Twin Peaks: ‘Part 17’ And ‘Part 18’ Review

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from ‘Twin Peaks,’ both the original seasons and ‘The Return.’

 

After a 25-year wait and an 18-part revival, Twin Peaks is over. Sudden and heartbreaking—but that’s where Twin Peaks all started; it was centered around the death of homecoming queen Laura Palmer. With that, the finale did, for many, leave something to be desired.

 

“Part 17” was great—perhaps the best episode of the 18-parter. Agent Cooper returned to the Sheriff’s station in Twin Peaks, but not before his counterpart Evil Cooper—who for some reason was transported there by The Fireman, perhaps because he knew it would be the end of BOB. Andy and Lucy were excited to see “Cooper,” though they noticed something was off about him (the fact that he declined coffee gave everything away).

 

Sheriff Truman (the new one, sorry) was suspicious as well, and when the real Agent Cooper—en route with the Mitchum brothers—calls and tells him he’s on the way, it leads to a showdown. Of all people, Lucy put a bullet into Evil Cooper, and Agent Cooper warned them not to touch the body. Those dark, mysterious beings (called Woodsman, per the credits) tried to revive Evil Coop again, but it didn’t work.

 

Instead, an orb of BOB emerged from Evil Cooper and briefly attacked Cooper. I thought the orb got a good hit on our favorite special agent, which might have affect him, but maybe not. Then the purpose or destiny of Freddie was fulfilled, as he battled and finally got the best of BOB in an intense battle that left Freddie bloodied. Maybe the Fireman set it up for BOB to get destroyed finally.

 

Then I guess Naido, who was very nervous when Evil Cooper came close, had some relation with Diane, such as taking her place on earth while Diane was in the Black Lodge? Anyway, Naido turned into a red-haired Diane—the real one—and kissed Agent Cooper.

 

Throughout the rest of the scene, a lot of great acting occurs, as Bobby, Cole, Albert, and Tammy showed up—James, Andy, new Sheriff Truman, Hawk, Lucy (and the Mitchum brothers, who’s reaction to the whole ordeal was hilarious, with Candie and the girls) were all already there. While Tammy wasn’t an original character, it’s awesome to see many of the people from 25 years ago there in this critical scene. Agent Cooper was having some type of moment of enlightenment and knew exactly what to do—or as we’ll see, attempt to do. In an emotional moment, Cooper said he hopes to see each and every one of everyone there again, but that “there are somet things that will change.”

 

Cooper and Diane (and for a reason not entirely clear, also Gordon, who was standing away from them at the Sheriff’s station) were transported to the Great Northern Hotel. While Diane and Gordon were with him, Cooper had to use the room key (courtesy of Sheriff Truman, who apparently never gave the key to his brother) to enter wherever that place is with Philip Jeffries in the huge kettle.

 

What we got out of the visit with Jeffries was the symbol on the ring turning into an eight/infinity symbol with a dot in it. You’re guess about what it means exactly is as good as anyone’s. But then in a huge moment, Agent Cooper was transferred again. Not to South Dakota, or Washington D.C., or to the Black Lodge—but to the past: the events of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

 

We see Laura with James on the bike, when she told him Bobby killed again and basically warned James she’s a little bit nuts. 25 years later, we found out the reason Laura screamed in middle of talking to James is because she saw Agent Cooper standing there watching them. Then when Laura hopped off James’ bike and ran into the woods, things changed—Laura saw Agent Cooper, who saved her from walking to the trailer with Leon, Jacques, and Ronette.

 

It’s almost as if David Lynch made Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me with the anticipation of doing this 25 years later. The execution of the scene was very impressive. Then they even went back to the pilot of the original series again, with Pete, Josie, and Catherine (it was good to see them all, especially Pete), but Laura’s wrapped body was not there. Everything seemed perfect—Cooper went back and saved Laura from the horrible fate that set everything we saw him motion. However, in a moment, Laura Palmer was out of Cooper’s grasp and a loud, frightening scream ensued, ending “Part 17.”

 

The final hour of Twin Peaks was a loop that then led us down a surreal path, and end, of uncertainty. First, to get it out of the way, it was a sweet moment to see Janey-E and Sonny Jim get a happy ending, as Dougie Jones was back in their lives. It was good old Dougie Jones, who’s last word, “home,” gave a satisfying ending for Janey-E and Sonny Jim.

 

“Is it future or is it past?” That question again emerged from Mike, as the beginning of the episode intertwined mostly things that happened in “Part 1” and “Part 2” along with some new stuff. Aside from Cooper’s movements from room to room, the new thing that stood out was the tree thing asking, “is it the story of the little girl down the lane?… Is it?” Audrey asked the same exact thing to Charlie a few episodes ago, but it never matched up. There was never a solution for Audrey, who appears to be stuck in some type of limbo. She could be in a coma, she could have been in a dream, she could be stuck in the Black Lodge with a doppelganger roaming, she could just be messed up. Who knows?

 

The storyline with Audrey’s father Ben, who was such a great character in the original (and still was in The Return in his time shown) also wasn’t solved. The last thing he did was send some help (and clothes) for Jerry. Also, the storyline with Shelly and Becky was not solved. Dissapointing.

 

Anyway, we then get to Cooper and Diane driving 430 miles exactly to cross over into somewhere (another dimension, a part of the Black Lodge), and Cooper warned her “it could all be different” when they cross over. It certainly was different, as doppelgangers seemingly roamed free (Diane saw hers) and attitudes were different. Cooper and Diane had a moment to themselves, and it got a little weird—it seemed perhaps Diane was playing the opposite role of her night with Evil Cooper 20 years ago.

 

For reasons totally unclear, Diane decided to just leave Cooper before morning. Even weirder than her leaving, she left a note signed “Linda” and told Cooper, who she identified as “Richard,” that she didn’t want him to look for her. Wow.

 

Cooper took one last look at the motel/hotel room before getting in his car and driving away. He was seemingly on the road to nowhere in particular, until he saw “Judy’s” restaurant. Philip Jeffries talked to both Evil Cooper and Agent Cooper about Judy, and Cooper found it (Judy was an “it,” not a “her”).

 

Perhaps the alternate reality or wherever they were caused a slight change (as Cooper suggested), because he seemed to have a tint of evil to him—for a second there, I thought it was a doppelganger. After easily taking care of a few cowboys harassing a waitress, Cooper gets the address of the “other waitress,” who he presumably thought was Laura.

 

Sure enough, Cooper got to the address and saw Laura Palmer in the flesh. It was pretty cool to see Laura there and alive; however, the woman said she is “Carrie Page” and never heard of Laura, Leland, or Sarah Palmer (though the name Sarah Palmer—Laura’s mom, of course—seemed to get to her for some reason).

 

With a dead guy in her living room and someone after her, this Carrie/Laura decided to ride with the FBI guy on a trip to Twin Peaks. When they got there after a long (and kind of awkward, I guess) drive, it looked a lot like Twin Peaks, but there were slight changes to it. Laura didn’t recognize anything, but Cooper wanted to stop at the Palmer residence. Still no recognition, and the family there had no relation to the Palmers (though the names were interesting).

 

Agent Cooper and Laura/Carrie had no choice but to walk away and to the car. But they took another look at the house, and something must’ve clicked with Cooper. He took a step forward, and Laura seemed to start bugging out. Finally, Cooper let out the final words of Twin Peaks, “What year is this?”, as Laura let out one last frightening scream.