TWIN PEAKS
A limited event series

Available on Blu Ray and DVD

Episode 1

In the hidden world of the Black Lodge, Special Agent Dale Cooper gets some hints from the giant. In Twin Peaks, Deputy Sherriff Hawk gets a message from the Log Lady's log that he must find something that is missing regarding Agent Cooper. In the real world, the demon Bob, wearing Agent Cooper's face, meets up with some new associates. In New York, two young people flirt in the home of a top secret bizarre experiment. In a small town, a male body is found with a female head and the local school principal is arrested since his prints are all over the crime scene. Dr Jacoby receives some shovels.

It's 25 years since Laura Palmer told Agent Cooper that she would see him again in a quarter decade, and so we return to the world(s) of TWIN PEAKS where nothing is quite what it appears to be and very little makes sense. That's certainly the case for this opening episode, which introduces a number of plots, some old friends and more strangeness than you could shake a log lady's log at. It's the opening episode, so we could expect to be confused by the plethora of new situations, but at least one of the plots is just completely weird. A young man keeps watch on a glass box in case he sees something. What exactly he is supposed to be seeing is not explained. A young women seems intent on getting into the room to find out what is going on. When she finally manages it, something does appear in the glass box and it is apparently beyond weird and utterly deadly. This is even more out there than the usual strangeness of the show.

More relatable to previous fans is the story of the dismembered body. This is the kind of offbeat crime that featured in the original show. Also familiar are the strange characters that are introduced in it, a paranoid building handyman, a forgetful neighbour and a school principal who has absolutely no idea what is going on. Or does he? The call backs for old favourite characters are short and seemingly irrelevant, but time will no doubt tell about that. It is certainly fun to welcome back Lucy, Andy and Hawk.

Because it is establishing the stories and laying down the weirdness, the episode is intriguing rather than entertaining. The stilted acting, the off-kilter pacing, the sudden jolt of violence and determinedly twisted direction all emphasise that this is not going to be exactly like the original show, but also not like anything else currently on television. This is very likely going to alienate both previous fans and newcomers alike. In fact, if you haven't seen the previous seasons then absolutely nothing about this is going to make any sense at all. Very little of it makes sense if you have seen the previous seasons. No doubt the upcoming episodes will make things clearer and start to bring these disparate strands together into something a little more coherent. This is a warning shot that patience may be required.

Episode 2

Bob ties up a loose end regarding the swapped head/body murder, but then learns that all is not well with the rest of his criminal gang. Meanwhile, in the Black Lodge, Agent Cooper encounters the one-armed man once again and is told what has to happen before he can go free.

The revamped series goes full-on weird in this second episode that features mostly upon the doppelgangers, Bob in the real world and Agent Cooper in the Black Lodge. The Bob story is a simple crime story, but with much of the information missing. What is his connection to the murder? Who wants him dead? Is it the new character seen in Las Vegas? Why do they want him dead? This is mostly a crime mystery of a relatively prosaic nature, but it is intriguing to see how this is going to come together.

The weirdness in the Black Lodge is, by turns, fascinating, infuriating, stupid and revelatory. The 'arm', possibly the evolution of the one-armed man's missing limb, but definitely an electric twig with a brain attached, is just the craziest thing in a string of crazy things. Laura Palmer returns for some more seemingly random backwards-filmed conversation (which is eerie, but is also an effect that is rapidly losing its novelty) before being whisked away screaming for no readily apparent reason. The revelation of the doppelganger 'arm' backs up the existence of the doppelganger Cooper as being possibly a theme here, and it does introduce the link to the first episode by having Cooper magically transported out of the Lodge and into the mysterious glass case that the two unlucky lovers were supposed to be watching. Clearly, this was established to try and communicate with the world of the Black Lodge, but by whom and for what purpose?

It is quite clear that David Lynch is going to play his new game by his own rules and the audience can either come along for the ride or just shrug in frustrated confusion and go find something more mainstream to watch. Both reactions are, based on the first two episodes, perfectly reasonable. This isn't TWIN PEAKS as it was, even if there is a last minute musical visit to what appears to be the old roadhouse and a few familiar faces.

