Twin Peaks (TV Series) Beyond Life and Death (1991) User Reviews

A tragic, yet excellent way to end the series

[mattiasflgrtll6 · 10/10 · 15 January 2019]

Last time, we saw Windom Earle infiltrating Miss Twin Peaks and kidnapping Annie Blackburne. Now it's up to Cooper and the others to stop him before he goes through with his horrible plan, and hopefully save Annie as well.

I was anxious about the final episode. The previous one didn't leave much hope for most of the characters, and I was almost terrified to see how it would end. And just like you'd expect, Twin Peaks doesn't save any punches. It starts off with Cooper, Andy and Harry trying to make any sense out of the map to The Black Lodge. Where exactly can it be found?

Before we get to the chase, we get to see how the side characters are doing. The subplots provide some nice levity before it gets serious. Audrey handcuffs herself at a police station while pressuring the poor ol' Dell Mibbler to do as she says, in order to stop Ghostwood. Ed Wright was very funny as the nervous Dell, who looks positively scared for his life as Audrey orders him around, even though she can't really physically harm him. The situation with Ed, Nadine and Mike has grown increasingly bizzarre until Nadine finally wakes up from her hypnosis and feels like an adult again instead of an ecstatic high school teenager. You feel so bad for her when she's confused over why she's together with this tough-looking high school guy and why the hell Ed has now fallen for another woman. The most amusing part is when Mike admits that he probably let things get too out of hand. With Dick out of the picture as Lucy has chosen who she wants to be the father to her baby, she and Andy finally have some time for themselves. As someone who never cared for the feud between Lucy and Andy, I'm glad to see them starting to appreciate each other these last few episodes. The moment of truth when they simultaneously confess their love for each other and then reacting in shock over what just happened is funny and cute at the same time.

The third act is one of the most mesmerizing pieces of televison I've ever watched. Outside of glimpses seeing Harry looking after his partner, we're stuck with Cooper in The Black Lodge. And it's every bit as creepy as you would expect, if not more so. Michael J. Anderson returns as The Man From Another Place, and is once again a calmly intimidating presence. His mysterious eyes and strange appearance sells him as one of the most intriguing characters to be conceived. And just to unsettle us even more, we have appearances of Bob, Leland and a possibly possessed Laura Palmer. As we watch Cooper trying to understand this strange place, we're not sure if what we're seeing is real or if his eyes are playing tricks with him. It gets increasingly uncomfortable and intense, until it's revealed that he didn't make it in time to save Annie. Even though I predicted it would happen, it's still devastatingly sad. Kyle MacLachlan shows such a range of emotions without saying a single word, showing Cooper at his most vulnerable and disoriented. The scariest moment comes when an evil Cooper clone and Bob laugh together sadistically as he's driven insane.

Eventually he returns to the real world, with Harry and Will Hayward getting him back on his feet. When he's safe, he tells them "I need to brush my teeth.". Cue the bathroom, where we see Dale squeezing toothpaste out of the tub with an iron grip, then suddenly banging his head against the mirror. He spookily turns towards the camera and tauntingly asks "How's Annie?" The real Cooper is still stuck in the Lodge...

With a lump in my throat, I popped the disc out. It left me struggling to think of what to say. If a finale leaves me not finding words for how effectful it was, you know it's done a damn good job of getting to me.

one of the few truly inspired series finales in TV history

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 9 May 2007]

What a way to go out on a bang! The series finale to Twin Peaks is not only superb as an episode in tying together loose ends in an entertaining way, it transcends what are usually the limitations of the TV medium. David Lynch directed the episode, which is obvious from every single minute that was shot. It's a lot more like the most surreal art-film shot by a European cameraman than your typical prime-time network finale. We see finally, as has been hyped for the previous episodes, the Black Lodge, what could almost be considered the truest form of a haven for the dark side of the universe. Cooper finds that the map will show him how to follow Windam-Earl, who's kidnapped Annie, Cooper's new love, to bring the worst evil imaginable. Passing sycamore trees, we finally enter what is the ultimate labyrinth as dictated by Lynch and company, where we see old "friends" (the Man from Another Room, the room service man at the Great Northern, Laura, Mr. Palmer, the Giant, et all), and see the most frightening outcome imaginable.

