Twin Peaks (TV Series) Part 18 (2017) User Reviews

Twin Peaks, third season, eighteenth episode: What is your name?

[kluseba · 8/10 · 19 September 2017]

Eighteenth episode: What is your name? / The Return, Part XVIII

Content: Cooper's doppelgänger burns in the Black Lodge. MIKE creates another Dougie, who returns to Janey-E and Sonny Jim. Cooper appears in the Black Lodge again, encountering MIKE and the Arm. He emerges and meets Diane in the woods. They drive on a highway for 430 miles and "cross over" some electrical field, then drive to a motel and have sex. Cooper awakes the next morning alone and finds a note left to "Richard" from "Linda". Arriving at Judy's Diner in Odessa, Texas, Cooper saves a waitress from harassment and obtains the address of another waitress, Carrie Page, who resembles Laura Palmer. Believing she is Laura, he drives her to Twin Peaks, but finds the Palmer house occupied by different owners. Confused, Cooper asks Carrie what year it is. Carrie hears Sarah calling Laura's name and screams. The house lights go out. In the Black Lodge, Laura whispers to Cooper.

Analysis: There have been numerous theories about this final episode but I couldn't find one to agree with entirely. This is why elaborated my own theory. As mentioned in my analysis for the seventeenth part, the fact that Dale Cooper killed his doppelganger and BOB has created a rift in the space-time continuum. To make matters worse, he travelled back in time and changed the events of the past by saving Laura Palmer. Judy kidnapped her and she was pulled into a parallel universe where she is unaware of her other destiny, identity and life. She lives by the name of Carrie Page and has never been in Twin Peaks. However, since the different parallel universes coexist, it's possible to sense things from these other parallel universes in specific locations and in dreams. This is why Carrie Page hears Sarah Palmer scream when she comes to Twin Peaks, even though Sarah Palmer has never existed in this world. Remembering her other life because of this supernatural event makes Carrie Page scream in terror. This shows that she can't escape her destiny and that the battle between good and evil is infinite. As for Dale Cooper and Diane Evans, they decide to travel back twenty- five years in the past and start a new life after having been stuck in the Black Lodge for so long. However, as they enter a new parallel universe, they realize that their characters have become slightly different and that they can't forget about what they have been through. Diane witnessing her former self is a memento for the fact she can't erase the horrible events from her memory and the uneasy sex scene with Dale Cooper shows that she still remembers how she was raped by his doppelganger. They decide to start a new life as Richard and Linda but end up separating because they can't forget about what happened if they stay together. Even though the memories of their other lives might vanish slightly, Dale Cooper still remembers Laura Palmer and how important she is in the fight against Judy which is why he looks for her and finds Carrie Page twenty-five years later. However, Judy isn't actively present in this parallel universe which means that the potential final battle between good and evil can't take place.

Description: While the seventeenth part can be seen as a conclusion to the three Twin Peaks seasons, the eighteenth and last episode can be seen as an epilogue and new beginning. In my opinion, the episode shows us how the events in the previous episode have created a rift in the space-time continuum and how these different parallel universes are connected. This ending shows that the fight between good and evil is infinite, taking place in different parallel universes and will never come to an end. This can be seen as a neutral ending and resolution. I don't believe there will be a fourth season of Twin Peaks because all questions have been answered in my opinion but with the multitude of parallel universes, there would obviously be an infinite number of possibilities for other unexplored chapters of Twin Peaks. At first, I was just as confused as anyone else about the unexpected ending and maybe even slightly disappointed, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. This episode is memorable, has David Lynch's trademarks and will still be discussed in the future.

Favorite scene: The closing scene of the third season is just as memorable as the final scenes of the first and the second season. ''What year is this?'' has become the new ''How's Annie?''. Hearing Sarah Palmer's haunting voice calling Laura Palmer's name is very mysterious. Laura's frantic scream followed by the lights of the house going out sends shivers down the spine of any Twin Peaks fan. This closing scene will be discussed for ages.

Heartbreaking --

[brooklynjm · 10/10 · 5 September 2017]

Cooper crossed over, and as he told Diane -- everything may be different. The Diane he found was not Diane, the Laura he found could not be Laura, and the optimistic can-do Agent Cooper that we were (OK, I certainly was) so happy to see re- emerge was lost in the wreckage of his dreams.

I have never been as fascinated by the tortuous dark wraiths of Lynch as by his skewed portrayal of 'normal' American life, and that was certainly true of the finale episodes. To see Sheryl Lee and Sherilyn Finn today, after seeing so much of their entrancing characters in the inital TP was ... what? Riveting, certainly, and sad, and puzzling -- they have aged, and so have I, and so has everyone who was so fascinated by the original series. Incredibly brave of both these women to go all in for these portrayals. The overarching theme of life as a lonely highway was chilling & lovely.

As for Lynch -- all criticisms are valid, but his work is beyond regular TV criteria. The Showtime placement was genius --he got to make what he wanted, w/no commercial interruption, and no time limits -- and we were free to watch or not. He stands apart, and thank God he has given us so much to puzzle over, and argue about, and remember. So -- do we live in a dream?

you will be disappointed...