Episode 3

Agent Cooper finds a way out of his new dimension and back to the real world, but is now in the body of a faithless realtor named Dougie with no memory of his past or present life.

There two halves to this episode. The first is out and out weirdness set in some sort of alternate dimension. Agent Cooper ends up in strange building on a strange sea, with a strange eyeless woman who leads him up to the roof, which is a box floating amongst the stars. There, he gets a message from a familiar face before being sent by another woman through some electrical contraption to take the place of a new character. That character appears back in the Black Lodge and turns into a small golden ball. None of which makes the slightest sense to anyone watching it, but that seems to be the modus operandi of the new show. This is experiental, not narrative. If you're looking for sense, you're looking in the wrong place. Perhaps this will all be explained at some point, but I wouldn't go holding your breath. Just hang on and see where all this is going to take you.

The second part of the episode is back in the real world, where Cooper is now a man-child in the hands of a prostitute. He is completely unaware that people have planned for the death of the person he has replaced and is initially helpless, but then an image from the Black Lodge shows him how to win at the one-armed bandits (as opposed to the one-armed man). This, again, makes no sense, but since we are in Vegas it is likely to intersect with the two characters from that town who appeared in the last episode.

Two familiar faces appear at the end of the episode, just before a pointless musical interlude at the end. It is highly possible that David Lynch is having one great big joke at the audience's expense here. That said, the discussion between Hawk, Lucy and Andy about what might be missing is hilarious.

Episode 4

Still being mistaken for the realtor Dougie Jones, Agent Cooper is guided by the Black Lodge to make a whole load of money in a Las Vegas casino and then is returned to the man's wife and son. Meanwhile, Sheriff Truman returns to the Twin Peaks police station, as does Andy and Lucy's son. The FBI, in the meantime, learns that Agent Cooper has returned and is in prison.

Surprisingly, this episode verges on the tedious. TWIN PEAKS has often been many things, but boring is not usually one of them. Cooper's man without a brain schtick is overlong and not very interesting. The sequence with the winning at the casino seems to go on forever and then we are introduced to Dougie Jones's family, who are as oblivious to the change in the man as were the staff at the casino. He's clearly in a middle of some mental health crisis and yet nobody considers it out of the ordinary enough to summon any sort of medical health. Even the presence of Naomi Watts as Jones's wife fails to enliven this annoying filler.

The double act of David Lynch and Miguel Ferrer as returning FBI oddballs Gordon Cole and Albert Rosenfield is much more entertaining, especially the scene with a returning guest turn from David Duchovny as Denise Bryson. Blink and you'll miss the cameo from Richard Chamberlain. There's also a fun cameo from Dana Ashbrook as a rather emotional Bobby Briggs.

Whilst all these shoutouts to the past are fun for longtime watchers, they can't cover the fact that the show seems to be bogged down in plots that have no real point and are stretching their screen time way beyond breaking point. The original TWIN PEAKS could certainly take its time over a storyline, but this is more like taking the mickey.

Episode 5

Agent Cooper continues to stumble through the life of Dougie Jones, insurance man, completely unaware of the explosive ripples going on around that life. Then again, he's unaware of pretty much everything. A new generation of Twin Peaks residents is introduced.

The main plot of Cooper sleepwalking through another man's life continues to drone on and is both dull and annoying in increasing amounts. Outside of this, we get glimpses into the lives of others, both old and new to the story. These glimpses may eventually come together in some sort of coherent way, but it's hard to see how at this point. The lack of forward motion is enough for the audience to struggle with keeping its interest level up and the comedy levels aren't sufficient to distract either.

There are cameos here from Jim Belushi and Ernie Hudson, but there is no hint if these will actually amount to anything.

Episode 6

Dougie's wife decides to deal with the loan sharks on her own. Cooper, meanwhile, somehow uncovers a conspiracy at the insurance company. Back in Twin Peaks, one of the new kids on the block takes on a new drug deal that leads to tragic consequences. Hawk discovers what has been missing. Diane is revealed

Anything of interest that is going on is happening back in the town of Twin Peaks. The storyline of the young man getting into the world of drug dealing and then being involved in a car accident whilst under the influence is the kind of thing that we would have expected in the original show and provides two memorable scenes, along with a cameo appearance from Harry Dean Stanton.

