Twin Peaks: The Return - Episode 1 and 2 - review

If a decade ago, dating back to my first memories of the mysterious Twin Peaks, someone had told me that after 10 years I would write an article for the just-released third season, I would have spilled my coffee. I can say my favorite series has returned. Not so much with bangs and crashes, nor with cherry pie and funny comments about the quality of caffeinated beverages, as with suspicious lures, squeezed all the air out of our lungs and unexpected outbursts of violence that look stunning even against the backdrop of today's television landscape. Fortunately, the first episode looks and sounds like the director's statement that this time he has full control over the smallest detail (including the crushing sound design) and that's the only signal we need to forget every worry, on the development of the season. We are safe and undoubtedly awaiting a journey, both wonderful and quirky.

The most special feature of Twin Peaks has always been his non-linear structure, relying heavily on the intuition of the viewer. The question is not what happens, how it makes us feel. And while the first two hours offer both the shocking effect of Agent Cooper's treacherous counterpart and the tougher policeman Andy and Lucy, the most tangible is the grief that arose from the past. For me, this was most noticeable in the role of Catherine Coolson. In Margaret's magnificent "the Log Lady" Lanterman, there is not a drop of replay or posture, and this is partly due to the fact that her scene was shot shortly before the actress's death in 2015, following a long struggle with cancer. The display of all known images 25 years later guarantees an authenticity that no other show has ever boasted.

Margaret warns Deputy Sheriff Tommy Hawk Hill to find out where Agent Cooper is missing in the last 25 years thanks to her "inheritance." Here I have to open an explanatory bracket because the Indian will undoubtedly play a significant role in the upcoming events.

The ancient forests of Northwest America are an emblematic part of the atmosphere of the series, and we also know that they hide the secrets of the two lodges. From The Secret History of Twin Peaks, we learn that Margaret finds the trunk shortly after her husband's sudden death in a wildfire. The young widow goes to his house in the Heart of the Forest, which is the only area unaffected by the fire. Not far from there, the fire has dropped a magnificent ancient fir that itself tells her what part to take. But what does he mean by channeling the words of the Hawk's "legacy" tree? The latter is a distant descendant of a leader from the old Indian tribe of Ne-perse, who was among the first settlers on the lands around Twin Peaks. The Reds were the last people to believe in the supernatural powers living and reigning in these places, so the white-haired Tommy Hill, whose veins run the same blood, locates the location of the Black Lodge.

The old Sheryl Lee is back on Cooper, this time in real time, and obviously Lora Palmer's soul still belongs to the Black Lodge. In support of this, her words are "I'm dead and yet I live," after which it literally removes her mask and reveals the light (or the soul trapped in the body).

In these first two episodes, the Black Lodge more than ever before reminds Ada, who symbolizes it. Leland, Laura and Cooper are snapped in their own limbo, a labyrinth of independent physical laws, the loneliness of which they have the opportunity to share for an instant, stretched to the utmost of the suffocating silence and the almost still camera. What exactly is the tree of growing flesh (strikingly reminiscent of the baby in the Rubber Head) at its top is not clear, but obviously there is a notion of where the boundaries and strength of the lodge extend, because it explains to the confused federal agent the situation in which find.

This brings us to the most important moment, allowing the notorious cliffhanger to finish the second season. Yes, Agent Cooper's counterpart is unrecognizable and suspiciously reminiscent of Bob, and his first appearance on the dark forest paths and under the thundering musical accompaniment is the most chilling scene I've seen this year. I will not be surprised if Kyle MacLockan has made his life in these 18 episodes. The long raven-black hair, the subtle interference in the voice, the impenetrable eyes and the unnatural power it radiates are diametrically opposed to suggestion with good old Cooper Cooper. It seems all the time Black Cloud is sowing chaos and death around the world, driven "not by need, but by desire," as he claims himself to Ray and Darya.

After Darya's naturalistic death, Cooper connects with Philippe Jeffreys, the federal agent played by David Bowie in "Fire, Follow Me" where he disappears without a trace. Unclear where, Jeffreys knows that the possessed Cooper has met Major Garland Briggs. (The Major is the author of the dossier quoted above, The Secret History of Twin Peaks, and on her last pages tells of her meeting with a changed Cooper, describing her doubts that this is a double of "the person I was starting to I know. "The file ends with the word HELP). Obviously Jeffreys, wherever it may be, was also under Bob's influence, but we have to find out more about it. Can we hope we will learn something about one of the most unexpected and faintly clear disappearances in the series - that of Special Agent Chester Desmond in Firefox, Follow Me?

However, the points considered so far are related to familiar old characters and the place they are today. And who is the young man in New York whose job is to watch and shoot the glass cube? What is the identity of the billionaire who appointed him? Did some kind of electric tree cause the couple's brutal murder? Under the influence of Bob (or any other demonic presence) was Bill Bill when he killed the librarian? Why poor old Sarah Palmer continues to smoke a cigarette after a cigarette, as if tomorrow does not exist?

From the last 5 minutes, where the director brought us back to the familiar "The Big Bang Bar" from "Fire, follow me", we can get two important starting points for the coming episodes. The first is about Shelley, who is obviously quite confused when he claims that James was always cool. It's actually the opposite! And second, more importantly, this last scene reminds us remarkably of the previous two seasons, and should remind us if it does not tear that one of the most unique and loved series in history has come back.

Images:
1 bgr.com/2017/05/22/twin-peaks-season-3-episode-1-2-recap/)
2 youtube.com/watch?v=-G-x_jfddis)
3 nytimes.com/2017/05/22/arts/television/twin-peaks-season-3-episodes-1-2-recap.html)