Twin Peaks Twin Peaks s3 - episode discussion

[Willie Oleson]

And ...

Indeed! I had forgotten to post this screenshot.

And and ...

Oh...that was Ashley Judd? I had not recognized her.
I had planned to mention "Beverly" but I got sidetracked by the oddity that was episode 8.
Even though I struggle to see the bigger picture with all these new characters - did the hit and run happen in Twin Peaks? - the performances are all very good, even more so because they don't have much background or story context to base their performance on. It all needs to happen on the spot and the scene between Beverly and her sick husband Tom is a good example of that. There's an instant familiarity and it's almost as if they're saying "this may or may not be relevant to Twin Peaks or the main plotlines, but that doesn't mean it's not happening".

 

[Willie Oleson]

The next episode has some great moments for the Briggses. The major has always approached Bobby's anarchic behaviour with stoicism, he simply refused to believe that Bobby would never change. And that's why everything they said about that relationship rang very true.
There's an enthusiasm in Dana Ashbrook's performance that suggests he's really enjoying doing Twin Peaks again and maybe that alone makes it all worthwhile for Twin Peaks fans.
Another one of my favourite returnees is Carl from the Fat Trout trailer park.
But there are also many great new characters and now I'm halfway season 3 I already dread the moment I have to say goodbye again.


Another wonderful and quintessential Twin Peaks scene:

That must have been exhausting to play!

Ike the Spike has been arrested, he's so cute I want to eat him up. And I *think* it's Johnny Horne who accidentally killed himself in a hilarious sequence. No reaction from Ben Horne so far, maybe Johnny didn't die after all.
Meanwhile, the plot thickens. As Albert Rosenfield said "what happens in season 2?".

 

[Willie Oleson]

The story construction of the Las Vegas part becomes more clear in episode 10.
The nasty Richard who's involved with drug trafficking and who also ran over the little boy turns out to be a Horne!
It would have been so much easier if I had known this from the very beginning. Even without knowing what Richard himself is all about, the fact that he's connected to the Hornes would have provided sufficient context in the earlier episodes. (in case they did mention it then I must have missed it).
On the other hand, it only becomes seriously relevant when he visits his grandmother (now divorced from Ben) and this gives the scene a lot of shock value, similar to the family-connection-revelations in the classic soaps.

From a physical point of view it's possible that Johnny could have fathered a child (assuming the woman would survive the love making process!) but I'm already hoping that this will lead to the return of the fabulous Audrey. It's already been implied that she didn't die in the explosion because she is or has been in a coma.
Jerry Horne...he's just as irritating as he was in the original series. "I am not your foot".

Does anybody know the names of the other two girls, or are they all Candies?

 

[Willie Oleson]

I felt there was something familiar about Candie, maybe she reminds of the 1990s TV personality Monique Sluyter who had a hit single with the Nymphomania project (it sounds like a 2 Unlimited knock-off).

But after a closer look it turns out that this was even a hit in America, and also featured in Quentin Tarantino movie. Weird!

And then BOB released a single with the same title.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Just spotted: Chris Deegan in Twin Peaks


Audrey returns!

But
Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday...I-I'm sorry I'm confused. Twin Peaks Four Bobs and Swedish Steps Mafia...it does strange things to the mind.

Many storylines in this series start in the middle, it's already happening and we just have to wait until the situation explains itself - or not.
Audrey's introduction is an extreme example of that. I'm not going to lie, I hated it. The most frustrating minutes of Twin Peaks so far, and I absolutely detest her tiny husband.
Thankfully I can also laugh at my own torturous experience. No matter how much you love Twin Peaks, everybody is going to have a moment like this, at least once.

All TwinPeakers are divorced, or so it seems. Ben and Sylvia, Shelly and Bobby, Ed and Nadine (I think) and apparently it never worked out for Ed and Norma - hence Walter Lankershim Lawford.
I'm really enjoying Nadine and Dr. "Amp" Jacoby right now. At least two characters who are trying to shovel themselves out of the shit.

At long last another scene for James Hurley, singing his epic Twin Peaks anthem.

So sweet that he made that woman cry. I'd like some dialogue too but according to Shelly he's gone a little quiet (!) after his motorcycle accident.

There are so many great moments and funny details in every episode, I'll mention all of it in the re-watch review. Now I have to go back and watch another one.
Diane cannot be trusted!