In one of Lynch's most staggering displays of bravura directing, the Twin Peaks finale is alternately hysterically funny (the wrap-up of what happens at the bank), dramatically exquisite (the mess over at Donna's), plain goofy in its obviousness (Nadine's come around reminds me of the climax of Muppets Take Manhattan), and absolutely thrilling in how only Lynch and Frost can pull it off. Everything from the lighting- going so over-the-top with the flashing lights and the slow-to-fast pacing- to the sound design, to the completely out-of-this-world turn of performances by everyone in the Black Lodge, it all just clicks so well that it gives one who's already very used to Lynch's wild theatrics the chills. Indeed, the very end left me feeling the same way I did the first times I saw Lynch's best work in Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive: it makes total sense, even if it makes no sense all the same. And yet, the emotional impact is concise, direct, and with a punch that's undeniable. Meanwhile, it's all on TV, not in a cinema, where one would expect to see such artful craft and simple touches of visual wizardry.

Wow, Bob, Wow. That's all I could say once this ended.

Evil versus Good

[fordread · 10/10 · 24 July 2007]

This episode was nothing but amazing. The main questions that Twin Peaks is raising are...who is evil ? Why ? Are we humans evil ? All the show is about this perpetual fight between good and evil. And the answers...are in the end...revealed : humans are not evil...sure they can be very nasty and even evil comparable sometimes...but in fact they are not evil...we are just humans...with goods and bads... . On the other hand...evil exists, and it is among us...camouflaged...and will always win.

Now, what is really interesting is the situation of Special Agent Dale Cooper. Through the show...he becomes the image of purity and kindness. He is surrounded by a divine aura. He keeps saying Twin Peaks is heaven like and people here are nothing but divine...when in fact he is the real deal...he is the one that has no match, and it's almost like he's an angel or something. Then love blinds him...and following the call of his heart once again he is lost, and this time for good. And in his search of the loved one...he looses his soul. An angel has fallen, and with it...the equilibrium of our world, of our soul. This is the real horror in this movie, this is the real tormenting feeling that we get. We had no feelings for the ones that died, not even for that Harold Smith, not to say Laura, but our world collapses when we see Special Agent Dale Cooper changed. One of the best ending for a TV show ever seen by me. Everything flows naturally, and it is not suddenly accelerated and rushed like in other TV shows. The pieces are binding and the terror is finally getting me. (I'll just say, that it really did not scared me this movie, nor making me cry, not until this final episode with its end...o boy...the end worth the wait. I still have bitter taste in my mind when I'm thinking of poor Dale Cooper...after all...this was his show...and all the others...where just humans).

And as a one last thing. Why is Bob calling Annie in the end ? Frightening right ? Annie apparently survived, soul and body. Annie is the second angel in this show. That's why Cooper is following in love with her, and that's why Bob wants to loose her too. (but still..I wouldn't feel much sorry for her if it wasn't for the lost of Special Agent Dale Cooper. He sacrificed himself for her.)

One of the best episodes in Television history...

[Red_Identity · 31 August 2010]

The finale to Twin Peaks was everything you could hope for and more. David Lynch is back to direct this episode, and whoa, what an episode it is. The writing and direction are spectacular and spellbinding. This is Lynch at his most surreal. What I find truly amazing about the ending to the series is that it does not close the doors for the characters. It actually does not have much of the other characters besides Cooper and Windom Earle stuck in the Black Lodge. The scenes of Cooper dwelling deeper into the Black Lodge are completely bizarre and unpredictable, and I wonder what kind of reception it got back when it aired. I am sure many people would have dismissed it as being 'weird' for the sake of being weird, but that is what Lynch is. He is a master at surrealism and mystery, and it was part of what got me into Twin Peaks. The murder, and Lynch's trademark suspense. I also did find the fates of several characters very tragic (including my favorite character in the series, who happens to be female), but the way it happened was completely shocking and it shows just how unpredictable Lynch is. BRAVO to the series as a whole and to the amazing series finale!

Unlike Anything I've Ever Seen

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 21 August 2017]

I watched this series back in its first incarnation. Twenty-five years ago I was hardly a discriminating viewer. My tastes were along the streets of the avant-garde, but I found it distracting and too weird. When I heard that David Lynch was releasing a sequel series, I thought I should go back and see what I had seen before. It turns out I hardly remembered a thing. I was so engaged and loved it this time. Thank you NETFLIX! I couldn't help myself. I went ahead and began to watch the new show which I am thoroughly enjoying. I'm down to three episodes remaining. This last show of season two is, I'm sure, disappointing to one who wants things tied up with a bow. If that's your way of thinking, you would never have made it this far. Cooper who lives through a kind of Pilgrim's Progress, accented by coffee and cherry pie, maintains a delightful optimism under all circumstances. Of course, he is passing through David Lynch's universe, and forces from above (or inside) are constantly at war with the normal. Cooper has a past which surfaces more and more. He starts out almost boringly straight, with his little recorder and his subdued being. But along comes Annie and he is given a second chance. But he is beset by the evil of evils, Windom Earle who has caused him most of his worldly woes. Cooper, a man of honor, must go to the mat to save this young woman, but the surreal world of the Black Lodge is in another universe. I'm hoping when the new series concludes, I will understand who is at the center of all of this. The final fifteen minutes is a bizarre funhouse trek, where we lose Cooper as he crosses between the drops of the strange. Of course, Bob is still around, and he seems to be the one stirring the pot--but who the heck is he? And what is the foundation of his evil. Anyway--I will say this again. David Lynch deals in nightmares and he drops on on us. Now, here we are, twenty-five years later. And we've been warned by the late Laura Palmer that she will be back.

