Part 17 (''Twin Peaks'')

"Part 17"
Twin Peaks episode
Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and Diane Evans (Laura Dern) stand in the Sheriff's station. Some reviewers pointed the superimposition of Cooper's face as indicative that the series was his dream.[1]
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 17
Directed by David Lynch
Written by David Lynch
Mark Frost
Featured music Angelo Badalamenti
Cinematography by Peter Deming
Editing by Duwayne Dunham
Original air date September 3, 2017 (2017-09-03)
Running time 59 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

"Part 17", also known as "The Return, Part 17", is the seventeenth episode of Twin Peaks revival series. It was written by Mark Frost and David Lynch and directed by Lynch. "Part 17" was broadcast on Showtime along with Part 18 on September 3, 2017, and seen by an audience of 254,000 viewers in the United States.[2] The episode received widespread acclaim.

Plot

The past dictates the future.

— Dale Cooper (used as a promotional tagline for the episode)

Background

The small town of Twin Peaks, Washington, has been shocked by the murder of schoolgirl Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and the attempted murder of her friend Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine). FBI special agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) has been sent to the town to investigate[3] and has come to the realization that the killer was the father of Laura, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), who acted while possessed by a demonic entity—Killer BOB (Frank Silva).[4] At the end of the original series, Cooper was trapped into the Black Lodge, an extra-dimensional place, by BOB, who let out Cooper's doppelgänger to use him as his physical access to the world.[5]

Twenty-five years after the events, Cooper manages to escape the Lodge by traveling through a portal between worlds; during this process, Cooper was supposed to replace the doppelgänger (now known as Mr. C), but instead he takes the place of a second doppelgänger (known as Douglas "Dougie" Jones), fabricated by the first as a decoy for the exchange. Mr. C, exhausted from the process, crashes his car and passes out, allowing the police to capture him;[6] he subsequently manages to escape, dividing his time between his search for access to "the Zone"[7] and organizing his minions' attempts to eliminate the now catatonic Dale Cooper, who is mistaken by Douglas Jones' family and colleagues as the original Dougie. After numerous attempts, Mr. C is given the coordinates from Diane Evans (Laura Dern), whom he raped in the past and substituted with a "Tulpa" (lodge manufactured copy of a human being) at his service; after confessing all of this to FBI and redirecting them to the Twin Peaks Sheriff Station, Diane is shot by Agent Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) and disposed in the Lodge by MIKE (Al Strobel).[8] In the meantime, Cooper awakens from a self-induced coma in full possession of his mental capacity, and after having said goodbye to Dougie's wife Janey-E (Naomi Watts) and son (Pierce Gagnon), leaves for Twin Peaks.[8]

Events

In Buckhorn, Gordon Cole (David Lynch), Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell) and Albert Rosenfield comment on the disappearance of Diane, with Gordon seemingly let down by his incapacity to shoot her; when Albert insinuates that Cole has gone soft with the age he replies "Not where it counts, buddy."[9] The three toast to the Bureau, and Gordon reveals to Albert that he kept something for 25 years from him: prior to his disappearance, Major Garland Briggs revealed to him and Cooper the existence of an entity initially named "Jowday", then over time renamed "Judy".[9] Agent Phillip Jeffries (originally interpreted by David Bowie) was also aware of the existence of this creature, and Cooper warned Gordon to find him in case he disappeared, stating that he was "trying to kill two birds with one stone."[9] Finally, he states that one of their paid informants, Ray Monroe (George Griffith), told them that the doppelgänger was searching for a set of coordinates. Gordon apologizes to Albert, who answers that he understands, to which Cole replies that he knows but is still sorry. Gordon doubts that the plan is succeeding, since they should already have heard from Cooper by that point; in that moment the phone rings, and Agent Randall Headley (Jay R. Ferguson) informs him that they caught up with Douglas Jones, and that although he left the hospital they have "the whole story". Bushnell Mullins (Don Murray) asks for and obtains the phone to read Dougie's message to Cole: "I am headed for Sheriff Truman's. It is 2:53 in Las Vegas, and that adds up to a ten, the number of completion."[9] Bushnell presents himself as Dougie's boss; Cole thanks him and replies that he is his boss as well. Upon hanging up, Gordon confusedly remarks that Dougie is Cooper; Tammy looks up Dougie's activities and states that she knows where he's headed.

