This is one of those hours of the return that has a little bit of everything. The tone jumps around between the goofiness of the original, the darkness of the film, the slow austerity of Part 12, the weirdness of Part 8, and some powerful emotional moments. In short, it runs the gamut of David Lynch in a little under an hour, and blends it all together seamlessly. Unlike some previous parts such as 8, there isn't really any general pattern or quality that the episode as a whole falls into. It's just a mix-up of different good elements that must be reviewed on their own merits.
The episode kicks off with a sudden and surprising resolution to the Nadine Ed Norma love triangle. It is something of a Deus Ex Machina, and in the hands of any other director this material would seem choppy and overly convenient, but Lynch makes it work extremely well with the dreamy quality he often infuses into his work. The end of this segment seemed like a direct counterpoint to the scene with Norma and Ed in a car in the Missing Pieces, in which they hear distant-sounding music on the radio and Norma compares it to their relationship; "It's me and you Ed. You can barely hear us." By contrast, the segment in this episode ends with loud music playing not just over them, but then over the whole town and the sky. Now everyone can hear them.
From this cathartic moment, we jump right into the polar opposite; the insanity of Part 8. The episode brings back the feel and many of the elements of Part 8 and uses them in the present time-line to deliver some answers and what would presumably have been Bowie's cameo had he been able to shoot before his death in 2016. The actor who dubbed Bowie's old line in Part 14 is brought back here to deliver some new lines. This explains why they did it in the first place; to maintain consistency in the voice. In the brief snippet played in Part 14, I thought Nathan Frizzel's impression was spot-on. However, hearing more of it in this episode made me realize that it's actually god-awful. I didn't find this too distracting though, because I was very excited to finally be getting some answers. Mind you, the scene doesn't answer all the questions about Jeffries. Not by a long shot. But it gives me enough that I'm pretty sure we won't get any more of Jeffries outside of maybe the Final Dossier. It also promises some answer or advancement on the question of who Judy is. I've already gone on way too long on the convenience store segment, but it is just so well executed and there is so much to talk about. It gave me a thrill to see Jumping Man, the convenience store, the room from Laura's painting in FWWM, and Phillip Jeffries again. Also, I think we might have been a bit hasty in declaring the Experiment as the mother mentioned by Naido. I think the eyeless woman who opened the door for Doppelcoop in this episode is just as likely a candidate.
After these two extended segments, most of the rest of the episode is just small bits with a variety of story lines, including the shocking arrival of Chantal, the shocking conclusion of Steven's story, and the shocking (no pun intended) scene at the Jones household that heralds the death of Dougie and the return of Cooper. If I'm right about that, I'll be very glad because it will mean more time with him than just one scene at the very end.
There is one other extended segment in the episode, and it comes near the end. We all knew that Catherine E. Coulson (The Log Lady) tragically passed away before filming officially began so they rushed to shoot some stuff with her ahead of time. However, I had assumed that Margaret Lanterman's scene in Part 11 would be her last due to the slightly more final way that Hawk said goodnight at the end of the call. As it turns out, they had one more scene up their sleeves, and this time it's definitely the last one. In this episode, we say farewell to one of the most beloved characters in the town of Twin Peaks, and it is executed beautifully and respectfully. By the end I was weeping. Both Catherine E. Coulson and the character she portrayed will be dearly missed.
All in all, another strong Part in Lynch's 18 hour movie. It delivered a lot of emotions and a decent amount of answers. If I were to add anything else it would be that Mark Frost's cameo was great and I have about zero understanding of that last scene.
The episode kicks off with a sudden and surprising resolution to the Nadine Ed Norma love triangle. It is something of a Deus Ex Machina, and in the hands of any other director this material would seem choppy and overly convenient, but Lynch makes it work extremely well with the dreamy quality he often infuses into his work. The end of this segment seemed like a direct counterpoint to the scene with Norma and Ed in a car in the Missing Pieces, in which they hear distant-sounding music on the radio and Norma compares it to their relationship; "It's me and you Ed. You can barely hear us." By contrast, the segment in this episode ends with loud music playing not just over them, but then over the whole town and the sky. Now everyone can hear them.
From this cathartic moment, we jump right into the polar opposite; the insanity of Part 8. The episode brings back the feel and many of the elements of Part 8 and uses them in the present time-line to deliver some answers and what would presumably have been Bowie's cameo had he been able to shoot before his death in 2016. The actor who dubbed Bowie's old line in Part 14 is brought back here to deliver some new lines. This explains why they did it in the first place; to maintain consistency in the voice. In the brief snippet played in Part 14, I thought Nathan Frizzel's impression was spot-on. However, hearing more of it in this episode made me realize that it's actually god-awful. I didn't find this too distracting though, because I was very excited to finally be getting some answers. Mind you, the scene doesn't answer all the questions about Jeffries. Not by a long shot. But it gives me enough that I'm pretty sure we won't get any more of Jeffries outside of maybe the Final Dossier. It also promises some answer or advancement on the question of who Judy is. I've already gone on way too long on the convenience store segment, but it is just so well executed and there is so much to talk about. It gave me a thrill to see Jumping Man, the convenience store, the room from Laura's painting in FWWM, and Phillip Jeffries again. Also, I think we might have been a bit hasty in declaring the Experiment as the mother mentioned by Naido. I think the eyeless woman who opened the door for Doppelcoop in this episode is just as likely a candidate.
After these two extended segments, most of the rest of the episode is just small bits with a variety of story lines, including the shocking arrival of Chantal, the shocking conclusion of Steven's story, and the shocking (no pun intended) scene at the Jones household that heralds the death of Dougie and the return of Cooper. If I'm right about that, I'll be very glad because it will mean more time with him than just one scene at the very end.
There is one other extended segment in the episode, and it comes near the end. We all knew that Catherine E. Coulson (The Log Lady) tragically passed away before filming officially began so they rushed to shoot some stuff with her ahead of time. However, I had assumed that Margaret Lanterman's scene in Part 11 would be her last due to the slightly more final way that Hawk said goodnight at the end of the call. As it turns out, they had one more scene up their sleeves, and this time it's definitely the last one. In this episode, we say farewell to one of the most beloved characters in the town of Twin Peaks, and it is executed beautifully and respectfully. By the end I was weeping. Both Catherine E. Coulson and the character she portrayed will be dearly missed.
All in all, another strong Part in Lynch's 18 hour movie. It delivered a lot of emotions and a decent amount of answers. If I were to add anything else it would be that Mark Frost's cameo was great and I have about zero understanding of that last scene.