Bizarre, terrifying and brilliant. Twin Peaks at its spine tingling best.

[LewisTheLAPA · 10/10 · 29 July 2018]

After 28 episodes (excluding the Pilot) we have sadly reached the end of this incredible journey. But Twin Peaks does not die in vain. It goes out in the most David Lynch way possible, with an almighty BANG.

Lynch knocked it out of the park with this utter masterpiece.

The beautiful opening credits role as the finale draws closer. Then, after hearing Angelo Badalamentis majestic score for the final time, it begins. The main question on everyones lips is where has Windom taken Annie?, but many surprises also occur as the episode unravels, such as Donna finding out who her true father is, Andrew, Pete, and Audrey presumably blown to pieces in the bank, Nadine waking up from her stupid fantasy that shes been living since the start of Season 2, and Leo being left to try and balance a bunch of tarantulas with only his teeth! But this is only filler, the real fun begins later on!

After all the pieces of the jigsaw are put together and Cooper finally enters the Black Lodge, to an incredible rendition of 'under the sycamore trees'. Beyond this weird and wonderful point we embark on one of the craziest journeys I have ever witnessed. Containing Laura, The Man From Another Place, The Giant/Waiter, BOB, Windom, Annie, Coopers dead wife, and a hell of a lot of Doppelgangers, weird and terrifying moments, and strobe lighting. Coopers sanity and loyalties are truly put to the test.

After a while this incredible segment finishes, and Coop and Annie escape, albeit unconscious.

This leads on to what we believe to be a happy ending for these tortured souls, we presume that Annie is safe and well as Coop wakes up after that crazy night, asking after Annie and with a burning desire to brush his teeth. Don't get me wrong, it is a very wacky thing to say, but Cooper is a very wacky bloke so we shrug it off as Cooper being his vibrant self, unaware of the evil that is truly going on inside his mind.

He enters the bathroom and all hell breaks loose, he proceeds to squirt all of the toothpaste in a weird spiral as he is slowly becoming unhinged and without hesitation suddenly looks up, smiles, and smashes his HEAD into the mirror. After this, we see the reflection of BOB and realize what has happened. He then tilts his bloodied face to the side and repeats the creepy line "Hows Annie" beginning to maniacally laugh as the episode comes to a close. The credits role. The end. Cooper is doomed

For 26 painstaking years there was no resolution to this cliffhanger of cliffhangers, Until now...

Artsy, iconic and deeply twisted finale for the series' original run

[lareval · 8/10 · 5 October 2021]

After Laura Palmer's killer resolution, the series never recovered. Boring episodes that meant nothing to me (I didn't write reviews for them) led to this final outing of the original series which is nothing but cliffhanger after cliffhanger. Every one of them more infuriating than the previous. Lynch knew the show lost its way and ended it in the most shocking fashion. The best of it? Its influential, iconic style and its unforgettable images, hands down! A must see!

We will see each other again, in 25 years

[moritzherz · 8/10 · 15 August 2023]

I watched Twin Peaks in 2023 so I could binge it and I was also aware of the sequel that was released 25 years later. So I knew this was not the end of the show, but who could have thought of that back in 1992?

It was in that scene, in which the black lodge Laura told Agent Cooper, that they will see each other in 25 years again, that I knew, I was watching something bigger than television. I was witnessing a bold prediction of the showrunners, yes an announcement, you could say. Because what happened 25 years after the show "concluded"?

Exactly, David Lynch and Mark Frost released the final season of Twin Peaks.

Still disturbing 25+ years later

[yuri01-1 · 10/10 · 22 January 2018]

There are acting moments in this episode that are over-acted or they just don't quite get there. Dr Hayward's scream after he attacks Horne; Windom Earle just before he has his soul ripped out.

However, the story spirals and overcomes these minor shortcomings. Editing does the rest. I still cannot nominate a better attempt at depicting someone's soul being ripped out of their body.

