Twin Peaks premiere “The Return: Parts One And Two” review

Twin Peaks makes its triumphant return to television tonight with bigger mysteries and even more drama.

While the original show spent almost all of its time within or around the fictional small town, “The Return: Parts One And Two” spend a good chunk expanding the story into different locations. While a few familiar faces pop up in the premiere, “The Return: Parts One And Two” sets up plenty of new characters while slowly peeling away at the overarching story for the season.

The most important revelation is that BOB is still walking around as Coop’s doppelgänger and wreaking havoc on the world. With a pretty terrible haircut and attitude, BOB has assembled a sketchy team of criminals to assist him on his villainous path. What’s his endgame? It’s a little unclear at this point but “The Return: Parts One And Two,” does put some pressure on the demonic force to figure out his plan quickly before he is sucked back into the Black Lodge.

Over in the ever creepy Lodge, the real Agent Cooper is still trapped twenty-five years later. Mirroring one of the most iconic scenes of the series, Laura Palmer (still played by Sheryl Lee) walks over to him and whispers something in his ear. Afterward, she is shaken violently before being teleported right out of the room.

Image Credit: Showtime

She’s not the only Palmer that Coop runs into, Leland is also sitting around and begging the FBI Agent to find his daughter. Even though Laura’s murder was solved in season two, it wouldn’t be Twin Peaks without the repercussions of the infamous killing continuing to have effect in this season.

Since Michael J. Anderson and David Lynch aren’t  best of pals anymore, it makes sense that his character, The Man From Another Place, has also been replaced with an ominous electricity-wielding stick that has either a talking piece of chewed gum on its branch or an oddly shaped brain.

This new being warns Coop that he won’t be able to leave the Lodge until BOB returns which heightens the stakes for our hero even more. Of course, this turns out not to be entirely true because the stick’s evil doppelgänger sends Coop sailing right into a glass case in New York City. While “The Return: Parts One And Two,” spends a lot of time in New York, I still have no idea what the meaning of the scenes there are. Nevertheless, Coop is sent there right before a young couple is murdered for hooking up rather than working.

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They aren’t the only casualties of this premiere episode because Twin Peaks strikes again with a double homicide in South Dakota. The death of a librarian and unidentified man disturbs local law enforcement, especially after the local school principal (played by Matthew Lillard) is arrested.

While he swears that it was only a dream, his wife seems more than happy to let him rot in jail. It’s later revealed that he is possessed by some demonic force, while his wife is working for BOB. Unfortunately for her, the evil Coop kills her after he’s done with her, presumably because she’s the actual murderer, not her husband.

While there are plenty of new characters to examine, Twin Peaks rewards loyal fans with scenes from some of their favorite people as well. Lucy and Deputy Andy are still the lovable perky couple while Hawk is (still??) a Deputy at the Sheriff’s department. He receives a few calls from “The Log Lady,” who senses that something evil is coming back to their small town.

Catherine Coulson seemed to have filmed those scenes before her death recently making it a touching but sad send-off for a truly beloved character. Near the end of “The Return: Parts One And Two,” Twin Peaks finally takes us to the Bang Bang Bar where we get our first look at James, Shelly, and one of the new characters played by Jessica Szohr.

James is an interesting character to bring back considering he was reviled by fans but it seems like he’ll continue to do his silent brooding in the revival. However, as a massive fan of Riverdale, I was excited to see Madchen Amick return to her roots and as a sane mother!

Next: Twin Peaks a mystery even to the actors

The mystery of Laura Palmer’s killer may have been solved but David Lynch has gathered together even greater stories for this season. “The Return: Parts One And Two,” may have been a little bit all over the place, but will undoubtedly begin to come together as the season progresses. Will the season finale be a showdown between BOB and Coop?

What does the evil doppelgänger tree want? And did Shelly get her happy ever after? Finally, will David Lynch ever throw viewers a bone with some spoilers here and there? Probably not, but nonetheless “The Return: Parts One And Two” was an excellent reintroduction to the series as well as beautifully shot.

Tune in next week for even more craziness and sound off in the comments below with your theories.