"Twin Peaks: The Return" felt, for many, including this writer, like this generation's "2001: A Space Odyssey." It broke so many rules associated with television. Artistically, it quite simply put every "risking-taking" series to shame. Lynch's vision was so far out, almost feeling like it was from another artistic dimension. The mosaic of characters the legendary director presented to us was part of a greater whole, one that felt almost too hard to describe. As Agent Cooper finally found his way down the show's never-ending rabbit hole of colliding cosmos, he did so by finding a way to redeem Laura Palmer, in a way, even saving her life by going back in time and changing the tragic events of 1989. However, despite all that, the show's final moments were filled with more uncertainty than any sense of closure. Cooper's haunting question to LauraPalmer/Carrie Page, "What year is this?" and her final response, a harrowing final scream of horror, hinted at both of these characters being stuck in a black hole of foreverness.
Lynch, as usual, refused to give us any answers, and many theories have surfaced over the finale, but he hasn't closed the door either on another season to "The Return." The show wrapped up in ambiguity back in September of 2017 but last night at Los Angeles’ Ace Hotel, where Lynch and co-writer Kristine McKenna were promoting a memoir she wrote, a fan asked Lynch whether he would ever be interested in continuing "Peaks" and Carter Page's story, to which he replied, “It is calling, but there are a lot of disturbances.”
Whatever that means, it does tell us that he is thinking about it.
Over his 40+ years career, Lynch has refused to really comment or explain any of his movies, which has made them even more intriguing and mysterious. Sometimes the unknown is always better than the known. Despite all that, The Guardian recently asked Lynch to explain "The Return," the director's response was quite beautiful:
“When you finish anything, people want you to then talk about it. And I think it’s almost like a crime,” he explains. “A film or a painting – each thing is its own sort of language and it’s not right to try to say the same thing in words. The words are not there. The language of film, cinema, is the language it was put into, and the English language – it’s not going to translate. It’s going to lose.”
Whether you loved "Twin Peaks: The Return" or hated it, and there are, sadly, some TV critics who do hate it, you can't deny that Lynch's instinctual artistry comes off as anything but inspiring for future filmmakers. He's a pure, unadulterated artist that goes by pure instinct rather than obviousness, which is why "The Return" likely changed television forever. It was the closest to pure, unadulterated cinema that TV has ever gotten to, and now it's time for others to follow. It truly is this generation's "2001," so maybe another season is not needed. Sometimes masterful mysteries should just be left unsolved.