[framptonhollis · 10/10 · 3 September 2017]

...and at first I was too, but then I was left saddened. And not sad because there was no good resolution, but sad because the resolution (if you can even call it that) we got felt so somber in tone to me. I didn't really have any predictions in mind for the series finale, but I was expecting a more cheery ending, or at least one not as bleak and straight faced as this. But, I really liked it, as a matter of fact I love it! Lynch has balls to do this kinda stuff, to make this huge franchise and finish it off with a bang (episodes 16 and 17) followed by an inevitable and melancholic silence. Sometime around I'll really need to rewatch all of Twin Peaks so I can not only fall in love once again with it's iconic characters, unique experimental visuals, and engaging plot lines, but also so I can try to even make a slight dent into the egg that holds whatever meaning this weird, discomforting final part may contain. Perhaps it should be taken at face value, perhaps it should be analyzed for hours upon hours. Off the top of my head, something certainly seems a little fishy about this final episode, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. This is just me talking out of my ass, but I think that this isn't the last episode, and I don't mean that Lynch or anyone else involved will make another series or film or something, I mean that I think we have already seen the final episode and we didn't even know it. This may very well be the first episode, and the year that it really is, Agent Cooper, may be long before the Palmers even moved into town. Perhaps it really is the final episode and in fact it take place in the darkest future, or in another dimension.

You know what, I actually wanna happily applaud Lynch for is stunningly difficult-to- process closer to what may very well be his masterpiece, because it leaves me with so much food for thought, and when Lynch passes it will be a sad day, but it will also be a day in which I will further recognize his triumphant achievements as a filmmaker and artist, because we will all still be debating and discussing what the Hell the meanings of all of his films are, especially this one. This one massive, mysterious, funny, disturbing, awkward, beautiful, complicated, romantic, ingenious, scary, philosophical, spiritual, divisive, and gripping magnum opus known as Twin Peaks has caused so much joy and pain to me and many others across the globe, and now it's still worth countless rewatches and revisitings. Twin Peaks may very well be a genuine friend of mine, someone I have learned so much about over time, someone I've grown to love, and someone who I'll still be talking and thinking of for years to come. And, you know what, I congratulate its lack of conclusion, even if the two other people I was watching this with were left in anger, shock, disappointment, and confusion, so much so that they believed here must have been another episode coming...but there isn't. So much so that they swore, but not really aggressively, but because that's the only thing their bewildered mind could concoct. And I don't blame them. I really don't.

The End? The Beginning?

[Samuel-Shovel · 8/10 · 23 October 2017]

What David Lynch decided to do in the finale of TP: The Return should come as a surprise to no one. Lynch has never played by traditional rules when it comes to filmmaking and this episode is no exception. The majority of this episode we spend with Agent Cooper masquerading as another character (yet again) in another dimensional timeline in search of Laura Palmer (or whoever she is) in an attempt to return her to her rightful place of Twin Peaks. In classic Lynch-ian fashion, everything about this episode just feels off and tilted just slightly. The final shot of Laura screaming is something that will stick with me for a long time.

Is Dale Cooper real? Is Laura Palmer real? My head hurts.

I'm not sure if I enjoyed this episode but I didn't hate it either. A conclusionary episode wrapping up all the loose ends just wouldn't have felt right. This constant battle of good versus evil that Cooper's attempting to win just seems infinite and futile. The infinity sign we see a few episodes before seems fitting. The battle is endless.

David Lynch Ignores a Simple Conclusion and Produces a Work of Art.

[tommyhawka · 10/10 · 3 September 2017]

Is it future? Or is it Past?

To me this ending of Twin Peaks was the greatest ending I have ever witnessed with my own eyes on a television screen. From the beginning of the series, I was expecting the show to led to an abstract ending. Something the show never needed was an abstract ending. Twin Peaks has always been known for its distinctive style of film thanks to the creative masterminds David Lynch and Mark Frost. If they were to produce and ending to the series using a simple ending that wrapped everything together, it would sacrifice the point of the show.

The original series gained a lot of speculation over how they used a cliff-hanger to end the original series. David Lynch prefers to use these unique endings over wrapped up stories. Throughout the 18- episode series, I always thought that the series would be wrapped up and a conclusion would be made. After seeing the finale to episode 18, I am very glad they went with a more shock inducing ending. The show ends with Laura Palmer and Agent Cooper stuck in an alternate universe after changing the past to ensure Laura was never killed. The ending was unexpecting and shocked viewers around the world.

Thank you David Lynch for sharing your unique visual perspective on film and how you have influenced future filmmakers to think outside of the box and create an exclusive work of art. There is no other director out there who is anywhere similar to David Lynch and that is why he will go down as the greatest auteur in film who has ever lived.

Is it future or is it past?

[FlorianLaur · 10 October 2019]

I don't know how to rate this episode. It's not because I didn't like it(I did!), but because I don't think I fully understand what I just saw. Remember the 1st episode? How the Giant/Fireman told Dale to remember "Richard and Linda", "430" and "2 birds with one stone"(which Gordon Cole mentioned in an important scene some episodes earlier)?

