As gripping as it is disappointing, the series again ends with more questions than answers.
ThisTwin Peaksreview contains spoilers.
Twin Peaks: Season 3 Episodes 17 & 18
Part 17 The past dictates the future.
Before hes dealt with, however, theres jerk cop Chads comeuppance.
Then Lucy shoots Evil Coop in the back.
However, in keeping with this series themes, its obviously not what we were hoping for.
But instead he just gets shot by Lucy.
Regardless, Im happy for Freddie and pleased to see BOB finally(?)
Theres then the briefest of reunions between Cooper and Gordon.
Did any of us think the whole casino crew would make it this far (One for the grandkids!
says Rodney Mitchum, charmingly normal in the face of all this Twin Peaks nonsense)?
I certainly didnt expect good old James to be there.
But perhaps I shouldve seen it coming.
After all, James has always been cool.
One other bit of closure is that Naido is, as some fans had speculated, the real Diane.
Less expected is that her and Cooper are a serious item.
Maybe Lynch just wanted to do a redux of the Laura Dern/Kyle MacLachlan romance fromBlue Velvet.
This happens after MIKE shows Cooper into Phillip Jeffries room above the convenience store.
To digress briefly, I love MIKE (Al Strobel).
Anyway, Coop elects to go back in time and stop Laura from getting killed in the first place.
Scanning Twitter immediately after it ended, I clocked a lot of disappointment, which is absolutely warranted.
What did we want from a newTwin Peaksseries?
Instead we got an ending implying the entire universe is not what we thought it was.
is quaint in comparison.
I am pretty annoyed with Lynch and Frost.
But what about almost any of the other characters we care about?
Why did we learn about Ben Hornes new secretary (Ashley Judd)s home life?
Whats to become of Shelly and Bobby and their troubled daughter Becky?
Most importantly, where the hell is Audrey?The Returns treatment of her character is practically abusive.
Its also unclear if Cooper is even Cooper anymore (he might be named Richard, now?).
This is something elseThe Returndisappointingly withheld through to the very end: Cooper acting like Cooper.
We really only got a glimpse of it in Part 17 (Is the coffee on?)
and now its this new development.
For a place that gave him twenty-five years of trouble, this was a liberating sight.
Carrie doesnt recognize the place.
Sarah Palmer doesnt live there.
Coop tragically, confusedly asks, What year is this?
At least we end on a signature Sheryl Lee scream.
I enjoyed this episode and the one before it.
They were absorbing and sad and bewildering.
But as an ending to all ofTwin Peaks?
Maybe Ill see you again.
Lets hope much sooner than in twenty-five years.
Rating:
4 out of 5
