Part 3

So Agent Cooper finally escapes to the real world but he is not the same person, all those years in the Black Lodge has taken its toll on him.

Twin Peaks pays little heed to new fans. This third episode has a surreal, warped 15 minutes sequence as Cooper makes his way into the real world and evil Cooper tries to resist going back to the Black Lodge.

A purple tinged set, an Asian woman making noises and Cooper staring blankly into space. Through an electric socket Cooper emerges and gets mixed up with a fatter lookalike called Doug who in turn ends up in the Black Lodge. Cooper now a blank goes to a Las Vegas casino where he quickly makes himself known as Mr Jackpots as he is guided mysteriously to win big time.

We also see the return of the FBI agents Gordon Cole (David Lynch) and Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) assisted by new agent Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell.) They are investigating the mysterious New York killings until Cole gets word that Cooper has been found.

It was bittersweet to see Albert, he was one of my favourite characters in the original Twin Peaks and yet my delight is tinged with sadness due to the actor's death earlier in 2017.

This episode was slower paced especially in the scenes set in Twin Peaks with Hawk, Andy and Lucy with their lethargic way of talking.

Lynch went weirder, slower and more surreal, yet he still has room for a great cameo performance such as Meg Foster as the cashier in the casino. Just look at the way she goes from being smiling to genuine concern when she meets Cooper and he asks for help.

While there were many things that I loved about the first two parts, I found that the editing and pacing as well as certain elements were a little rocky. This episode took a far more narrow approach, focusing almost entirely on a single story-line. This, combined with a whopping dose of humour made this the strongest hour yet of this revival. Some of the moments in this episode had me rolling with laughter. A large portion of this episode felt very similar to the scene with the old waiter in the season 2 premiere, or the scene with the old banker in the season 2 finale, by which I mean that it was long, drawn out, and equal parts frustrating, hilarious, and terrifying. It is Lynch at his best. That's what this whole episode felt like.

A note for anyone that is confused; episodes 3&4 were released a week early in the United States, the UK, and Canada via the On-Demand branches of the channels responsible for broadcasting the revival in these countries. This is why I have already been able to see it, despite the fact that it has not been released some places. I feel sympathetic for all those who can not see these episodes yet because of the country they are in. As a Canadian, I have often been in your situation and I know exactly how you feel.

The 2-part episode last week was strange and obscure, but it was special because it was the return of something people have wanted for decades. I was able to forgive some of the frustrating things because of the pure nostalgia alone. Part 3 took us deeper into the weird and somewhat nonsensical as good Cooper found himself out of the black lodge but into a world he is all too unfamiliar with. After nearly 15 minutes spent with a blind Asian woman making noises and gestures while Cooper blankly stares on, I thought for sure we would spend the whole hour in this place. Luckily, Coop managed to escape through a machine and back into the real world (we think) and hopefully soon to be on his way back to Twin Peaks. Of course, it wasn't that easy. It became increasingly clear that this Cooper won't be able to officially come back without the bad Coop (presumably Bob) to be eliminated. Both of them were impacted when good Coop made his way back, with both puking up some sort of disgusting residue. Boy that was all too Lynchian, wasn't it? This episode was the much slower of the 2 aired tonight, but I'm still hooked. Watching Cooper walk from slot machine to slot machine racking in thousands? That was dynamite.

7.3/10

Solid, funny and really entertaining episode that reaffirms the quality of this season looks to put 'Twin Peaks' back to its former glory. Only David Lynch could deliver this goods.

Aside from the epic and spine tingling Part 8, Part 3 may just be my favorite chapter of the third season of "Twin Peaks". It is one of the weirdest and most surreal episodes, but its also one of the funniest, and it's certainly the first episode of the season that was mildly cohesive. Some of the dots start to connect, the plot's slow incline becomes more apparent, and Lynch comforts viewers with some of his finest comedic moments.

The first half of the episode is total off the walls insanity. Lynch's world seems limitless, practically anything can happen. The editing is disorienting and disturbing, the cinematography is beautiful and unsettling, the scenery switches from being uniquely colorful to nearly pitch black in a matter of seconds. It feels like science fiction meets Salvador Dali; it's a twisted world chock full of bizarre creations, spirits both good and evil, dimensions and spaceships and things the human mind cannot even conjure!

Then, the second half gives the audience a perfectly timed breather. The interlude between these two parts is a disgusting, scary, and oddly humorous sequence centering around vomiting that is pulled off brilliantly; only Lynch can make a man puking in his car so surreal and fascinating. While there is still plenty of absurdism in the second half, it's mostly grounded in reality. There are hilarious moments and quotable lines being thrown at the audience left and right; Lynch wears an awkward smile of sheer glee as he eases the audience with heavy doses of the quirky and amusing.

It's a perfect balance of the dark and the light. Both of my favorite aspects of "Twin Peaks" (the absurd humor and surrealistic horror) are given nearly equal screen time, and there isn't a second that is boring or unoriginal in any way.