Also, nearly every scene in this ep could be submitted

I've gotten so used to modern television dramas only being 8-10 episodes per season (or even less than that if you're Luther) that I assumed the TPTR's return was only 10 as well, and I was fully satisfied after episode 8 that I didn't even care if the last two episodes hit that same high mark. And I was actually kinda satisfied with what I thought was the conclusion. But realizing that we're only a little way through is that same feeling from Castlevania where the castle gets flipped upside down. Like, I wanna send David Lynch an Edible Arrangements or something to show my appreciation.

I'd also like to say what a pleasure it's been discussing The Return on here with y'all. My non-poe friends and I never got to see TP while it was TV phenomenon and only experienced it with the critical lens of a good decade's worth of film theory and and the expected copycats, so to hear it being critiqued by folks who were in the position to critique it in the first place is downright awesome to me. Like, I wanna send POETV a NatureBox or something to show my appreciation.

If only we still had poe-news.

There's a lot of Twin Peaks fan vlogs right now. My favorite is WOWLYNCHWOW, a nice weekly recap, done with panache and decent production. If I post them one at a time, will they get voted up? I think they would be good for discussion.

You have my sword.

Count me in, JHM.

yep! Forgot to star too

Stay Tuned Kids! Twin Peaks will be back after these messages!

I have a serious urge to edit the old soundtracks into these episodes. "Laura's Theme" over a weepy Matthew Lillard? C'mon, who wouldn't want to see that?

I'm finding that the absence is making it hit all the harder when it appears, for sure. Laura's Theme when Bobby sees all the evidence out on the table earlier in the season, the quiet background music when Bushnell Mullins is figuring out Dougie's notes on the insurance case files, and Badalamenti's "Heartbreak" at the end of this most recent episode have all been just superb.

I love the way that ,without a word, and without getting excited about it, Albert just steps up and grimly pulls Gordon back from the edge, and then neither man mentions Gordon's close call again

Slowly seeing the extent to which these two know about what's going on, and what exactly is involved in Blue Rose, is excellent. I mean, Cole didn't get particularly excited about that sky vortex, but we hadn't seen anything like that as viewers (that I can recall anyway). They seem just about as in-the-know as the Major, in a lot of ways -- which makes sense given at least Cole's apparent involvement with Listening Post Alpha. (I haven't read Secret History yet, but have picked up some bits and pieces).

These guys know what they're doing. Every bit we get to see that is great.

I've read through Secret History and, to be honest, it really doesn't shed too much light on this season. 70% of the book is basically a re-telling of weird American history, very little of which is fictional. It spends a lot of time on the story of how L Ron Hubbard originally hooked up with the OTO and the American rocket engineer Robert Parsons and all the bizarre shit he got into which, amazingly enough, is all 100% real; no embellishment needed. (on a side note, this is, to me, one of the most amazing stories about Hubbard that is generally not known by most people)
The implication is that many strange things about American history and it's connected to UFO phenomena is tied to weird shit in Twin Peaks and why Major Briggs was there in the town in the first place. But nothing is really explained. And, since Frost already has a book scheduled for release once Season 3 is over, I am assuming that there won't be any real, coherent story conclusion here, which is disappointing to a certain extent.
It's also worth noting that Season 3 seems to be, at least to a certain extent, taking the deleted material from TP and FWWM (which was released on the "Whole Story" TP box set) and considering it as canon, even though I'm sure a lot of people haven't seen it. I know that a lot of TP is just supposed to be surreal and unexplained and I'm sure Frost/Lynch don't have an answer for everything, which is fine, but I get the impression in making S3 they kinda forgot that not everyone lives inside their heads and doesn't know all the lore and untold stuff the way they do.

Hearing about the heavy UFO element in TSHotP from you and from other folks, it seems kind of odd. I have to wonder how much at least some of that angle is supposed to hint at being screen memories or something similar for Lodge-related activity. I'll have to chime back in once I've read it, hopefully soon.

I definitely appreciate the Hubbard / Parsons / OTO angle; I first encountered that in a quite good biography of Parsons called Sex & Rockets.

I'm all for weird American history, for sure, but it does seem strange that not a lot of it seems to relate. On the other hand, someone on the TP subreddit linked the Woodsmen in part 8 to the woodsmen who died in the "Night of the Burning River" event recounted in the book, and honestly that does seem like a pretty solid connection. So it seems like there is some amount of background info linked up, but not really anything explained, as you said. Which, agreed, is kind of, considering that up to S3, the lore of TP hasn't really been much of an issue, and is still kind of a joke considering Lynch's whole methodology. I was very surprised by, but really love, how much of FWWM is tying into The Return; it's much more surprising to me that The Missing Pieces appears to be at least partially canon, though again, what's canonicity in TP anyway?

I know we've got the Final Dossier coming after the season ends, apparently detailing what everyone in TP was up to in the intervening 25 years; I really hope it's just a final cherry on top, and that The Return wraps everything up on its own. As absolutely fucking amazing as it is, I would much rather it definitively end (or as definitively as it ever would, anyway) than go on longer than it needed to.

Part of the reason the lore is so confusing is that it's X-Files nonsense hidden beneath a layer of surrealist filmmaking and the occasional incompetence that happens in all TV. That's a lot of degrees separation from any kind of reality we could relate to, which is why Twin Peaks is usually at its best when it's focusing on character moments and beautiful images, and not trying too hard to make sense of itself.

My wife summed it up really well when she said, after watching Episode 8, that the frustrating thing about David Lynch is he's sometimes symbolic and sometimes abstract, and he shifts between the two modes seemingly at random. Which is which? Is the nuke a symbol, an expansion of the Twin Peaks mythos, a mood piece, or some combination? What about Dougie's transformation into a pearl? Lynch's saving grace is that he genuinely has memorable images to share, plus the technical ability to execute most of it very well. Folks, that ain't nothin'!

Anyway, this is a conversation for another vid.

I should clarify that wasn't trying to talk shit about the book. It's a fun read and I'm a sucker for books that are presented as dossiers or diaries or whatever. It's a cool book and it kinda sets the stage for what kind of a guy Cole is behind the scenes and it does sprinkle some TP details into it and why there is the Briggs/UFO connection to Twin Peaks/Owl Cave. I'm just saying it does very little to actually bridge the 25 year gap. If the next book does that then I'm all for it.

The ending that I'm expecting is about Laura...

I'm a huge sucker for dossier / epistolic books too, that's a major selling point on TSHoTP for me too. Thanks for the info on it though, StanleyPain!

Unrelated to that, it's crazy how amped up the cryptic, single-sentence episode synopses can get me for this show. Especially tomorrow's (episode 12): "Let's Rock"

Never have two words inspired so much hype in me.