In Las Vegas, however, the turgid Dougie Jones story chunters on to little effect. Naomi Watts is great fun as Dougie's long-suffering spouse, and her face off with the loan sharks is the highlight of the episode. The rest, however, remains dull, even if it does now involve an ice-pick wielding assassin.

Episode 7

Diane is persuaded to visit the fake Dale Cooper in prison and the result forces him to blackmail the warden into releasing him. The hidden message from Laura Palmer leads Sheriff Truman and Hawk to suspect that the man who came out of the Black Lodge twenty five years earlier was not the real Dale Cooper. The body in the Buckhorn murder is identified. Andy's investigation into the car accident hits a dead end.

This episode belongs to Laura Dern as Diane, the woman to whom Dale addressed all his voice messages back in the day. Though her involvement doesn't exactly move the plotline forward very far, she is one of the most vibrant and interesting characters in this new series. It may be only a handful of scenes, but Dern aces each and every one of them.

Meanwhile, back in Las Vegas the turgid Dougie Jones saga drags on, though there are some signs that Cooper might finally be coming back. An aborted attack by the assassin brings out the real Cooper, if only for a moment. With any luck, this bit of the show will be over soon and we can get on with something a bit more interesting.

The fact that the fake Cooper had information on the warden of the prison that would allow him to get himself released is a bit of a stretch, but considering that it's one of the few things that actually moves the plot in any sort of direction, we can forgive it.

Episode 8

Freshly released from his prison, the fake Cooper is betrayed. What happens next... happens next.

It is not often that a television show pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the medium. The original TWIN PEAKS did this in its own way, mixing the prosaic with the mystical and absurdist comedy with dark narrative twists. Anything that the original show did pales into insignificance with what director David Lynch does in this episode. There has never been anything quite like it on television before and there will likely not be anything like it any time soon.

The episode opens conventionally, but that's just to make sure you're not prepared for what is to come. Rock band Nine Inch Nails provides the musical number much earlier than usual and then the weirdness is unleashed it all its glory.

And it is glorious. Anyone who has stayed with the show to this point will be transported by Lynch casting away narrative storytelling almost completely to give us an almost purely experiential interlue. Not completely experiential because there are some hints about the iconography of the show and its hidden histories stashed in amongst some of the most startlingly visual sequences ever to appear in a television show.

The depiction of the Trinity atomic bomb test alone is worth suffering the entire previous seven episodes for. Starting so far away, the shot glides into the maelstrom and takes the audience on a journey inside the blast that is highly reminiscent of the stargate sequence at the end of 2001 - A SPACE ODYSSEY, except that it takes place inside a nuclear bomb blast. We appear to see the arrival of demon Bob in our world, let in by the bomb blast. Bob might be a timeless personification of evil, but he came here through the portal of man's own destructive nature. We see also the arrival of Laura Palmer, created by the mysterious giant, perhaps to be Bob's downfall, an anti-Bob, or a lure so bright that it will bring Bob to the place where he can be destroyed. This is a the closest depiction we have to the otherworldy White and Black Lodges. It's an important look into the nature of the forces that have loomed over the world of TWIN PEAKS since before the start of the first season. That is is couched in such bold and often incomprehensible imagery is both a strength and weakness of the show. This is the most Lynchian piece of work that the director has produced, outweirding even the first two episodes of the current show, but also providing some explanation of those earlier sequences. Not obvious or intelligible explanation, of course, but this is TWIN PEAKS after all.

Following this, a burned man invades a radio station and recites a poem that sends the local people to sleep. This allows a half-frog, half-bug creature to crawl inside the mouth of a young girl. Exactly what the hell this means is anyone's guess. It could be that the girl is Sarah Palmer, Laura's mother, and this is how she came by the power to see Bob in the real world, but that would be complete guesswork, since there aren't really any clues to that.

