What I’m Watching: Twin Peaks (Series Return)

Twin Peaks: Season 3, Episodes 1 and 2 “The Return – Parts 1 and 2” (C+)

I have a lot to say about this very lengthy premiere. I got into this show probably about a decade ago, and it may not have been my smartest choice not to brush up on what I remembered from the first two seasons. I also didn’t finish the second season since I got tired of it once it got relatively off-track and wasn’t all that interested in how it was going to end. I went to read a recap of these two episodes to provide some more clarity on what happened over the course of what felt like two never-ending hours, and I’ll say that it didn’t help at all. What I used to love about this show was its stylized soapiness and the way some supernatural cleverness played into it, particularly when invoked by the incomparable Dale Cooper. Unfortunately, this opening double-header focused much more of the parts of the show that I really didn’t like, with its severe creepiness and things that just don’t make any sense. So much of this episode took place in that room with the subtitled language, and we even got to see Laura ripped away in a horrible fashion that will be hard to get out of my head. Kyle MacLachlan is playing a very different character, a formidable villain who killed a handful of people in these episodes, and he was joined by some interesting new faces, particularly Madeline Zima from “Californication” and Jane Adams from “Hung.” I also enjoyed the brief appearance by David Lynch regular Patrick Fischler, and I missed most of the cameos from former stars of this show. I’d love to be into this show, but seeing a severed head that doesn’t match the body it was placed above underscores the show’s disturbing nature more than anything else. If I don’t see more of what I used to like about this show in the third hour, I’m not sure I’ll proceed to the fourth.