10 Things We Learned From Twin Peaks: The Return Part 11
1. "There's A Freshness To It, A Lightness To It..."
So said Kyle MacLachlan in one of the few teasers released ahead of the show. It would be odd if he wasn't referring to the beautiful, unapologetically saccharine final scene of Part 11.
Cooper and The Mitchum Brothers, now (anti)heroes of the piece, celebrate their shared luck in a plush restaurant, toasting with champagne. The pianist strikes a minor key, echoing Laura Palmer's Theme, stirring something within him. Then, the old lady from the casino, to whom Mr. Jackpots bequeathed some of his jackpots, embraces him. Cooper changed her life. She has a little dog! A house! Her life back! Such is the overwhelming, inherent goodness of Dale Cooper. Frost and Lynch have mythologised him as much as the fandom have. It seems the world needs him and his ability to alter the fortunes and mood of those around him as much as we do.
His reward is a slice of pie. In the closest we have come yet to the full restoration of Dale Cooper, he wolfs the thing down with his faculties fleetingly intact. It is the first thing he sees to which he blinks normally in response, as opposed to the backwards slurring blink seen in his interactions with the strangers surrounding him. Lynch has never been this sentimental. It fits him like a glove. You can't watch this scene without a smile as dumb as Robert Knepper's plastered on your face.
Earlier, there was a frightening scene cutting through the whimsy. As Bushnell Mullins prepared Coop for his meeting, he told him to "knock 'em dead!", Coop massaged his face, like Mr. C did with Jack, and parroted the word back to him.
Sentiments on the Dougie arc are divided. Still, I defy anybody to wish that fate upon him.
What did you think of Part 11? Share your thoughts down in the comments.