Thanks for these great little critical nuggets, Mr. Murray. Having read this one and then your breakdown of the pilot, the throughline is starting to make sense. My conclusion is that the baby boomer generation (who lived through the atomic bomb test) absorbed the evil of that event (as shown in the insect creature crawling into the teen girl's mouth) and then passed it on to some of their children (the next generation as seen in the first original season). Who gets a Laura egg and who gets a Bob egg? That might be as random and unpredictable as anything else you inherit from your parents, and as mutable as any other trait or disease.
1
Some parts were brilliant, e.g., Penderecki's Threnody paired with the visuals was terrific in every sense. I get the overall idea, but its not the first time Lynch has expounded it, so I'd edit it. An overly long and self-indulgent nightmare exercise that put me to sleep. Truly.
1
This is the one to watch. Lynch as the Artist just shines on this episode.
Everyone's interpretation will be different.
Cheers to Showtime for allowing Lynch the freedom to create.
Everyone's interpretation will be different.
Cheers to Showtime for allowing Lynch the freedom to create.
5
Great stuff altogether. Watched it, thought about it next day when taking my usual stroll around the neighborhood. Before White Sands (and Fat Man and Little Boy), we destroyed each other with hand-to-hand combat. Dull stuff, indeed. Now, we have the ability to blow ourselves and others up! I can see where Bob would be born out of this chaos.
But, there still is hope. The Giant (the Good in life) descends, and from his head comes the spirit of Laura Palmer. (Think Athena springing from the head of Zeus, fully armed and ready to do battle.) I saw the woman who took the Laura Palmer bubble as a Mother Earth type of figure, kissing the bubble and sending it on its way into the world to fight the spirit of Evil (Bob).
And, I strongly suspect the two teens were Leland Palmer and Sarah Novack (soon to be Sarah Palmer). Could be the insect thing crawling into Sarah's mouth was both Bob and Laura--Evil and Good fighting each other.
Also, the Woodsman tells us "the horse is the white of the eyes--dark within". I saw this as a reference to Laura's drug addiction. Also, Sarah Palmer did see a white horse in the original series.
Just my own interpretation.
But, there still is hope. The Giant (the Good in life) descends, and from his head comes the spirit of Laura Palmer. (Think Athena springing from the head of Zeus, fully armed and ready to do battle.) I saw the woman who took the Laura Palmer bubble as a Mother Earth type of figure, kissing the bubble and sending it on its way into the world to fight the spirit of Evil (Bob).
And, I strongly suspect the two teens were Leland Palmer and Sarah Novack (soon to be Sarah Palmer). Could be the insect thing crawling into Sarah's mouth was both Bob and Laura--Evil and Good fighting each other.
Also, the Woodsman tells us "the horse is the white of the eyes--dark within". I saw this as a reference to Laura's drug addiction. Also, Sarah Palmer did see a white horse in the original series.
Just my own interpretation.
4
I think Radiohead provides a good assault on the senses too. I loved Dougie a lot because he is a true innocent, so childlike and sweet. Of course he was unable to process much out of life but he seemed happy.
This mind blowing episode #8 was an art film, one you might see in a museum, but kudos to Showtime for letting Lynch do his thing and airing it for all to see! The only thing that could make that episode better viewing is to have see it on a gigantic theater screen. I still enjoyed it on my wide screen TV and without being in any altered state at the time:)---I mean really-- I was glued to my seat and speechless except the occasional--"wow"!! I must admit I was totally creeped out when the lizard slowly climbed into the young teenage girls open mouth and then she closed it and seemed to gulp it down. That being said, there's no doubt in my mind that Lynch was in an "altered" state when he wrote this visually awesome episode. Once again---wow!!
3
Two things:
White castle thing on the island = white lodge?
Scene with the shadow men in front of the building with the "convenience store" sign -- probably some connection to Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie's) monologue in Fire Walk With Me, where Jeffries mentions something about seeing "their" meeting a convenience store, and we get a short view into the lodge spirits meeting in a room.
White castle thing on the island = white lodge?
Scene with the shadow men in front of the building with the "convenience store" sign -- probably some connection to Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie's) monologue in Fire Walk With Me, where Jeffries mentions something about seeing "their" meeting a convenience store, and we get a short view into the lodge spirits meeting in a room.
3
While I was busy watching this mind-boggling episode I couldn't stop thinking, boy oh boy, there has NEVER been anything like this on TV before... I still can't believe they let Lynch do whatever he wanted to. Fantastic! I've keep the whole series recorded so that when it ends I can binge watch it from the beginning again.
4
I'm normally the last person in the world to engage in theories or want explanations, but now that we've seen the nuclear explosion, I can't help but think of Naido the blind woman as a beautifully lyrical grace note for the Hibakusha (the surviving victims of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
Given how predictably unpredictable Lynch is, she probably represents something else entirely. All the same, I find it so affecting to think of her (or "feel" her) in this light. And when viewed from Noel Murray's perspective, it's not a stretch for me at all to see Naido as a tender and loosely floating hieroglyph for the terribly painful and emotionally devastating consequences that arise when the otherwise dormant perversions lurking in our unconscious are ripped from their filthy muck, and directly transformed into creatively sick and destructive energies.
Given how predictably unpredictable Lynch is, she probably represents something else entirely. All the same, I find it so affecting to think of her (or "feel" her) in this light. And when viewed from Noel Murray's perspective, it's not a stretch for me at all to see Naido as a tender and loosely floating hieroglyph for the terribly painful and emotionally devastating consequences that arise when the otherwise dormant perversions lurking in our unconscious are ripped from their filthy muck, and directly transformed into creatively sick and destructive energies.
