Twin Peaks Return: The Profoundly Disappointed Support Group

[mlsstwrt]

There are rumors that Steve Aoki is going to close out Part 10. And he'll be in full on throwing cakes into the audience mode. It's gonna be good!

Joking aside, still taking in Part 9. I'm not going to complain this week, just agree with an observation that somebody made about the Roadhouse. It really is filled with genuine lowlifes these days isn't it? I feel like Twin Peaks as a whole has gotten much uglier but then maybe so has the world. The last time I visited Snoqualmie America's meth problem was evident (I'm a Brit and we don't really have a lot of meth over here) and I guess there wasn't one back in 1990, at least not on the current scale.

[yaxomoxay]

I'm genuinely enjoying the show, HOWEVER I CANNOT STAND THE EMPTY COFFEE CUPS OR THE EMPTY BEER CONTAINERS.

Put F'ing water or something in them. It's so distracting.

Copper with the coffee. Sky with the beer. Augh!!

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Yeah the beer can was unacceptable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Venus]

There are rumors that Steve Aoki is going to close out Part 10. And he'll be in full on throwing cakes into the audience mode. It's gonna be good!

Better yet maybe we'll see The Nolans, Black Lace or Kajagoogoo turn up on stage some time soon. I could see the Roadhouse crew going for a bit of Agadoo.

[nick1218]

New lurker (used to lurk about a year ago too), first post.

Definitely struggling to enjoy watching the eps for a variety of reasons, yet look forward to next one each time. I suspect a 2nd viewing of the whole series will be much more enjoyable. I am not sure if I am disappointed, I feel disoriented like Dougie/Coop. But I will say I find it cathartic to discuss these reservations in a thread like this.

[LurkerAtTheThreshold]

New lurker (used to lurk about a year ago too), first post.

Definitely struggling to enjoy watching the eps for a variety of reasons, yet look forward to next one each time. I suspect a 2nd viewing of the whole series will be much more enjoyable. I am not sure if I am disappointed, I feel disoriented like Dougie/Coop. But I will say I find it cathartic to discuss these reservations in a thread like this.

Welcome to the thread Nick

As someone who's been bitching and moaning about the new series since it first aired in this thread, I just want to say something which was really mind changing for me in Episode 9.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, as critics have complained that episode nine was a boring afterthought to the 'amazing' episode 8.

I've spent a long time complaining about the technical problems of this season, but I realised I never really cared much about the narrative aspects of the show, as much as the lingering feeling that there was a bitter, non heartfelt element to the new season. But after episode nine I can no longer support that argument.

The scenes with Bobby reminiscing on his father was so profoundly touching to me, not least because my own father passed away not long ago-- really moved me.

The show is by no means intriguing me on the same youthful level the first series moved me. But in retrospect I'm finding all the themes of this series really close to my heart. It may if not been the Twin Peaks I wanted, but i is the Twin Peaks I needed. It's an extremely personal reaction and I understand anyone who still has misgivings. But wow...

[Mr. Reindeer]

Lurker: Interesting that Part 9 seems to have given a positive tinge to your feelings on the season as a whole, whereas I now have more misgivings about the show than at any point prior. There sure is an element of whiplash about this experience, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Glad you're enjoying it more now; and I agree with you that Bobby's arc is shaping up to be incredibly satisfying. It's great to see Garland/Don Davis honored so beautifully.

[LurkerAtTheThreshold]

Lurker: Interesting that Part 9 seems to have given a positive tinge to your feelings on the season as a whole, whereas I now have more misgivings about the show than at any point prior. There sure is an element of whiplash about this experience, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Glad you're enjoying it more now; and I agree with you that Bobby's arc is shaping up to be incredibly satisfying. It's great to see Garland/Don Davis honored so beautifully.

I can definitely relate to you not feeling it Reindeer, and 'whiplash' is a really good metaphor for it. From the first episode of the return, after 20 years of build up and those surrounding last months of rewatching fire walk with me and reading the secret history, the level of hype for me was so high, it really was like a car crash watching those first four episodes.

I can see now, that I had created all my own expectations and juggled these complex feelings about when I first saw the series and what it meant to me.
By episode 7 I finally came out of that dark tunnel of expectation and was ready to go along with the ride, wherever Lynch and Frost take us.
I can't even remember now how I wanted the series to be, in so deep in it and just so excited week to week to see what's going to develop.

