25 years later, and the new season of Twin Peaks has turned out to be more polarizing than acclaimed. But we're talking about David Lynch here, a director known for going against the grain and delivering exactly the opposite of what's expected. The original seasons were revolutionary due to their dynamic pace, that of heart-stopping soap opera laced with metaphysical occurrences and with dark, quirky characters at every turn. Any trace of wit and spark is absent this time around, and we're left with pure obscurity; a sprawling, gaping rabbit hole of a mystery with more silence than jazzy music and whimsical dialogue. Lynch filmed the whole thing as an 18-hour movie and then broke it apart into parts (not episodes). It's an unorthodox approach to a TV show in the sense that all of these parts do not have much of a narrative arc, but instead seem to be just pieces of a greater puzzle, where characters and events and information turn up without much continuity.
And yet it's almost impossible to look away or lose interest, even when it seems the joke's on us. Episode 5 and Cooper, fresh off the Black Lodge, remains a catatonic surrogate for his double Dougie, his storyline being the most hated thus far. Not without reason, since he's the hero of Twin Peaks, a lively, intelligent and noble character no one would have expected to become the butt of this season's joke. And yet here we are, Cooper wandering aimlessly through Dougie's insurance company job, with everyone treating him like some endearing nuisance when they should clearly be taking him to the hospital or at least wondering what the hell is wrong. The absurdist comedy has gone too far and none of it is particularly charming. Yet somehow, by the end of the episode Lynch has the upper hand. When Cooper has stayed hours stuck staring at a law enforcement statue, we still linger for the next episode to see how he might regain conscience (or not).
Even when the journey can be frustrating and too off-beat for it's own sake, there's the mystery that keeps the series alive and running. New clues of what might be tying what happens in Nevada, South Dakota, New York and Twin Peaks keep on popping. We also see some old characters for the first time, even if their brief appearances as on previous episodes do not reveal very much. We know what Dr. Jacoby does with those golden shovels, and it's one of the series' funniest and most unsettling sequences so far. Kudos to Russ Tamblyn's for his awesome meltdown of a performance.
For me at least drip-drip approach Lynch has taken with this season's narrative is indeed the most gripping aspect, even when it tries my patience. It's the themes that could be rendered differently. There's still get a lot of violence, and as usual it is haunting but not particularly interesting. We're introduced to Amanda Seyfried's character Becky, who happens to be the typical Lynchian drug-crazed, depraved all-American girl (Laura Palmer anyone?), one we've already seen too many times. Indeed the violence against women, they're either rape victims, hookers or Vegas bunnies, and how it's led by depraved and sociopathic men, has all gotten frankly a bit dated and predictable. At least, thanks to the credits we know about Richard Horne, so hopefully sooner than later this Leo Johnson-type character will relate to his well-to-do and dysfunctional family, and which of the Hornes is his parent (I'm betting for Audrey).
So episode 5 leaves us with more questions but also some more answers than we've encountered so far, intriguing returns from old characters, while also more of Lynch's dark underbelly clichés that I only wish will later give way to more quirk and life. Here's to hoping that all the mystery and madness doesn't detract from things like character development and meaningful dialogue (what the original had in spades). I'm still in it for the long haul.
And yet it's almost impossible to look away or lose interest, even when it seems the joke's on us. Episode 5 and Cooper, fresh off the Black Lodge, remains a catatonic surrogate for his double Dougie, his storyline being the most hated thus far. Not without reason, since he's the hero of Twin Peaks, a lively, intelligent and noble character no one would have expected to become the butt of this season's joke. And yet here we are, Cooper wandering aimlessly through Dougie's insurance company job, with everyone treating him like some endearing nuisance when they should clearly be taking him to the hospital or at least wondering what the hell is wrong. The absurdist comedy has gone too far and none of it is particularly charming. Yet somehow, by the end of the episode Lynch has the upper hand. When Cooper has stayed hours stuck staring at a law enforcement statue, we still linger for the next episode to see how he might regain conscience (or not).
Even when the journey can be frustrating and too off-beat for it's own sake, there's the mystery that keeps the series alive and running. New clues of what might be tying what happens in Nevada, South Dakota, New York and Twin Peaks keep on popping. We also see some old characters for the first time, even if their brief appearances as on previous episodes do not reveal very much. We know what Dr. Jacoby does with those golden shovels, and it's one of the series' funniest and most unsettling sequences so far. Kudos to Russ Tamblyn's for his awesome meltdown of a performance.
For me at least drip-drip approach Lynch has taken with this season's narrative is indeed the most gripping aspect, even when it tries my patience. It's the themes that could be rendered differently. There's still get a lot of violence, and as usual it is haunting but not particularly interesting. We're introduced to Amanda Seyfried's character Becky, who happens to be the typical Lynchian drug-crazed, depraved all-American girl (Laura Palmer anyone?), one we've already seen too many times. Indeed the violence against women, they're either rape victims, hookers or Vegas bunnies, and how it's led by depraved and sociopathic men, has all gotten frankly a bit dated and predictable. At least, thanks to the credits we know about Richard Horne, so hopefully sooner than later this Leo Johnson-type character will relate to his well-to-do and dysfunctional family, and which of the Hornes is his parent (I'm betting for Audrey).
So episode 5 leaves us with more questions but also some more answers than we've encountered so far, intriguing returns from old characters, while also more of Lynch's dark underbelly clichés that I only wish will later give way to more quirk and life. Here's to hoping that all the mystery and madness doesn't detract from things like character development and meaningful dialogue (what the original had in spades). I'm still in it for the long haul.