2
This episode took me back to my roots in Humboldt County where experimentation with hallucinogens and astral projection were ingested and practiced by many. Trippy doesn't begin to describe Twin Peaks The Return S03E08, especially without the benefit of mind bending enhancements!
1
Over the decades since "Eraserhead," I often suspected that Lynch, apart from being the preeminent American surrealist, might be the greatest surrealist in the history of cinema. After this new incarnation of "Twin Peaks" to date, I no longer have any doubt.
The 1956 sequence plays as nothing so much as Lynch's homage to the horror movies of that era, and reminds us that the Fifties weren't as idyllic and serene as we may remember them.
The 1956 sequence plays as nothing so much as Lynch's homage to the horror movies of that era, and reminds us that the Fifties weren't as idyllic and serene as we may remember them.
3
If we remember back to Part 1, the first scene of The Return has The Giant telling agent Cooper that "the music doesn't play here anymore". Think forward to Part 8, a flashback to when the Giant created the soul of Laura Palmer, the music is playing loud and beautifully in whatever dimension The Giant and Senorita Dido inhabit. We can draw a conclusion that the lack of music represents the complete decay of that dimension, or at least the good that holds it together.
Thus, Agent Cooper's mission, as influenced by the Giant, has far reaching, interdimensional consequences, possibly holding the fabric of reality together out of each of the cosmic evil that's been growing.
Thus, Agent Cooper's mission, as influenced by the Giant, has far reaching, interdimensional consequences, possibly holding the fabric of reality together out of each of the cosmic evil that's been growing.
7
I loved every minute, except for the tedious drone of "The Nine Inch Nails." Next time bring back Radiator Lady.
1
But Lynch loves drone music.
The Atom Bomb scene was revelatory, as were all your comments. One more revelation came to me after the bug showed up upon the beach- baby BOB. Born from THE ATOMIC BLAST- "the evil that men do" an AHA moment: BOB is Robert OPPENHEIMER JR. born from the blast... and conceived by the very man who said these words" WE HAVE BECOME GODS DESTROYERS OF WORLDS"
8
I wish someone like you were around for me to talk to through the original series! I wonder if I missed everything..
Abstract expressionism come to life during a terrorist attack. Awesomely beautifu and terrifying.
1
This episode is genius in two ways...the literal double cross of Bad Coop is done perfectly, the feasting on his soul, his reincarnation and of course NIN to cap that part, but then the real challenge begins, with Atomic bomb tests giving birth to more evil hearts in the form of Bob and the savior Laura Palmer. The black and white photography is beautiful, the interpretive demons of New Mexico are horrifying, and the innocence infected are the rewards of this series as far as the art of absurdity
5
I was asking myself (and my colleague) why Gordon Cole should have a picture of the explosion of an atomic bomb behind his desk and a picture of Kafka in front of it. "What do Kafka and the explosion of an atomic bomb have in common?", I wanted to know. And now I know. And I hope nobody has mentioned this in the comments before. This is the link to Kafka: his novella "The Metamorphosis" begins with a being's transformation into an "ungeheures Ungeziefer" (literally: monstrous/egregious vermin). And this is exactly what we see here. A "monstrous vermin" born out of what's the aftermath of the atomic bomb's explosion.
Now there's another question left unanswered and maybe someone here will be clever enough to explain it—why is there a picture of a corn cob next to Gordon Cole's picture of the atomic explosion?
Now there's another question left unanswered and maybe someone here will be clever enough to explain it—why is there a picture of a corn cob next to Gordon Cole's picture of the atomic explosion?
18
There's corn in gormonbozia. Maybe that's why?
8
Corn (creamed) is illustrated as manifestation of pain and sorrow.Evil feeds on garmonbozia and we also know that evil also fees on pain and fear.And the explosion has all the ingredients and medium for the evil to show itself and to feed on.It is the perfect timing for the travel between worlds and there is also fire.
4
I found this via an awesome chat in reddit about this episode. From an interview following the release of the complete Twin Peaks blu-ray set, the screenwriter of "Fire Walk With Me" Bob Engels mentions this interesting little fact that merges the Twin Peaks backstory (apparently spelled out in detail in a book?) with the a-bomb and 1950s events around it:
"There was this whole thing that took place, the inauguration night of [President] Eisenhower. There were insects on this kitchen table, and somehow the Garmonbozia was there (chuckles), or the corn was there. If my memory serves me correctly, we got that idea because I think it’s Eisenhower’s inauguration, they actually stop the inauguration ball for a half hour, because it was the same night that on I Love Lucy where she had her baby. That was the episode, so everything stopped, so the world stopped. "
"There was this whole thing that took place, the inauguration night of [President] Eisenhower. There were insects on this kitchen table, and somehow the Garmonbozia was there (chuckles), or the corn was there. If my memory serves me correctly, we got that idea because I think it’s Eisenhower’s inauguration, they actually stop the inauguration ball for a half hour, because it was the same night that on I Love Lucy where she had her baby. That was the episode, so everything stopped, so the world stopped. "
2
Finally got a chance last night to see Episode 8, then read Noel Murray's clear review/summary just now, along with a healthy dose of comments. Thanks to all of you! I got the "Birth of BOB" part and the connection to the huge photo in Gordon Cole's office. (My wife called Lynch the "Kafka of our time" BEFORE they showed us the portrait in Gordon's office.) That's all good, and the sooty Woodsman also reminds of the Man Behind the Diner in "Mulholland Drive."
