(Spoilers ahead for the finale of Showtime’s “Twin Peaks: The Return”)
So here we are. After 18 mind-boggling episodes, David Lynch’s epic television experiment is finally over, leaving fans probably with more questions than they had at the start or at any other point during the season.
Hell, the thing basically ended on another cliffhanger. Agent Cooper (Kyle MachLachlan) seemingly entered an alternate universe in which Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) wasn’t murdered, but it didn’t quite go as well as he’d hoped. In “Part 18” Cooper found Laura in Odessa, Texas — but she didn’t know who Laura Palmer was and had never heard of Twin Peaks, Washington. Even so, Cooper took her to Laura’s old home in Twin Peaks, only to discover that Sarah Palmer, Laura’s mother, either hadn’t lived there in years or never had.
The season ended with this Laura doppelganger shaking and letting out a scream that turned the whole town dark and triggering the end credits.
It’s not exactly a conclusive conclusion, especially since the show had just introduced the concept of a previously unrevealed Big Bad, “Judy,” that Cooper and Gordon Cole (David Lynch) and Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) had been after for decades.
But that’s probably that for “Twin Peaks.” At TCA in early August, Deadline asked Showtime boss David Nevins about the possibility that the show will go on after Part 18.
“It was always intended to be one season… A lot of people are speculating but there’s been zero contemplation, zero discussions other than fans asking me about it.”
Nevins couched that answer by saying that “the door’s always open to David Lynch,” but who knows what exactly that means.
So love or hate how this thing ended, until we hear otherwise fans should anticipate “Part 18” being the end of “Twin Peaks.” But never say never.