Twin Peaks The Return aka Season 3

I’ve finished a few series and will blog about each of them in turn, so be patient.  This entry is about “Twin Peaks: The Return”, what is effectively season 3 of the famously bizarre TV show, “Twin Peaks”. 

First off, while I was aware of the series when it originally aired, as noted in my prior blog on the topic I refused to watch it expressly because of all the hype.  I generally don’t watch a whole lot of network TV, and I wasn’t a big TV head back when this came on either.  As of today I rarely bother to turn on the TV, but I do like Netflix and watch much programming after the fact.  I don’t binge-watch, though – my patience runs out after a single drama episode or a few sit-com episodes.  Anyhow. 

In addition, my tolerance for bizarre and strange things increased exponentially since the show originally aired, which is how and why I was able to finally digest it decades later.   In the recent past I finally watched the first two seasons and the movie.  FYI, Kyle MacLachlan seems to work well with David Lynch and has been with him in “Dune” and “Blue Velvet”.  I’ve already done blogs on both Twin Peaks (3/24/17) and Kyle MacLachlan (4/14/17). 

Season 1.  8 episodes.  Originally aired April 8, 1990 through May 23, 1990.

Season 2.  22 episodes.    Originally aired September 30, 1990 through June 10, 1991.

Movie:  Fire Walk With Me.  Released August 28, 1992.  Featuring Chris Isaak as the FBI agent before Cooper, whose disappearance Cooper was investigating.  Likewise, this goes into much more detail about why Cooper was investigating the town AND finally shows Laura Palmer’s death.  Either highly entertaining or tedious depending on how badly you still like the show.

Season 3.   This was on Showtime instead of network TV.    I started watching it there and finished with it on DVD.  18 episodes   Originally aired May 21, 2017 through September 3, 2017. 

Good news.  90% of the major characters are here, including Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan).  In fact, you get not one but TWO Coopers:  a nasty, long-haired fully articulate but dangerous lowlife version, and a clean guy in suit and tie who is borderline catatonic:  he merely repeats the last word the last person said, which no one recognizes as mental illness and everyone accepts immediately as tacit understanding of the conversation. 

Diane, the recipient of Cooper’s tape recorded instructions, finally shows up, played by Laura Dern.  Log Lady is here, Andy and Lucy, Hawk, etc.  In fact, most of the original cast is still here – though obviously somewhat older – and Bobby Briggs is now a deputy with the sheriff’s office.  His father, Air Force Major Briggs, disappeared at the end of season 2.  In this regard you can count on it being Twin Peaks.

Bad News.  Weird to the point of being incoherent.  Even the ending made no sense.  As noted, my tolerance for weird-for-the-sake-of-weird has gone up big time since 1990, but even now I found much of it deliberately nonsensical.  If that’s what you want, knock yourself out with another 18 episodes of the same weird incoherence you knew and loved from the first two seasons and the movie.  Don’t expect much in the way of answers.  Well, at least now you have TWO Coopers AND Diane to be surly, petulant, and chainsmoking. 

Bonus: RIVERDALE.   Those of you who remember an older cartoon from the 50s and later, plus the late 60s animated series, might recall the mostly wholesome adventures of Archie Andrews, Jughead, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Moose & Midge, Dilton Doiley, etc.  Well, take that, mix it into Twin Peaks, and you have “Riverdale”.  Season 2 just began.  FYI, the Veronica Lodge, Camilla Mendes – not just a brasileira, but a carioca (see last week’s lesson) – is super hot (gostosissima).   Also Jughead is actually pretty cool and not a glutton, nor does he swear off girls in favor of food – Cole Sprouse has grown up since “Zack and Cody”.  And not only does Riverdale wind up looking like Twin Peaks, Madchen Amick is in both; in “Riverdale” she plays Betty Cooper’s mom, Alice – get it?  Check it out. 

Kyle MacLachlan

I recently finished watching “Twin Peaks”, and then re-watched “The Doors”.   I have “Dune” and “Blue Velvet” on DVD.  I thought I’d seen the last of Kyle MacLachlan until I started watching “Portlandia” and discovered that he plays the Mayor, just as clueless as everyone else.   Fortunately.