I do feel on a totally different wavelength to the people who liked it straight up. But every week it's such an emotional ride, ups and downs, so many crazy twists and turns. Episode nine had many almost ridiculous turns like Johnny Horne hitting his head, and I think in my previous kind set I would've mocked these developments to no end, but I really can't describe how different it is to me now.

Even Mr C walking covered in blood in daylight, and that whole Tarantino esque scene at 'the farm' was the first time I'd really resonated with that doppelgänger side of the show. It doesn't feel like a ridiculous melodrama to me, but logically I can't explain why. All the parts are stil the same. Before I was analysing the actors trying to reconfigure themselves, and now for the first time its like, I can only see the characters. Gordon Cole and cooper and Diane and Bobby and Betty Briggs--- they feel as real and larger than life now than they ever did, and.... god it's just so magical to be transported back.

[David Locke]

The direction in Part 9 felt really... fresh, for lack of a better word. It was a gentle, warm, moving hour. A strong contrast from the nihilism of Part 6 or the nightmare of Part 8, or even the low-level depressive quality of the Dougie-heavy earlier episodes.

And of course this was also the first part that really, really brought the TP music back in a big way, including some old tracks that were very welcome.

Off the top of my head, we had:
Night Bells
Laura Palmer Theme
Deer Meadow Shuffle (!)
and at least a couple new Badalamenti pieces (e.g. The Chair)

Great stuff. Hearing Night Bells, in particular, felt like a breath of fresh air. Exciting.

[claaa7]

Just a question out of curiosity to the disapointed. Have you rewatched the show or any particular episodes?

[yaxomoxay]

Lurker: Interesting that Part 9 seems to have given a positive tinge to your feelings on the season as a whole, whereas I now have more misgivings about the show than at any point prior. There sure is an element of whiplash about this experience, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Glad you're enjoying it more now; and I agree with you that Bobby's arc is shaping up to be incredibly satisfying. It's great to see Garland/Don Davis honored so beautifully.

I can definitely relate to you not feeling it Reindeer, and 'whiplash' is a really good metaphor for it. From the first episode of the return, after 20 years of build up and those surrounding last months of rewatching fire walk with me and reading the secret history, the level of hype for me was so high, it really was like a car crash watching those first four episodes.

I can see now, that I had created all my own expectations and juggled these complex feelings about when I first saw the series and what it meant to me.
By episode 7 I finally came out of that dark tunnel of expectation and was ready to go along with the ride, wherever Lynch and Frost take us.
I can't even remember now how I wanted the series to be, in so deep in it and just so excited week to week to see what's going to develop.

I do feel on a totally different wavelength to the people who liked it straight up. But every week it's such an emotional ride, ups and downs, so many crazy twists and turns. Episode nine had many almost ridiculous turns like Johnny Horne hitting his head, and I think in my previous kind set I would've mocked these developments to no end, but I really can't describe how different it is to me now.

Even Mr C walking covered in blood in daylight, and that whole Tarantino esque scene at 'the farm' was the first time I'd really resonated with that doppelgänger side of the show. It doesn't feel like a ridiculous melodrama to me, but logically I can't explain why. All the parts are stil the same. Before I was analysing the actors trying to reconfigure themselves, and now for the first time its like, I can only see the characters. Gordon Cole and cooper and Diane and Bobby and Betty Briggs--- they feel as real and larger than life now than they ever did, and.... god it's just so magical to be transported back.

I am really glad that you're on board now. Of course we have 9 episodes to go, so we still have to see half of the path we're on.
In all fairness, Lynch's courageous decision didn't make the viewer's experience easier. On a certain level, we all wanted the good 'ol feeling of coffee and cherry pie, of the places we loved and we feel comfortably in. Yet, Lynch decided to go on a different way, and we lost our "innocence" as the town of Twin Peaks lost its innocence after Laura's murder. We, the viewers, are suffering through a similar shock in which a comfortable place is shocked and has to be built anew.
In my opinion, Lynch is making a show much more personal than it was ever seen on TV. When I read that TP3 was going to be 18 hours I was afraid that Lynch was going to stretch the soap-opera part of the series. I mean, TP can be as mysterious as you want, but you can't really put 18 more hours in there without having to look too much into the personal - uninteresting - lives of its citizens. And honestly, in the XXI century a story that deals with the lives of the citizens of a small town has a different name: the Gilmore Girls (which despite a truly good revival, had difficulties in keeping up for four hours). You can put a murder in the middle, and spice up things with the Black Lodge, but it would be just a supernatural Gilmore Girls with a hint of X-Files.

