dda1996a wrote:
...I still have trouble with his digital work. It just seems a bit ridiculous sometimes (which is why I'm not the biggest fan of everything after Mulholland) like the shaky cam etc...
This was my only quibble with the first two hours (haven't watched Episodes 3 or 4 yet): the cheapness of the CGI/digital effects didn't always measure up to the aesthetic that Lynch established with every other aspect of the production. Still, this is a minor quibble. I figured the proceedings might tip closer to
Inland Empire, but was not prepared for the first two hours to draw from everything Lynch has experimented with as a visual artist, from the his early shorts through to his recent digital animations. Elements from all of his feature films are in there as well ("The Arm" now connects the Black Lodge to the radiator theater of
Eraserhead like never before). Oftentimes, there is humor found in the odd resonance of actors seen in other Lynch films appearing as similar characters (Brent Briscoe seemingly playing the same detective from
Mulholland Drive) or speaking lines similar to ones they spoke in an earlier film (here I'm thinking of Patrick Fischler as the Vegas bigwig who sounds like he's still trying to warn others about the scary guy behind Winkie's).
Similar to how the original series satirized popular night-time soaps of its era (
Dallas, Falcon Crest), this third season seems to be satirizing current or recent favorites like
Lost,
True Detective and
Fargo. The difference is these shows were largely based on the template that
Twin Peaks created, so the echo returns in odd ways.
Finally, it was harrowing to see Catherine Coulson, who died only a week or two into production, returning in two brief scenes without any attempt to disguise the effects of her illness. The passage of time is, unavoidably, a key theme, but the darker, more troubled world that Lynch is presenting in this new series makes the era of 1990/91 feel like an idyll.