Another Peek
Twin Peaks: The Return ended this weekend. It was fascinating to come back to the town we left so long ago, and to see the old faces (now truly old--and some dead).
He indulged (in a good sense) in all the weirdness and surrealism so well-known by now that there's a word for it--Lynchian.
Kyle MacLachlan was the lead with two, or perhaps three, major roles. Everyone else did supporting work. Some were central to the plot, some were more like bizarre detours, but just about everything was fun.
My only complaint is the ending. I'm not denying it was haunting, and powerful, but without giving too much away, let's just say it was open-ended, leading into a new mystery. Why, David, why?
The original series was built around a single mystery--who killed Laura Palmer. When that was answered, the show lost its way. It was a network show (back when that meant something) so had to go on, but really, its raison d'etre was gone, and forcing new mysteries weren't going to fill that hole.
But what we don't want (me, anyway) is a continuing series. This miniseries should have been enough. The Showtime Twin Peaks was expensive and didn't get great ratings, so I don't think Lynch will get any more episodes. But he shouldn't have wanted more.
So I'm thankful. And for me, this is it. (Unless more come out. Then we'll see.)
posted by LAGuy @ 10:27 AM
4 Comments:
I gave up after Episode 3 or 4. Do I need to see it in sequence?
Well, there is a story that moves forward. But everything is so bizarre, you can probably watch any single episode and enjoy it for what it is.
And if you only want to watch just one episode, I'd suggest Part 8, which is very much its own thing.
You can try to watch in sequence, but Lynch messes with the time stream. Things that happen at the same time (as evidenced by text messages sent and received) are shown multiple episodes apart. And it works!
Definitely watch episode #8. But note, that episodes left open a question (who was/is she?) that would have been hanging even if Lynch hadn't opened another can of worms (so to speak) in the final episode.
Were the ratings really so bad that even Showtime won't continue the series?
It's hard to measure ratings for a show like this, since so many people catch it on different media, and it's a special sort of thing that might bring in viewers who would not otherwise watch the channel.
Furthermore, it's a prestige show which means something to a cable channel. Plus these days shows are shown around the world, and I don't know how it plays in foreign markets.
But while Showtime mainstays like Homeland and Ray Donovan average well over a million viewers an episode, the average Twin Peaks level is closer to a quarter of a million. Plus it's an expensive show.
I don't know if Showtime will do another season, even if Lynch has clearly opened things up for another. But if the decision were simply based on the basic numbers, the answer would be no.
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