Lynch made this a personal voyage for the viewer, I think. We're all experiencing different viewing experiences. You mentioned the loss of your father - my condolences - as a reason to feel attached to episode 9 (which I also didn't feel as a weak episode but as a good plot pushing episode). I felt close to episode 6, despised by many, when Dougie and Bushnell are in the office together. When Bushnell was reviewing the papers, and he complained that he couldn't understand anything of it, it reminded me of when I moved to the US and my English was even worse than what it is now. It reminded me of how difficult it was for me to carry out a full-length conversation, or to express something. It was a truly awful feeling.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[LateReg]

I just don't see any of this as signs that the production was rushed. Different ways of looking at the scenes, I guess.

Also, if Johnny Horne was supposed to be dead, he sure was breathing pretty well for a dead man. It's more of an attention to detail, I guess. These are things that should be looked at.

At the risk of sounding like a forgiving fanboy, I think that Lynch has probably noticed a lot of what you're talking about. He probably liked many of the things that some find to be goofs, and left them in. Sure, in an 18-hour production, perhaps some things have been missed. As for the specific Johnny Horne scene in question, if he is dead it is entirely possible that he didn't die immediately upon hitting the wall, and was breathing his last breaths when we saw him. Most of what you've brought up doesn't bother me. I hope you're not too bothered by it that it detracts from your enjoyment.

[yaxomoxay]

I just don't see any of this as signs that the production was rushed. Different ways of looking at the scenes, I guess.

Also, if Johnny Horne was supposed to be dead, he sure was breathing pretty well for a dead man. It's more of an attention to detail, I guess. These are things that should be looked at.

At the risk of sounding like a forgiving fanboy, I think that Lynch has probably noticed a lot of what you're talking about. He probably liked many of the things that some find to be goofs, and left them in. Sure, in an 18-hour production, perhaps some things have been missed. As for the specific Johnny Horne scene in question, if he is dead it is entirely possible that he didn't die immediately upon hitting the wall, and was breathing his last breaths when we saw him. Most of what you've brought up doesn't bother me. I hope you're not too bothered by it that it detracts from your enjoyment.

I don't see why Johnny has to die in order to have Audrey back. A coma would work, and it would make much more sense to bring the family together for a longer period of time.
Also, a concussion/blood loss takes time to become a much serious problem. He might die at the hospital, it's not that all deaths are immediate!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[LateReg]

Also, if Johnny Horne was supposed to be dead, he sure was breathing pretty well for a dead man. It's more of an attention to detail, I guess. These are things that should be looked at.

At the risk of sounding like a forgiving fanboy, I think that Lynch has probably noticed a lot of what you're talking about. He probably liked many of the things that some find to be goofs, and left them in. Sure, in an 18-hour production, perhaps some things have been missed. As for the specific Johnny Horne scene in question, if he is dead it is entirely possible that he didn't die immediately upon hitting the wall, and was breathing his last breaths when we saw him. Most of what you've brought up doesn't bother me. I hope you're not too bothered by it that it detracts from your enjoyment.

I don't see why Johnny has to die in order to have Audrey back. A coma would work, and it would make much more sense to bring the family together for a longer period of time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Same. And he could be shown breathing so that we don't know whether he's alive or dead, yet. Me, I'm just along for the ride, taking it as it comes.

[LurkerAtTheThreshold]

Lurker: Interesting that Part 9 seems to have given a positive tinge to your feelings on the season as a whole, whereas I now have more misgivings about the show than at any point prior. There sure is an element of whiplash about this experience, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Glad you're enjoying it more now; and I agree with you that Bobby's arc is shaping up to be incredibly satisfying. It's great to see Garland/Don Davis honored so beautifully.

I can definitely relate to you not feeling it Reindeer, and 'whiplash' is a really good metaphor for it. From the first episode of the return, after 20 years of build up and those surrounding last months of rewatching fire walk with me and reading the secret history, the level of hype for me was so high, it really was like a car crash watching those first four episodes.

I can see now, that I had created all my own expectations and juggled these complex feelings about when I first saw the series and what it meant to me.
By episode 7 I finally came out of that dark tunnel of expectation and was ready to go along with the ride, wherever Lynch and Frost take us.
I can't even remember now how I wanted the series to be, in so deep in it and just so excited week to week to see what's going to develop.

I do feel on a totally different wavelength to the people who liked it straight up. But every week it's such an emotional ride, ups and downs, so many crazy twists and turns. Episode nine had many almost ridiculous turns like Johnny Horne hitting his head, and I think in my previous kind set I would've mocked these developments to no end, but I really can't describe how different it is to me now.