He must have the same idea as Shatner, who told his agent, “put me in as many shows and movies as you can.  I’ll do anything if they pay me.”  Here are what I consider his most memorable roles; for the complete list, consult IMDB.

Dune (Paul Atreides).  For some reason this film gets lots of flak, but I like it.  David Lynch really makes it strange and compelling with his “Twin Peaks” touch.  Another group took a shot at doing “Dune” as a sci-fi miniseries much later and I couldn’t endure more than 5 seconds of it.   To me, this is the definitive version, never mind what Frank Herbert says.   In addition to KM’s first role, this also has Jurgen Prochnow, Patrick Stewart, Sean Young, Max von Sydow, and STING (!!!) as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.

 

Blue Velvet (Jeffrey Beaumont).  Another weird film by David Lynch.  Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini, and the incomparable Dennis Hopper as the psycho bad-ass.  This was the first film I ever saw him in, so I had to adjust to seeing him in “Easy Rider”.  The odd thing about this film is that I couldn’t figure out if it took place in the 50s or in a small town so backwards and stunted that it was in the present but looked like it was in the 50s.  Anyhow.  Messed up, but worth seeing once.  I think I first saw this as a midnight movie at the Hoff Theater at University of Maryland, College Park.

Twin Peaks (Agent Dale Cooper).  If he does nothing else, he’ll be known for this role.  And it’s back for another season (#3) on Showtime.  I could do without his incessant coffee compliments, but hopefully we’ll see what really happened to Cooper.

The Doors (Ray Manzarek).  This time it’s Oliver Stone instead of David Lynch – imagine what the latter would have done with this subject.  With Val Kilmer being over the top as Morrison, everyone else is in his shadow (i.e. Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as John Dennsmore, and Meg Ryan as Pamela Courson).  I’d say he did a decent job without being superlative or particularly memorable:  Manzarek as the anchor of stability and wisdom to Morrison’s chaos and pathos, better able to do so than Krieger or Dennsmore.  The Doors could not work without Manzarek, regardless of how much they relied upon Morrison for the substance of their music – Apollo to Morrison’s Dionysus, Spock to Morrison’s Kirk.  I still haven’t seen any evidence that Morrison was anything but a conceited, self-centered jerk – however, with the notable exception that he resisted offers to establish a solo band and remained faithful to his comrades.  Arguably that balances out his excesses. (Discuss.)

Sex & the City AND Desperate Housewives.   Remarkably, he was in BOTH of these.  In “Sex” he was Charlotte’s (Kim Davis) quasi-impotent husband.  I say “quasi” because it seems they lifted David Cassidy’s preferences to use here.  When Cassidy was asked why he never dated Susan Dey (who played Laurie Partridge), he responded that “she was too innocent: she lacked that slutty quality I was looking for in girls at the time.”  In “DH”, he was Bree’s second husband, Orson Hodge, which was a whole different mess.

Portlandia. Mayor of Portland.  Just as clueless and dippy as any of Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s characters.  Here his context is to constantly be in competition with Seattle.  Imagine Agent Cooper retired and became mayor of Portland.

To be honest, I don’t see an amazing range in his acting or roles, but it’s clear he can switch between straight roles with no quirks or eccentricity, and those which require some touch of those elements.  Whatever role he’s in, you’re drawn into his character without losing sight of the story itself, which is how an actor should be.  I look forward to Season 3 of Twin Peaks, however I might be able to see it.

Twin Peaks

This was originally on TV in 1990-91 for two seasons.  I recall a big fuss at the time, so I ignored the show precisely because everyone made such a big fuss about it.  In fact, that’s the only thing I remember.  For some reason – probably sheer boredom – I decided to check it out now.  This review will serve to possibly entice non-viewers to watch (the entire series, plus the movie, are on DVD now) and also remind former viewers of the show.

Premise.  In a small town in Washington State, Twin Peaks, a young girl, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), is found dead, wrapped in a shroud in the local body of water.  For reasons not explained until later, Special Agent Cooper of the FBI (Kyle MacLachlan) investigates the crime (not aware of any federal angle) with the helpful cooperation of local sheriff Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean).  [Apparently Cooper is investigating the disappearance of a colleague, played in the movie by Chris Isaak, who was investigating a similar murder which may have been connected to this one.]

