With the recent finale of TWIN PEAKS: THE
RETURN last Sunday, I think it's appropriate
to take a look at the series as a whole, and
consider where it went wrong exactly.
Now this is a pretty difficult task, since
there are a lot of problems consuming the
show, ranging from poor character development
and motivation, abrupt and unsatisfying conclusions,
or lack thereof for many of the characters,
inconsequential characters and plot-lines
which are either randomly abandoned or ultimately
serve no purpose in the grand scheme of things,
etc.
So I could get into all of this, but instead
I'm going to talk specifically about David
Lynch's self-indulgence when it came to the
return of TWIN PEAKS.
I think that this self-indulgence is best
exemplified by the character Gordon Cole,
who Lynch plays in this series.
And this is mostly what I'm going to narrow
in and talk about for this video: How Lynch
ruined a great side-character from the original
series & film, and how it's part of a much
bigger problem when it comes to Lynch approaching
his own work.
Oh, by the way, expect spoilers ahead.
But if you haven't watched the show, consider
yourself lucky.
Gordon: "What the hell?"
How is Gordon Cole an example of a self-indulgent
character you ask?
Well, Gordon Cole is basically David Lynch
in this series, and that's not a good thing.
There were some features of the Gordon Cole
character which of course resembled Lynch
himself in the original series, but Gordon
was always a supporting character who served
narrative purpose and was a great complement
to the Cooper character.
Now in the new series, Gordon Cole is featured
prominently as a central character investigating...
something.
I don't know, I guess he's looking into Evil
Coop's case, says that its a prime example
of Blue Rose, then all of a sudden his focus
shifts to determining who the dreamer is and
whether or not Diane is a friend or foe.
So while his investigation work ultimately
goes nowhere at the end of the season, rendering
many of his earlier scenes utterly useless,
he is basically taking on the role of what
our beloved Special Agent Dale Cooper would
be doing, if he wasn't reduced to handicapped
state as Dougie-Coop for nearly the entire
season.
And while Dougie was staring at statues and
scribbling stuff on paper, Gordon Cole was
drinking coffee and wine, eating donuts, flashing
thumbs up, and trying to solve Blue Rose cases
with the crew, which includes his boy Albert
who mostly just sits around while Gordon does
the bulk of the talking, Diane who is played
by one of Lynch's favorite actresses Laura
Dern, and of course Tammy Preston.
Gordon actually initiates Tammy Preston, played
by Chrysta Bell, who gives one of the worst
performances in the entire show, into the
Blue Rose Task Force at one point, because...
Lynch likes her music, and her a** I guess?
I don't know, but she did nothing of note
the entire season.
Seriously, the only characters who appear
in more episodes than her are Cooper & Hawk.
And what has she done all season, I ask?
So what are some other things that point to
the fact that Gordon Cole is essentially David
Lynch?
Well, Gordon suddenly likes drawing stuff
that resembles work from earlier in Lynch's
career.
And in the same scene, he has a supernatural
vision of the horrible transparent footage
of Laura Palmer at his doorway.
This is the sort of supernatural stuff that
Cooper should be seeing, and it also should
hold some significance as well.
Speaking of supernatural encounters, Gordon
also investigates the vortex location that
Bill Hastings tells him about, and Lynch has
a fun moment with that.
You also have Gordon smoking a cigarette and
sharing a tender moment with a tulpa.
I mean, this could seriously pass for behind-the-scenes
footage of Lynch & Laura Dern.
Then probably the most unforgivable of David
Lynch's antics as Gordon Cole is the fondness
he has for younger women.
Denise even accuses Gordon of something like
this earlier in the season, and Gordon responds
as if he was Lynch defending his behavior
throughout the years.
It's whatever, but a 5 minute scene where
David Lynch is smiling like an idiot while
a French girl goes through some unnecessarily
long exit ritual or something.
Ha, this shi*t's for the birds!
At the time of this episode's release, I remember
everybody defending it by saying, "Oh, that
French girl is sort of like the girl from
Fire Walk With Me, and Gordon was giving coded
messages to Albert just in case someone was
listening in, you know."
No.
I knew this was more Lynch apologist bullshit
when I heard it back then, since it doesn't
make sense in the scene for numerous reasons,
including the fact that Gordon didn't summon
him Albert to his room, and also they end
up talking about Diane's messages freely later
on in the scene.
And of course it was just another scene that
didn't amount to anything.
But Lynch seemed to be enjoying it.
He also ridicules Albert for taking his job
too seriously in this scene.
No wonder they accomplished nothing during
the entire series.
I've noticed that fans of the show like to
attribute deep meaning to many of the scenes
which simply isn't there.
The discrepancy between what the show has
to offer, and what the fans interpret is unbelievably
disparate.
But it all ties into the idea that people
love to offer their own interpretation of
events, where they're able to offer their
own personal meaning, thus satisfying their
needs to fit media into their own narrative
and liking.
It's like they get to make their own TV show,
but without any of the hard work.
"Yeah, I was thinking about the chronology
of the series and the one thing that never
fit into all the attempts to piece together
exactly what was happening... in late September,
early October, everything happened was the
scene with Andy's Rolex.
He's waiting for a 4:30 meetup and the other
person never shows up.
But his watch clearly shows the date as the
10th, and Lynch doesn't make continuity errors
ever in his career.
David Lynch is a perfect artist who has integrity
and was manufactured for a purpose."
Also, what's with the Monica Bellucci dream.
Oh yeah, Lynch probably had dreams of her
at some point, except they were a different
kind of dream then the one displayed in the
show.
"What"
Fans speculated endlessly about what exactly
would make Cooper snap out of his child-like
state.
Would it be the coffee, the cherry pie, an
encounter with a midget hitman, intercourse
with Naomi Watts!
No, none of these silly, it was the mere mention
of Gordon Cole's name on TV that triggered
Cooper to go electrocute himself.
Also Lynch does some revisionist history where
he has his character deliver some exposition
about Judy, who was apparently named "jiaodai,"
which means "to explain."
The ultimate negative force is to explain
things.
I get it!
You're so clever, David!
Then at the end of the series, because of
how long they spent with other bullshit, there
is suddenly little time for Cooper to address
characters from his past.
Don't worry, he does have enough time to address
Gordon though, but not his boy Albert, I guess
Albert's not quite as cool.
And then Cooper is teleported and has to use
the hotel key, and he is accompanied by who
other than Diane & Gordon Cole, who doesn't
show up again in this series, which makes
you wonder why he was even in this scene,
other than Lynch wanting a cool TWIN PEAKS
image with himself in it for his desktop background.
Lynch also shows self-indulgence in many other
ways than just his character.
The idea of having 18 hours of Inland Empire-esque
stuff, the Roadhouse acts with some of his
favorite artists and friends, pointless scenes
which linger on way past their expiration
date. All of these and much more have Lynch's
trademark all over them.
At one point in Part 17, Albert goes, "You've
gone soft in your old age."
To which Gordon Cole, or David Lynch, whoever,
replies, "Not where it counts, buddy!"
This line says its all, as Lynch has to reassure
the audience that he hasn't gone soft done
below at age 70.
Don't worry, David, we'll grant you that,
but your days of being able to form an interesting,
cohesive, worthwhile story are long gone.
*Phone vibrates*
Oh, no!
Oh, no, they finally did it!
Hopefully this works
Dick Laurent is dead
Then he came inside me
Is it future, or is it past?
I don't know
I am the arm.
And I sound like this.
What?
40 bucks for more Lynch bullsh*t
How's Annie?
How's Annie?
What year is this?
