THE RETURN Perhaps my favorite aspect of The Return; what’s yours?

Metalane

Great Northern Hotel
Jul 16, 2022
81
73
“Visual non-sequitur”, is what I think is appropriate to call it.

Arguably, the most polarizing moments from The Return are the ones many find ridiculously unnecessary, while others cherish and analyze fruitfully. The scenes that many may mistake for filler, while I would debate are just a feature of Lynch’s stream-of-consciousness (and/or subconscious/unconscious) artistic expressionism.

Examples include the sequence where Dougie and Janey-E are sitting in the lobby with an American Flag across the room. The camera then does a slow-pull into Dougie’s face while a classic patriotic tune plays (can’t remember which one atm). Another example is many of the conversations strangers have in the Roadhouse. And even the infamous 2.5 minute long sweeping scene. I could go on, as there’s at least one scene like this per hour, but you likely get my point.

Now, what’s the point of all these vignettes? That, I would like to write an analysis on eventually. Of course, there is no singular answer.

Now, I ask, what are your favorite aspects of The Return, the ones that make it so special and unique to you?
 

AXX°N N.

Waiting Room
Apr 14, 2022
270
619
I like yours, as I think it's an important part of the overall gesture towards mystery I take the series to be. There isn't really any mystery in life without the possibility that meaning can be hiding behind even the most superficially obvious or nonsensical of things. Disruption of the rational seems to me an integral part of the series, and even dovetails in with the more detectable themes of the facade of normalcy hiding the exact opposite. In a way, TP and Lynch's work at large seems to be presenting the opposite idea, that the strange is "normal" if you abandon preconceptions and the general baggage of that word.

For me though, my favorite aspect is how stubbornly unfathomable the supernatural element remains. I was extremely nervous the entire first viewing as it aired that the mystery would be deflated in some way. But now I'm left with bullet down my spine moments where all sense is withheld from the workings of the forces in the show, and I'm grateful for it; the Jumping Man sneaking around the purview of our protaganist, his face containing the Palmer family, how inaccessible the Tremonds are at the end, the house itself conveying some kind of monstrous will, the power lines, the fan, Carrie Page's living room...
 

Dom

White Lodge
Jul 10, 2022
654
667
I love the random little bits, such as the window cleaner's scraper irritating Gordon's hearing aids. Or that detective with the peculiar laugh. I'm not the biggest fan of The Return, to be honest, but those oddball little moments were the things that felt closest to the original series and reminded me why I wanted more.
 

WorldFarAway

Great Northern Hotel
Apr 12, 2022
98
273
I like yours, as I think it's an important part of the overall gesture towards mystery I take the series to be. There isn't really any mystery in life without the possibility that meaning can be hiding behind even the most superficially obvious or nonsensical of things. Disruption of the rational seems to me an integral part of the series, and even dovetails in with the more detectable themes of the facade of normalcy hiding the exact opposite. In a way, TP and Lynch's work at large seems to be presenting the opposite idea, that the strange is "normal" if you abandon preconceptions and the general baggage of that word.

I’m sure I’ve posted this quote from Lynch on Lynch before, but it struck me as pertinent:

“Henry is very sure that something is happening, but he doesn’t understand it at all. He watches things very, very carefully because he’s trying to figure them out. He might study the corner of that pie container just because it’s in his line of sight, and he might wonder why he sat where he did to have that be there like that. Everything is new. It might not be frightening to him, but it could be a key to something. Everything should be looked at. There could be clues in it.”

The “Is it about the bunny?” scene comes close to making this whole approach explicit.
 

MasterMastermnd

Waiting Room
Apr 12, 2022
369
531
Not sure what my favorite aspect is. I truly regard this as perhaps the greatest season of television ever produced. Apologies to Peaks season 1, prime X-Files, prime Lost, prime Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, prime Breaking Bad, etc. Peaks over all for me tbh. But something I find extremely fascinating is the tightly wound, novelistic approach of the original series up to the point Laura's murder is solved and Leland dies in his prison cell. That's 16 episodes of the show. If you account for the two double length episodes which open seasons one and two, that's 18 Parts. Season 3 feels very much like a more thematic and experimental follow-up to that original "novel." Pointedly less tightly wound, pointedly more abstract, like Ulysses as a follow-up to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
 

LateReg

Glastonbury Grove
Apr 12, 2022
139
376
I love the random little bits, such as the window cleaner's scraper irritating Gordon's hearing aids. Or that detective with the peculiar laugh. I'm not the biggest fan of The Return, to be honest, but those oddball little moments were the things that felt closest to the original series and reminded me why I wanted more.
Tying one of your favorite moments to what Axxon and WorldFarAway have expressed, that sound of the window cleaner that irritates Gordon so much is even more of a disturbance than it seems. The sound is almost identical to those that Naido makes, and it just so happens that Diane is about to step into the room.

Listen to the sounds, indeed.
 

Metalane

Great Northern Hotel
Jul 16, 2022
81
73
Tying one of your favorite moments to what Axxon and WorldFarAway have expressed, that sound of the window cleaner that irritates Gordon so much is even more of a disturbance than it seems. The sound is almost identical to those that Naido makes, and it just so happens that Diane is about to step into the room.

Listen to the sounds, indeed.

Ooh, interesting catch, I'll have to pay attention next time.

I also love just how raw and authentic it sounds too. Like even if you watch with moderate TV volume the high-pitch moments can hurt your ears a little bit.
 

Jordan Cole

White Lodge
Sep 22, 2022
725
1,132
Tying one of your favorite moments to what Axxon and WorldFarAway have expressed, that sound of the window cleaner that irritates Gordon so much is even more of a disturbance than it seems. The sound is almost identical to those that Naido makes, and it just so happens that Diane is about to step into the room.

Listen to the sounds, indeed.

Oh wow, that wasn't my take at all. My immediate (and I mean like, IMMEDIATE) response was "oh shit it's like the monkey in Fire Walk With Me!" The window cleaner is screeching and bouncing around like the monkey, also reminiscent of the Jumping Man.

It's a crazy moment in season 3...no idea if I'm right...but it's just what came to mind.
 
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