The third season of Twin Peaks was some of the greatest television I’ve ever seen. Arriving 26 years after season 2 wrapped up, David Lynch and Mark Frost’s TV comeback smashed all expectations, continuing the story started so long ago while taking us in some intense and crazy new directions. The season ended on an appropriately enigmatic tone as well, with Agent Dale Cooper apparently trapped in the past with an alternate version of Laura Palmer.
Since that third season won a ton of awards (Cahiers du cinema even named it as their “film of the year”), there’s been talk of a fourth run and now, star Kyle MacLachlan has said he’d drop everything to work on the show again. In an interview with ComicBook.com, he explained the following:
“I think, first and foremost, this is the Twin Peaks that David Lynch wanted to make and that makes me incredibly happy for him. That’s just a resolution that I think was a great, unexpected gift, because I don’t think any of us ever anticipated Twin Peaks would be back. I’ve said in the past, I think the fans and the drumbeat of the fans and the recognition of what Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer says, ‘See you in 25 years,’ it was like, ‘Okay, we’ll put up or shut up,’ and I think David and Mark found a way to come up with this story that made them both happy, and we gotta thank David Nevins at Showtime for putting it out there and for saying, ‘Yes, we’re gonna make this.’ I would play Cooper every day if David would allow it. He’s such a great character. I am a fan of the show and I am a big fan of the character.”
Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost have been repeatedly quizzed in interviews whether they’d return for more Twin Peaks as well and in 2018, Lynch said:
“I don’t know, I have a box of ideas, and I’m working with producer Sabrina Sutherland, kind of trying to go through and see if there’s any gold in those boxes.”
More recently, he’s said that there’s a Twin Peaks story “calling to him” involving Sheryl Lee’s Carrie Page (the alternate version of Laura Palmer), but that there’ve been “disturbances.” Exactly what those are remains mysterious, but it seems that Showtime are eager to get Lynch back for more. Twin Peaks season 3 might not have been a ratings smash, but it pushed the boundaries of storytelling on TV and was an absolute masterclass in subverting and managing audience expectations.
I wouldn’t expect a fourth season to provide any conclusive answers to the multiple mysteries of the show, but more Twin Peaks can only be a good thing.