 

[darkshadows38]

i could not get into Season 3 i forget how many i watched but to me of what i did watch it felt like that magic was gone since they could put in nudity and sex now. but i'm sure at some point i will watch it again this time to the end of the series

 

[Willie Oleson]

I'd like some dialogue too

Hey, Twin Peaks is doing requests! And more intriguingly, Twin Peaks does Europe.
First there's Gordon Cole's dream about his rendezvous with Monica Bellucci in Paris and after that there's the scene between James and his co-worker Freddy from England.

Freddy is wearing a green, unremovable superhero glove because of a supernatural encounter with The Fireman. It's all delightfully ridiculous.

When the sheriff and his deputies go into the forest, as per major Briggs' cryptic instructions (previously hidden inside a strange object hidden inside a chair), there's a shot of electric cables and suddenly I realized there was something familiar about it.
I mentally went through a list of other TV series but without result. After a bit of pondering I discovered it wasn't a movie but a novel.

It's a completely different story but it also describes how an event from outer space affects a small town and one of the main plots was electricity, batteries to be more precisely.

The location where they find the woman from episode 3 and also where Andy's being sucked into the vortex looks similar to the supernatural opening of the Black Lodge so I guess this is the White Lodge.
Perhaps I was already supposed to know this but I'm a little slow. Forgive me.
I wonder if the mysterious woman is Lois Duffy, the first "blue rose".

Audrey's story gets more significance when two girls in the Bang Bang bar discuss the strange behaviour of this "Billy".
However, with only 4 episodes left, it worries me to see the development of more storylines. Not that I expect a perfectly neat ending - and I'm not sure I want that to happen - but there are already plenty of plotlines that need to be dealt with.

The episode ends with yet another cracker, Wild West by Lissie.

 

[Willie Oleson]

And so the story ends of what is partially a continuation on the dramatic narrative and partially an impressionism-style expansion of the Twin Peaks mythology.

Audrey and Charlie finally arrive at the Roadhouse which is now the Bang Bang bar (I didn't even realize they were the same) and in hindsight I think their mini-story is a parody on the daytime soap opera where nothing happens for weeks.

Like James Hurley she gets to do a reprise of her anthemic contribution to original Twin Peaks and it ends with an even bigger cliffhanger than the explosion at the bank.
There's a crowd-pleasing conclusion to one of the original cliffhangers: Ed and Norma are back together again.
They also fabricate a new Dougie for Diane's sister (!) Janey-E and Sonny Jim.

Richard Horne dies - Twin Peaks' answer to Christopher Ewing - but we don't know how it ends for Shelly's daughter and her troublesome boyfriend.
Jerry Horne finds his way out of the forest but he still can't see the wood for the trees, his binoculars notwithstanding.
The domestic situation of Ben Horne's assistant Beverly is not further explored. Lucy finally understands the technical aspect of cell phones in the penultimate episode.
Is it just me or has it become a trend that the penultimate episodes are the most exciting ones? The green glove strikes again! Fabulous.

I have no idea what the ending means and I really don't have the energy or desire to puzzle it out. I'm sure there are Twin Peaks Explained videos and there could be something in it that makes sense but at the end of the day it's just a theory.
The last episode sort of hints at changing history but that doesn't mean that history is being erased. I'm fine with the idea of two realities which is in line with the duality of the Twin Peaks genre.
As for all the presumptive symbolism and other weird stuff, I just let it all wash over me rather than trying to interpret its true or correct meaning.
The effect of the infamous episode 8 is astounding, not because of how it fits in with the rest of the story but simply because it's so unforgettable.
And maybe that's what Lynch & Co wanted this NuTwin Peaks to be, an unforgettable experience. They would never continue something just because they can.
It has to mean everything even if there's no meaning at all. After all, Twin Peaks has always unofficially suggested that the joke is on us. It's never-ever exactly what you think it is, and maybe that's their greatest achievement.


There's some extras on disc 9 and disc 10 is all about special features but right now I'm more interested in other people's opinions (like the discussion on page 1 and 2 of this very thread) and also cast interviews which I couldn't watch because of spoiler-risk. And maybe browse Ebay to see if there's any Twin Peaks memorabilia e.g. Nadine's shovel or Cooper's dictaphone or Linda's note to Richard.

 

[James from London]

has it become a trend that the penultimate episodes are the most exciting ones?

I think it started with The Wire and The Sopranos. The penultimate episode of the season tends to be the more violently climactic followed by a more contemplative season finale which points towards an uncertain future. New DALLAS's first season had the Rebecca/Tommy "who shot who?" cliffhanger at the end of the penultimate ep followed John Ross and JR contemplating the Dallas skyline, and their new partnership, at the end of the finale.

 

[Willie Oleson]

the most violently climactic followed by a more contemplative season finale which points towards an uncertain future.

