“Oh Dougie, it’s like all our dreams are coming true.” “I love you so much.” – Janey-E
“So much.” – Dougie Coop
The anticipation of the return of Twin Peaks was something many of us fans were anxiously awaiting. “What was it going to be like?” “I cannot wait to see what happened to Dale!” “I wonder what’s been happening in Twin Peaks all these years?” What we were given was something not any one of us could have imagined or dreamed of seeing. We were given eighteen hours of pure magical mystery with an inkling of nostalgia. Just enough to make us miss certain people and things, but propel us back to a state we existed in twenty seven years ago. I had said in a post once,
“#TwinPeaks The Return is the show that all fans wished for, but didn’t realize how much we needed. Thank you @SHO_TwinPeaks @Kyle_MacLachlan”“
Fans have been singing the praises of Season 3 ever since. There is a small strong faction of fans that did not love The Return that so many had. Why is that? Did social media and its power influence the audience in a negative way? Did not having the same flow of series as the original, where it seemed there was a collaborative effort between writers, and The Return was only an equal share of Frost/Lynch make it more difficult to watch? This week we asked our fellow Babes on Twitter, “Why did you love or dislike S3 of Twin Peaks?” Utilizing the power of social media, in this case to reach out in a positive way, the answers were full of a lot of love and very little hate.
Most said what they loved and appreciated was how unexpected Season 3 was, and for one member also what they did not like. They also mentioned how unique and ambitious.
Ivan – “What I loved about S3 of #TwinPeaks was its heart, ambition, beauty, and its total unwillingness to give the audience what they expect or think they desire – in other words, its determination to march to the beat of its own drum.”
James Giles – “Loved its bold, unique narrative structure; it’s beautiful photography and visual design; it’s textured, atmospheric sound design and music; getting to spend more time with some of my favourite characters ever, and meeting many new ones.”
Tom B. – “It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. It was more “out there” than the original series and I was glued. It was also beautifully filmed & every shot was framed perfectly like a painting.”
Greg Barlow – “I liked that it was not what I expected, yet with a wee bit of nostalgia and that i will be thinking about it for years. It’s also what I didn’t like about it.”
Others told us how it made them feel in so many ways.
Lula – “I loved the full range of feelings that I felt watching it. Unbelievable.”
Michael Donaghue – “Loved that it wasn’t interested in just rehashing what came before. It was great to see 2 creators given free reign & every episode had my brain whirling all week & continues to do so.”
Paul Casey – “I loved it for its beautiful heart, for how it expressed an innocence and optimism in the face of great evil. Dougie Coop is maybe my favourite character in anything, ever.”
Totesambular – “I loved that it, as the original, challenged me and forced me out of my comfort zone. I love that it inspired conversation, it required me to ask questions, look for connections and most of the time throw my hands in the air while learning to enjoy the ride.”
Awkward Twin Peaks – “I was quite worried about S3, I knew that David Lynch couldn’t recreate what he and Mark Frost did for the original series (talkin’ like a Trekkie here). Fortunately, from the beginning of the 1st episode I was reassured. It would be something like nothing else.”
One of our fellow Babes, Grape Hops Rock wrote to us and said, “I adored S3, largely for its depiction of triumphs & tragedies in the human struggle with time, & also for how the story surpassed & confounded expectations. Not to mention the fabulous ensemble acting, & the music, & more…
I did have regrets about S3: no Harry, not enough Audrey, not enough of Lucy’s kid. Of course there may be more in the extra footage, which I’ll be watching soon.
The Dougie-into-Agent-Cooper transformation with subsequent return to Twin Peaks & confrontation with Doppel Dale was damn good TV. What followed — sex magick & timeline jumping to save Laura’s life, with hauntingly flawed results — was theatrical art of the highest order.”
We are in complete agreement with the ensemble acting! It was like the entire old guard picked up right where we left off. The new faction fit in perfectly and made themselves part of the Twin Peaks family in record time. We cared about all these characters, and the ones not worth caring about we loathed with electrified hate (I’m looking at you, Richard aka. Eamon Farren). Though each individual stuck out and made their talents known in this new reality of Twin Peaks.
Some other pros and cons ala Peaks Season 3 that came into the Babes was a mix of pure admiration and some constructive criticism.
Michelle Hass-Klein – “I was taken on a journey that stretched above and beyond anywhere the original series and FWWM went. The horizons were broadened. Absolute brilliance. And on a personal note, I became a more active part of the best fandom in the entire Multiverse.”