So we all make these marvelous connections, prompted by the genius of David Lynch. I wonder why we use the word "subconscious" for that Lodge in his imagination? Isn't it the unconscious? And isn't it the play between our conscious "overthinking" self and the unconscious that is where the imagination works?
Looking forward to a second viewing of Episode 8 tonight.
So we all make these marvelous connections, prompted by the genius of David Lynch. I wonder why we use the word "subconscious" for that Lodge in his imagination? Isn't it the unconscious? And isn't it the play between our conscious "overthinking" self and the unconscious that is where the imagination works?
Looking forward to a second viewing of Episode 8 tonight.
8
1. After being set free from a Black Hills jail, the Bob-possessed evil Dale Cooper doppelgänger known as “Mr. C.” tries to get his confederate Ray to pass along some information that he needs.
He doesn't need the information. He wants it. He doesn't need anything :)
He doesn't need the information. He wants it. He doesn't need anything :)
10
Fans of more modern cinema thinking about Jonathan Glazer might look first at Lynch's oft maligned but frequently sourced "Dune" (1984) for the origination of varied dissonant and alien dream imagery. Lynch most often derives from Dada, surrealism, himself, and the collective unconscious.
5
Well, that's it for me. Total crap masquerading as "art."
5
Bye.
22
Art can be crap and still art however.
3
David Lynch is the master at visual cinematography. This episode reminded me of "Eraserhead" and "2001: A Space Odyssey." I was about to quit watching this series until this episode. I really don't know what is going on but I love watching this series. I'm not going to over-think it and just enjoy it.
7
Putting the weirdness aside, I think Lynch is best when the plot keeps moving and we can focus on watching his eternally interesting characters. I'm entertained just watching just the three FBI agents, and look forward to when normal Cooper is back on the case.
1
This is an exercise of Be Careful What You Wish For.
Yes. Mark Frost solo was not good for Season 2 was off the rails and preposterous. (And my 8th grade self loved it! Probably a bad barometer.). More Lynch, the press decried.
Is this what you wanted? Really!!
The recap was through and accurate and almost as bland as the episode itself. No. Nothing in the weirdfest was opaque. This was clearly the Bob origin story. But--who cares?!?! Did we really need to know that Audrey's madonna/whore too dreamy jazz fest was brought on by ... the atomic bomb?!?! Wouldn't slavery, conquistadors, Ghengis Khan, or even the effects of the invention of agriculture on class, racial, and sexual oppression (not to mention global warming) been enough as well? It doesn't matter where evil comes from. And it certainly doesn't have an origin story in 1945.
I have literally 30 minutes on my DVR this upcoming week (Jon Oliver), and I consider myself a TV junkie. If it were not for the 8th grade gay boy inside me screaming: this show would go the way of Younger, the last season of Homeland, and everything after season 2 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Yes. Mark Frost solo was not good for Season 2 was off the rails and preposterous. (And my 8th grade self loved it! Probably a bad barometer.). More Lynch, the press decried.
Is this what you wanted? Really!!
The recap was through and accurate and almost as bland as the episode itself. No. Nothing in the weirdfest was opaque. This was clearly the Bob origin story. But--who cares?!?! Did we really need to know that Audrey's madonna/whore too dreamy jazz fest was brought on by ... the atomic bomb?!?! Wouldn't slavery, conquistadors, Ghengis Khan, or even the effects of the invention of agriculture on class, racial, and sexual oppression (not to mention global warming) been enough as well? It doesn't matter where evil comes from. And it certainly doesn't have an origin story in 1945.
I have literally 30 minutes on my DVR this upcoming week (Jon Oliver), and I consider myself a TV junkie. If it were not for the 8th grade gay boy inside me screaming: this show would go the way of Younger, the last season of Homeland, and everything after season 2 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
4
To answer your question. Yes, really, this is what I wanted. What I want next is to view this in the darkened sanctum of a movie theatre with a really, really big screen and wall rattling sound system.
12
And...please...along with lots of other like-minded audience members!
1
This is not normal television. It is way, way beyond that.
In addition to the stunning visuals, the sound editing was incredible and captivating. Kudos to Lynch for pushing the boundaries and showing us what real artists can accomplish with this medium we call television.
In addition to the stunning visuals, the sound editing was incredible and captivating. Kudos to Lynch for pushing the boundaries and showing us what real artists can accomplish with this medium we call television.
23
Yes, indeed.People mostly mention the visuals but I was really intrigued by the atmosphere they created with sound editing.It was something extraordinary for me, an experience out of this world.
5
Sound design has always been Lynch's ace in the hole, ever since "Eraserhead."
1
I don't take this link serious it is up to you if you will. But I think there are clues to an object displayed again and again;
https://sites.google.com/site/nazibelluncovered/
https://sites.google.com/site/nazibelluncovered/
3
Well, let me invite some opprobrium by declaring myself underwhelmed. I found the sequences cliched, the metaphoric entailments old and exhausted, and it's interesting that a recurrent thread in these comments is how they reminded people of other works. The episode came across to me as a tired pomo pastiche. Pastiche can be and is creative but it is also risky and the episode did not transcend its sources. Kubrick, Buñuel, Brakhage, Fassbinder, and so on, come to mind, so I guess they are the ones who populate Lynch's subconscious. But I've a weakness for the originals.
6
I am giving this show a chance. I feel we need people to take big risk for original drama and this one takes you there is a way no other is willing to try. The episodes make more sense in the follow on scenes in the next episode rather than the unfolding.
