Twin Peaks, Episode 3.17: The Return, Part 17

Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 17
The Past Dictates the Future

We have arrived at our destination. Or, at least, the two Agent Coopers have. The Doppelganger arrives at the portal in the woods outside Twin Peaks, before being teleported right outside the Sheriff Department's building. Everyone assumes him to be the FBI agent but the real Dale calls not long afterwards, alerting Sheriff Truman to the deception. Gordon Cole and the FBI is right behind them, having finally figured out what is going on. As the Doppelganger lays dying, the spirit of BOB escapes, leading to a physical fight with Freddy and his super-powerful fist. Yet our story does not end there, as Cooper enters the basement of the Great Northern... And heads off for the past. For the night Laura Palmer was murdered.

Among the great moments in “Part 17” – there are several – the defeat of BOB certainly stands above the others. “Twin Peaks'” most terrifying villain receives about as bizarre a death scene as you'd expect. The struggle between BOB – Frank Silva's forever-grimacing face floating inside a CGI orb of black ooze – and green-handed Freddy is another chance for Lynch to create an incident of surreal horror. Which it certainly is, the spasmodic camera movements, strange special effects, and unexpected events leading to an heady blend of strangeness. Notably, even after the demon is defeated, the feeling of dread never quite subsides. BOB may be gone but the scars of his evil acts will never quite heal.

Lynch's direction all throughout “The Return” has been, of course, fantastic. Yet special attention must be paid to the wonderful visual design of “Twin Peaks'” penultimate episode. After the defeat of BOB, an image of Cooper remains frozen on-screen. It stays there throughout the following scene, giving a particular off-kilter feel to everything that follows. Yes, watching Lucy finally understand how to use a cell phone after killing off the Doppelganger, seeing Coop reunited with Gordon Cole and the rest of the gang... It's all great and rewarding. But that extra image over top – another double – let's us know that something uncertain is still in the air.

“Twin Peaks'” obsession with doubles – an extension of David Lynch's own obsession with doubles – just builds and builds over the years. In “Part 17,” we see the two Dale Coopers come face-to-face, however briefly. One is our series' hero, one is its villain, and yet both represent different sides of the same image. Sheriff Truman – one of two Trumans – seems aware of the deception immediately, as he greets the Doppelganger by repeating Cooper's name. From there, the audience can't help but notice further double imagery. Like the diamond shape – two triangular shapes connected – Jeffries presents to Coop. The diamond then becomes a figure eight, which is two circles atop each other.

A figure eight isn't just a double image but also a continuous loop. This is our first clue – one of, perhaps, many we should've taken note of sooner – that “Twin Peaks” is as much a Mobius strip as Lynch's other films. “The past dictates the future,” as Cooper gravely intones early on, before he heads into the past to save Laura Palmer. Not only does “The Return” belatedly answer the question of what Laura was screaming at in “Fire Walks with Me,” it brings yet another meaning to a key phrase: “It is happening again.” Despite Cooper's best efforts, which literally has him folding time, Laura is still lost. Julee Cruise's “The World Spins” still plays and the homecoming queen still disappears into the night. Some events can not be avoided, no matter how many times you repeat (and, in the process, double) them.

Even as its end approaches, “The Return” is not done presenting us with further mysteries. In the first scene, Gordon Cole explains what the often mentioned but never clarified Judy is. Some sort of ancient and possibly evil entity, Judy – a modernization of the word “Jowdy” – is apparently central to much of the FBI's involvement in “Peaks'” story... But what does that mean, exactly? Is Judy the force behind BOB and the other entities inside the Black Lodge? Is she the evil counterpart to the god-like woman inside the White Lodge? Is, perhaps, the faceless gray female creature seen in the first episode, that vomited BOB up in Part 8, Judy? The season is about to end and “Twin Peaks” is still firing the imagination.

Whether or not answers to these lingering mysteries are given – I'm not really expecting that – in the final episode, “The Return” seems determined to keep us in the unknown, even as its final hour draws nearer. All that aside, “Part 17” sure is one hell of an hour of television. When Laura Palmer's dead body washed up on shore in 1990, did anyone expect it to be the seed for an experiment this weird? [8/10]