Martin Craig – “It achieved a perfect balance of humour, violence and heart, beautifully written characters and great dialogue. Every scene is beautifully shot with a soundtrack that matches perfectly.”
Caroline – “Loved: – that it was new, experimental, fearless; – episode 8; – the visuals; – the many memorable lines; – the heart and humour; – that it wasn’t perfect. Disliked: – some particular plot threads; – Freddie defeating Bob; – that there wasn’t much Laura (or Leland).”
Arjan Hut – “Love: The new characters, watching one episode per week – never knowing what to expect, all the mysteries, the music, the trees. Dislike: The hit and run-scene, the auto tuning of R. del Rio”
Pancakes N Jazz – “In some ways, it was the closest thing we will ever get to the version of Twin Peaks that lives in David Lynch’s mind. I don’t know if all of it worked out at 100 % but if we’re talking about creating something profound yet still holding onto its own unique perspective – it won.”
Steve Redfield – “I loved it for… Albert & Gordon ♥️ Dougie & Janey E ♥️ David Bowie as a kettle ♥️ Everything else was just a gorgeous edible bonus.”
We even had some fellow Babes add some humor to their responses.
Nel Mel – “My thoughts on S3 have been articulated beautifully by others in this thread so I will just add – the sheer thrill every time @DanaAshbrook graced the screen. He was hot 25yrs ago, now he’s simply sublime.”
Andrew – “My favorite part? Still having a crush on @madchenamick 25 years later. Least favorite part? @Kyle_MacLachlan not having a giant beard after being in the Lodge for 25 years. I don’t recall seeing any good place to shave in there.”
Obnoxious & Anonymous – “Or how on earth did Laura’s hair go from full curls to a shorter style in there? Perhaps Audrey is in the Lodge after all as a hairstylist lol.”
When deciding to write about this topic, we thought there would not be an adequate way to try and express what the Return meant to us. We received a direct message from a fellow Babe, which we needed to translate from their native Italian to English. Upon reading it, we were stunned at how similar it said exactly how we felt as well. The following is from our fellow Babe, Pasquino Salentino.
“I love The Return because after 25 years I could finally enjoy a new television work of art, of those that stop time, space and everything that surrounds us, creating a universe of its own. As a fan of the first two series I found the references to the past brilliant, the new roads of the plot and the new ones characters.
I love the plot, the atmospheres, the real and surreal places, the moods, the dialogues, the photography, the shots, the interdimensional travels, the transformations, the irony, it’s really damned difficult to succeed synthesize, as I write, memorable snapshots come to my mind. Without going on, I can say I’m in love with everything I’ve seen and never expected to see, perfectly contemporary and damned in style.
I had no idea how to continue the series after that famous morning at the Great Northern Hotel, but knowing the genius of Frost and Lynch, I had no doubts. I closed my eyes, I held out my hand and I let myself be guided in a new journey I’ve been waiting for since I was a teenager, an analogue teen, since Twin Peaks scared me and the only scenes I could watch were those with Agent Cooper, when I (he) was on the screen, I felt protected, I knew that nothing bad could happen!
Speaking of my hero Kyle MacLachlan, I loved his commitment on several fronts, tough roles and so different from each other, is divine state in his interpretations. The double villain Mr. C, Dougie Jones and the Special Agent Cooper, who traveled of the return (here Kyle reminded me of Rain Man’s Dustin Hoffman) is full of exciting, exhilarating moments, poignant; crazy … Kyle was so good that he gave me the impression of being grappling with three performers different in those roles.
Compared to the first series, The Return, gave life to the web, which 27 years ago did not exist or almost, to a fervent and active community of fans, special people to whom I joined and in which I found many answers to the mysteries and to the curiosities of my favorite series of all time.”
We have to concur; this is and will always be one of our favorite series (films?) of all time. Which brings us to an interesting point, which we plan to delve into in a future piece and as part of a team article with Andrew Grevas. Was The Return a series or a film? We think this may have a lot to do with the love/hate Twin Peaks Season 3 has been getting as well.
To those fellow Babes who shared their views with us, thank you very much for telling us how you felt about Twin Peaks and its return. To those fans who lost faith in the continuation that Frost & Lynch had brought to us, I have one thing to say…?
Until next week, this is the Bookhouse Babes saying: “May your coffee be hot and your dreams damn fine!’
For more from the Bookhouse Babes, J.C. and Amanda follow them on Twitter.
- Twitter: @JHotch726, @DuganAmanda, @BookhouseBabes