After months of hype, the Return rewatch series has begun! From now through September 3, I will publish a new podcast entry every Monday on Patreon at 6pm in honor of the third season's first anniversary. I knew that "Twin Peaks Reflections" would become a more ambitious segment with the dawn of this approach, but I was surprised by how lengthy, comprehensive, and structured the new section ended up being. My coverage of the two-hour premiere - Parts 1 & 2 - runs for over an hour. It explores every nook and cranny of the show, and does so through a format I will follow week to week: looking at the feel and structure of each episode, breaking the plot into story sections (New York and other random locations, Twin Peaks, the FBI in South Dakota, Mr. C, Las Vegas, and the Spirit World), analyzing statistics (characters introduced or re-introduced, ranking screentime, and determining a plausible timeline for the out-of-order scenes), and finally digging into three different areas: coffee/pie/donuts, Lodge lore, and Laura Palmer. It's going to be a blast re-visiting the Showtime series this way.
Despite the overwhelming dominance of Twin Peaks at this point, the rest of the podcast chugs along at its normal pace, making this by far the longest episode so far. From now on, each episode will run closer to two hours than just an hour. My Film in Focus is the second in a row from the UK, the third in a row from the British Isles, the fifth in a row from Europe, and the ninth non-American film in a row, if we discount exile Stanley Kubrick's last film (next week's Hollywood classic will break this streak!). It's also yet another movie, following A Man Escaped and Spirited Away in the past few months, that I first reviewed in the summer of 2008, the earliest days of my blog, but haven't seen since then. Radio On is a captivating musical journey from London to Bristol, and I focus on its strangely political apolitical outlook, its German influence (and possible influence on Jim Jarmusch), and even its early use of video games.
In the "other topics" section I dig into several really absorbing podcasts I've listened to recently, and in listener feedback I hear from one patron who had their own thoughts going into season 3 and another whose take on Josie Packard is at least as comprehensive as what I shared in my biweekly preview last week. Apologies for the strange audio quality in these sections; I think once again the phone itself, rather than my headphone mic, was picking up my voice - hopefully it's still listenable for you. Finally, in "Opening the Archives" I move into the post-Journey Through Twin Peaks era on my site (which feels like a step into the present), when I kicked off my viewing diary approach with True Detective, resumed the Evangelion episode guide, and began creating regular video essays for Fandor. My archive highlight this week is an exploration of eye contact in an iconic sales film, resulting in one of my favorite video essays that I created.
Finally, I've also decided to post the Twin Peaks part of this episode publicly on YouTube for non-patrons to enjoy. If you like it, and can do so at the present moment, consider becoming a patron so that you can hear the rest of my series coverage. Only three more patrons to go, and I'll hit fifty!
Line-up for Episode 21
INTRO: longer than usual, set up Return rewatch
WEEKLY UPDATE/recent posts: Veronica Mars series
TWIN PEAKS REFLECTIONS Return Rewatch Pt. 1 & 2
Introducing the rewatch format
The feel & structure of the episode
New York
Twin Peaks - Cooper investigation/Jacoby/Ben & Beverly/Jerry/Becky/Shelly & Red/Jean-Michel/James & Renee/Freddie/Roadhouse/Sarah/standalone scenes
FBI in South Dakota - Buckhorn
Mr. C
Las Vegas - assassination plot
Spirit World - Red Room/Purple World Tower
Character introductions & re-introductions/screentime rankings/timeline of events
Coffee, pie, and donuts
Lodge lore
Laura Palmer
FILM IN FOCUS: Radio On
OTHER TOPICS: Podcast recommendations
LISTENER FEEDBACK: s3 speculation, Josie Packard reflections
OPENING THE ARCHIVE: "Genesis of a Video Detective" (March - August 2015), this week's highlight: Learning to Look video essay on The Big City
OUTRO
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