Remember the name the lady in the house that's supposed to be Sarah's gave? Tremond? Ring a bell? Maybe what we see here is the Miss Tremond we know from season 2 and the movie? A relative of hers? A coincidence? And why do we never see her husband? Who was the guy Laura/her alter ego seemingly shot at her house in Odessa? Why was she hell-bent to get the heck out of dodge?

It's hard not to want to analyse this episode, to want to find answers. I found that the best way to enjoy Lynch is not to ask too many questions or complain about seemingly pointless scenes (nor thinking that EVERY scene MUST have some meaning). I think Lynch himself once said his movies are like a dream. We know that our dreams often seem like surreal movies in which we might talk with animals or can fly or do other things that seem strange, yet feel somewhat normal in our dream. We usually feel something is off in our dream, like we don't fully understand it, yet the answer is in front of us.

Maybe that's the case here too. Maybe Dale is dreaming? Maybe Josie shot him and he is in a coma since season 1? Maybe since Bob is dead and Coop tried to take Laura to the White Lodge, he never came to Twin Peaks, thus nothing we saw in season 1+2 ever happened? Or maybe he is in a parallel timeline and has to find his way out?

Sadly, there isn't anyone else who has the guts to create art like that, except for David Lynch. Even all the Memento's, Inception's and Matrix's can't come close to his incredible art styles.

Many is the times I wish I could record the odd dreams I sometimes have. Alas, I can't. But I feel David can, at least for his dreams, his visions.

In some way, I hope there will be more Twin Peaks, more to this story. But I am not sure if there should be. But if anyone can pull it off to make it work, it's David Lynch.

The epilogue that'll change everything

[akoronthebastard · 10/10 · 4 September 2017]

I'm going to start off with this: I get why people wouldn't like it, but you got to realize what you're watching and take it deeper. There's so much to pick off in it's dark and gloomy atmosphere. There's also many other things like how the characters emote and react to the world around them. Including the scenes that evoke certain emotions to you.

The use of symbolism is used to the entirety of the episode from Names to Items to people. The world is different and you have to look into the cracks in order to understand. Its all there for a reason and are very in line with the cryptic quotes spread throughout.

The characters show certain emotions and actions that should some importance to the entirety of what's happening. The new Laura and her strange behavior towards Cooper, and the things she says. Dale Cooper and his slightly more aggressive manner towards others. The cynicism in how the other characters are portrayed.

The emotions that the scenes themselves show. The car scene being a big contender to this. The bleak, cold and cynical feel from every character, environment, tune, and angle. You don't like anything or anyone you see and it makes you feel like whole world is going after you. A feeling that is the complete opposite to twin peak's tone. While yes it's usually creepy in Twin Peaks, but there was always something that countered it like a funny quirk. That quickly dissipates once they get into this world with not even Dale Cooper to push it away.

All and all, I loved it. It's filled to the brim with dark atmosphere and symbolism to pick apart. It'll keep me occupied with everything it offered and ideas of what's going to happen next. Give it another chance and see what you can find because this is deserving of many viewings.

We Live Inside A Dream (Forever?)

[xecutionrecords · 10/10 · 5 September 2017]