Fortunately we do learn who killed her and why.  However, many other things happen which serve more to confuse and mystify us for the sake of doing so than anything else.  So there’s a healthy (???) dose of WEIRD SHIT which makes it compelling and you wonder how the hell this got on network TV.  But it clearly inspired “The X-Files” (FBI agents investigate weird shit) – and David Duchovny is here.  It was directed by David Lynch, famous for his weird shit (e.g. “Blue Velvet”, also starring MacLachlan) and who actually shows up as Cooper’s FBI superior, hard of hearing so he has to speak loudly – except to Shelly.

 

By the end of season two, things have picked up dramatically:  In addition to (A) finally solving Laura’s murder, there’s (B) Miss Twin Peaks, a beauty pageant in which practically every major female character except the Log Lady is competing, Norma Jennings being a former winner; (C) Cooper matching wits with Windom Earle to prevent further murders, and (D) Cooper matching wits with Windom Earle to find a gate to a dark and evil place (the Black Lodge) with red curtains and a midget speaking forwards-backwards in a red three piece suit.  [In fact, that part was the ONLY part I recall from when the show originally aired.  They recorded the actor (Michael J. Anderson) reading his lines normally, forwards.  Then they played the recording backwards, and recorded him reading those lines sounding how they sounded backwards.  Then they played THAT recording backwards.  Clever.  Maybe not.]  

Major Characters.  Naming them all would be silly, but here are the most important.

Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan).  Talks into his tape recorder to “Diane”, his unseen assistant who doesn’t turn out to be anything else.  He loves the local coffee and is not shy about complimenting it way too many times.  Maybe it was Starbucks.  He has all sorts of weird dreams and visions, probably not techniques taught at FBI Academy before Agents Fox and Mulder.  He does not dream of J. Edgar Hoover.  His quirks make him very likable.

Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean).  Helpful and smart, generally likeable.  For awhile he has a big funk (major character died suddenly) but snaps out of it.  He actually has a framed picture of President Truman on his wall.

Deputy Horse (Michael Hawk).   Bad-ass Native American deputy who occasionally utters mystic shit but is usually simply competent.

Deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz).  Dopey, simple deputy all us smart people from big cities can look down as typical sheriff’s deputies from small towns.

Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson).  The ditzy blonde receptionist who is nevertheless marginally smarter than her BF, Andy.  She gets pregnant but is uncertain who the father is.  Maybe Dick Tremayne.  Possibly Bob.

Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee).  Homecoming queen seen in a few flashbacks.  It turns out she was into some seriously nasty shit which few had any clue about – except Donna and James.  The circumstances of her death (fully shown in the movie, by the way) are extremely messed up.  As we could expect.

Leland Palmer (Ray Wise).  Her dad.  Goes seriously apeshit – even his hair turns white.   Ostensibly the well-dressed middle-aged father but turns out much worse.  Did I mention how twisted the show is?

Ben Horne (Richard Beymer).  Owner of the hotel and brothel.  Audrey’s father.  He also goes nuts, but thinks he’s Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg and re-enacts the whole battle with a CSA victory.  Highly unethical.  Possibly Donna’s father.

Audrey Horne (Sherilynn Fenn).  Ben’s slutty daughter.  For awhile I couldn’t tell her apart from Donna.  She’s actually pretty smart.  Briefly she hooks up with Billy Zane’s character.

Donna Heyward (Lara Flynn Boyle).   Hot babe, involved with James and a close friend of Laura’s.  Actually very likeable.  In real life, Boyle and MacLachlan were a couple during the show. 

Doc Heyward (Warren Frost).  The town doctor and Donna’s Dad.  Mainly acts as a coroner.  Nothing strange about him.

Josie Packard (Joan Chen).  Owner of the steel mill, formerly from Hong Kong.  [Chinese GF recognized her (Chen) as well known actress from Shanghai].   Has a relationship with Sheriff Truman.  It turns out she had some shit going on back in Hong Kong which comes back to bite her big time.

Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie).   Josie’s sister-in-law.  She’s an older woman who is very shrewd and not to be f**ked with.  Schemes with Ben Horne.