In the Twin Peaks Sheriff Station, the drunk (Joe Adler) falls asleep and awakes again, which annoys Chad Broxford (John Pirruccello). Naido (Nae Yuuki) awakens and begins to produce sounds, to the astonishment of James Hurley (James Marshall) and Freddie Sykes (Jake Wardle); the drunk apes Naido, frustrating Chad. In the Great Northern Hotel, Benjamin Horne (Richard Beymer) receives a call from the Jackson Hole Police Department concerning his brother Jerry. Jerry was found completely naked in a field in Wyoming, stating that his binoculars killed somebody; since he is not charged with anything, an ashamed Ben promises to make arrangement for his return. In the woods outside of Twin Peaks, Mr. C reaches the coordinates he received from Diane, the same location where the expedition group found Naido.[10] A portal opens and Mr. C is transported to the building above the purple ocean, where he is immediately encaged. In the room there are Major Briggs' floating head and The Fireman (Carel Struycken); the screen shows the Palmer house, until the Fireman slowly waves his hand and the location changes to the Sheriff's station. An adjacent room full of bell-shaped contractions is shown. Mr. C turns into a bale of hay; the cage is moved into the screen through a golden contraption.

When Mr. C appears near the station, Naido senses it and screeches louder. Deputy Andy Brennan, outside with a picnic chest, welcomes Mr. C back as Cooper along with his wife Lucy (Kimmy Robertson); he proceeds to present him to Sheriff Frank Truman (Robert Forster), the brother of the former Sheriff and Cooper's best friend Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean). The drunk falls asleep again and Chad removes a key from his boot. Andy recalls a scene where he positions Lucy inside a corridor, which was shown to him by the Fireman;[10] he tells Lucy "Very important!"[9] and rushes through the corridor. Using the key, Chad opens the cell door and reaches the armory, as the drunk awakens again and begins screeching again. Sheriff Truman invites Mr. C inside, and Andy asks him if he wants a cup of coffee. Upon hearing a negative response, Andy leaves the room and goes searching for Deputy Chief Tommy "Hawk" Hill (Michael Horse). Chad loads a revolver and the drunk hastily peels the bandages over his face, touching the infected wound under it. Andy goes downstairs to the prison cells, where Chad points the revolver at him and starts berating him. Freddie punches the door open as Chad passes in front of it, knocking him out. Lucy answers the phone, and is startled when the interlocutor identifies himself.

In Truman's office, Mr. C states that he was brought back to Twin Peaks for "unfinished business;"[9] the phone rings, and in spite of Truman's request to take a message Lucy insists that "it's a very important phone call."[9] Truman answers and Cooper mistakes him for Harry; after Frank rectifies, Cooper presents himself, states that he's almost within Twin Peaks' city limits and asks if the coffee is on. Sensing that something is wrong, Mr. C draws his gun as does Frank. Before either of them pull the trigger, however, Lucy shoots and apparently kills Mr. C. Apparently grasping the events unfolding upstairs, Andy solicits everyone to follow him. Cooper advises Frank to stay away from the body; as Andy, James, Freddie and Naido arrive upstairs, Lucy greets her husband by noting that she understands cellular phones now. Hawk walks in the office, and expresses perplexity at the sight of Mr. C's corpse, especially when Frank tells him that Cooper said not to touch it. The room darkens and the woodsmen reach Mr. C's body in an attempt to revive him.

Cooper arrives at the station with Bradley (Jim Belushi) and Rodney Mitchum (Robert Knepper). Andy points him to the office, where BOB, in the form of an orb, has been released from Mr. C's corpse and is wandering through the room; upon seeing Cooper, the orb starts to attack him. Freddie yells at BOB to get his attention; when Cooper asks if he is Freddie Sykes, the boy answers affirmatively and states that "this is [his] destiny."[9] BOB begins attacking Freddie; despite being wounded, Freddie manages to punch the orb repeatedly, until it crashes through the ground. BOB comes out of the hole again, and Freddie punches the orb one last time, breaking it into pieces. Cooper reassures Freddie that he destroyed BOB and proceeds to place the Owl Cave ring on the ring finger of Mr. C's left hand. The corpse disappears, and the ring reappears in the Black Lodge. Cooper asks Frank for the key to his Great Northern Hotel room, much to the sheriff's surprise; Cooper explains that Major Briggs told him Sheriff Truman would have it, and takes the key.