This episode will separate the fans of the show from those simply trying to make sense of it. There is much here to make sense of, but also much that is impossible to make sense of. David Lynch might know what it all means, but he isn't telling. It is possibly the most bravura piece of non-linear television to date, striking, breathtaking, risk taking and stunningly realised in sumptuous black and white photography. Dive in and go with it and you will be astonished. Fight against it and try to rationalise it and you will be left wondering what the hell you are bothering for.

With this episode, TWIN PEAKS has moved beyond the boundary-shattering of its first two seasons to become something bigger, darker, stranger and altogether different from the already radically different show it once was. The truth is, you'll either love it or hate it.

Episode 9

In Twin Peaks, the police team begin to suspect there are two Coopers. In Dakota, the FBI begin to suspect there are two Coopers. Major Garland Briggs, long missing and now known to be dead, continues to send messages from wherever he has been, messages that might provide some clue as to what is going on. There's a strange sound at the Great Northern.

After the astonishing Episode 8, the show comes back with possibly its most mainstream and normal episode to date (normal being measured on the TWIN PEAKS scale). The investigations into the murders in Buckhorn, the assassin in Las Vegas and the missing evidence in Twin Peaks all take strides forward. It is almost as though David Lynch knew how far he had pushed his audience with the last episode and is giving us all a reward in terms of straightforward narratives and a relatively weird-free time (again measuring on the TWIN PEAKS scale of weird.

There is also almost no Dougie Jones involvement, which is quite frankly a relief. This is TWIN PEAKS as we remember it and there is much fun to be had with the increasing roster of characters, but with special mention going to Laura Dern's Diane and Miguel Ferrer's Albert, both of whom steal every scene they are in.

Episode 10

Dougie Jones has a physical and his wife decides to get physical with him. There is trouble amongst the younger generation of criminals in Twin Peaks, trouble that reveals links into the Sheriff's Office itself. The FBI might also be compromised by one of its own. Las Vegas criminal factions plot as to who will have the pleasure of killing Dougie Jones.

The disparate strands are starting to come together in the terms of the investigations in Buckhorn and Twin Peaks, though to what end remains to be seen. The behaviour of the younger generation is increasingly reprehensible, but the investigation into the traffic accident seems to have been completely forgotten. Perhaps this will be a strand that is picked up in the near future.

Dougie Jones's adventures in Las Vegas continue to go nowhere fast, but the involvement of two high profile casino owners and gangsters might inject a little life into the proceedings. There is a definite sense that the sow might heading somewhere as we move into the second half, but the pace remains leaden and the surfeit of characters who are present, but seem to serve no purpose continues to weigh everything down.

Episode 11

Dougie has a meeting with casino owning gangster brothers that might be his last. The school principal takes the FBI to the place in Buckhorn where he met the Major and members of the team see some pretty strange things before a gruesome end befalls someone. Shelly and Bobby's daughter Becky gets upset with her man.

For once, the Dougie plotline doesn't grate totally. This is down to the characters of the gangster brothers (Jim Belushi and Robert Knepper). The manner in which their determination to kill Dougie turns to other matters is entertaining enough to take away the continuing annoyance of the man-child character that has so blighted this show. Oh for the moment when Kyle McClachlan might actually be able to show some emotion in something like a performance.

The FBI investigation in Buckhorn plays another large part in this episode, with weirdness and death in equal quantity. Gordon and Albert meet strange visions with equanimity and Diane meets similar with a suspicious lack of concern. This does not end well for someone. It does, however, give the FBI team co-ordinates that surely must be the same ones that the Twin Peaks sheriff's department have had for a while now. A convergence in the woods outside the town seems to be in the offing.

Events in the town of Twin Peaks seem very much like they used to be. There is anger and violence simmering just below the benign-apearing surface and that violence is linked directly to drugs. The encounter with a frantic woman in a car with a sick child is weird and, unsurprisingly, unexplained.

Episode 12

Gordon and Albert bring agent Tammy into the fold and explain why they seem so unperturbed by the strange things they have witnessed. Diane is asked to join the team too. Ben Horne learns that it is his grandson who killed the child in the accident. And Audrey Horne returns to the show.

