For a majority of this season, David Lynch was gone from the writers' room, having decided to leave after the resolution of the Laura Palmer storyline, although he still appeared in the show as Gordon Cole in subsequent episodes. However, as the show was drawing to a close and it was clear that they were not going to be able to continue, Lynch agreed to come back and direct a finale to the season, in hopes that it would generate enough buzz to save the show from cancellation, which is obviously didn't. The script was penned by Mark Frost, Harley Peyton, and Robert Engels, but Lynch apparently heavily altered the script, especially the scenes that take place inside the red room. A lot of characters were added, and Lynch was keen on making it feel more like the thing that he had been setting up in the first season, despite the writers of the season taking it in a bit of a different direction. It has since become quite famous for its cliffhanger ending, which was not resolved until the 2017 continuation gave the entire show some closure. Watching this episode, it's so clear to see that this season lacked that Lynch influence throughout, because this is a great episode, the likes of which has not been prominent ever since the closing of the Laura Palmer storyline. This serves a good capper for the season, closing out some storylines, yet it also works as a visual masterpiece, with Lynch going full Lynch at the end.
It's very clear that Lynch was keen on getting the stuff he wasn't interested in out of the way quickly. He puts a lit on the Nadine and Donna storylines pretty quickly, then spends a bit more time getting into the whole thing about Andrew and the safety deposit box, which is also only given a few minutes of screen time. All of this are part of storylines that have been frustratingly bearing down on the show, so the fact that Lynch only really devotes a few minutes for that felt like a breathe of fresh air off the bat.
After all that is done with, that's when we get the meat of the episode, which is mostly set in the Black Lodge. All of these scenes are filled with delicious Lynch weirdness and feels like a blast from the past, with characters that we haven't seen in a long time coming back to deliver all of what we came to love about the show originally. It's also Lynch's opportunity to just go crazy with his own sensibilities and deliver some of his trademark horror elements with stunning results and many nightmares that would haunt me for weeks after this.
However, what transpires in there is also a great visual depiction of good vs. Evil. A lot of it is shown through Cooper literally running away from everything he's seeing in there and at some point being chased by his evil doppelganger. No one matches Lynch when it comes to visual storytelling, and especially in this show, he has shown a great energy and devotion to showing it through the visuals. The creation of the Black Lodge is a huge achievement, both in terms of the aesthetics, but also just the production design element which is quite the astonishing feat.
The show famously ended on a big cliffhanger, and looking back on it, it seems right in a poetic way that this was a storyline that we wouldn't get the answers to until 25 years after the fact. Having Cooper being possessed by BOB at the end also ends the show on a big sour note, showing us that even the best of us can be taken over by evil. It may not have been Lynch's original intentions, but watching it now, it comes across as a great metaphor for always being aware of the evil, because it takes everyone.
"Episode 29" ends the original run of "Twin Peaks," which had been marked with great success and a great fall from grace with virtually everyone. This episode brings back the surrealism and the Lynchian elements that made everyone fall in love with the show in the first place, ending it on the best possible note.
It's very clear that Lynch was keen on getting the stuff he wasn't interested in out of the way quickly. He puts a lit on the Nadine and Donna storylines pretty quickly, then spends a bit more time getting into the whole thing about Andrew and the safety deposit box, which is also only given a few minutes of screen time. All of this are part of storylines that have been frustratingly bearing down on the show, so the fact that Lynch only really devotes a few minutes for that felt like a breathe of fresh air off the bat.
After all that is done with, that's when we get the meat of the episode, which is mostly set in the Black Lodge. All of these scenes are filled with delicious Lynch weirdness and feels like a blast from the past, with characters that we haven't seen in a long time coming back to deliver all of what we came to love about the show originally. It's also Lynch's opportunity to just go crazy with his own sensibilities and deliver some of his trademark horror elements with stunning results and many nightmares that would haunt me for weeks after this.
However, what transpires in there is also a great visual depiction of good vs. Evil. A lot of it is shown through Cooper literally running away from everything he's seeing in there and at some point being chased by his evil doppelganger. No one matches Lynch when it comes to visual storytelling, and especially in this show, he has shown a great energy and devotion to showing it through the visuals. The creation of the Black Lodge is a huge achievement, both in terms of the aesthetics, but also just the production design element which is quite the astonishing feat.
The show famously ended on a big cliffhanger, and looking back on it, it seems right in a poetic way that this was a storyline that we wouldn't get the answers to until 25 years after the fact. Having Cooper being possessed by BOB at the end also ends the show on a big sour note, showing us that even the best of us can be taken over by evil. It may not have been Lynch's original intentions, but watching it now, it comes across as a great metaphor for always being aware of the evil, because it takes everyone.
"Episode 29" ends the original run of "Twin Peaks," which had been marked with great success and a great fall from grace with virtually everyone. This episode brings back the surrealism and the Lynchian elements that made everyone fall in love with the show in the first place, ending it on the best possible note.