Part 6 - Don't die (SPOILERS)

[Jonah]

I think 1 - 4 were better than this one. Even 5 which I didn't like much was better I think. But I'll have to wait and rewatch it. For me, the first 20 minutes of tonight's episode were the best - the Dougie stuff (even though it was slow) and the scene with Diane. I feel it went down after that reveal, but I enjoyed the Double R bit, some of Naomi Watts's stuff, and Hawk finding the pages (what I assume surely has to be from Laura's diary, given they're about the right size and feature handwriting).

[mtsi]

I really loved 1-4, and enjoyed 5. I hated this one. Hated it.

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[WhiteLodge90]

I think it's a shame that given how many of the actors are/were still alive, how little Lynch has - to date - used them in the revival. Seems like a missed opportunity. I mean, were all the repetitions in the Dougie scenes worth the screentime over these characters? Were all the shots of the little boy and his mother in Vegas? All the shots of random goons? All the stuff with the new Wally character and new Truman's wife? All that stuff in the apartment complex and even with Matthew Lillard? Were all these things really more important?

I know we'll see more of the TP folk in the upcoming episodes, but I doubt we'll see much more of most of them than in FWWM/"Missing Pieces". A few might have meatier parts, but I think this is going to be the way it will go for most of them.

Given how long it took to get this back on the screen and how unique it was for so many of the cast to still be around and willing to reappear, it just seems a shame.

I can sort of see now why there was grumblings among some of the actors - such as Fenn. It must have been difficult to wait so long for a show like this to come back (when it looked like it never would) and then be offered such small roles.

As I said earlier, so be it if this series is "Cooper's Odyssey Back to Twin Peaks", but I hope they renew it for another season after this - and have it all set in the town and make proper use of these actors. My 2 cents!

+1

[WhiteLodge90]

It's hard for me to rate 1-2 because I kind of see them as one big episode...

That being said I think 1-2 have the magic of being our first introduction into the new Twin Peaks so it's tough for me to rate them but I'd probably go..

1-2
6
4
3
5


That's just off the top of my head.

[John Justice Wheeler]

Loved 1-3. Thoroughly disliked 4 (except for the interrogation scene and the song at the end). Was mostly indifferent to 5. Liked this one better than the last two.

[WhiteLodge90]

One thing I hope is taken note of as the show goes on is it seems like Frank Truman isn't as competent or forthright as his brother was. He may run a more advanced police force but Harry would never allow an asshole like Chad on the force. Let alone keep him there when he insults his other employees. I get the contrast as it seems Frank is sort of just a push over guy who doesn't talk but I believe Harry is the better cop and better leader.

[Snailhead]

I really loved 1-4, and enjoyed 5. I hated this one. Hated it.

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Fair enough! But I am curious - what makes this one so different? It seems like a pretty natural continuation of what we've seen so far.

[pinballmars]

Naomi Watts chastising the crooked debt collectors = Robert Loggia's tirade against the tail-gater in Lost Highway, minus the blood.

[pinballmars]

Recurring theme: Parents losing their children.

- Laura Palmer in the original series
- The little boy who gets run over at the intersection here by the hopped-up guy (UNSUBSTANTIATED FAN OBSERVATION I JUST READ: That intersection is the same one from Fire Walk With Me where Mike screams at Leland in traffic).
- And now the tidbit about Truman and his wife losing their son to suicide.

[N. Needleman]

For me, if I had to do anything other than say each is better than the last, I'd probably rate like:

6
5
4
2
3
1

But I dig 'em all, I think they're all great. And I think this one and 5 add even more of an emotional core to the Dougie stuff and the Joneses, to the Trumans and the town overall, plus they've now given agency to Janey-E and even Doris.

[DirkG]

? Maybe working in a diner for the past 25 years wasn't such a great idea for Heidi.

.

Or for Norma or Shelly. I bet they wish they had bought bitcoin in time.

[Jonah]

Anyone want to speculate why it is that Lynch seems so reluctant to use the original characters in a key fashion?

I thought it was a fluke with FWWM, but I think this new series establishes that it's not.

Back in FWWM days, a lot of people (including Frost) were surprised (even angry) that Lynch wanted to focus more on a prequel story. But I can almost understand that - Lynch's love for exploring the world and character of Laura Palmer probably exceeded his love of the town and the rest of the characters and even his interest in continuing the story at that time. (And he did try to include the others.)

Flashforward several years, he gets the chance to reinstate all that footage of other characters with the "Missing Pieces" then a couple of years later gets the chance to revive the show itself - he always claimed he loved the town of Twin Peaks - and he tracks down Everett McGill and others, eventually getting almost everyone back (bar a couple like Anderson, Boyle, Ontkean, etc.) - and he pulls this again, regulating the old characters to cameos. And this time Frost goes along with it too!

