Showtime’s second double bill of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s 21st Century revival of Twin Peaks proves to be even more ‘out there’ than the opening instalments suggested, proving to be both intriguing and impenetrable at the same time.

The opening 20 minutes of Episode 3 follow Cooper (Kyle McLachlan) in the Black Lodge dimension as he meets a troubled woman with scar slits for eyes, electrocuting herself and triggering a toxic vomiting episode with ‘real world’ Bob/Cooper, a car crash on what appears to be Mulholland Drive. There’s also the matter of another doppelgänger, Dougie, who also gets sucked into the Red Room. Coop then trades places with him, starts winning multiple jackpots at the casino and starts living his life with wife Naomi Watts.

It’s brave and infuriating at the same time, and I can’t help think that Lynch is telling us – ‘Don’t even think you understand what’s going on.’ It’s not quite self-parody, but includes so many trademark Lynchian tropes and memes that it feels like a tribute or cover act.

God knows what the Showtime execs are making of this. The notoriously non-explanatory Lynch (he refuses to narrate commentaries on his movies) must surely have explained the season’s overall structure to the suits, and maybe we’re still in preliminary world-building for this new version of Twin Peaks, but it’s testing. I watch it knowing that I am probably only understanding a small percentage, hoping that at least some of the pieces will fall into place, and that some of the (apparently) random standalone character moments will reveal their relevance (Jakoby spraying shovels with gold paint on a complex contraption is a case in point).

In my review of episodes 1 and 2 I bemoaned the lack of Badalamenti’s score, so I was pleased to hear Laura Palmer’s Theme when Bobby Briggs sees a photo of his dead girlfriend. Indeed, it’s during these scenes in Episode 4 with Horse, Andy and Lucy that it starts to feel a bit like the old show again. When Albert and Gordon Cole come to the fore and go to interview not-Cooper there’s that old sparkle.

Verdict: Hardcore Peakies will hang on tight for the ride ahead and spot the green shoots of their old favourite but you can hear the sound of casual viewers dropping off at the roadside. It’s a risky gambit to test your audience to this degree, and maybe at the end of 18 hours the master plan will be apparent. 

Episode 3 – 7/10

Episode 4 – 8/10

Nick Joy