David Lynch was never going to make things easy on us, but even by his standards, Twin Peaks: The Return is a wild and woolly trip. In the space of eight episodes, we’ve had a horrifying talking tree, a drugged-out Amanda Seyfried, a nuclear explosion that may or may not have given birth to Killer Bob, and a catatonic Agent Dale Cooper shuffling around Las Vegas, seemingly unable to remember his own name after getting spat out by the Black Lodge.
The beauty of Twin Peaks is that it doesn’t really need to make any kind of logical sense. As I watch it, I’m resisting the temptation to try and figure out where the hell the new episodes are going or what it all means – at this point, I’m just happy to be along for the ride that I’m probably too dense to fully understand.
Nonetheless, if you’re hoping that the show’s various plot threads will actually come together into something meaningful, then Kyle MacLachlan – who plays the good Dale, the bad Dale and the hapless Dougie Jones – says that things are definitely moving in that direction. You’re going to have to wait patiently to get there, though.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, MacLachlan was asked about the fan reaction to the chunk of the new season that has aired so far, which ranges from rapt approval to deep irritation at the fact that nothing seems to be happening. He replied that it has been “really fun” to see people responding to it as it airs, and added:
“I think we all knew it was going to be a challenging journey for the audience, simply because it is 18 parts of one giant piece, and it’s sequential, so people really have to stay with it. And also that David’s storytelling is filled with imagery and different perspectives and characters and things that may initially be confusing to people, but ultimately everything will come back together and make sense. It will be clear. But it’s challenging, you know? The other part of that is there has been a real, complete love from a large part of the audience for this new direction of Twin Peaks. No one has ever seen anything like this on television before. That’s some of the excitement, I think.”
Those who were expecting a return to the quirkier side of the original Twin Peaks – cherry pies, damn good coffee and the elusive Audrey Horne – have been disappointed that so little of the new season takes place in the actual town of Twin Peaks itself. To this, MacLachlan says:
I knew that the audience was excited, just based on social media, for the return of the Cooper that they remembered. I couldn’t say anything about that – that there was a process that had to happen before the ship could right itself, let’s say. I also like to say we’re basically … my take on it is that the world is out of balance, and we’re trying to take it back into balance now. We have 18 hours to do that. But I knew it would be difficult for people. Many people wanted the nostalgic return to the Twin Peaks that they remembered. And that’s not what we’re representing here. There are a lot of new stories going forward.
You can read the rest of the interview here for more of Kyle MacLachlan’s thoughts on returning to his most iconic role (sorry, Trey MacDougal) 25 years on.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.
Photo: Showtime.
