World of Blue - Archived Forum 2007-2022

I don't think it's fair to mention the Season 2 ending as, even though it stayed like that for 25 years, it was always meant to be a cliffhanger and FWWM tried to give it a bit more of a definitive ending, so for me the Season 1 and Season 2 endings are not actual endings, just cliffhangers. Therefore, that leaves us with two possible definitive endings - unless one trumps to the other.

Which do you prefer and why? Does the ending to The Return come before or after the ending of FWWM?

Which do you think feels more definitive? And could the ending of The Return turn out just to be another cliffhanger, not an ending at all?

The ending to FWWM feels like an ending. I'm not sure about The Return - I can see it as both a definitive ultimate ending and/or another cliffhanger. I'm still confused as to which came first. I could see it being clear that the FWWM ending is first, but also that it - despite the characters looking younger, due to when it was filmed - comes after.

(Someone may have created a thread like this previously - if so, feel free to link to it.)

That's something I've wondered about before as well.

I've never been able to totally reconcile the two endings -- maybe Cooper undoes the FWWM ending, maybe S3 is a dream, I don't know.

Thinking about it now though, I have to wonder if it somehow reflects a shift in Lynch's own thinking. 30 years ago, Laura Palmer is abused, murdered, and finds some sort of peace and contentment. Contrast that with recently, with Laura Palmer surviving and spending her whole life avoiding the trauma altogether. Maybe Lynch doesn't think that whatever happens at the end of FWWM is possible anymore, or conversely, the Return's ending makes clear the necessity of FWWM's ending, by showing that the acknowledgement of trauma can't be put off, and that it will be have to be confronted eventually. That goes for Laura hiding out in Odessa, Texas, but could also be applied to Sarah Palmer as well.