Then, they added the cliff-hangers. What happens with each character building up to the crescendo of Dale Cooper in the bathroom asking/calling about Annie.

All told, this is still one of the most disturbing, engaging, engrossing series I have ever seen.

I got to relive it through the Blu Ray box set, which is one of the greatest pieces of consumer packaging I have ever encountered. I am a self-taught graphic designer. So, I appreciate the love/passion that went into the design. I can only imagine what went through the minds of the printers charged with actually making it real.

The only thing I can equate it in terms packaging technology was when I opened an iPod box for the first time. (20GB, BTW). If Steve Joshed been involved in this, Reckon he would have opened it, worked his way through it, and said "good work".

Under the sycamore trees

[scrp-1 · 10/10 · 1 July 2006]

There are truly few things in my life that have affected me the way this episode did. Call me a hopeless case of an addict, but what I experienced was unique. I believe the people who have actually understood the complex nature of this TV series are a minority. As one of these people I feel truly blessed. When I was only 4 years old I watched the whole series and what is nearly impossible to believe is that I've remembered numerous scenes from the last episode for nearly 15 years. With details. This can give you an example of what kind of a brain wrecker David Lynch has created in these 45 minutes of pure perfection. For two seasons the feeling for mystery, horror and the hunger to know more is being fed and in the final episode, David Lynch unleashes his darkest, most surreal and bizarre ideas coming straight from the very depths of his twisted mind in the culmination of all times. The red curtains, the bizarre atmosphere of the red room, the feeling of twisted reality, the deep music that flows in the air, even the pattern on the floor - all the elements combine to give us the best 45 minutes in cinematic history. This episode left a mark in my brain, I believe can never be erased. Best piece of art ever.

Somethings are continuously left out...

[abdurehmanarshd · 10/10 · 3 June 2021]

The episode was perfect in every way possible and I enjoyed it a lot. Though my concern is, don't you feel like the show misses at many points throughout the episodes. Now see I'm a diehard fan of Lynch and amdire his work. Twin Peaks without a single doubt is my most favorite TV series, but I feel like writers missed a lot at many points. Like Leo stuck in cabin, that BOB like MIKE, he's missing after he finished his work. Many characters like Ed, James Hurley, Norma's Husband ( forgot his name ), whole Ranault family sequence, Donna Heyward and Benjamin's arc ( Ben getting hurt in the end, Doc is seen at the bed of Cooper after it ) and literally so many points didn't make sense. And those are missing points I'd say. Still twin peaks was and is one of best tv show ever made. I don't care if I get plot holes or writing disorientations as long as I get surrealistic, dark, witty experience with almost perfect direction by Lynch.

A near-perfect conclusion

[wintry-34293 · 10/10 · 3 January 2016]

The second season of Twin Peaks was largely disappointing; entirely constructed out of boring, and sometimes unintentionally funny, subplots. The show seemed to have lost all focus and direction; I no longer cared about James, Harold was handled clumsily, Windom Earle was embarrassingly pantomimic and wholly unthreatening, and Andy, Lucy and Dick, instead of being funny, were unbearably grating. The first half of the two-part final episode was cringe worthy, sexist and corny. And, although I had heard good things about it, I was not hopeful for the final part. However my expectations were exceeded immeasurably. The final episode was everything Twin Peaks was at its pinnacle; scary, dark and truly funny. David Lynch's return to control the season's end, is palpable. His writing and direction brings an atmosphere that cannot be replicated or identified successfully. And all the mistakes the second season made were repaired, and my patience for staying with the show repaid; Andy and Lucy share a genuine tender moment together at the beginning of the episode, Donna's crisis about the true identity of her father is heart-breaking, and Doc Hayward's actions shocking. Pete Martell's entrance is funny, and Lynch's distinctive atmosphere is pervasive as the map found in Owl Cave is studied. Also Cooper's presence is much darker and far less sprightly that we have previously seen him, as he displays more of the mysterious powers we have not seen him utilise for some time. Much of the season finale is constructed almost as a love letter to the first season, and Twin Peaks at its pinnacle. This is evident in the sudden re-appearances of characters we have not seen for a long time; Cooper asks to see Ronnette, and Hawk produces her in moments, as though she had been in the station ever since we last saw her in the first season. Sarah Palmer briefly returns to deliver an unsettling message to Major Briggs, and the giggling Heidi returns, who we have not seen since the pilot. Lynch almost seems to be apologising for the unwanted tangents the show took in the second season, returning the show to the beginning. The frankly silly subplot about Nadine believing she was a teenager again is soberingly handled, and Lynch remarkably makes this scene at once darkly funny and crushingly sad. The bank scene does not have the same emotional impact as the other cliff-hangers however, as Andrew Packard is a thinly drawn, and slimily irritating character, that seems to suffocate many scenes involving him of life. The distant shots of the elderly Dell walking achingly slowly around the bank is Finally, the Black Lodge segments of the episode are some of the most transcendent ever committed to television. The dialogue is utterly alien, and there are scenes that are the most frightening, disturbing and upsetting sequences of the entire series. BOB's swift killing of Windom Earle, Laura Palmer's screaming and of course, the well-publicised ending. Overall, the final episode makes up for all the dreary mistakes Twin Peaks made throughout season two, and is unlike anything I have ever seen.