There's a point at the end of EP 18 where Richard (Agent Cooper) looks at the ground nearly falling to his knees in anguish when he has the crushing realisation that things in his dark new world (of his making i might add) are not the way he foresaw in his 25 year plan. This perilous new change is an almost perfect way to sum up the feelings of most that watched this season roll out. An 18 hour epic that twisted & turned & almost literally cracked it's way in to the medium that is so used to bow-tie TV, Shows that hand you everything on a plate, shows that give you a nice little cliffhanger every week only to be resolved quickly thereafter. The Return was not your usual viewing experience. Case in point, Scenes were shown out of sequence, timelines were not clearly evident & Characters rolled up for one scene only to be discarded as quickly as they said their lines. People have been using the term 'Being Lynched' for years but this seemed like the biggest one of all. But Was It? The answer is most definitely 'NO'. What David Lynch does is what so many others fail to do. Treat his audience with dignity & grace and the benefit of doubt. He considers those that are willing to come on to his rides to have intelligence, this is not to say that those who are frustrated & angry with what they have just witnessed because of lack of understanding suffer without it, but he really does believe that if you just let go & are willing to follow his lead you will be rewarded with something at the end. How many other film makers, especially on TV do that? the answer i expect is very few. What you got with the show was what you should have expected all along. Lynch's work 'Fire Walk With Me' onwards have all had the same themes & ideas. The Dualing personalities that reside within us, the dark heart of man & woman's eternal greed for power or acceptance often translated into violence & the Lovecraftian idea of multiple realities existing within the same time & space that we ourselves reside in. The Tulpa's or Doppelgangers that exist within the show are actually there within us all and it takes something truly evil or catastrophic to make them take control, it may not be supernatural in tone in reality but think about what he is trying to tell with this story, a little digging and i expect you will start to see EP 18 slightly differently. Even those angry & cursing at the TV at the end of it all will no doubt be talking about it for years to come, and rightly so. Despite my own reading of the show i am still in doubt about so many things. The Return is the only show i have been witness to that really deserves intense multiple viewings, their are masses of clues littered about in all 18 episodes, some i managed to spot, others are yet to be discovered. Ultimately 'We Live Inside A Dream' is the phrase that matters. What we were watching was just that, not a dream in the purest sense but ultimately i think WE are the dreamers. We saw 4 incarnations of Agent Cooper in this show, 3 Incarnations of Diane. Every now & then we had glitches & flutters on screen, a clue that was given to Andy by the Fireman in an earlier episode. Were these walls between reality's or dreams being cracked by Agent Cooper whilst trying to write the wrong's of Laura Palmer's death. Were we seeing scenes from alternate time lines? hence those supposed continuity errors pointed out by many Blog or Podcast or review. Did the show start at the beginning or the end? 'Is it Future or is it Past?' another clue given to Cooper in EP 1. These are all questions that deserve an answer but it was never an intention of this show to Bow-Tie anything especially if after all, we are the dreamers. If the dream is over than the mystery is gone & then what are you left with? sure for those brought up on reality TV or Crime of the week episodes this would have been ideal but Lynch does not expect you to just dismiss this as mindless jargon. He expects those that invest to think & draw conclusions, to be, i hate to say it, Artistic in your approach to it. Do some work, figure it out, enjoy yourself, sure. But do the math. Lynch has always been about Visuals & Sound, a storyteller in this medium probably more important than any other film maker working today. The Return is proof of this, i have no doubt that when the dust settles, this experience (and it is one of those) will be remembered as even more of a ground breaker than it's previous incarnation. It's influence will be far reaching so those who turn away now will be fool to do so as i really believe it is impossible for those with a love of cinematic storytelling to not take something special away from this. We are the lucky one's, i lived through the 90's version of TP and this is something else entirely. All TV after this will have to re-think the rules of what is achievable through this medium. Lynch & Frost have taken us on a journey through cinematic art & they've done it all in a TV Show. This was not Lynch trying to fool you, he's not sitting around laughing at you, he has given you the tools to dream, just like Agent Cooper or Richard as we last see him, The Dream is not over and it's up to us now to wade through the puzzle. Just simply put.. Stunning.

Lynched again - A Masterpiece

[rwicky19 · 10/10 · 4 September 2017]

Viewers will continue to analyze this episode for a long time. Part 18 changes everything about the meaning of the show. Maybe Twin Peaks is just the dream of Richard, a sad FBI agent who imagines being Dale Cooper. Maybe it's the dream of Laura Palmer, saved by Cooper in Part 17, who goes back in 1989 ; she screams at the end, because she hears her mother waking her up. Maybe it's not a dream, but a new dimension, a different kind of reality, where Dale Cooper still tries to fight against evil. Nothing is resolved, and that is the beauty of it. It is a delicate, melancholic masterpiece; the perfect conclusion for this epic season. I don't think there is one true theory about the ending, but the key to understand the deeper meaning of it must be Audrey's story-line. The last time we saw her, in Part 16, she suddenly woke up in front of a mirror. Did she realize she was dreaming ? Or maybe her mind is separated in two different time-lines ? If you solve what happened to her, and the mystery of the names she talked about, I'm sure the ending will seem easier to understand. What's sure is that "Richard" is half-Coop, half-Mr. C. He's a realistic person, not entirely good nor entirely bad. That can be a clue for the dream theory, just like in Mulholland Dr. We all got lynched one more time, and it feels so good. Thank you very much Mr Lynch for this cinematic dream.

It's a Masterpiece. No, Really.

[dewberrydays · 10/10 · 20 November 2021]

If you were expecting a cheerful resolution or any resolution at all, you are missing the point of Twin Peaks. Twin Peaks' greatest power is its mystery. Do I fully understand what happened? Nope. I don't want to. I want to be able to watch this series over and over and over again, trying to decipher the mystery, knowing that I never completely will. We have seen a thousand revivals and reboots, all geared toward fan service. And every last one of them was mediocre at best. Lynch new that giving us more of the same, giving us what we thought we wanted, would have been the death of this revival. Instead, he took a risk, and told a bold new story, greatly expanding upon the mystery of the original. The ending is not meant to be satisfying. Did you really go into these 18 episodes thinking that everything would be alright in the end? This is Twin Peaks. Lynch took a risk and it paid off in a big way. This revival is just as groundbreaking is the original, and it will change revivals forever.

..."I'm fine".

[alencar_darwin · 10/10 · 7 December 2017]

"Once we cross, it could all be different." Cooper said to Diane. Yes, everything changed. David Lynch said that the Laura Palmer mystery shouldn't have been solved and, it seems, Laura is, once again, turned into a mystery (that spawns more mysteries but is never meant to have a definite resolution of its own), because this work of art is about mysteries not their conclusions, the process leading to the conclusion not the conclusion itself, the end is of no interest because there isn't one, this is a continuous story. A closure on one mystery begets more mysteries. And Laura must remain forever a mystery. With The Return Lynch seems to be rectifying that long standing mistake. The whole story of Twin Peaks is overturned to become something else, new, complex, and mysterious. Watching Twin Peaks the pilot, season 1, season 2, Fire Walk With Me, The Missing Pieces, and The Return, the sense one gets is that Laura Palmer's story holds everything (every single mystery, every sub-story that doesn't involve romantic interests) together and without her and her complications all might fall; the first half of season 2 is the greatest example of this.

