On October 3rd, 2014, filmmaker extraordinaire David Lynch kicked us in the face with one of the most "no way" inducing tweets to ever grace the internets:
Given the overt references to well known quotes from Lynch's cult favorite television series Twin Peaks, it was clear that this was the sign of something major. Despite the show being firmly cemented as a thing of the past, "what if" driven thoughts have long inhabited the daydreams of its legions of dedicated fans. It would appear that good things do come to those who wait, for the tweet was quickly followed by an announcement that nine new episodes are scheduled for 2016 on Showtime.
From the beginning, Twin Peaks was always full of mystery. While network tampering eventually screwed with that too much in the show's second season, the note viewers were ultimately left with after an unfortunate cancellation certainly left more questions than answers. The prequel style of the followup film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me did little to alleviate the matter. As such, speculation was really all anyone had to go on concerning the inner workings of the titular town and the fate of its delightfully quirky populace.
And speculate they did. Despite declining ratings near the end of the tv show's run and an initially lukewarm reception of the film, Twin Peaks held onto a strong cult following that only grew with time. More and more people found themselves hooked through the likes of cable reruns and eventual home video releases, and the fascination burned on thanks to the wonderful world of internet discussion boards.
The more lighthearted and memorable moments were quoted left and right, and every inch of the darker undertones were subjected to in-depth analysis. Each new discovery or minor behind the scenes quote was grounds for a wealth of new fangasmy discourse. Given the show's thriving popularity, it remained a frequent topic in David Lynch's interviews and speaking engagements. While he was happy to share amusing on-set anecdotes, he didn't shy from letting us all know that the series was apparently "dead as a doornail."
Even so, 2014 brought us Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery, a Blu-ray compendium of each episode, the film, and The Missing Pieces: 90 minutes of footage that had previously been cut from Fire Walk With Me. I imagine many would have accepted this as a perfectly serviceable final bow for the series. I certainly didn't expect anything further, and I'm struggling to express how happy I am that the whole saga is actually going to continue on.
The 2016 air date of the upcoming Showtime run also happens to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the previously assumed final episode. The timing is about as perfect as it could possibly be given the line featured above, and that's no accident. Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost have apparently been toying with how to bring the series back for a least a few years now. Personally, seeing this develop despite how unlikely it seemed before has easily made for the most surprising and exciting bit of news from all of 2014.
I'm all too aware of how quickly time seems to pass, but 2016 still feels like some unreachable future date somehow. When the glorious day where I'm actually watching a new episode of Twin Peaks does arrive however, I imagine it's going to hit the spot in a way that only the finest cup of hot, black coffee could. I greatly look forward to the experience and all that comes with it, absurdly weird dreams and all.
I'm Chris Keating, and I have the fury of my own momentum. For more of my shenanigans, be sure to follow and like CGS on Twitter & Facebook!
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