With proper production time, it could have been much better

[williamdouglas743 · 7/10 · 21 October 2019]

This looks like a 2 hours episode that needed to be rushed down to 45 minutes in order to please the channel directors, who had no idea who Lynch was and how he wrote his stories, in the end, it just didn't deliver, and everything that, with proper time and development, would have been great, ended up feeling rushed and incomplete.

Still the best series I have ever watched, and I highly doubt I'll see a better one for as long as I live, overall 10/10, and even with the disappointing ending, it is still a must watch.

2x22

[formotog · 5/10 · 12 September 2020]

I'm sorry but no. This was a big no from me. This is the first time David Lynch has disappointed me. This felt absolutely nothing like a finale. There was no kind of closure, nothing felt climactic, nothing felt finished. I can't believe that this seems to be held as one of the best episodes of the show as a matter of general opinion. It was frankly tedious after a while. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Bob winning, but it was executed horribly. First of all, several characters just got blown up, just like that, as a result of a character who I'm doubtful had more than 10 minutes of screen time in total. I'd say the most fulfilling ending to a character arc was Nadine's. Yes, Nadine, the one character least connected to the main events of the show, so obviously I didn't care how her story ended. The Hayward family drama ended very strangely and also felt a bit ridiculous. Even just writing this I can barely summarise how baffled I am that this is actually how it ended. From Cooper walking into the Black Lodge, which is what most people probably were waiting for, it gets cut short in order for Audrey and Pete to get blown up for no good reason. Cut back to the Black Lodge, whose tension has just been killed by the aforementioned inexplicable scene, and we essentially have Cooper run around for about 20 minutes. With each passing minute, I became more and more irritated and less and less immersed. The whole reason the Dark Lodge was such a brilliant element of the show is because we only ever really got glimpses of it. We got thrown in for about 20 minutes (at least it felt it) this episode and it lost all its power, all its intrigue, all its magic. It felt very anticlimactic. The nonsense in this show makes the most sense when it makes sense, but this nonsense was just nonsense. In the end, Bob won and Annie died and all things considered it was really a quite predictable ending. This has to be possibly the most disappointing finale I've ever watched. Some of it was very nicely done but not nearly enough. I'm glad I can just go straight to The Return, and I feel so sorry for those who had to wait 25 years after that

High 5

The best television episode ever aired

[s103505715 · 31 March 2006]

The final episode of Twin Peaks left many disappointed. "Too many loose ends!" they cried. "Too bleak and upsetting!" I can understand these criticisms but for me this episode of Twin Peaks is the pinnacle of television excellence. Not only did it pave the way for shows like Carnivale and Lost (although not for almost 10 years) it was a terrifying, gripping ride in which you genuinely did not know if there would be a happy ending. Unpredictable and totally original it was for me 45 minutes of near perfection - considering it was an unexpected end to the great series Lynch's achievement in creating this episode in such a limited time was spectacular. The wonderful surreal atmosphere of the Red Room, the beauty of the direction and the sheer bizarreness marked a new departure for television - I feel it is only now that Twin Peaks influence is being fully realised. Simply amazing.

The most touching and frightening experience

[kammmacher · 10/10 · 16 October 2015]

This episode is the most touching and frightening experience i ever had in front of a screen. Yes, there are some boring episodes in season 2 ( Marsh, also Jean Renault.... boring elements.. but in the end - i watched it after twenty years again there are just two or three episodes are boring - and they are much better than the most of the other TV series )... but's essential to watch everything. Just then you can understand what a TV series can be... a religious experience. Jesus Christ....! Oh! I am looking forward to season 3. And i hope there will be some redemption for dear Dale B. Cooper! Yes, it's really a miracle, how this director achieves to touch the viewers deepest memories.... he knows our dreams... and what happened to Annie. Oh, i hope she's fine. And i hope Audrey will save cooper and win his heart. I always dreamt about this love story.... i wished they will be a happy couple...