3
I am interpreting TP taking next week off as a sign that this episode needs repeat viewing. Thanks Noel for insightful review, and I have to say this comment thread gives me hope for humanity, including the investigative powers of the FBI as well. "Got a light?", indeed.
5
In Episdoe 3 (a good reference for anyone trying to make sense from a narrative sense of this episode), when Cooper is told to escape the Black Lodge, he lands in the black box in space, which has a slightly beaten-up version of the same large black bell that is seen in this episode on top. Cooper is brought to this bell by his initial blind/mute hostess and she flips a switch on it. The hostess is tossed off the bell and into space. A face appears (Col Garland Briggs?) in space and says "Blue Rose", the term used by the FBI to identify the creepy stuff under investigation. It seems like in the current date, the whole delivery system that we see in the latest episode (presumably in the past) is now messed up. This might explain why the attempt to send Cooper back to "our world" via the electricity jack - a last ditch solution? (the original hostess stops Cooper from touching it when he first arrives) - fails, and our struggling Dougie is the result.
5
Props for the Maya Deren reference!
5
After the last three episodes, I was on the verge of giving up on the series -- they seemed to me to be branding exercises: "weird for the sake of weird," while also being lugubriously paced.
Then this. To me, there are very few works of art that feel authentically "dream-like" in a unfiltered way. The sequence following the 1945 atomic test felt like a direct connection between my subconscious and Mr. Lynch's. It was genuinely scary, disturbing, and thrilling, like a real nightmare. In terms of its emotional resonance, I was reminded of the best science fiction of "Cordwainer Smith" (Paul M. A. Linebarger), whose day job was as a psychological warfare expert for the U.S. Army. So Lynch and Frost have hooked me again -- I hope that future episodes retain this level of quality.
Then this. To me, there are very few works of art that feel authentically "dream-like" in a unfiltered way. The sequence following the 1945 atomic test felt like a direct connection between my subconscious and Mr. Lynch's. It was genuinely scary, disturbing, and thrilling, like a real nightmare. In terms of its emotional resonance, I was reminded of the best science fiction of "Cordwainer Smith" (Paul M. A. Linebarger), whose day job was as a psychological warfare expert for the U.S. Army. So Lynch and Frost have hooked me again -- I hope that future episodes retain this level of quality.
8
That's an interesting comparison. I never thought about it before, but there is a lot of Scanners Live In Vain in Lynch's work. Whether he knows it, or not.
1
It's as if the show has been written just for me--A dyed in the wool art student avant-garde filmmaker--Now you've gone and mentioned Paul Linebarger!? It as if I now live in the Instrumentality! Thank you!
In case it hasn't been already added, here's the complete monologue from the Woodsman via the radio - what I believe to be a set of explanations/instructions to the insect creature(s?) that have just been transported over to "our world": "This is the water, and this is the well. Drink full and descend [to the end?]. The horse is the white of the eyes and dark within." The horse may be a reference to the white horse seen several times in the original Twin Peaks, by both Cooper in the Black Lodge and Laura's mom.
So funny, I definitely fell asleep in the middle of this episode, and would not have noticed it unless I the mention of the mysterious woman delivering the Laura egg. Also missed when I went back to get my quote above, is that the teenage girl discovered a penny while walking with her new boyfriend and noticed that it was heads-up (good luck) upon pick-up. A reference back to the evil guy's scene of the coin toss with Richard Horne?
So funny, I definitely fell asleep in the middle of this episode, and would not have noticed it unless I the mention of the mysterious woman delivering the Laura egg. Also missed when I went back to get my quote above, is that the teenage girl discovered a penny while walking with her new boyfriend and noticed that it was heads-up (good luck) upon pick-up. A reference back to the evil guy's scene of the coin toss with Richard Horne?
7
The bell can be a key understanding the connection to the atomic nightmare. Funn results just Google "Atomic Bell".
4
The bell in these episodes somewhat resembles Hiroshima's Peace Bell. Maybe it was intentionally made to not be a precise copy.
2
The bell-shaped object more closely resembles the "Nazi Bell" or "Die Glocke", a rumored secret weapon for which the least-preposterous claim is that it was designed to produce uranium and plutonium for a Nazi atomic bomb. More preposterous claims include its supposed ability to create antigravity, and to open a window that made it possible to view the past.
4
A lot of good things have been said already, all I want to add:
Lynch got a new fan last night. While my wife dozed off, our cat was completely mesmerized by the sounds and the movement on the screen. I am proud to live with a cat who gets experimental art
Lynch got a new fan last night. While my wife dozed off, our cat was completely mesmerized by the sounds and the movement on the screen. I am proud to live with a cat who gets experimental art
44
My dog feels the exact same way. He even ignores other dogs barking on tv, but he's mesmerized by the sounds of Twin Peaks.
5
Good write-up.
I'm one for whom this was amazing TV. As you say, there's no real precedent in TV history. I've been watching TP season two and actually became a bit bored with it the night before last, roughly at the point where it fell back on Hamlet to explain its inexplicable self: 'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy, Horatio.' Yeah yeah. The now standard new age excuse. Like a commercial for TM. So last night's return to the full-on weird of very early Lynch renewed my faith. And like you, I don't really care what it all might or might not explain.
I'm one for whom this was amazing TV. As you say, there's no real precedent in TV history. I've been watching TP season two and actually became a bit bored with it the night before last, roughly at the point where it fell back on Hamlet to explain its inexplicable self: 'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy, Horatio.' Yeah yeah. The now standard new age excuse. Like a commercial for TM. So last night's return to the full-on weird of very early Lynch renewed my faith. And like you, I don't really care what it all might or might not explain.