Outside, Gordon, Tammy and Albert arrive at the station; as Cooper notices Naido, his face appears in superimposition on the screen. Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) enters the office and asks what is going on; Cooper states that Major Briggs, Bobby's father, was already aware of the events that are happening in that moment, and reveals that information gathered by the Major brought the two of them to form a plan with Gordon Cole, who enters the station at that moment. Tammy and Albert follow him, as well as Candie (Amy Shiels), Mandie (Andrea Leal) and Sandie (Giselle DaMier), the Mitchum Brothers' assistants. Cooper states that some things will change, and that "the past dictates the future;"[9] he asks Frank to give Harry his regards. Naido approaches Cooper and touches his face. Her head is enveloped by a cloud of black smoke, and the Black Lodge appears on her face and in the background. Naido's face opens up revealing a black substance; after she disappears, a black orb framed in an irregular organic structure flutters in the Red Room. As Diane's face appears in the orb, the real Diane appears in the Sheriff's station. Cooper and Diane kiss, and she tells him that she remembers everything; the two of them and everyone else in the room turn to look at the clock on the wall, where the minute hand switches continuously back and forth between 2:52 and 2:53. The superimposed face of Cooper states "We live inside a dream"[9] as Cooper in the room expresses his hope to see everyone present again. The room goes dark, Cooper calls for Gordon and Gordon responds by calling Cooper's name back. The superimposed face disappears.

Cooper, Diane and Gordon appear in the darkness and walk through the Great Northern's furnace room, encountering a continuous hum. They arrive in front of a door, which Cooper opens using the key Sheriff Truman gave him. Cooper asks Diane and Gordon not to follow him inside; Gordon says goodbye to him, and Cooper tells him that he'll see them "at the curtain call."[9] Cooper walks into the darkness; he meets MIKE, who recites the "Fire Walk with Me" chant. They are transported to the room above the convenience store; they walk through a dark corridor and up a staircase, and as they disappear the Jumping Man (Carlton Lee Russell) follows them upstairs. MIKE leads Cooper through the Dutchman's motel into the room of Phillip Jeffries (voiced by Nathan Frizzell), who is now enclosed in a bell-shaped steam-spouting machine. Cooper asks Phillip about the date February 23, 1989, which Jeffries promises to find in the place he's in. Jeffries says that it's good to see Cooper again, and tells him to say hello to Gordon, who will remember "the official version."[9] He tells him that there he will find Judy, and warns him that someone will be there; he asks if Cooper asked him "this,"[9] after which the figure engraved in the Owl cave and on the ring comes out of the steam. The figure breaks in three parts and reconstitutes in a number 8, which turns on itself; a brown point on the figure travels from one side of the number to the other. Jeffries enjoins Cooper to "remember;"[9] MIKE says "Electricity"[9] and Cooper is transported out of the room.

On February 23, 1989, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) observes from his window as a young James Hurley picks up Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) on his motorbike. The two stop in the woods; Agent Cooper appears and hides behind a tree. Laura and James declare their love for each other and begin to make out, but soon stop as Laura deliriously mentions that someone may try to kill James; spotting someone in the woods, Laura screams and Cooper pulls back. Laura turns cold and callous towards James, stating that his Laura is gone and rejecting his advances. As the two drive back on the motorcycle, Laura falls off and refuses James' help; embracing him, Laura screams "I love you James,"[9] and runs away into the woods, as he drives away. Leo Johnson (Eric DaRe), Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine) and Jacques Renault (Walter Olkewicz) wait for Laura at the end of the woods, but she encounters Cooper instead; although dubious of him at first, she recognizes him from a dream, and takes his hand when he extends it towards her. Laura's body disappears from the Blue Pine Lodge and Cooper tells Laura that they are going home.

On February 24, 1989, Josie Packard (Joan Chen) fixes her make-up in the Martell household. Pete Martell (Jack Nance) kisses his wife Catherine (Piper Laurie) and tells her that he is going to fish, which he does as Laura's corpse is missing from the shore. In the present, inside the Palmer house, Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) wails and tries to break her daughter's portrait by hitting it with a bottle; in spite of being hit several times, the photo does not break. Cooper leads Laura Palmer through the woods of Twin Peaks; he hears a mechanical sound, and she suddenly disappears with a scream. In the Roadhouse, Julee Cruise sings "The World Spins" accompanied by the Chromatics.

Production

"Part 17", like the rest of the limited series, was written by Mark Frost and David Lynch and directed by Lynch himself.[11] Frost had already written ten episodes of the original series — the "Pilot" and Episodes 1, 2 and 8 with Lynch, plus Episodes 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 26 and the original series finale, Episode 29. Lynch also directed six episodes of the original series — the "Pilot", "Episode 2", "Episode 8", "Episode 9", "Episode 14" and "Episode 29".[12] Footage from the "Pilot" episode and the movie "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" was used in the course of the episode; some scenes from the pilot were edited to delete Laura's corpse, while the only modification made to the excerpts from the film was to eliminate the soundtrack and color grade them in black and white. The episode is dedicated to the memory of Jack Nance, who appears through archive footage in this episode.