Episode 29

[lassegalsgaard · 10/10 · 9 May 2023]

For a majority of this season, David Lynch was gone from the writers' room, having decided to leave after the resolution of the Laura Palmer storyline, although he still appeared in the show as Gordon Cole in subsequent episodes. However, as the show was drawing to a close and it was clear that they were not going to be able to continue, Lynch agreed to come back and direct a finale to the season, in hopes that it would generate enough buzz to save the show from cancellation, which is obviously didn't. The script was penned by Mark Frost, Harley Peyton, and Robert Engels, but Lynch apparently heavily altered the script, especially the scenes that take place inside the red room. A lot of characters were added, and Lynch was keen on making it feel more like the thing that he had been setting up in the first season, despite the writers of the season taking it in a bit of a different direction. It has since become quite famous for its cliffhanger ending, which was not resolved until the 2017 continuation gave the entire show some closure. Watching this episode, it's so clear to see that this season lacked that Lynch influence throughout, because this is a great episode, the likes of which has not been prominent ever since the closing of the Laura Palmer storyline. This serves a good capper for the season, closing out some storylines, yet it also works as a visual masterpiece, with Lynch going full Lynch at the end.

It's very clear that Lynch was keen on getting the stuff he wasn't interested in out of the way quickly. He puts a lit on the Nadine and Donna storylines pretty quickly, then spends a bit more time getting into the whole thing about Andrew and the safety deposit box, which is also only given a few minutes of screen time. All of this are part of storylines that have been frustratingly bearing down on the show, so the fact that Lynch only really devotes a few minutes for that felt like a breathe of fresh air off the bat.

After all that is done with, that's when we get the meat of the episode, which is mostly set in the Black Lodge. All of these scenes are filled with delicious Lynch weirdness and feels like a blast from the past, with characters that we haven't seen in a long time coming back to deliver all of what we came to love about the show originally. It's also Lynch's opportunity to just go crazy with his own sensibilities and deliver some of his trademark horror elements with stunning results and many nightmares that would haunt me for weeks after this.

However, what transpires in there is also a great visual depiction of good vs. Evil. A lot of it is shown through Cooper literally running away from everything he's seeing in there and at some point being chased by his evil doppelganger. No one matches Lynch when it comes to visual storytelling, and especially in this show, he has shown a great energy and devotion to showing it through the visuals. The creation of the Black Lodge is a huge achievement, both in terms of the aesthetics, but also just the production design element which is quite the astonishing feat.

The show famously ended on a big cliffhanger, and looking back on it, it seems right in a poetic way that this was a storyline that we wouldn't get the answers to until 25 years after the fact. Having Cooper being possessed by BOB at the end also ends the show on a big sour note, showing us that even the best of us can be taken over by evil. It may not have been Lynch's original intentions, but watching it now, it comes across as a great metaphor for always being aware of the evil, because it takes everyone.

"Episode 29" ends the original run of "Twin Peaks," which had been marked with great success and a great fall from grace with virtually everyone. This episode brings back the surrealism and the Lynchian elements that made everyone fall in love with the show in the first place, ending it on the best possible note.

Coop enters the Black Lodge

[Tweekums · 10/10 · 15 June 2012]

After the events at the Miss Twin Peaks beauty pageant Cooper must work out where the mysterious Black Lodge in and, if he is to save Annie, he will have to enter this strange and dangerous realm. The inside of the lodge isn't inherently frightening but its weirdness is unsettling; there are no doors or walls; just ceiling to floor red curtains and the people he meets there are those he saw in his dream all the way back in season one along with a few other familiar faces. There are things going on elsewhere of course; we learn that the bump Nadine took to her head has ended her amnesia however she has no knowledge of the events that happened while she was 'young again' and is shocked to see Ed with Norma. Audrey chains herself to the vault in the bank in protest against their involvement with the Ghost Wood development shortly before Pete Martell and Andrew Packard turn up to open the safety deposit box whose key was in the puzzle box given by the late Thomas Eckhardt. At the end; just when it looks as though things are going to work out for Agent Cooper there is a shocking revelation that once you see you won't forget.

Although this was only intended to be the end of the second season rather than of the series as a whole it still works for the most part; it just means the ending is rather bleak and there are one or two loose ends. These loose ends concern certain major characters who may have died; whether this not knowing will bother you will depend on how you feel about open endings... when I first saw the episode I was disappointed because I wanted to know what happened; watching it again however I found it far more satisfactory not to know everything. The design of the Black Lodge was delightfully creepy as was the way its inhabitants spoke; I'm not sure why they had subtitles though as it wasn't that difficult to understand what they were saying. The series certainly went out on a high and I know I'll miss not seeing more of the people of Twin Peaks!