5
I'm mad on myself, because I know that even if next episode is a black page for 58 minutes I'll still watch it... honestly I preferred to believe that Twin Peaks was around Saturn and Jupyter stuff and not the remainings from the atomic bomb
1
As the atomic bomb sequence unfolded, I kept hearing Albert's voice from one of the scenes right after Leland dies in the original series: "Maybe that's all BOB is. The evil that men do. Maybe it doesn't matter what we call it." The birth of BOB indeed.
14
Showtime is preempting "Twin Peaks" next Sunday, like some old-time broadcast network would? Why not break up the show with laxative commercials and have each episode introduced and explained by Peter Graves? Some of us are in the middle of watching an 18-hour movie and we don't appreciate delays or interruptions.
3
Those of us immersed in Twin Peaks are walking around today in awed and revered silence, with our brains continuing to do somersaults and with an afterglow we cannot define because a deep itch we never knew the depth of was scratched.
This is profoundly incredible television.
This is profoundly incredible television.
56
Very, very well said. Wow, PeterActorWriter, Wow!
1
I concur about the afterglow; my brain really got what it needed last night, if you know what I mean.
1
yes yes and yes!
3
I'm surprised the reviewer omitted Canadian auteur director, Guy Maddin from his brief list of practitioners of underground or experimental cinema. I would highly recommend "The Heart of the World" (2000) and "The Forbidden Room" (2015).
b
b
2
My only question: Was the episode better termed a miscarriage or an abortion?
David Lynch and Mark Frost: How come no lava lamp or disco ball?
David Lynch and Mark Frost: How come no lava lamp or disco ball?
2
Thanks for referencing contemporary filmmakers like Janie Geiser...but this episode, for me, evoked the most recent pieces by Pat O'Neill.
This is the best reaction to Episode 8 I've read today. Thank you for allowing for the idea that what it makes you feel is what it means.
A few thoughts/linkages...
1. The atomic test links us back to the image in Gordon's office. The other image, also blown-up, in Gordon's office is that of Franz Kafka. This felt like a glimpse at David Lynch's cards to me. As if to say, here are the oppositional forces. When I think of Kafka, I think of people who are bewildered by the ways they're being punished, either by human or celestial forces, for crimes that haven't been spelled out to them. Gordon and the FBI of Twin Peaks operate in this space between phenomena and interpretation, much like the explorer protagonist of "In the Penal Colony," observing horrific violence and coming to terms on how to confront it on a metaphysical level.
2. Seeing THE Nine Inch Nails was like watching a reunion. Remember that Trent Reznor helmed the soundtrack of Lynch's Lost Highway back in the nineties. I think it's key to focus on the word "The" in the introduction of the band, and in the credits. "The" emphasizes that this group of individuals belongs to the world we inhabit, the one where we tune in to Twin Peaks on our devices on Sunday night. This creates a tether for the episode to our empirical reality, a sort of umbilical cord.
3. Really pleased to see Brakhage mentioned in this review. The atomic sequence seemed straight out of his ouevre, just beautiful.
A few thoughts/linkages...
1. The atomic test links us back to the image in Gordon's office. The other image, also blown-up, in Gordon's office is that of Franz Kafka. This felt like a glimpse at David Lynch's cards to me. As if to say, here are the oppositional forces. When I think of Kafka, I think of people who are bewildered by the ways they're being punished, either by human or celestial forces, for crimes that haven't been spelled out to them. Gordon and the FBI of Twin Peaks operate in this space between phenomena and interpretation, much like the explorer protagonist of "In the Penal Colony," observing horrific violence and coming to terms on how to confront it on a metaphysical level.
2. Seeing THE Nine Inch Nails was like watching a reunion. Remember that Trent Reznor helmed the soundtrack of Lynch's Lost Highway back in the nineties. I think it's key to focus on the word "The" in the introduction of the band, and in the credits. "The" emphasizes that this group of individuals belongs to the world we inhabit, the one where we tune in to Twin Peaks on our devices on Sunday night. This creates a tether for the episode to our empirical reality, a sort of umbilical cord.
3. Really pleased to see Brakhage mentioned in this review. The atomic sequence seemed straight out of his ouevre, just beautiful.
7
Brilliant episode. Pure Lynch genius. I hope he has as a musical guest in a future episode Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
8
I hung in for all of it, not sure why I did but hope it pays off in a later episode, holy mackerel.
1
I have to say that I hope it doesn't "pay off." In a conventional narrative structure, it would, but I'm hopeful it just -is- and leaves us to connect the dots. Yes, it's frustrating to not have the usual dramatic niceties, but it almost feels like we're learning a new language, and just have to be content that we're not going to get everything on the first go.
12
To get a better handle on the elliptical nature of the narrative in this episode, perhaps it's useful to look at some challenging recent films, notably Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” (2011) and Gaspar Noé’s “Enter the Void” (2009). Discontinuous plotting can have its own kind of magic.
1
Yes. For me the 1945 sequence was a uniquely Lynchian unholy mashup of the Star Gate segment from "2001" and the trippier imagery from "The Tree of Life." The Penderecki "Threnody" could have been scored for it -- it was so perfectly discordant and mournful.
Surely evil existed long before the nuclear age, but these weapons unleashed previously unimagined horrors on the world, and on a massive and impersonal scale.
The shimmering black-and-white Lodge sequence made me want to rewatch Eraserhead. Sublime.
I just let it all wash over me. A thrilling, beautiful, disturbing hour of TV.
Surely evil existed long before the nuclear age, but these weapons unleashed previously unimagined horrors on the world, and on a massive and impersonal scale.
