S3: Biggest Disappointment About Unresolved Subplots?

Moderators: Brad D, Annie, Jonah, BookhouseBoyBob, Ross, Jerry Horne

Which subplot left you most frustrated, wanting more?

Poll ended at Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:33 am

Audrey
49
42%
Sarah Palmer
32
28%
Red/Shelly/Bobby
17
15%
Becky/Steven/Gersten
2
2%
Ben/Beverly
2
2%
Other (please specify)
14
12%
 
Total votes: 116
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Soolsma
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Re: S3: Biggest Disappointment About Unresolved Subplots?

Post by Soolsma »

Jerry Horne wrote:Not enough Chip.
:lol:
Carrie Page: "It's a long way... In those days, I was too young to know any better."
BloodyHeartland
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Re: S3: Biggest Disappointment About Unresolved Subplots?

Post by BloodyHeartland »

counterpaul wrote:I would argue that there's nothing sloppy about any of this. Lynch and Frost were obviously not interested in conventional "set up" and "pay off" style storytelling, but I think TPTR is all the better (and more coherent!) for it.

It's all about thematic resonance. The Return was Cooper's story. He was there throughout. It all WAS Cooper. It was the story of his endless attempts at reckoning with the past as he let the present pass right by him. People go on and on about how Coop was missing for most of the run but, in my mind, to say that we didn't get to see Cooper except for the brief run from Part 16 through the first half of Part 17 is to profoundly misunderstand who he is as a character and how time has worked on him. In a way, that brief period (less than an hour out of almost 17) was a cartoon--it was the fantasy of how Coop imagines himself, saving the day in an absurd cosmic battle with bad guys and good guys. But he can't hold on to that fantasy for long, and neither can Lynch. That image of his clearly aged, weary face superimposed over the would-be-denouement says so much about what has transpired and what it's really about.

Because cosmic battles aren't the point, and they never were. All the Really Important stuff being investigated by cops and Feds and military folks, all the codes to crack, and powerful mystic forces are the way in to the real stuff: the traumas that define us.

And that's where Audrey and Diane and especially Laura come in. Audrey's story parallels Coop's. She's stuck in her own endless loop, trying to make sense of the past. But it's interesting to note that Audrey's combatting her stasis in a way that Coop isn't. She's tired of it. She wants out. She acknowledges that there's another side to get to. She arguably makes more progress than Coop does.

Diane is changed by Coop, but her relationship to her past trauma is different. She runs from the pain until it catches up with her. But she recognizes it when she sees it and finally she's able to move on. To a point, of course. I doubt she's all better, but she's maybe at least less stuck than Coop and Audrey.

Then there's Laura. Coop keeps coming back to Laura. She suffered profound trauma, and Coop wants to save her from it. He believes that "fixing" things for her will save everyone. But the truth is that she already succeeded where he failed. She transcended. By trying to "save" her, Coop is only dragging her back down. He should be looking to her to save him, but he can't see it.

If you look back at the various storylines in the town of Twin Peaks, you see the theme of the past dictating the present again and again, from Shelly and Becky repeating cycles of abusive relationships, to Bobby half becoming the next generation's Big Ed, to Ben still trying to wrest control over his baser impulses but falling back into his old patterns when his family challenges him to be present in any complex way (falling back into nostalgia as a defense mechanism when things get really tough).

And then there's Jacoby and Nadine. In some ways, they're the real heroes of the piece! Sure, they remain deeply dysfunctional as to how they go about it, but they do--Nadine especially--recognize and break some long-seated patterns. Ed and Norma benefit from Nadine's breakthrough (and certainly Norma has a breakthrough of her own), but it's really Nadine showing the way, at good ol' Dr. Amp's urging to dig her way out of the shit! I don't think it's a coincidence that the first scene we see in the town is Jacoby receiving that shovel delivery.

I don't think Parts 17-18 invalidate the preceding 16 at all! They inform each other complexly, and their relationship is not in any way that clean, every-minute-"matters," rational cause-and-effect style storytelling that I guess most people define as "good writing," but no part of The Return would mean what it does--would resonate as it does--without all the other parts. It's all about thematically informing on Coop's story, and that's just how it should be.

Each storyline beautifully informs and complicates the others and together (S1-S2 and FWWM very much included) they form a wonderfully complex, deeply human story of how trauma works on the collective and individual psyche.
I more or less agree with most of this. There are some things I would simply have liked to see more of, but overall I feel each thread had a part in completing the puzzle as a whole.
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AgentEcho
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Re: S3: Biggest Disappointment About Unresolved Subplots?

Post by AgentEcho »

I am deeply and personally traumatized by not knowing what the owls are. You told us twenty seven years ago what they aren't, how about a clue what they ARE. There was one owl in the entire show and it was in fuckin' Las Vegas! There aren't even owls in Las Vegas! Fuck you Lynch! By what right do you rob me of my adolescence?!
Mr. Strawberry
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Re: S3: Biggest Disappointment About Unresolved Subplots?

Post by Mr. Strawberry »

alreadygoneplaces wrote:- Did the Woodsman ever finally ever get to smoke that cigarette?
Hope not. He looks flammable.

alreadygoneplaces wrote:- Did the man from episode 1/2 ever catch up with Sheriff Truman about insurance? After episode 17, I think he'll need to put in a claim...
I'm glad someone is finally talking about the real Season 3 cliffhanger.

alreadygoneplaces wrote:- Where does Wally Brando's shadow go on cloudy days and at night?
-> Red Room -> Glass Box -> Mauve Room -> Wally
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