Pete Martell (Jack Nance).  Catherine’s husband.  Loves to fish and excellent at chess, advises Cooper when Windom Earle comes around as serial killer with a chess angle competing against Cooper.

Major Briggs (Don Davis).  Stuffy Air Force colonel.  Eventually we learn that he was involved with Area 51 type stuff which he says “I’m not authorized to disclose that information”.  Then he gets weird.

Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook).  Son of Major Briggs. Secretly hooked up with Shelly Johnson.  High school athlete, coke dealer, kind of a punk asshole.  Later tries to hook up with Audrey Horne.

Ed Hurley (Everitt McGill).   Runs the local garage.  He always looks unhappy and confused.

Nadine Hurley.  Ed’s seriously messed up wife.  She has an eyepatch and is super strong.  For awhile she thinks she’s back in high school and tries to hook up with one of the boys, Mike. 

James Hurley (James Marshall).  Kind of a James Dean motorcycle riding loner.  Quiet and unassuming but cool.  He was in a triangle with Donna and Laura, later Donna and Laura’s cousin Maddy (also played by Sheryl Lee).

Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton Tea).  Runs the local café.  Having an affair with Ed, which Nadine initially suspects until she goes into clueless cheerleader mode.

Hank Jennings (Chris Mulkey).  Her husband.  Somewhat of a nasty crook, ex-felon still involved in illegal activities – if there was a legitimate target for Cooper, it would be him.  Instead, Cooper investigates Laura’s death.

Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham).  Norma’s cousin, formerly in a convent but comes back and romances with Cooper.

Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re).  Shelly’s abusive husband.  Major league violent asshole, but winds up being incapacitated in a comically cosmic justice kind of way. 

Shelly Johnson (Madschen Amick).  Leo’s attractive but much-abused wife, works as a waitress serving Damn Fine Coffee to Agent Cooper.  Seeing Bobby Briggs on the side.

Lawrence Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn).  Super cool shrink, probably romantically involved with his female patients.  Does not fight-dance (West Side Story) here.  Loves Hawaii.  Surrenders at Appomattox.

One Armed Man (Al Strobel).  Actually Mike, a rival and enemy of Bob.  Another character who mainly says weird shit.

Log Lady (Catherine Coulson).  Seriously messed up older woman who carries a log everywhere and utters mystic bullshit.

Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh).  Cooper’s former partner at the FBI.  He had a major nervous breakdown but returns as a serial killer, assisted by Leo Johnson.  I found him extremely annoying.  Terrence Stamp would be been better cast in this role.

Bob (Frank Silva).  Bob is special.  Mostly VERY annoying.  What is Bob?  Never quite explained very well.  You’ll see.

Short Red Dude (Michael Anderson).  Talks funny to Cooper in dreams and the Weird Zone.  Not much more than that.  Did not get his own show.  Sorry.

All these characters interact in a way that remains extremely confusing – deliberately so.  Ideally I should watch it again now that I know what happens.  The ending (S2/E22) is extremely frustrating.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) (DVD).  Two seasons were not enough, so we got this.  Everything written about this says “part prequel, part sequel”, but the “sequel” part is 1 minute at the very end of questionable meaningfulness because it’s of the same “WTF” caliber as the weirdest parts of the series, though it does include Agent Cooper (MacLachlan).  The remaining 2 hours and 13 minutes is prequel material, essentially, “who was Laura Palmer?”  Her depraved, slutty lifestyle is fleshed out in tedious detail, and we finally see her being murdered, and by who – and by that point we no longer care.  Donna is here, played by Moira Kelly instead of Lara Flynn Boyle.  Cooper has a minor role, as do Chris Isaak, Kiefer Sutherland, and even David Bowie, having what appears to be a largely superfluous role. 

Season 3.  Not only greenlighted but filmed and recorded – it’s IN THE CAN.  It will be broadcast starting May 21, 2017, on Showtime.   Fortunately most of the original actors, including Kyle MacLachlan, have participated, and David Lynch directed it.   We can expect something weird, hopefully as good and weird as the original, and better than the movie.  Please do not bring Bob back (though I imagine they will).