The shimmering black-and-white Lodge sequence made me want to rewatch Eraserhead. Sublime.
I just let it all wash over me. A thrilling, beautiful, disturbing hour of TV.
14
Actually, Noel, there may be a precedent, just not on American TV but rather, German TV: In Fassbinder's 1980s epic miniseries, Berlin Alexanderplatz, dealing with the end of the Weimar era, there is a highly surreal, unstructured epilogue, titled "My Dream of the Dream of Franz Biberkopf by Alfred Döblin," chock full of free-floating symbolic imagery. It's been years since sitting through Berlin Alexanderplatz, and I can only offer a general recollection, but there is a sequence with an atom bomb going off in the background and angels clearing the dead. If I were to bet my bottom dollar, Lynch is probably well aware of it.
12
You're right about the final "Berlin Alexanderplatz" and having watched the whole series again very recently I can report that it's still powerful, painful, completely absorbing television (and looks amazing on a flat screen instead of an old tube TV.)
6
Amazing stuff, if you are a Lynch fan. If you are just a Twin Peaks fan, then this was the weeder class (as if many previous episodes weren't). Hopefully, we won't be hearing from those whiners anymore. True Lynch fans only, from now on. It's so great that he is doing his vision without having to worry about satisfying the ratings mongers.
23
Soooooo sick of the "it's not art it's boring" crowd! Go find something simpler to love then, sheesh!
Thankyou, Mr Lynch.
Thankyou, Mr Lynch.
11
As Lynch himself said in a recent interview about the expressive possibilities open to cable television, "It's a beautiful thing." Thanks to Showtime for allowing Lynch and Frost to run away with themselves, unfettered.
14
It was just awful, the worst episode so far in a disappointing reboot of the series. At least we didn't have to endure the catatonic Dougie again.
Long gone is the humor that balanced the darkness in the original TP series.
The show feels more like a sequel to the incoherent movie Inland Empire.
Long gone is the humor that balanced the darkness in the original TP series.
The show feels more like a sequel to the incoherent movie Inland Empire.
5
Got a light?
8
I loved Inland Empire and own it on DVD.
1
Thanks for the synopsis. I've loved his work in the past, but gave up on the series by episode 6, with the introduction of the third nagging wife and (unfortunately) after the disappointment of the two women of color taking the form of mystical, self-sacrificing Asian woman, and unnecessarily naked black prostitute. (To say nothing of the unapologetic violence against sexed up women and the crass deployment of child death + howling mother--in case you didn't get yet that the world is dark.)
In short, before I work to figure out what an artist is trying to communicate, I prefer to be convinced that what it is is worth hearing, or at least novel. At a minimum, not the dull misogyny of old stereotypes.
These stereotypes and scenarios left me reluctant to read profundity into the director's mind. As brilliant as Lynch's tableau's can be, the reviewer is clearly grasping at straws to import some profound meaning onto them. I don't think the effort was earned by the series.
In short, before I work to figure out what an artist is trying to communicate, I prefer to be convinced that what it is is worth hearing, or at least novel. At a minimum, not the dull misogyny of old stereotypes.
These stereotypes and scenarios left me reluctant to read profundity into the director's mind. As brilliant as Lynch's tableau's can be, the reviewer is clearly grasping at straws to import some profound meaning onto them. I don't think the effort was earned by the series.
10
You seem to be describing the typical Millennial's struggle with trying to fit the work of a brilliant artist like Lynch with the obsessive boxing of artistic impulses into politically correct labels. It doesn't and will never work. If an artist is truthful in creating visual representations of his/her views of the world, there will always be moments of discomfort, simply because the human mind is a far from safe and comfortable place. It doesn't sound like you're ready to leave your trigger warning safe spaces quite yet.
26
I think you're right, there are problems and always have been with Lynch. But he also does some very special things and I ultimately think it's worth taking the rough with the smooth.
1
Poor thing, sorry that real artists don't issue trigger warnings! Time for you to explore your own subconscious to understand your frustration with reality as it really exists.
7
Can't figure out why Mr. C's gun didn't fire in the showdown with Ray. Mr. C clearly opened the chamber of the gun to check if it was loaded when he took it out of the glove compartment. Maybe I'm wrong, but it looked to me like there were bullets in the chambers. Also, how did Ray get hold of a gun? They both left directly from prison in the same car - Mr. C had told the warden to leave a gun in the glove compartment and I don't believe a second gun was mentioned. Mr. C would not have wanted Ray to be armed!
3
i thought it was a set-up against Ray. I didn't think for a second Mr. C was outsmarted.
but then again i didn't predict much of last night's episode!
but then again i didn't predict much of last night's episode!
1
I wonder if Ray had some kind of 2nd deal worked out with the warden, where he got a 2nd gun and also had Coop's gun disabled in advance. It would definitely benefit the warden if Evil Coop were offed.
7
Perhaps the warden made a deal with Ray. He could have given Ray a gun and filled Mr. C's with blanks. Also. I wonder how the warden is going to account for two of his prisoners escaping.
4
There's a really important plot point that's not mentioned here. Towards the end of the sequence where the shadow men are clawing Mr. C's body, there is a large translucent sac that rises out of Mr. C's stomach. The translucent sac contains a head with what appears to be Bob's face. So ... does that mean that Bob has left Mr. C? If so, would Mr. C have a reason to exist anymore? Stay tuned!
20
The shadow men probably put Bob back in Mr. C.
3
It's hard to say with certainty, but to me it looked like Bob's head was exiting Mr. C's stomach. We may (or may not) find out more about this in two weeks.
