2015 has been a great year for fans of the remarkable, award-winning drama series, Twin Peaks. Not only was it announced that the show’s creators, David Lynch and Mark Frost, would be delivering a brand new limited season on Showtime, but that deal was then extended to include even more Twin Peaks, after the production deal seemed to hit a roadblock.
Now, the network will be airing as many as 18 episodes, with a large number of original cast members confirmed as returning. And, to sweeten the deal even more, they’ll be joined by Amanda Seyfried (Pan, Lovelace), in a role described as “pivotal.”
Twin Peaks first arrived on television in 1990, and ran for a total of 30 episodes. That was more than enough to capture the imagination of a legion of fans, however – and they have remained fiercely loyal to the series ever since. Such loyalty has given rise to annual festivals and conventions, and inevitably a great deal of speculation about the plans that Lynch and Frost have for the new season.
A quarter of a century after its debut, the story remains a compelling mystery, which steadily evolved from an atmospheric crime procedural, to a complex tale encompassing elements of spiritualism, and the concept of fundamental evils. Beyond those larger themes, it also dealt with family, youth, small-town corruption, mental illness, domestic violence, and the trafficking of both drugs and humans. Opening with the now iconic discovery of popular high school girl Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) – dead, on a beach, and wrapped in plastic – the show soon introduced its second iconic creation: FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, played with astonishing precision by Kyle MacLachlan.
It is essentially through the eyes of outsider Agent Cooper that we experience the unsettling nature of the town of Twin Peaks. As he slowly peels back layer upon layer of accepted social convention and local legend, he exposes the dark and terrible heart of the place, from which the local community seems to willing avert its eyes. While the question, ‘Who killed Laura Palmer?’ is actually answered in episode nine of the second season, the mystery remains – as Agent Cooper is drawn deeper and deeper into the otherworldly elements that permeate the woods around the town.
It is perhaps due to the final frames of the final episode that fans have been so eager to return to those woods – leaving, as they did, the beloved Agent Cooper seemingly compromised in shocking and upsetting fashion, having engaged in a quest to save his girlfriend, Annie (Heather Graham). While Lynch and Frost later returned to Twin Peaks for the feature film prequel, Fire Walk With Me, that television cliffhanger has hung in the air like the mist amid the redwoods for a quarter of a century. It is the specifics of that time frame that cause the most speculation regarding the plot of the upcoming third season – with the combination of that and today’s casting announcement making for a very interesting development indeed.
At the end of season two, Agent Cooper receives a message from Laura Palmer, saying “I’ll see you again in 25 years.” With Lynch and Frost specifically bringing the show back with a setting already announced as 25 years later, it is clear that this relates directly to the events of that series ending – and the casting of twenty-something actress Amanda Seyfried fits with that continuity perfectly.
Will her “pivotal role” be that of the daughter of Agent Cooper and Annie? If so, what are the implications of that, given the ambiguity surrounding whether or not it was actually Agent Cooper that emerged from the woods that fateful night, back in 1991? Perhaps she’s the child of Sheriff’s station receptionist Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson) and Deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz) – a reveal that would take the story in an entirely new direction. So many questions, and such a long time to wait – as Twin Peaks does not return to Showtime until 2017. With production actually underway, however, fans can at least take heart from the fact that we are, at last, in the home-stretch, with perhaps more casting announcements to come.