In one scene of conversation, the entire back history of the FBI's involvement in the TWIN PEAKS universe is explained. The USAF's investigation into UFOs (Project Bluebook) decided that there were no UFOs, but it didn't resolve all of the strange cases it dealt with. From one such case came a joint military/FBI team called Blue Rose. The team included Dale Cooper, Gordon and Albert, along with others. Most of the members of the team have gone missing. This explains why Agent Cooper was always so calm in the face of the inexplicable in the original show and willing to embrace the most outrageous explanations for events. It also explains why Gordon and Albert are so unflappable even now. This is terrific stuff, and game of bluff and double bluff going on with Diane is working well.

The scene in which Ben Horne learns of his grandson's actions is a lovely character scene played out between Robert Forster and Richard Beymer. Nothing is significantly moved forward by it, but it deepens the characters and adds some much needed humanity to the proceedings. Ben's reminiscence over a much-loved bike is especially affecting.

And notorious bad girl Audrey Horne returns in a scene that doesn't seem to connect to anything that has gone on in the rest of the show. It's an exercise in the stilted conversations that David Lynch excels at. Perhaps it will feed into some of the other flailing storylines in Twin Peaks iself. That, of course, remains to be seen.

Episode 13

The evil Cooper catches up with the man who tried, and failed, to kill him, but first he has to arm wrestle a gang leader for supremacy. In Las Vegas, another attempt on the life of Dougie Jones goes awry. In Twin Peaks, various characters do not very much.

The two main plotlines that had been showing signs of gaining momentum come to a screeching halt in this episode. The interminable dullness that is the Dougie Jones scenario just keeps on chugging to no effect.

There is some pleasure in seeing the likes of Nadine and Doctor Jacoby and Big Ed and Audrey Horne and Norma Jennings all having scenes, but those scenes don't go anywhere or advance anything. This episode feels very much like filler.

Episode 14

The FBI team learn of a surprising link between Diane and Dougie Jones. The Twin Peaks sheriff department team follow the clues from Major Briggs to a certain place at a certain time and discover someone from Cooper's recent past. Andy is given certain information by the giant, who is now calling himself the Fireman. The whereabout of the Billy that Audrey Horne is searching for is revealed. Gordon Cole relates a dream involving Monica Bellucci and James Hurley encounters an unlikely Englishman with an even more unlikely story.

For once, a lot happens in this episode, though it is uncertain how far any of it pushes the narrative. Most surprising is the revelation that Sarah Palmer is a demonic creature capable of removing her own face (or appearing to) and also capable of biting a man's throat out without any sign that she has done so. Exactly what this means remains unclear, but could link back to the frog/bug thing in Episode 8. Then again, it just might not.

The events in the forest outside of Twin Peaks are suitably weird, linking back to Episode 8, but also to Episode 3. The powers from outside are clearly attempting to assist those on the side of good, but are doing so in a way so weird and obscure as to be obtuse. This is a world (or worlds) where a simple explanation is never given when a riddle with suffice.

Gordon Cole's dream, or remembering, links pleasingly with TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, but doesn't provide any more enlightenment other than to say David Lynch can call on Monica Bellucci for the briefest of cameo appearances.

And the lack of Dougie Jones in all of this is something to be grateful for. Nothing is tied up, but there is a sense of pieces being moved into place for some sort of conclusion on the horizon.

As for the Englishman with the worst English accent of all time and the story as unlikely as it is stupid sounding? Well, that's just embarrassingly bad.

Episode 15

In Twin Peaks, one couple gets a long-deserved happy ending whils another comes to a more violent conclusion. Fake Cooper encounters Ben Horne's grandson after taking a trip on the wild side. Dougie Jones falls foul of electricity and James Hurley falls foul of some bullies. Recent characters from Las Vegas meet a sticky end and a character from the beginning moves on in more dignified manner.

This is another episode in which a lot happens, but it doesn't seem to move the narrative forward all that much. It is the incidents involving characters from the original show that hit the hardest. SPOILERS - Big Ed and Norma Jennings finally get together after a lifetime of loving each other and being kept apart. If you're a fan of the show then the smile on your face will be as big as the sign over the diner. Later, though, that smile will be replaced by a tear as the log lady, Margaret, leaves her last message for Deputy Hawk. This is made all the more impactful because the actress herself was reaching her end whilst these sequences were being filmed.