This is cinema

[johnny-hooker-yeah · 10/10 · 2 March 2024]

David Lynch is the greatest American filmmaker of all time. This is just the greatest series ending of all time and 30+ years later we're still waiting for a series to surpass the drama, romance and mistery that this work of art brought to the screen. The characters and respective actors are all iconic and Jimmy Scott's rendition of "Under The Sycamore Trees" is one of the most haunting songs to ever grace the screen. The scene in the Black Lodge? It gives us all chills to this day. Evil has won the day. Will there be hope for our heroes? The answer is blowing under the sycamore trees forever more... THIS IS CINEMA.

Let's Down The Entire Series

[tabuno · 6/10 · 18 January 2019]

28 July 2011. The bittersweet climatic, series finale is a let down of all the episodes that proceeded it. It is almost as if the anger and resentment of the creator of the series scrambling to toss together elements in a attempt to tie up lose ends allowed his own feelings to seep into the finale. Instead of a two-part finale, the one hour final episode seemed disjointed, a buckshot of happy and sad dispositions of the main characters that had no connection to any theme or premise. The primary difficulty is that the tone of the finale didn't seem to be consistent with the rest of the series... True to life, it didn't matter if one was smart or dumb, good looking or no ugly, a "good" or "bad" person, what ultimately occurred was based on luck, fate what have you and all the effort one put into life all came down to "whatever." To its credit, the finale represented real life to a point. Not everybody gets their due, not everybody wins in the end. Yet, without "Criminal Minds" series concluding words of wisdom at the end of each of its episodes, "Twin Peaks" finale leaves the audience with a bitter taste in one's mouth, a director who didn't have sufficient time to really flesh our nor think through the severely time-limited script. At least "Defying Gravity" was given a decent burial in its story arc. As for "Twin Peaks" the jarring nature of the true David Lynch's propensity for the bizarre came full blast at the end as if such craziness would make up for the rushed job of having to conclude the series in such an untimely fashion.

Great series...anti-climatic end

[pabloliveshere · 2/10 · 7 February 2016]

What an unimaginative bore of a finale for a drama so full of fascinating characters and skewed, cliff-hanging story-telling.

I can't even begin to make sense of this mess, and I'm frustrated and disappointed, but even more angry that two incredible series could be ended with such a disjointed, confused, not to mention, amateurish wreck.

I yawned throughout the all the curtain-wafting, reversed speech, and appearing and vanishing characters, which lasted for an eternity, in lieu of any actual plot.

It's understandable that there perhaps wasn't much of a budget for the 'black house', but this took the biscuit. By the time the plot-twist occurred back in the real world, I didn't care anymore.

And what about all the story strands left unravelled? Unforgivable.

What a dull, tragic waste of build-up.

Season 2: First half is great, second half loses its way badly and never totally recovers despite a good ending (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 1 June 2010]

When I watched season 1 I found myself pleasantly surprised by parts and aspects of it that I had forgotten. With season 2 this is sort of the same situation, but not in the same way. What I found here is that my memory had blocked out a lot of the bad aspects of the second season, in particular the second chunk of it. It starts out great though and I am not sure what happens to it but up till Laura's killer is captured and unmasked, the show is as good as the first season was. It continued to have the Blue Velvet approach of American idealism but with this constant darkness always pushing to envelop it from beneath.

This is maintained well in the first half of the season it the way the first season did and it produces plenty of distressing moments – not least of which the murder of Maddy and the scene where the identity of Laura's killer is revealed to Laura's killer. All of this occurs as the main event on top of the same sort of soap opera material as before. And, as before this material is well balanced so that there is just enough of it to be recognisable and to be part of the show but not enough so that it becomes the focus of the show. Now, it is the episode after the exit of Bob from Leland that the entire season seems to take a turn for the worse and I genuinely have no idea what happened – whether the studios changed everyone involved with the writing or what, but something went badly wrong.

In the second half the material involving the investigation into the demons led by Cooper stutters and stumbles badly. Up till now it had been building well with plenty of mystery and dread to keep the viewer interested, but as it should be continuing to grow it seems to scatter to the wind, unsure of how to do it. While this happens we also have the many soapy sub-plots seemingly elevated to become as important if not more important than the investigation and the darkness. Now, while I appreciated this material as the bed of the show, it really clunks around in the second half and I really struggled to care about the majority of it – and did so less and less as it went on. Some of the 50 minute episodes were so heavy with this stuff that when I finished them really only 10-15 minutes had engaged me – which is a shame for a show that held me so effortlessly for the 16 episodes that made up season 1 and the first half of season 2. It does feel like someone decided that the OTT soap opera aspect was what was winning the viewers and that it was this aspect that should be embraced at all costs.

