the Roadhouse bar giving a gentle nod to old characters it has been very limited. Another example is how we caught up with Ben Horne in the first episode but since then it hasn't been developed at all, seemingly at the expense of the black lodge stuff. I don't mind the series has gone beyond twin peaks to other locations but I feel it is all a bit directionless at the moment other than 'good vs bad Cooper'. That said, I do trust in Lynch to pull through so hopefully he is just setting the plots up to converge back on Twin Peaks as opposed to doing it the other way round.

Out of interest what do people think of the 'new Truman'?

 

[weyland yutani]

Spoiler

It's a shame Harry S. isn't in it but the actor retired apparently. Robert Forster is a good bit of casting though.

In 4 episodes we've only spent about 15 minutes in the town with the old characters, too much wierdness or slow paced scenes, like watching Jacoby unbox and paint shovels for 5 minutes. Yeah the Bobby Briggs scene was classic melodramatic TP with the Laura plamer theme playing over it. My favourite scene so far though was between GORDON COLE and bad Coop at the prison, his black eyes, deep voice and the thumbsup was very sinister. I had no idea who Philip Jeffries was though since I haven't seen the movie ha

 

[Dav4]

I am dissapointed so far 4 episodes in. The start of the 3rd where Cooper was in space or something and nobody really spoke for about 15 mins and some other scenes are just so slow and ploddy that they become frustrating.
Episode 4 felt more like the original with Bobby etc.
Liking the new Sheriff Truman apparently they wanted him in that role for the original series but he had other commitments.
As someone else mentioned above it lacks the soap opera feel of the original where we see a lot of the same characters going about there daily business rather than just cameos we have had so far.

 

[roman59]

Spoiler

It's a shame Harry S. isn't in it but the actor retired apparently. Robert Forster is a good bit of casting though.

In 4 episodes we've only spent about 15 minutes in the town with the old characters, too much wierdness or slow paced scenes, like watching Jacoby unbox and paint shovels for 5 minutes. Yeah the Bobby Briggs scene was classic melodramatic TP with the Laura plamer theme playing over it. My favourite scene so far though was between GORDON COLE and bad Coop at the prison, his black eyes, deep voice and the thumbsup was very sinister. I had no idea who Philip Jeffries was though since I haven't seen the movie ha

Phillip Jeffries was the character that David Bowie played in Fire Walk With Me, rumour has it that we might even see Bowie in Season 3 as he was still alive when Lynch filmed the latest series.

 

[DrToffnar]

As much as I love the originals, I've liked next to none of the cameos so far. They feel so tokenistic and out of place.

Spoiler: Characters making a reappearance...

Chief, Andy and Lucy's semi regular appearances are the only ones I've sort of liked

 

[Glanza]

Finished episode 4 last night and it's been surreal so far, what did surprise me is the cameos.

 

[Hedge]

Episode 4 was absolutely spectacular.

Bobby briggs reaction to seeing the photograph was so brilliantly over the top, I couldn't stop laughing. Then when Wally Brando appeared it was one of the best scenes I've watched on TV in years.

This series has bored me, scared me, excited me, annoyed me, made me laugh so hard, and confuse me. This is what I love about twin peaks. The soap opera characters and the bonkers behavior of it all.

Ep4 is best this season.

 

[DrToffnar]

snip

This series has bored me, scared me, excited me, annoyed me, made me laugh so hard, and confuse me. This is what I love about twin peaks. The soap opera characters and the bonkers behavior of it all.

Ep4 is best this season.

Couldn't agree more. It's what makes Lynch such an auteur. He runs you through almost every human emotion in such a short space of time.

 

[LOAM]

Just watched episode 1 and 2, bonkers. Completely hooked again though. The black cabin has always really unnerved me, more so now I think than before. Kyle MacLachlan's facial expressions and prolonged silences, often on the cusp of seemingly saying something that might help you understand wtf is going on are superb.

 

[Dav4]

Sooo just watched episode 6. Same formula slow and ploddy slightly frustrating then by the end I am just gagging for the next episode . It's annoying that it's only one episode per week now it needs to be binge watched to satisfy my cravings

 

[LOAM]

We are up to date now, really enjoying it. I feel so so sorry for agent Cooper though, MacLachlan is portraying his plight really well I think. The little bits like when he cried looking at sonny Jim in the car are tragic

 

[rubberduck]

I do wonder if we are actually going to get reunited with the old Cooper character from 25 years... Obviously its something every fan of the franchise would want so it'd be just like Lynch to go a different direction.

 

[Tombstone]

I do wonder if we are actually going to get reunited with the old Cooper character from 25 years... Obviously its something every fan of the franchise would want so it'd be just like Lynch to go a different direction.

I hope we will, because thats 6 episodes now and to be honest the whole Rain Man thing is beginning to get quite tiresome.

 

[Glanza]

I thought Cooper might get himself back by the end of episode 6 especially when he saw the guy in the red room telling him to wake up and don't die.