"Laura is the one". (Which Laura, Palmer or Dern?). Characters from a dream-world (a TV show) bleed into reality, into the world of the dreamer(s) (the artists and the viewers). That might be one meaning of this long poem put to film. Art affects reality. Fans can live in this affected reality (alongside their favourite characters). Rancho Rosa, RR, David Lynch playing a director, Monica Bellucci, Lynch's exposition in France, the woman who answers the door at the end being the real owner of that house, and many more. Fiction, the dream, touching reality. And why not? Hypothesis and theories by fans are all right and all wrong at the same time. Dead yet alive. Of course it's only useless conjectures (everything, every little theory about Judy and realities and time and traps and bombs and evil and good), as every other person I know nothing about the workings of Lynch's minds. "Life is full of mysteries, Donna," Laura said. Let's keep Twin Peaks that way. And in the end those conclusions some of us were hoping to get don't matter because we can enjoy these scenes of pure poetic beauty.

The Zenith of David Lynch's Career

[cmjaustin · 10/10 · 6 September 2017]

After Laura's terrifying primal scream at the end of this episode, I sat on the couch for about 10 minutes in silence to process what I had just watched. I don't think Lynch could have ended this series more appropriately. Everything Cooper had done to make things right was all in vain. He tried his best, but it wasn't quite good enough to erase the torture and torment Laura went through in 1989 at the hands of her father.

Cooper, who is now Richard, is quite a bit darker than the Cooper we saw in season one back in 1990. He is meaner, colder, more sinister, and much less joyous about the little things in life that the Cooper we know would enjoy, like cherry pie and a nice hot cup of coffee. When he is in the diner in Odessa drinking the cup of coffee the waitress gives to him, he makes a subtle face, but offers no comment about the coffee. The Cooper we know would have given his opinion on it, whether he liked the coffee or not. He is not enthusiastic about the drink at all like the Cooper of 25 years ago would have been.

It was also interesting to see him shuffle around the diner holding his handgun after he takes down the cowboys, aiming it at everyone in his path, as he knows he cannot trust his environment or anyone in it. It was also quite funny and very creative when he placed the cowboys' handguns in the deep fryer to prevent them from shooting at him as he made his way out to his Lincoln in the parking lot.

After Cooper meets Laura at her home, he completely ignores the corpse with a bullet hole in the forehead as he knows Laura's reunion with her mother is much more important than a useless corpse.

While on the road to Twin Peaks, there is very little dialogue between Laura and Cooper. The dialogue that is spoken is very short and dreary. We get the sense that Cooper is beginning to realize that the puzzle is not going to fit back together the way he imagines it.

Once they arrive at the old Palmer residence, Laura tells Cooper she does not recognize it. A woman named Alice Tremont answers the door and asks her husband some questions, and we never get to see the husband. Cooper is now coming apart at the seams. As they walk down to the street and look at the house, Cooper looks weak and frail, and very unhappy as the reality sets in. He is looking down at his feet, shuffling along aimlessly, and he manages to ask "What year is it?" Laura says nothing, then hears the distant voice of her mother calling her name, and lets out a shrill, unnerving scream. The lights go out in the Palmer residence and the screen fades to black before coming back with Laura whispering something into Cooper's ear in the Black Lodge.

This was a very original ending to the series and very fitting. As Cooper utters the question "What year is it?", it occurred to me that Cooper was acknowledging that the year is meaningless and inconsequential to the final outcome. How can time matter when all things begin and end? Everything that has existed will cease to exist and fade into oblivion, as though it never existed in the first place. That final line of dialogue is Cooper's reaction to this epiphany. It does not matter how Laura's life ended, or how Coopers life will end, or who he will be when he dies. Whatever will happen will fade into oblivion as though none of it ever took place. All of it swirling into the howling void.

I am thankful that David Lynch has granted us this masterpiece of art that we can watch on our lonely but nonetheless fulfilling journey down the quiet, dark highway that is life.

Thank you, David.

Part 18

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 31 December 2017]

If Episode 17 was an instalment for most of the fans with a happy ending that is carried over to the start of this episode as a new Dougie is reunited with his family.

The rest of the finale is purely for Frost/Lynch. Slow, stilted, haunting and otherworldly.

Dale Cooper and Diane go off to save Laura Palmer but it means crossing over to a dark, eerie alternative world and timeline. Cooper meets a woman who looks like Laura, she is happy to run away with the FBI. In her home is the body of a dead man. When they arrive at the old Palmer's house the series concludes with a shrill scream, the lights going off and the audience unsure if Cooper is lost and haunted with the realisation that he can never save Laura Palmer.

It may not be something I completely understand, some of it is ambiguous and off kilter. There are plot lines that are still hanging such as what is happening to Audrey Horne. However the series overall has been a treat.

