This was just brilliant and singularly the best hour of the return so far. Some have criticised this series in places for its alleged "slowness" (particularly Part 12, for example). Yet to me the whole series has felt like an exercise in delayed gratification and the parts where plot lines do converge and build momentum are sheer pleasure to watch.
And yet too there is the unpredictability of the plot - not just what will unfold but how. Dale Cooper's return is handled brilliantly here. "I am the FBI" he says in a cliché I found myself fist-pumping at, as the signature theme music rises. Despite the many podcasts dissecting the show scene by scene, it is the return's elusive and unpredictable nature that makes it about as far from formulaic television as imaginable. Things don't unfold on cue but in their own time, and often with their own internal logic that "feels right". That might be why I have not enjoyed an episode of a TV series this much in years, possibly ever.
One of my minor criticisms of the series might be that some of the major acting talent has felt in places under-utilised. Yet here, with a slightly smaller cast than usual, this part delivers on breadth and depth of development. Laura Dern gives a phenomenal performance in a scene that leads to one of the part's biggest reveals. Meanwhile the scenes with cooper's new family are genuinely moving, as is the Mitchum brothers' hospital visit.
After this, I may go delirious waiting for the finale. Yet although Lynch has commented that this is an ongoing story without perhaps a definitive end, I hope the finale follows the example set here, delivering on development rather than introducing too many new elements to be left unresolved.
And yet too there is the unpredictability of the plot - not just what will unfold but how. Dale Cooper's return is handled brilliantly here. "I am the FBI" he says in a cliché I found myself fist-pumping at, as the signature theme music rises. Despite the many podcasts dissecting the show scene by scene, it is the return's elusive and unpredictable nature that makes it about as far from formulaic television as imaginable. Things don't unfold on cue but in their own time, and often with their own internal logic that "feels right". That might be why I have not enjoyed an episode of a TV series this much in years, possibly ever.
One of my minor criticisms of the series might be that some of the major acting talent has felt in places under-utilised. Yet here, with a slightly smaller cast than usual, this part delivers on breadth and depth of development. Laura Dern gives a phenomenal performance in a scene that leads to one of the part's biggest reveals. Meanwhile the scenes with cooper's new family are genuinely moving, as is the Mitchum brothers' hospital visit.
After this, I may go delirious waiting for the finale. Yet although Lynch has commented that this is an ongoing story without perhaps a definitive end, I hope the finale follows the example set here, delivering on development rather than introducing too many new elements to be left unresolved.