Last Monday here at Balladeer’s Blog I posted about how great Episode 16 was and mentioned the fact that the two final episodes would be shown back to back on Sunday, Sept 3rd.
Now that the final parts have aired I feel that Episode 17 was for the fans and Episode 18 was for David Lynch himself. Fans who want tidy closure got as much of that as Lynch is capable of providing in Episode 17. (And hey, looks like NOBODY can play a Long Game like Gordon Cole can. Although I guess that’s easy to do when it’s not your OWN butt trapped in the Black Lodge for 25 years.)
Episode 18 struck me more like a Lynchian horror film. Especially that ending. I loved it and if that is all the Twin Peaks we ever get I am just fine with it. If you aren’t, then blame our beloved hero FBI Agent Dale Cooper.
Cooper could have just left well enough alone, but no. And he piled foolishness upon foolishness in Episode 18, just like characters in a horror film do. As a MINIMUM, after all he had learned and all he had been through why would he go anywhere near any establishment bearing the name Judy?
I was disappointed to see Coop and Diane get together (however briefly) instead of him and Audrey, but what can you do?
The thing that impressed me the most about Lynch’s directing on this 18 episode run was the way he kept up with the times. More so than many of the long-time fans did.
The original Twin Peaks used the story-telling approach of soap operas, while this revival employed the dramatic structure of ARG’s. Frost and Lynch out-did some of the twenty-some year olds who have been flooding the internet with ARG’s for years.
And I was not disappointed at all with that closing scene. A clip of the final four minutes and 20 seconds is below. WARNING: If the names Chalfont and/or Tremond aren’t familiar to you from the original Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me then you won’t get the horror of the ending.
Since even the freeze-frame on the video gives away info, people who don’t want the closing scene spoiled in any way should NOT click to read more: Continue reading
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