5 Years Later Twin Peaks The Return Ending Finally Makes Sense

Ceiling Fan Twin Peaks
ABC

The expression Cooper wears is deeply unsettling. He looks racked with guilt. The detective transforms into the culprit. It is as if the memories of Mr. C's rape of Diane flood through him, and his being culpable in some horrifyingly abstract way causes him to disassociate from himself, hence the visual effect. And yet, when Naido is explicitly revealed to be Diane, Cooper beams, as if some elaborate plan developed across various timelines and planes of reality has finally been realised. This is denial, the same denial at the very dark heart of the Twin Peaks story; because it feels impossible for such darkness to exist, it actually becomes impossible.

We saw this at Laura's funeral in the first season. It's no coincidence that Bobby Briggs, the teenager who sought to puncture the facade, evolved into the good man he did 25 years later. The townsfolk almost created a tulpa version of Twin Peaks itself as the idealised "slice of heaven". The mist hovering over those majestic, swaying Douglas firs doubles as a visual metaphor for this self-imposed obfuscation.

The true nature of Laura Palmer's murder was so harrowing, so unbelievable, that nobody allowed themselves to believe it - even the genius magician detective, until it was too late, and Maddie Ferguson was brutally murdered. Laura herself may have projected the image of BOB onto her father's face; in one of very few explanations, Lynch himself has stated outright that BOB is not an actual demonic entity from a different realm. He is an "abstraction in human form".

Twin Peaks is a story of trauma. Laura is the one. It is also, in Lynch's words, a continuing story. The ceiling fan still whirs. The world spins. Trauma is cyclical. Abuse is never-ending, and often perpetrated by those you'd never think capable of it.

In Part 18, having travelled back in time to 1989 and failed to return Laura to a place inferred as the White Lodge, Cooper emerges from the Black Lodge and is met by Diane. Together, they "cross over" to another plane seemingly controlled by Judy, the "extreme negative force" chased by Cooper in the retconned overarching narrative. Diane is reluctant to follow through with the plan. Cooper is determined. When they cross over, everything does indeed change. Or is "change" one of many misnomers that the real people use in Twin Peaks to describe the metaphysical? Is "revert" more accurate here?

CONT'D...(2 of 6)

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!