[Warning: This story contains spoilers through the finale of Twin Peaks: The Return.]
Twin Peaks: The Return went out not with a whimper, but an ear-piercing scream, with a finale that was as confusing as the series was entertaining. In other words, it was perfectly David Lynch, which is about as much as you could ask for when it comes to a series he co-created, wrote and directed.
While the final hour of The Return may not have had the resolution many fans were hoping for, the series as a whole did deliver closure on several characters, both new and old. What’s more, there were even some happy endings doled out by Lynch and his co-creator and co-writer Mark Frost. Still, not every character got a proper ending or explanation for their actions throughout the series.
Where did your favorite characters end up? It’s time to run down the list as we bid a fond farewell to Twin Peaks: The Return.
Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan): Agent Cooper was last seen standing in the middle of the street with Carrie Page (Sheryl Lee), who looks identical to Laura Palmer. He asks her what year it is after taking her to the Palmer home in Twin Peaks, only to be met by a woman who has no idea what he’s talking about. The series ends with Page screaming, not unlike Laura in the Black Lodge.
Janey-E (Naomi Watts) and Sonny Jim Jones (Pierce Gagnon): After Cooper walked away from the Dougie Jones days to go back to Twin Peaks, he had a copy of himself created to bring Dougie back home to his family, giving them the chance to live happily ever after in Las Vegas.
Norma (Peggy Lipton) and Big Ed (Everett McGill): After 25 years, the couple finally got together and became engaged after Nadine (Wendy Robie) gave her husband Ed her blessing.
Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie): Sarah is last seen in her house, smashing a photo of her deceased daughter Laura. It’s a haunting ending for the tragic figure after a season that also saw her bite a man’s throat out and drink the town’s entire supply of vodka.
Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie): While the character returned for the series, the late singer sadly did not. Instead, his form changed to that of a giant talking teapot that spoke to Cooper’s evil doppelganger in the Black Lodge, not to mention the actual Cooper in the penultimate episode.
The Man from Another Place: Like Phillip Jeffries, The Man from Another Place took on a new form. Instead of a teapot though, the arm of MIKE became a tree topped with a fleshy mass that spoke. It was just crazy enough to work as it fit right in with the oddities of the Black Lodge.
Freddie Sykes (Jake Wardle): After being freed from his cell at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department, Freddie proved to be the show’s real hero. He used his powerful green glove to punch the spirit of Killer BOB (Frank Silva) to death after it rose from the body of the Cooper doppelganger.
James Hurley (James Marshall): James was locked up, then freed, alongside Freddie. He was there for the final battle against Killer BOB and exposed to the true supernatural forces in his town — as were Bobby (Dana Ashbrook), Hawk (Michael Horse), Sheriff Truman (Robert Forster), Andy (Harry Goaz) and Lucy (Kimmy Robertson).
Diane (Laura Dern): After her own copy was killed in “Part 16,” the true Diane was revealed to be none other than Naido (Nae Yuuki), the eyeless woman introduced in “Part 3.” After the death of Killer BOB, she was released and had an emotional reunion with Cooper.
Shelly (Madchen Amick) and Bobby (Dana Ashbrook): While no longer together, it was revealed that these two not only got married but had a daughter (Amanda Seyfried). It turns out she’s just as impulsive and irresponsible as her parents when they were young.
Andy (Harry Goaz) and Lucy Brennan (Kimmy Robertson): They were as absent-minded as they ever were but also had a child. Wally Brando (Michael Cera) briefly appeared in “Part 4.” Andy visited the White Lodge late in the series, while Lucy was the one who delivered the final gunshot wound that took out Cooper’s doppelgänger.
Jerry (David Patrick Kelly) and Ben Horne (Richard Beymer): After spending the season lost in the woods, Jerry finally emerged just in time to watch his nephew Richard (Eamon Farren) die via mystical electrocution, blaming it on his binoculars. When last they were seen, Ben got a call that Jerry wound up in Wyoming completely naked and needed a way home.
Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn): A major fixture of the original series, Audrey returned late in the series and while it’s unclear what’s happened to her since the end of the original Twin Peaks, she was last seen having some sort of episode in an all-white room. It could be some sort of mental institution, or something more sinister. What was explained was that she gave birth to a son whose father was the Cooper Doppelganger. That character, Richard Horne, did not survive a single outing with his dastardly father.
Billy: One of the more frustrating pieces of the Audrey puzzle was that viewers were never introduced to Billy, the man she claimed to be having an affair with. The stories Audrey told may have been little more than visions she was having but her conviction in telling them made them as real as anyone else in Twin Peaks.
The Drunk (Jay Aaseng): While he became a regular fixture during the final stretch of the season, sharing a cell block with Naido, Jimmy, Freddie and Chad (John Pirruccello), it was never clear who this very loud and seemingly diseased character was. When he was last seen, he was one of two people left in the lockup, along with disgraced deputy Chad, who tried to escape and even threatened to shoot Andy before Freddie punched him with his glove.
The Deaths: If there’s one thing you can say for Twin Peaks: The Return, it’s that a lot of people were left dead by the very end: Cooper’s evil Doppelganger, Richard Horne, Hutch (Tim Roth) and Chantal (Jennifer Jason Leigh) were among those that were killed off over 18 episodes. The lesson here is that it doesn’t pay to be involved with Cooper’s Doppelganger.
The Log Lady (Catherine Coulson): The series also said goodbye to the Log Lady, who died in “Part 15.” Original series star Catherine Coulson was able to film scenes before her own death in 2015, putting a heartbreaking stamp of finality on her character’s role in this revival season.
Keep checking THR.com/TwinPeaks for interviews, news, deep dives and more fallout from the finale.
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