Audrey Horne continues her argument with Charlie, the same one she was having last week. There is something odd about this, not least the way jackets are put on and taken off. All is not as it seems. And all is definitely not as it seems when fake Cooper goes to the famous gas station, which turns out to be some sort of way station for the evil side of the Lodges' inhabitants. The conversation with a cross between a bell and a kettle, claiming to be Phillip Jeffries, is truly Lynchian. It also introduces the name Judy. Fake Cooper is desperate to learn who Judy is. It's never too late for David Lynch to be introducing whole new characters and plotlines, it seems.

Episode 16

Cooper is in a coma after sticking a fork in a power socket. Fake Cooper takes Audrey Horne's son to the site of the co-ordinates he has been given. The truth about Diane and her last night with Cooper is revealed and Audrey Horne does a dance that wakes her up.

It's celebration time! Agent Cooper returns to the show properly and Kyle McLachlan is allowed to show some emotion finally. Dougie Jones is consigned to the past as a bad memory. The show immediately livens up and the future looks bright for the last two episodes.

The revelations about Diane hardly come as any great surprise and do serve to illustrate how little the FBI investigation story has moved over the past few episodes. It's a suitably explosive moment with a Lynchian weirdness epilogue to it, but it's a shame we won't be getting to see more of Laura Dern in the role. As for Audrey Horne, we don't get to know exactly what's going on there, but it's certainly something.

Everyone, it seems, is gathering at the Twin Peaks sheriff station and it seems likely the big finale will happen there.

Episode 17

Everyone converges on the sheriff's station in Twin Peaks where weirdness occurs and then...

It's the final showdown between the Coopers, aided on one side by the spirit of Bob and on the other side by a young Englishman with a powerful gardening glove grafted to his hand. The true nature of the woman with the disfigured face is revealed and it's a good thing that enough sandwiches were brought for everyone. This is about as weird as television, even TWIN PEAKS gets. Some of it makes sense, sort of. Some of it makes no sense at all. And that's even before Cooper uses the key from the Great Northern to go back to the night it all started and prevent the murder that captivated the world.

Except there's still an episode to go and evil won't go down without a fight even bigger than a lump of coal with Bob's face against a gardening glove. The supposed climax is certainly bizarre enough to meet expectations, but it's also oddly a let down. Next week's final episode needs to come up with something special to have made this return trip worthwhile.

Episode 18

And so we reach the final episode of our return to the worlds of TWIN PEAKS and David Lynch decides that the provision of answers or aftermaths is not in his wheelhouse. Endings never were his strong suit. Sonny Jim gets his father back, sort of, and that is the only conclusion that is reached for anyone. In fact, all of the previously featured characters are jettisoned, the story sending Cooper off instead in a new direction full of new mysteries to be solved.

Yes, it's stylish. Yes, it's well-made. It is, however, a huge disappointment. There has never been any promise around a series beyond this one and so this was always felt to be a conclusion to the series, but it is clear that the story of TWIN PEAKS was never meant to end. We never expected all the plot strands to be wrapped up in a neat little bow, but to barely bother to answer any of them makes us wonder if the return journey was worth the effort.

There was probably a really sharp and funny and dramatic 10 part series in all of this, but it was scraped over 18 episodes, very few of which could hold the weight of either expectation or achievement. The most strange thing about the whole enterprise was a sense of it being incomplete, perhaps a first draft that nobody every bothered to try and clean up with a rewrite or two. Characters, plotlines and mysteries were introduced at random and just fizzled out or were completely jettisoned. It's as though that 25 year anniversary caught everyone by surprise and something was thrown together at the last minute. The first two seasons of TWIN PEAKS changed the television landscape in terms of what an audience would accept. With the exception of the remarkable Episode 8, any boundaries pushed here were ones of patience. The original series will live in television history, but this coda will fade and be forgotten and that's possibly just as well.