Or in this case, an uncertain past, or even an uncertain present.
What year is this?

 

[Willie Oleson]

Here's a review in two parts and it's so good
Twin Peaks: The Return - re:View (Part 1) - YouTube

I'm already beginning to feel nostalgic about season 3.

 

[James from London]

Here's a review in two parts and it's so good

Oh this looks interesting.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Yeah, it's amazing that they've managed to review something like this in one video (well, two) and still make it sound fairly comprehensible.
They theorize a little bit but without trying to be authoritative, and they don't always agree with each other.

There's an instant familiarity and it's almost as if they're saying "this may or may not be relevant to Twin Peaks or the main plotlines, but that doesn't mean it's not happening".

Their point of view is a little more interesting: it's not relevant to the plot or the characters, but it's very relevant to what's happening to the town called Twin Peaks.

I almost shouted "objection!" when they said that prime time soap operas don't exist anymore, but maybe they meant the cosiness of the classic soaps. And to be honest that's also what made new Dallas different from old Dallas.
On the other hand, some things never change e.g. Cooper's obsession with coffee vs. "do you want some coffee, Paaaaam?"

 

[James from London]

They theorize a little bit but without trying to be authoritative, and they don't always agree with each other.

Yes, they're immediately likeable in a laid-back, unassuming way, which is a tricky thing to pull off when they've also got to be confident enough to spend the next two hours delivering their unasked for opinions on something that has already been theorised to death.

I've started watching it in little ten minute chunks, and it's great. It's already reminded me of so much I'd forgotten.

All TV reunions, especially the '80s soap ones, have that story element of "getting the band back together", where something happens that brings all the characters back from wherever they've supposedly been since the original series ended so that the new story can now begin. On DALLAS, it was JR's fake funeral, on KNOTS it was (sort of*) Mack and Karen's surprise anniversary party, on DYNASTY it was (sort of*) the court hearing in New York. With TWIN PEAKS, the whole thing is about getting the band back together - it takes that long for Coop and Laura to find their way home again.

*Actually, like TWIN PEAKS, the real reunion on DYNASTY doesn't take place until the very end. Up until then, it's mostly about different combinations of characters in different cities in countries. I think that's one of the reasons it's my favourite of the three. And the real reunion on KNOTS already took place at the end of the original series when Val came back from the dead and Abby moved back to the cup-de-sac, which kind of renders the whole of BTCDS redundant. That's probably why it's my least favourite of the three.

 

[Willie Oleson]

*Actually, like TWIN PEAKS, the real reunion on DYNASTY doesn't take place until the very end. Up until then, it's mostly about different combinations of characters in different cities in countries.

The thing I liked the most about Dynasty's Reunion is the new interior of the mansion. Under different circumstances I probably would have hated it but it works so well for the previously comatose Krystle. Narrative wise she's only surprised by all the strangers inside Blake's mansion, but I could also fan-theorize the idea that because of the coma she's not sure if the mansion looks exactly the way she remembers it.
Through Krystle's eyes, the mansion recast kinda makes sense.

And the real reunion on KNOTS already took place at the end of the original series when Val came back from the dead and Abby moved back to the cup-de-sac, which kind of renders the whole BTCDS redundant.

Paige knew it. Vroom, there she goes, escaping the doom of redundancy.

 

[James from London]

Here's a review in two parts and it's so good

I really, really enjoyed that. I especially loved their mind-blowing Audrey theory.

 

[tommie]

I really, really enjoyed that. I especially loved their mind-blowing Audrey theory.

What was their theory?

I kind of assume she's in a coma and the entire sequence is her having a coma dream, in a way she's in purgatory I guess in a never-ending loop.

 

[James from London]

What was their theory?

Now let's see. I'm not sure I understood it completely, but I think it's that she's really Sherilyn Fenn, rather than Audrey, and her writer husband is a substitute for David Lynch (with whom Fenn apparently had a fractious relationship in real life), and he keeps threatening to write her out of the story unless she gets her act together. When she eventually comes to the Roadhouse and is invited to do Audrey's Dance (which was never "Audrey's Dance" in the original series, just a dance that Audrey did), she briefly enters TWIN PEAKS and becomes Audrey again, recapturing her youth as a starlet, but then she comes to and sees herself in the mirror and realises that that's all gone.

 

[Willie Oleson]

And then there's the idea that Audrey's off-screen Billy could be 1990s Billy

 

[darkshadows38]

Tommy knocks, Tommy Knockers Knocking at my door i forget the rest of the poem in the book and in the film. and you mean Billy Zane? he's bald now i think i'm not sure if he went bald or he shaved it off