1
I was hoping this would mean that we would see the proper Agent Cooper completely come to live in Dougie! I think I saw Bob being pushed out of the doppelganger body. When the body is brought back to live at the very end of this episdoe, I think it is still possible that it might be Agent Cooper that know inhabits this body, and likely causing Dougie to drop dead or go back to his original persona. A nice cliffhanger for Lynch to leave us on for the next two weeks! At least we don't have to wait until a "next season" to get an answer here.
I commented to my son as we were watching last night that much of this reminded me of experimental cinema. All it needed was a sheep's eye being sliced by a razor.
Good and evil are in conflict. Unintended consequences have resulted. The good seed that contained an image of Laura Palmer seems to have been done in by evil. But has that just set a new set of mechanisms moving forward to develop and provide a counter to evil? We'll have to wait and see.
Good and evil are in conflict. Unintended consequences have resulted. The good seed that contained an image of Laura Palmer seems to have been done in by evil. But has that just set a new set of mechanisms moving forward to develop and provide a counter to evil? We'll have to wait and see.
3
I took her creation as the answer to BOB. Here they have a known Evil being unleashed on the world and a helpless humanity about to suffer if nothing is done. So the forces of the White Lodge create an entity that can ultimately stop BOB. She did. The only one who could take BOB head on and win by being incorruptible. All the things we think were a source of pleasure for her were a source of punishment to her. When forced to choose, she embraced death and nullification. That's what the owl cave ring represented. When she put it on she fully rejected BOB, so he killed her and thought he won. She has risen to some other plane now. Who knows what she'll return as since she is obviously more than just some ordinary human. Bob isn't going to like it I think. This is getting into Dune and kwisatz haderach type stuff. Also reminds me of the White Gold Wielder of Stephen R Donaldson who won by not wanting anything.
If you've read "The Secret History of Twin Peaks" the Roswell UFO crash figures large in the narrative connective tissue between the literal "otherworldly" and the town of "Twin Peaks". It might be worth noticing that it happened only two years after the atomic test in basically the exact same part of the world...
9
The many minutes inside the inferno of the atomic blast. I kept thinking, "Fire, Walk With Me...."
6
what if the woodsmen were created during the atom bomb test? i.e. they were regular people unaware the test was happening and they were fused with their evil dopelgangers at ground zero. That might explain their appearance and the "got a light" refrain by 'Abe'. I do like the log lady husband theory though.
7
I initially missed the direct story line of the atomic explosion being the US tests in the 40s. After getting that element it make sense, about as much as possible. Also, the flashes and persons dashing about the gas station makes sense to me as those (or all of us) who were damaged by the cellular level destruction of the nuclear fusion bomb, and those in Japan who suffered the nuclear bombing.
This whole episode gives us a flashback to the evil, chaos, destructive force unleashed in that time, that destroy both the fabric of existential physical forms and psychological moral structures of the world, unleashing untold distortions and evils like Bob.
This whole episode gives us a flashback to the evil, chaos, destructive force unleashed in that time, that destroy both the fabric of existential physical forms and psychological moral structures of the world, unleashing untold distortions and evils like Bob.
6
Oh, and too, the best line(s) "Got a light?", nice ironic referents back to the light of the nuclear test.
5
Lucifer literally means "light bringer".
1
Fission bomb
The rational part of me - the part that reads historical fiction novels and lives for character development and an engaging story - is in some ways impatient with this series. I want Lynch to get on with it. Good Coop needs to snap back into himself...Evil Coop needs to go back to the Black Lodge...more of the story needs to move along.
I have to force that part of me to take a back seat. And after 5 or so minutes into each episode, I'm immersed into the irrational, subconscious world of David Lynch. I'm just absorbing it, letting it wash over me and through me.
This week's episode was an assault. That's the only way I can put it. I was literally gasping with each new image and sound. I was caught up....horrified and thrilled at the same time. I felt I was experiencing something insane and beautiful and disturbing.
I'll definitely miss having a new episode next week, but I almost need these 14 days to recover. Maybe watch some old Twin Peaks episodes to cleanse the mental palate.
I have to force that part of me to take a back seat. And after 5 or so minutes into each episode, I'm immersed into the irrational, subconscious world of David Lynch. I'm just absorbing it, letting it wash over me and through me.
This week's episode was an assault. That's the only way I can put it. I was literally gasping with each new image and sound. I was caught up....horrified and thrilled at the same time. I felt I was experiencing something insane and beautiful and disturbing.
I'll definitely miss having a new episode next week, but I almost need these 14 days to recover. Maybe watch some old Twin Peaks episodes to cleanse the mental palate.
32
Shannon...terrific response. You have the open-mindedness necessary to glean the most out of Lynch.
3
People pay millions of dollars for Art. In the work of film, and I'm a simple layman- a viewer - what I've been witnessing in the first eight episodes is Mr. Lynch's artistic portrayal that in many ways symbolises a summary of many themes throughout his life's work. I find it fascinating and as someone who is a peer in age I admire his imagination and skill as a director still going strong - if not the strongest of his life IMO - and that energy inspires. People may complain they are 'confused' or they find the series disjointed but I intend to absorb every episode with an open mind and realize I may need to watch it several times to get a better idea of the nuance I'm obviously missing. While Mr. Lynch could probably care less, I sincerely hope his actors and he will be recognized during next year's award season. Remember this line, "What a long, strange trip this has been."
14
'Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.'
6
So, we created the evil of the Black Lodge by inventing nuclear power.
