10 Things We Learned From Twin Peaks: The Return Part 15

10. Oh, What A Wonderful World

Your writer is not quite a Twin Peaks apologist. Mid-to-late-period season two was at best confused, at worst cowardly. Some elements of The Return - the broadness of dialogue, character and mythology, in mercifully small pockets - have stupefied more than they have bewildered. But this is a four month long present - at its best, one of profound genius - and it would be almost churlish to err on the side of cynicism in the face of a microscopic flaw.

Which is why the opening sequence was received with no cynicism whatsoever. Nadine Hurley shovelled her way out of the sh*t that was her loveless marriage, allowing the barely-seen Big Ed to live out his life's one, humble dream. Norma gave up on the dream thrust upon her to reunite with him in an undoubtedly rushed but no less uplifting and emotional sequence. Ed, crushed, clenched his eyes shut on a diner stool - the viewer left to superimpose a better life for and with him. And then, as Otis Redding's I've Been Loving You Too Long rose in the mix in parallel with the hairs on your neck, Norma's hand emerged into the shot and into Ed's shoulder. It felt as much like Lynch and Frost service as fan service, so unashamed and beautiful was the whole thing. Was it an exercise in anti-drama, or anti-manipulation?

The 25 year shortcut meant Lynch got away with it, ultimately. Everett McGill's performance, all wilting pathos beneath the hard-nosed veneer, did much to sell it, too.