I mean, you could argue that maybe his desire to explore the world and character of Coop was his priority (like Laura was in FWWM) but it doesn't feel that way either. We're getting a lot of Dougie, some Bad Coop, but a LOT of other random stuff too that doesn't feel like it's trying to explore the character or heart and soul of Cooper.

My own take is that he finally got a chance to make a new movie/TV series and all his creativity energy went into it and his interest went beyond just the town of TP - like he wanted to continue the "MD" series he never got to make, dabble in new ideas, and do a little bit of a revival all at once.

It just seems now like it's become a pattern with Lynch to go back to TP - yet underuse the town and the old characters. The new series proves the direction FWWM took wasn't a fluke and I'm just wondering the motivation behind it. (And by the by, if I didn't know this was all from a script Frost and Lynch had spent years writing, I wouldn't believe it - because it doesn't feel much like Frost and it doesn't feel like it came from a script that was worked on for years - unless another poster is right and this was originally a tight 9 hour scripted show, stretched out to 18 when Lynch got more ideas on set or filmed scenes to be longer than written).

Anyway, I wonder why Lynch seems reluctant to properly revisit the ongoing stories (which he claims he loves) of these characters (that he says he loves) in this town (that he says he loves). Whenever he's gotten a chance to go back, he either retells their past (that we already knew - see prequel elements in FWWM for all characters, not just Laura) or uses them as cameos with little substance (FWWM, the new series).

[vicksvapor77]

Aside from not having Cooper back yet that's my biggest and maybe only other complaint about the new show. We're less than three hours away from being half way done with the show and Bobby and Shelly still haven't had a scene together, Shelly has had only throw away lines.
No OG Peaks characters with the exception of those at the police department or maybe Dr. Jacoby have had any semblance of a story line or character arc at all short of having random one off scenes to let us know where their characters are. We've yet to see Big Ed, Audrey, Dr. Hayward or his daughter.

We've seen James, Sarah Palmer, Leland Palmer, Ben Horne, Jerry Horne and Norma for one small scene with little going on and have only seen Nadine in a silent role. And we've only seen Bobby once.

I tottally get this being a new show and I'm not complaining I've mostly enjoyed the ride thus far. I'm just calling it how I see it. I knew there would be other storylines I just wish we could've got some more from the original characters even a small scene with substance from each of them would've been enough for me.

I think you said the magic word - "substance." I know in my brain there is more coming for all of these characters and maybe the latter half of the season will be back-loaded with more of all of them than the front half but yes, misuse of them is how I would describe it as well.

I'm shocked we've only seen Bobby once. I'm waiting for the weeks on end where we see the old characters week after week and I can stop complaining quite as much.

[N. Needleman]

Personally I just think he's using those characters and locales when and where he feels appropriate. Layering them in slow. Some of the characters will have stories of their own I expect, and some probably won't - some will be relegated to vignettes, which is fine with me. I do think expecting a lot of characters to have stories of the level of screentime they used to have back in the day is probably not realistic. But we know characters like Shelly have stuff going on with various people. It's a question of when/where/how, and we do have a ways to go.

I honestly am not bothered by the use of the diner - I think it's warm and comforting like always every time we see it, especially tonight. I thought the slow track in on Norma last week, watching life unfold with Shelly and Becky, was lovely if an unconventional take on how to present the scene. I didn't find it nearly as alienating as that overhead wide shot in the diner from FWWM.

It doesn't bother me that we're not getting sustained scenes there because I just don't think the story is presently outfitted for that. It may never be, I don't know. It also wouldn't surprise me if we got more and more there and at other classic locales over time, but I don't need them to be constantly used right now. I think they go there when the moment is right and they want to evoke a certain aspect of the town. It just doesn't feel obligatory to me the way so many of the Missing Pieces did - they were lovely little scenes for people but you could tell (or at least I could) that most of them had no place in FWWM. Here, when they do stuff in Twin Peaks as the story begins to move in closer and closer on it each week, it feels increasingly consequential every time. Even if it's not a constant flow, it feels like there is a reason for it to happen vs. 'we have to check in.'

Just my two cents.

[raltenbach]

Also let's say hypothetically Dougie doesn't become Cooper till one or two episodes left in the show. Then essentially we wouldn't have the main character of the show in the new series at all. That would be a really unfortunate thing. That's my fear.

No, we would, it just wouldn't be the one you wanted or expected.

it depends really. it would be like going to a concert for one of your favorite bands growing up only to see they are performing 90% new material and none of the classics you were hoping to hear. the new stuff could be good but chances are you won't really appreciate or like it in the moment while sitting at the concert. you may like it later on but considering it wasn't what you expected, it may take some time to digest. i think that's kind of the mindset some fans are in now. then 100 mins into a 120 min concert, you still haven't heard any song you recognize.

So, you're saying it's like wanting your black coffee, but instead you get a green tea latte? Worked out well enough for Frank, and this works out well enough for me.

I do agree with your sentiment, and I feel this current series will play much better on a repeat viewing once we have all the pieces.