Don't Try

[WitnessMeeeee · 1/10 · 4 September 2017]

Come on Lynch, I was really rooting for you on this 3rd Act of Twin Peaks. 25 yrs, 18 more episodes, and what? A 1000:1 more questions than answers? I understand your taking everyone on a 'journey' but if your gonna take a shot at cracking open the fabric of reality, please, do everyone a favor, and don't just make it weird for the sake of weird, with no meaning. Add some purpose to it for everyone's sake. It doesn't even matter if there's gonna be another season. Either A.) that's the end and it's 1 of those 'you decide the meaning' (lazy writing). Or B.) there is another season and your just gonna string people along and milk your trademark brand for every paycheck it's worth; like your definition of reality is an on-going nightmare. Cause let's face it, if you couldn't figure it out in 25 yrs, you ain't ever. Really thought you were onto something this time man. Could've closed your book on the 3rd Act. Sounded glorious. I guess not. Please, stop trying. You're just wasting people's time with your fugazi 'meaningful/symbolic art'.

Part 18

[bobcobb301 · 8/10 · 3 September 2017]

We may not get a Season 4, but just like they did with the Season 2 finale, the Season 3 finale made us need one. Four simple words, four words that altered the sense of time and history in Twin Peaks and made us rethink everything we have seen before.

I haven't been on the edge of my seat like this watching a season or series finale in a long time. We just don't have shows that stir that reaction anymore.

It wasn't perfect. The Dale and Diane scenes seemed to drag on and I think Lynch and Frost loved the imagery of the dark and winding road a bit more than any fans out there did, but it was one we are going to remember.

Four simple words: What year is it? They reshaped Twin Peaks, the negated much of the first two seasons of the iconic drama and yet people won't be angry they did it, they'll be angry if we don't get a definitive answer.

Slow, painful and haunting

[K2nsl3r · 8/10 · 9 September 2017]

After the consummate perfection of the last couple of episodes, the final episode feels like a disturbingly unsatisfying swan song. This makes me hope for more Twin Peaks to come. The biggest problem with the episode is its tonal shift - everything is suddenly off-kilter and dark; even Dale Cooper is turned into an uncharismatic, fumbling, uncanny version of himself. (The fourth version of Coop in the show, Richard, who is possibly a mixture of the other three Coops.)

After episode 17, when the whole story comes to an end, fans would have wanted some more time in Twin Peaks with the Sheriff's department gang, to make us feel happy for the last hour. But instead Lynch jettisons almost the entire Twin Peaks cast, and the whole final episode revolves around a handful of core members of the original show. Well, kind of. In fact, we encounter a version of Diane who may or may not be the "real" Diane, a version of Coop who is definitely lost in some horrible limbo, and, last by not least, a version of Laura Palmer who has amnesia, is apparently involved with a murder, and may even be dreaming. The intimate Coop-Laura journey towards Twin Peaks is certainly an appropriate way to end the series (or season), but the unresolved story lines of the past 17 episodes, together with the disconcerting fact that Coop and Laura are now Richard and Carrie, make for a baffling and frustrating - and incredibly slow - finale.

But the episode deserves praise for its bold direction. There are some incredibly beautiful scenes, including: 1) The Dale & Diane (or Richard & Linda) love scene, which is drawn-out, disturbing, emotionally conflicted and altogether horrifying. I loved every minute of it. 2) The dark road trip, with Laura and Dale enveloped in darkness, and perhaps chased (or perhaps not) by malevolent vehicles. 3) And, of course, the very end, when Dale and Laura reach the Palmer residence. The last couple of minutes are beautifully shot, and the camera movement is menacing and ghostly, all the way to the shocking revelation. Sheryl and Kyle give excellent performances, and the audience is treated to an incredibly satisfying trifecta of story points (i.e. cliffhangers) regarding who owns the house, how Dale Cooper is completely lost, and how Laura actually remembers. This scene is one of the best in the entire Twin Peaks saga, even if it leaves the audience gasping for air.

There are more questions than answers after this episode. And this is both good and bad. Some people have argued that episode 17 is the Mark Frost ending, and episode 18 is the David Lynch ending. Or one could say that 17 is the "good" ending and 18 is the "bad" ending; or 17 is the "dream" ending and 18 the "awakened" ending (or perhaps the other way around?). Whatever the case, the numerous unanswered questions are likely to keep fans guessing for years to come.

My theory is that episode 18 is intended to be as ambiguous as possible, so that it can serve as a possible cliffhanger for Season 4, and I believe that the possibility of more Twin Peaks is high.

Since Judy is not conquered, and since obvious cliffhangers are obvious, I believe we shall see more of Dale and Laura. Soon.

David Lynch does it again...

[lareval · 8/10 · 9 October 2021]

A finale that will anger and frustrate you, at the same time you realise this story will never have a "proper" end. Now I know how people felt at the end of Season Two.