The Black Lodge creatures wreak havoc and destruction and despair, as that's what they came from and that's what they are.
Now, they want evil Coop to come back so they can share in his evil barf. That's why they revived him (so he can make it back alive) and are helping good Coop (so that he's the Coop that gets to stay in this realm).
Entertaining, but really not that profound...
The Black Lodge creatures wreak havoc and destruction and despair, as that's what they came from and that's what they are.
Now, they want evil Coop to come back so they can share in his evil barf. That's why they revived him (so he can make it back alive) and are helping good Coop (so that he's the Coop that gets to stay in this realm).
Entertaining, but really not that profound...
2
I am not sure DL is saying we created the Black Lodge in that atom test, but perhaps a barrier between this world and the world of the black lodge was breached during that test.
21
I think this is possible. The Black and White Lodges are ancient. It is possible that a barrier was broken. You can really go off the deep end on this if you read The Secret History of Twin Peaks.
1
When I saw the "woodsmen" come out to help the fallen Mr. C, the first thing that popped into my mind was: Those must be the "dugpas" Windom Earle was talking about. Sorcerers or magician's who did evil for evil's sake to align themselves with the Black Lodge. It seems that Mr. C has pulled a particularly powerful ace from his sleeve at a very critical time.
7
Wasn't there a similar "shadow man" behind the coffee shop in "Mulholland Drive"?
2
A great review, and not just because I was thinking similar things (haha).
I was looking forward to reading it this morning, to see what a critic would make of this phantasmagoric episode which I found to be intense and brilliant. I doubt many other critics will understand it like Noel Murray does.
I am familiar with the concept of shadow people, but the characters in Twin Peaks don't quite fit the mold. What I'm regularly reminded of is Carl Jung, who wrote of black figures that reach out from our subconscious.
One other note, I remembered that Agent Cole had a massive poster of a mushroom cloud behind his desk. Agent Cole knows more than he lets on.
I find this theme interesting because when I was young my mother worked for a company that took photos of nuclear explosions. The office was covered in large photos of mushroom clouds, which made a lasting impression on me.
I was looking forward to reading it this morning, to see what a critic would make of this phantasmagoric episode which I found to be intense and brilliant. I doubt many other critics will understand it like Noel Murray does.
I am familiar with the concept of shadow people, but the characters in Twin Peaks don't quite fit the mold. What I'm regularly reminded of is Carl Jung, who wrote of black figures that reach out from our subconscious.
One other note, I remembered that Agent Cole had a massive poster of a mushroom cloud behind his desk. Agent Cole knows more than he lets on.
I find this theme interesting because when I was young my mother worked for a company that took photos of nuclear explosions. The office was covered in large photos of mushroom clouds, which made a lasting impression on me.
22
Thanks for reminding us about the photo behind Gordon Cole's desk.
I and every review I read so far, missed that connection.
I and every review I read so far, missed that connection.
4
Remember that in an earlier episode, one of the photos on the FBI office wall is a large portrait of Franz Kafka.
1
I'd forgotten that. Thanks for the reminder.
1
This entire season has been glorious, but this episode was extraordinary. Perhaps even historic.
It made me feel the way I did in 1969, when I saw “2001” in its first run at the Seattle Cinerama. I was 13 years old back then, and I’ve since described the experience as the second most significant of my life.
I’m very grateful to Lynch, Frost and Showtime for making me feel that way once more. Right now, I’m living for these Sunday night broadcasts.
It made me feel the way I did in 1969, when I saw “2001” in its first run at the Seattle Cinerama. I was 13 years old back then, and I’ve since described the experience as the second most significant of my life.
I’m very grateful to Lynch, Frost and Showtime for making me feel that way once more. Right now, I’m living for these Sunday night broadcasts.
45
I'm enjoying the show and the comments, and I thought this review is perceptive give the short time for contemplation since the airing. I also agree the Lynch's ongoing punishment & ogling of women is deeply troubling and misogynistic - the ogling of the female FBI agent in this series is particularly ridiculous and excessive - and it is entirely Lynch's responsibility in directing, camera & editing choices.
I also wanted to expand on the last paragraph, on the experimental film references, as I program experimental films. The references are good, but Janie Geiser's films work in different ways. If you are particularly interested in the nature of the imagery that Lynch has used, especially after the atomic bomb test, some contemporary artists worth exploring (in addition to Tscherkassky) are Makino Takashi ( http://makinotakashi.net/ ), Semiconductor ( http://semiconductorfilms.com/ ) and Richard Tuohy and Diana Barrie ( http://www.nanolab.com.au/richard_tuohy.htm ).
I also wanted to expand on the last paragraph, on the experimental film references, as I program experimental films. The references are good, but Janie Geiser's films work in different ways. If you are particularly interested in the nature of the imagery that Lynch has used, especially after the atomic bomb test, some contemporary artists worth exploring (in addition to Tscherkassky) are Makino Takashi ( http://makinotakashi.net/ ), Semiconductor ( http://semiconductorfilms.com/ ) and Richard Tuohy and Diana Barrie ( http://www.nanolab.com.au/richard_tuohy.htm ).
1
It was historic (for me). Like I was part of something that will be remembered. I was there when T.V. changed for the better, because of David Lynch, again. I almost feel like I was one of the first people to see Un Chien Andalou.
2
On the experimental cinema links, I find it closer to Jan Švankmajer and the Brothers Quay than anything else. Skin-crawling, scratching, jerking scenes that exude an insectoid menace... In Absentia, the collaboration the Brothers Quay did with Stockhausen, feels very close to parts of this episode.