Even Mr C walking covered in blood in daylight, and that whole Tarantino esque scene at 'the farm' was the first time I'd really resonated with that doppelgänger side of the show. It doesn't feel like a ridiculous melodrama to me, but logically I can't explain why. All the parts are stil the same. Before I was analysing the actors trying to reconfigure themselves, and now for the first time its like, I can only see the characters. Gordon Cole and cooper and Diane and Bobby and Betty Briggs--- they feel as real and larger than life now than they ever did, and.... god it's just so magical to be transported back.

I am really glad that you're on board now. Of course we have 9 episodes to go, so we still have to see half of the path we're on.
In all fairness, Lynch's courageous decision didn't make the viewer's experience easier. On a certain level, we all wanted the good 'ol feeling of coffee and cherry pie, of the places we loved and we feel comfortably in. Yet, Lynch decided to go on a different way, and we lost our "innocence" as the town of Twin Peaks lost its innocence after Laura's murder. We, the viewers, are suffering through a similar shock in which a comfortable place is shocked and has to be built anew.
In my opinion, Lynch is making a show much more personal than it was ever seen on TV. When I read that TP3 was going to be 18 hours I was afraid that Lynch was going to stretch the soap-opera part of the series. I mean, TP can be as mysterious as you want, but you can't really put 18 more hours in there without having to look too much into the personal - uninteresting - lives of its citizens. And honestly, in the XXI century a story that deals with the lives of the citizens of a small town has a different name: the Gilmore Girls (which despite a truly good revival, had difficulties in keeping up for four hours). You can put a murder in the middle, and spice up things with the Black Lodge, but it would be just a supernatural Gilmore Girls with a hint of X-Files.

Lynch made this a personal voyage for the viewer, I think. We're all experiencing different viewing experiences. You mentioned the loss of your father - my condolences - as a reason to feel attached to episode 9 (which I also didn't feel as a weak episode but as a good plot pushing episode). I felt close to episode 6, despised by many, when Dougie and Bushnell are in the office together. When Bushnell was reviewing the papers, and he complained that he couldn't understand anything of it, it reminded me of when I moved to the US and my English was even worse than what it is now. It reminded me of how difficult it was for me to carry out a full-length conversation, or to express something. It was a truly awful feeling.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks. Yeah I see what you mean. It is a very personally crafted story which everyone is experiencing in unique ways. The hostility and other reactions are all just part and parcel to the emotional roller coaster of it all

[Mr. Reindeer]

Even Mr C walking covered in blood in daylight, and that whole Tarantino esque scene at 'the farm' was the first time I'd really resonated with that doppelgänger side of the show. It doesn't feel like a ridiculous melodrama to me, but logically I can't explain why. All the parts are stil the same. Before I was analysing the actors trying to reconfigure themselves, and now for the first time its like, I can only see the characters. Gordon Cole and cooper and Diane and Bobby and Betty Briggs--- they feel as real and larger than life now than they ever did, and.... god it's just so magical to be transported back.

Heh, interesting that you use the word "Tarantinoesque"....my first thought upon mention of "Mr. Strawberry" was Reservoir Dogs!

I'm enjoying the Mr. C stuff for what it is, but really beginning to wonder what the payoff will be. So far, it seems like the "real" Coop's journey and the season overall is a meditation on aging, passage of time, and most significantly, finding/losing your identity. The "Dougie" stuff seems SO beautifully linked to DKL's daughter Lula (who would have been 3-4 during shooting, and processing the world much like DougieCoop), but also tragically a manifestation of what Mark's dad might have been like on his worst days with Alzheimer's. It's heartbreaking, yet oddly sweet, to see Dale, a man who had such a strong and uncompromising sense of personal identity, reduced to repeating others' words like a certain mynah bird.

But how does Mr. C play into this? We all expected going into the season that Coop's identity crisis would be "good vs. bad"...L/F have provided us something deeper and completely unexpected, but so far, to my eye, this leaves DoppelCoop out in the cold thematically. Sure, his scenes have been fun to watch as Kyle does his thing, but they basically amount to an irredeemably evil dude killing characters we don't know/care about. DKL typically contrasts darkness and light to great effect (see BV, IE, and of course the original TP). At this point, though, the DoppelCoop scenes have no context in the broader arc of the narrative. I'm pretty confident they'll fit in eventually, and knowing David and Mark it will be in a totally unexpected way. But I am getting a little antsy in this regard.