The Return has cast a spell on me

[jay-95578 · 10/10 · 18 August 2018]

I must say I find it hard to articulate anything about these final few episodes of The Return. Plot wise it's all an enigma, but What I do know is how I felt watching it: it's terribly terribly sad and frightening television. As the credits rolled at the end of part 18 I felt a profound loneliness and hopelessness. Why that is is hard to express. The message I'm taking away from this is that once an evil act has been committed and the damage is done there is nothing anybody can do no matter how hard they try to put things right, it's simply there in history forever.

It seems that Cooper has entered a time loop in order to try to change the past but but by changing the fate of Laura Palmer the mystical force of Judy is awakened and changes the new world so that Laura can never go home. Judy is a force of evil in David Lynch's world, for the real world I suppose it could simply be thought of as the objectivity of time. All we seem to know is that Laura Palmer can never go home. The world can't be put right.

This is all very wacko, and if I was fussed with the details of the plot I'm sure it might not all make a whole lot of sense. However, I had a pretty strong emotional reaction to it, and the feelings I got from it were genuine in the way that one might feel something strong from a great work of art or piece of music without really knowing why. From me, David Lynch can receive no higher praise than that. This was one of the most fascinating stretches of TV I have ever seen.

Pure Gold

[bartolomeudebensafrim · 10/10 · 28 September 2017]

something as powerful as the 3rd season of Twin Peaks makes our beautiful and perverted human journey worth while. this is shamanism on pay TV. this is a giant pearl for one billion pigs. few are the pigs in the so called 1st world (the 2nd and 3rd world still have wise-men and still pay attention to dreams and are still knee-deep in the miracle of life) that will be able to appreciate the way the pearl shines because their minds are corrupted by the comfort of special effects, cliffhanging techniques, naked bodies and hollow pretty faces.

if you listen to music recorded before the influence of radio really took hold, and before the great icons of music were solidified, you will find strange unique voices that follow no fashion trends, no economic taboos. such voices are harder to listen to because they demand more attention and patience. unlike music, cinema took more time to be corrupted - because images grab us more intensely, and because cinemas created social and cultural bonds that still allowed filmmakers to produce strange personal visions. but the digital "miracle" and the eminent extinction of cinemas (at least of small independent houses) have finally stabbed the 7th art in the gut. author cinema is bleeding to death. and things like this are the last enlightened shout of an doomed creature.

lets watch this kind of unique creative fire with our minds and hearts clean - free from expectations, prejudice and hate - and rejoice, warm up our souls, be thankful, and believe that the fire will never really die.

my most profound gratitude to Mr. Lynch and Mr. Frost, and to all those involved.

Permafrost (dvd)

[leplatypus · 10/10 · 2 June 2018]

One word to begin about Mark Frost: in the 5 hours of bonus, he is never mentioned. It's always about David. Like in the 1st season, he does however a cameo in the return (the walker in the wood in EP#15) but beyond i wonder what he really did and what was his ideas to the story as he is never shown on sets. Oh yes, he wrote 2 books before and after the show. Honestly, the 1st one is unreadable as it's so stupid (Roswell, Nixon, JFK in TP ???)

So i waited the DVD release to go back to TP. Sincerely, it's the only show i watched recently that i was impatient to see the next episode. And after the final one, for sure, i was very sad. So it's like the original show. To try to organize my feelings, i would pick a bit of my disappointments and a bit of my fun:

1) the big black hole of this return is the lack of Badalamenti score: he did a piano fugue at the end of EP#11, 2 classic TP songs are played in the bang bang bar closing moment but it's pretty much all. The new music isn't very gripping and at the end, there is no really gripping moments as in the old one.

2) it's called TP but now the ground is all over America: for the town only stuff, the stories are not really interesting but i keep 2 things: the beautiful locations and the rare opportunity to meet again a cast 25 years after: it's about seasons passing, getting old and for a show so focused on time, there is really a great emotional source here albeit their anecdotal events and fate.

3) Some new mysteries keys are a bit too rational or expected: the impulse is too strong to develop every bit of FWWM cryptic scene with David Bowie: the convenience store, the woodmen, Judy. Now Diane is Cooper true love while i thought it was Caroline or Annie whose fate is still missing. The zone, the orbs, the tea Jeffrie lack the mystical touch of the lodges... And the new map seems a remix of the forgotten Owl cave...

Now for the good part:

1) it's like having a 18 hours Lynch movie: between his focus of the daily life (neighbors, coffee, pie), his dark nightmares and his love for nature, the season is indeed an epic, breathtaking journey trough today America. That's why this new TP doesn't feel like the old one because America has deeply changed since the 90s and it's just impossible now to find this one again. It's a bit like Lynch magnus opus because it looks like he revisited again all his past movies and tied them all in the fabric of a dream!

2) the new characters are interesting and above all, extremely well cast and played! The bonus are really interesting because it really shows the talent of Lynch to have a vision and have everyone involved to get it: he is kind to anyone, really hard working for everything so if he doesn't get an Emmy for his dedication and his huge work, it would be rather unfair and incomprehensible!

3) The quality of the picture is stunning: sets, light, special effects. We are faraway of the yellow/blue palette: no show is more deep and it beats almost any new movies!