Music

Almost every episode of the 2017 Twin Peaks series featured a live performance by various bands at the Roadhouse. In this episode, American Dream Pop singer Julee Cruise performs her song "The World Spins" accompanied by the Chromatics. Among the various artists, Cruise is the only one that had already exhibited at the Roadhouse during the original series; this song in particular was performed in the final scene of Episode 14. The scene in which Cooper leads Laura through the woods is underscored by Angelo Badalamenti's iconic Laura Palmer's Theme; formerly a staple of the series, the theme was only used twice during the limited series.

Reception

"Part 17" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode received a 95% rating with an average score of 8.3 out of 10 based on 21 reviews.[13]

Writing for IndieWire, Hanh Nguyen awarded the episode an "A," theorizing that "the ghostly overlay of Cooper’s face fills the screen as the action plays out" puts "the entire season up to this point inside of his dream" and stating that "the dream was sweet while it lasted." She ultimately praised the finale as a whole as a "brilliant and no doubt controversial ending for a show that had come back after 25 years to leave fans wanting yet again."[1] In her similarly positive review of the episode, The A.V. Club's Emily L. Stephens gave the episode an "A-" stating that the episode "sets itself up as the answer to the questions Twin Peaks poses," and that the battle scene in the Sheriff's station "highlights the futility of relying on traditional story structure in telling a tale as abstract and enigmatic as this."[14]

The New York Times' Noel Murray gave the episode a positive review, saying that he "personally loved" the episode and defining certain scenes as "pure televised poetry," while recognizing some validity to the fans' annoyance over "the elliptical nature of the finale."[15] In his recap for Entertainment Weekly, Jeff Jensen favourably compared the episode and its follower to Lynch's own Lost Highway, ultimately praising the series as a whole as Lynch's "do-over at a big saga fantasy, produced at a length and rich with the poetic abstraction that he couldn’t get from a Hollywood feature film."[16]

References

  1. 1 2 Nguyen, Hanh (September 4, 2017). "'Twin Peaks' Finale Review: David Lynch Steps Outside of the Dream for a Brilliant, Mindbending Final Journey". IndieWire. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  2. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (September 6, 2017). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.3.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  3. ↑ David Lynch (writer and director); Mark Frost (writer) (April 8, 1990). "Pilot". Twin Peaks. Season 1. Episode 1. ABC.
  4. ↑ Tim Hunter (director); Mark Frost (writer) (December 1, 1990). "Episode 16". Twin Peaks. Season 2. Episode 9. ABC.
  5. ↑ David Lynch (director); Mark Frost (writer); Harley Peyton (writer); Robert Engels (writer) (June 6, 1990). "Episode 29". Twin Peaks. Season 2. Episode 22. ABC.
  6. ↑ David Lynch (director & writer); Mark Frost (writer) (May 28, 2017). "Part 3". Twin Peaks. Season 3. Episode 3. Showtime.
  7. ↑ David Lynch (director & writer); Mark Frost (writer) (July 9, 2017). "Part 9". Twin Peaks. Season 3. Episode 9. Showtime.
  8. 1 2 David Lynch (director & writer); Mark Frost (writer) (August 27, 2017). "Part 16". Twin Peaks. Season 3. Episode 16. Showtime.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 David Lynch (director & writer); Mark Frost (writer) (September 3, 2017). "Part 17". Twin Peaks. Season 3. Episode 17. Showtime.
  10. 1 2 David Lynch (director & writer); Mark Frost (writer) (August 14, 2017). "Part 14". Twin Peaks. Season 3. Episode 14. Showtime.
  11. ↑ "Twin Peaks- Part 1 (1990) – Full Cast and Crew". IMDb. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  12. ↑ "David Lynch movies, photos, movie reviews, filmography, and biography". AllRovi. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Twin Peaks - The Return, Episode 17". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  14. ↑ Stephens, Emily L. (September 4, 2017). "One last time, Twin Peaks takes your hand and walks you into the dark". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  15. ↑ Murray, Noel (September 4, 2017). "Twin Peaks' Season 3 Finale: The Curtain Call". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  16. ↑ Jensen, Jeff (September 11, 2017). "Twin Peaks finale recap: 'The Return: Parts 17 and 18'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
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