I presumed the song was deliberately awful.

I've found avoiding spoilers via Twitter/Facebook the hardest as I follow the official Twin Peaks account and a bunch of fan sites, all of whom usually rush to post screenshots and discussion posts moments after the end of the show. The episodes come out Monday lunchtime over here (which is Sunday night in the US) and we usually watch them Monday night, so I just have to try to remember not to check that stuff during that time.

I listened to an interview with the guy who co-wrote 'No Stars.' He said he did the original master and a re-master version for the song on one of Rebekah's solo records. And he said the version in the episodes was "unmastered." Whatever that means.

I'm a little worried that Lynch is sick or something. Tein Peaks: The Return has been a true magnum opus. He's pulled influences from all over his life and career. His art work is referenced and reused all over the place. The show has used the past to go to unexpected and unpredictable new places. It's almost like he knew he'd never make anything again. Like he needed to tie everything together and say goodbye. It's amazing and awe inspiring and unsettling, too.

I sure hope that isn't the case. I just discovered his world back in January. I want more. If he is sick, the same thing happened to me with Bowie. I started listening to him and became a big fan three months before he died.

And somewhat related I finally watched my first non-Twin Peaks Lynch film a few nights ago with Eraserhead (which I loved!).

Tonight's episode:

Spoiler: show

- I love how every idea everyone had about how Audrey would be once she finally came back was completely wrong. I'm extremely curious to find out how she ended up in the situation she is in.
- So Cole's French lady friend: am I sensing some code like his "mother's sister's girl" from FWWM, with her very extended exit?

Excited to hear your thoughts about Eraserhead and any others you watch, parasol.

I have oh so many thoughts and feelings about this episode...

Spoiler: show

Holy shit! I don't even know where to begin really. I guess the most striking thing about Part 12 for me is the pace. It's slow and deliberate to a comically frustrating level. Each scene is overlong and methodical. But what I just absolutely adore about that is Lynch's trademark subversion of expectation. None of the scenes actually "pay off" in a traditional sense. They are long and slow but the actually information, the stuff we're supposedly waiting for, is never revealed.

We get a bit more info on what a "Blue Rose Case" actually is and we get confirmation on who the players in these cases actually are.
But that's all Frost/Lynch are interested in providing. I can't be the only person who noticed Diane walking through a red curtain to a scene of three people sitting in couches and chairs. My mind was already in the Red Room way before she said "Let's Rock." Which gave me all the feels, by the way. I was shaking (from fear or excitement, though?)

Speaking of subversions.... um, Audrey Horne?! That was a master stroke. Everyone was expecting some sort of massive reveal and they got... that. It was completely amazing. That scene, Audrey's scene, is the best example of what I mentioned before. It's the longest scene, the slowest, the most deliberate -- there's even a goddamn rotary phone for christ's sake! As if that scene wasn't long enough. But again, the viewers patience is rewarded with... nothing. Charlie, Chuck, Tina, Billy... we have no context. We have no backstory. We have no idea what's going on. We never get to hear the other side of Charlie's phone call. At the end of the scene,
all we know is that Audrey is in a sham marriage and maybe fucking some guy named Billy. It's been 26 years. Audrey has clearly changed. But we have no idea how or what it might mean.

Cole's French woman was either just hilarious or another code. Time will have to tell on that one. But the scene that followed broke my heart. I love Albert so much. The fact that Miguel died before it aired gives all of his scenes so much weight. And Cole's "I worry about you, Albert" becomes so much more painful and foreboding.

The final scene is more of the same. Endless information that adds up to nothing so far. If it had been anyone but Lynch directing,
I think I'd feel more frustrated and angry than curious and emotional. I'm willing to be patient. Mostly because in the silences there was so much humor. The scenes were often awkward, which made me focus in on myself and how I was feeling. I found myself laughing unexpectedly at times. But I also found myself tied up in knots. That long lingering shot of the Turkey Jerky had me terrified.
I don't know what I expected to see... but I didn't want to see it.

Which leads me to Sarah Palmer. Poor Sarah... did anyone else notice how much like Laura she was behaving? Her mannerisms,
her rhythm, her vocal deliveries, her side eye. Grace was channeling Sheryl in a profound way. It was equally beautiful and ugly.
And I need to know what the fuck is going on at the Palmer house. Was someone in the kitchen? Why are the fans back on?

Each episode of The Return has contained a motif. Sometimes it's chairs, sometimes it's shoes, sometimes it's not something physical at all but a theme or idea. This one was no different. This one was about patience. It was about mystery. It was about long, deliberate, frustrating and unknowable scenes that resulted in nothing by way of information. Another great joke is that this one probably features more time with the original Twin Peaks-ers than any other episode but what did we really learn? At least Tammy came out smelling like a Blue Rose.

Yep yep yep!

Ditto.

Maybe we should have a David Lynch thread?

We probably should. I enjoy the organic turns towards his career as a whole that this thread often take, but we're probably losing out on a lot of non Twin Peaksparticipants who want to steer clear of the thread for fear of spoilers.

Really enjoyed your post, Joey. You put a lot of what I meant into words when I used the phrase "slow burns."

Re: that first scene:

Spoiler: show

I immediately noticed the red curtains. So many shots of them behind Tammy as Blue Rose is being explained to her. Very Cooper-esque.

Likewise. In addition, I didn't make the connection that Sarah is acting like Laura. That fact alone adds so much gravity to an already heavy, heavy scene.

PS - I'll start up a David Lynch thread and talk about what I though about Eraserhead!

The Sarah scenes were among the most striking and harrowing things in this series yet.

Something was definitely very off-kilter with the Audrey scene but I can't put my finger on what. It had a weird and stagey feel, quite distinct from the rest of the series, but I don't know if that's intended to signify something or just a function of her acting and her not joining filming until late in production, etc.

Also, I found the Albert, Cole and Cole's friend scene to be among the laugh-out-loud funniest things in this so far.

SHE DIDN'T GET IT EITHER.

BEING FRENCH, IT DIDN'T TRANSLATE.

Totally agree. My wife was really bugged by that scene. It was among the several times this season that she's leaned over to me and whispered something like, "fucking David Lynch, man... sometimes it really feels like he hates women."

I thought it was a marvelous scene. Among my favorites in the entire episode.

I just rewatched Part 12 and I was struck by a few things:

Spoiler: show

- In the opening scene with Cole and Gordon asking Tammy to join the Blue Rose task force, I started to wonder what the significance was of pointing out that they are having wine. It dawned on me that the most obvious scenario would be the last supper. We already have a very obvious Judas (Diane) entering the room. Then with Tammy front and center she would be in the Christ position which would suggest A) She's going to die, B) she is going to sacrifice herself to save someone else, C) she'll be sucked into the Black Lodge.
- If the teenage girl from Part 8 is indeed Sarah Palmer, I think her "episode" in the grocery store makes more sense. The FWWM music starts when she says, "were you here when they got here?". The cashier believes that she was talking about when the jerky was delivered to the store. I think at this point Sarah is confusing the grocery store with the convenience store that The Woodsmen inhabited when she was a child. Looking at her speech in this light adds a whole other level of terror and fear to the scene.
- And speaking of The Woodsmen . . . Has anyone pointed out how similar Dr. Jacoby's set-up is to the radio station from Part 8? It seems like a great location for a new speech from dirty Abraham Lincoln.

I've almost caught up! One episode to go.

Solid Sarah observation, monster in the parasol.

Totally agree. But I'd go one step further and say that it still totally works even if Sarah isn't the girl from Part 8. Let's not forget her final appearance in the original series.