At the end, it was an extraordinary trip for me: maybe some things are bothering but overall, it's a damn good show and i'm in need of a 4th season definitely!

A beautiful piece of abstract film, but a massive letdown to anyone hoping for any form of resolution to anything.

[TouchTheGarlicProduction · 9/10 · 3 September 2017]

My first viewing of this episode was without a doubt the single most uncomfortable hour of my life. Every scene is drawn out to a ridiculous degree, and none of it seems even remotely relevant to the seventeen hours that came before. I never expected every question to be answered or every subplot to be addressed, but I at least hoped for something. This episode gave me nothing. It picks up a completely different narrative from the first seventeen parts, and then moves that one along at a snail's pace until it too comes out unresolved. Much like Part 16 gave new meaning to the word satisfying, this episode gives new meaning to the word frustrating.

All of this is, of course, by design. David Lynch knows how to make a film, and The Return may be his greatest work yet. From a technical standpoint, this is insanely good. It's just a shame that his immense talent was used in service of this rather than an ending I could have found some enjoyment in. For my own sanity, I might start viewing Part 17 as the end of the Twin Peaks story, because then it at least has some sort of ending.

I would have been more okay with such an abstract ending if the whole thing had been abstract, because I would have been prepared for it from the start. I disliked the end of this series for the same reason I disliked the end of Mulholland Drive; the coherent narrative of the first 90% made me expect a coherent ending, meaning that I felt cheated when the whole thing suddenly derailed into fantasy and dream.

In short, viewers who go into this without expecting any conclusion or even continuation of the Twin Peaks narrative but rather view it as a standalone slow-paced experimental film will probably love it. However, the majority of the fan base, myself included, will probably hate it.

Unconventional but good ending

[DjDarkrai10 · 10/10 · 12 September 2021]

This isn't your usual ending. It doesn't really make sense and almost half of the episode is just them driving, but it culminates in a great scene and overall was a very enjoyable final chapter in this series.

I think I would call part 17 the real finale, with 18 being the epilogue, and that's a good thing.

I hope we get a season 4 (or maybe another movie) but that is very unlikely.

Overall I am very satisfied with this episode and the series as a whole.

Maybe it wan't Laura in Odessa but Maddie

[Sober-Friend · 6/10 · 4 September 2017]

I really wanted to love this last episode. I loved the previous 2 but the final episode was just one big empty mess to me. I know many "Twin Peaks" fans will love this episode. They will also "NOT LIKE THIS REVIEW" because that think David Lynch can do no wrong. This is the case where he screwed up big time! This to me it was the biggest letdown to a television show since the last episode of "Seinfeld"!

In these 18 "Parts" we had many new story lines. Some of them were interesting some of them were not. When the final scene was over I wasn't mad but "disappointed". David Lynch teased us for so long that it was like sex without a climax. It was like chasing someone for 25 years and when you finally make love to them you are disappointed in the sex. That is how I felt about this episode. I think it would be a huge mind trip that Maddie was in Odessa not Laura! See if Laura was saved in episode 17 then Maddie never came to Twin Peaks and would also be alive! So when Cooper was in Odessa (or whoever he was by then) he may have found in Odessa he found Maddie! If you go back and watch episode 18 when Cooper and Diane check into the motel it is a single story Motel. In the morning he walks out from a different Motel and drives away in a different car!

"Twin Peaks" fans however will not admit that the last episode was terrible. They will also thumbs down my review. Now I am a fan of the show SINCE 1990. However I will say same of the new episodes were great but most of them were not!

Here is a few things that were left in the air

1) Audrey Horne 2) Gersten Hayward 3) Rebecca 'Becky' Burnett 4) How's Annie (We Still don't know) 5) Norma Mention of family (Was she hiding Annie)

Laura and Twin Peaks

[AvionPrince16 · 5/10 · 24 March 2023]

I dont know what really happened. Im still confused and we saw Laura or someone who supposed to be her. They go back at Twin Peaks and try to make people remembered Laura but i dont really know what happened to be honest. The woman just screamed because the woman of the house said Laura. And Boom! The season is over so what happened there? Laura is another person?? The consequences changed everything? Everything that we knew? Pretty weird. I will try to see some explanations online because im pretty lost and the end is so implicit and non sense for me that i need someone to explained me. I cant really appreciated that because its really non sense for me. But whatever.

I Agree

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 4 September 2017]

So this is it. I have had the great joy on Sunday nights to watch Game of Thrones and Twin Peaks. I suppose I will switch to football soon although that will be a real comedown. This final episode is so incredible. We have all our expectations ripped out of us. We are trained intellectually to assume that the final episode of a series is going to be put in a nice package with a big bow attached. This is David Lynch. This isn't going to happen. When Cooper and the middle-aged Laura Palmer go to that house after the endless driving down dark roads, some may have expected a homecoming and a way for this woman to finally find some happiness. Of course, she is a murderer. Cooper ignores the dead man sitting in her living room, a bullet in his head. This is Heart of Darkness, Redux. There's a lot of Conrad in Lynch, by the way. This is the sad ending that snatches any joy from us. What more could we ask than to go to bed saying, "What the hell!"