Sadly for the cast, this does expose a lot of them. In season 1, while this material was being done with a knowing air that allowed some of the "daytime TV" performances to be appreciated in context, the move to actually becoming a poor soap opera in some of the threads mean that some of them no longer have the protection of being a small part of a better whole. This affects all of those who have soapy threads that don't contribute particularly towards the central thread – and without this none of them are good enough to lift it themselves, going down with it, Marshall especially is left hanging out in the open badly. The main players continue to be strong though – benefiting from being in the threads that are engaging.

The season does recapture some of the darkness in the final few episodes and does pull off a particularly disturbing finale but I, like many viewers I suspect, felt fatigued by pointlessness by this stage and was grateful for it to be done. The first half of season 2 is great stuff and it is a shame it wastes it all away to nothing for the latter half, losing touch with what made the show work in the first place. Still a great show and worth remembering – but, having rewatched season 2 now I can totally understand why my memory from twenty years ago selectively edited out much of the second half.

End of the Dreams and fantasies

[AvionPrince16 · 6/10 · 31 January 2023]

So yeah we follow that last episode where Cooper will try to find Annie because Windom Earle kidnapped her. Audrey protest for the Ghostwood project. A bomb planted by Eckhardt. We see also that Cooper will enter a red room with the senile waiter, the giant, the little man, Sarah Palmer, BOB. Cooper exchanged his souls to save Annie. And we will see at the end that BOB entered the body and mind of Cooper.

I think that the episode is pretty hard go believe and all that fantasies ( the weird voices, appeareances, the mise en scene) really put me off the episode and for 30 minutes we saw pretty weird things who dont make sense at all. Just for the end we see that Cooper exchanged his soul and thats all. It was pretty implicit and relative to the dreams (like usually) but they just used it to make some weird scenes and implicit meanings. I didnt really like that structure but the end let us make me wondered what will happen to Cooper. But sometimes they used too much fantasies and dreams to justify some weird things.

Very overrated episode

[stratus_phere · 5/10 · 12 April 2018]

I'm not sure why this episode got so many great reviews. Honestly, it was confusing, convoluted, bloated, and full of so many loose ends.

Nothing was really explained. So many good characters have unfinished storylines. It looks like Audrey got blown to bits but she was one of my fave characters. Annie was killed? Or no? And the bad guy, what happened?

I'm not asking readers for answers, I can google to get peoples interpretations. But the fact that Lynch left the show in a lurch really bugs me. And other reviewers are like "it's the greatest episode ever aired!" Oh come on, it was crazy.

It feels like the show wasn't meant to end here, as if this was a cliffhanger episode and then the show got canceled. I don't know, but I choose to believe Lynch didn't intend to leave it this way.

Lynch firing on all cylinders. A terrifying and mesmerising finale

[Coffee_in_the_Clink · 1 May 2020]

The last half of the second season of "Twin Peaks" hit a serious lull. The weirdness and horror had all but disappeared, and the many 'soap opera' subplots had derailed. Ben Horne had completely changed in to an uninteresting character. The dodgy dealings of Josie and the Packards were growing increasingly uninteresting and boring, and the Leo Johnson affair was running out of steam fast. The Andy, Lucy and Dick fiasco was also wearing thin, and the new proceedings involving Windom Earle and Agent Cooper didn't seem to be going anywhere. Then we were gearing towards a finale concerning the Miss Twin Peaks pageant. What's going on here? All that was holding it together were the brilliant characters and the inherent quirkiness of the show. So, I tentatively stuck on the final episode, hoping that I wouldn't be too disappointed. I still loved the show, and vowed to continue to do so come what may. In the opening credits, I noticed that David Lynch was back at the helm. He had been absent from the chair for most of the second season, but had racked up more screen-time as his hard-of-hearing FBI agent character. At least I'm in good hands, I thought, with the main man back. And I wasn't wrong. This episode was one of the best of the entire series. It was absolutely terrifying and jaw-dropping, and for me, it wrapped up a few loose ends. The final scene is absolutely fantastic. It's a grim ending to proceedings, given the love I had for the characters, particularly Agent Cooper. The Red Room scenes are some of the finest pieces of horror ever committed to celluloid. Lynch is best when doing horror. This would be proven yet again in the Mystery Man scene in Lynch's 1997 film "Lost Highway".