Twin Peaks: The definitive plan to continue the series

Source: YahooNews
Date:   January 8, 2013
URL:    http://news.yahoo.com/twin-peaks-definitive-plan-continue-series-152200197.html


Twin Peaks: The definitive plan to continue the series
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After 22 years, rumors are flying that the beloved cult TV series 
might finally be continued - and this is the way to do it

Last week, it was widely reported that NBC was quietly working on a 
plan to continue David Lynch and Mark Frost's 1990-1991 cult series 
Twin Peaks. That story turned out to be false - but it earned so much 
buzz that NBC is actually considering doing it for real. 'I called 
everybody when I got the email,' said NBC Entertainment President 
Jennifer Salke at the Television Critics Association tour on Tuesday. 
'When it came up we all looked at each other and said, 'That's a good 
idea.' We were all kind of like, 'Hmm, we like Twin Peaks!' So, I'll 
send some emails today, and see what I can get to come up.'

Jennifer Salke, this is the article you've been looking for.

As a rule, I'm against the relatively recent trend of trying to 
resurrect old, beloved TV shows. I'm perfectly happy with the Party 
Down finale, and I think of Serenity as an entertaining but 
unnecessary continuation of Firefly. I was - and remain - opposed to 
the upcoming continuation of Arrested Development (though I sincerely 
hope that Netflix proves me wrong in May.)

But there is no TV series more deserving of a resurrection than Twin 
Peaks, and there's no better time to do it than right now. As a TV 
critic and lifelong Twin Peaks fanatic, I've spent years putting an 
abnormal amount of thought into continuing the series - and this is 
how it should be done.

Before we begin, a quick refresher: Twin Peaks - which was primarily 
about FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper's attempt to solve the murder of 
teenager Laura Palmer, but was also about the many residents of an 
offbeat small town in Washington, and a malevolent spirit called BOB - 
ended unceremoniously on June 10, 1991, with a bizarre, riveting 
finale that was less an episode and more a series of cliffhangers. 
Audrey Horne and Pete Martell were caught in an explosion at a bank. 
Agent Cooper was trapped in the vaguely purgatorial 'Black Lodge,' 
while his identical doppelganger, which had been possessed by BOB, 
went free. The only silver lining: The promise of Laura Palmer, whose 
murder seems to have sent her to the Black Lodge, that she would see 
Cooper 'in 25 years.'

In my dream scenario, the first episode of the new Twin Peaks would 
air on June 10, 2016 - 25 years to the day after the series originally 
ended. (Given the understanding that TV schedules aren't nearly as 
cutesy as I want them to be, and my own desire to see Twin Peaks on 
the air again as soon as possible, I say anytime over the next five 
years is close enough.)

In the 25 years that have passed since Twin Peaks ended, BOB has used 
Agent Cooper's doppelganger as a means to spread his influence 
nationwide. He has deliberately botched the criminal investigations 
Cooper was assigned to solve, allowing murderers across the country to 
go free, and committed a series of his own murders as well - including 
the 'Diane' Agent Cooper spoke to on his tape recorder so often, who 
would have figured out that the imposter wasn't really Cooper. But BOB 
knows his time is running out: The '25 years' to which Laura Palmer 
alluded in the Season 2 finale is one of the ironclad rules of the 
Black Lodge, and the 'Agent Cooper' doppelganger (Kyle MacLachlan) 
will be sent back to the Black Lodge as soon as the real Agent Cooper 
(Kyle MacLachlan, again) is freed. BOB returns to Twin Peaks as Agent 
Cooper reemerges, chooses a new vessel, and begins committing a series 
of a murders that eerily recall the killings in the original series - 
positioning the real Agent Cooper as Suspect #1 in the eyes of the 
Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department.

Agent Cooper would emerge from the purgatorial Black Lodge forever 
changed. He'd have to be; he's just spent the past 25 years sitting in 
an upholstered red chair, fully aware that his doppelganger is 
unleashing anarchy upon the world and helpless to do anything about 
it. We don't need to see Agent Cooper growling 'Does it look like I 
give a damn?' when someone asks if he'd like his coffee black, and the 
quirky detours into dating, whittling, and local real estate would be 
gone. This Agent Cooper would emerge from the Black Lodge with a 
singular purpose: Eliminate BOB and his brand of evil from the world 
once and for all.

Of course, Cooper would need a partner: Someone who's spent the past 
25 years in the real world, and who could help him navigate a place 
that has become all but unrecognizable between 1991 and 2016. So he 
calls his staunchest ally - Sheriff Harry S. Truman - and asks him to 
meet at the Double R Diner for a cup of coffee and a slice of cherry 
pie. But Harry isn't the same man; in fact, he isn't even a sheriff 
anymore. We saw Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean) hit the bottle pretty 
hard after the death of love interest Josie Packard (Joan Chen), and 
the bizarre events he endured in the Season 2 finale pushed him over 
the edge for good. Shortly after 'Agent Cooper' left Twin Peaks, 
Sheriff Truman retired from the force and took up a new gig as a 
full-time alcoholic. By the time Twin Peaks resumes, Truman has 
convinced himself that the strange events in Glastonberry Grove never 
happened - and it takes the reemergence of the real Agent Cooper to 
renew his desire to avenge Josie's death.

The alcoholic, unstable Truman was forced out of office years ago by 
his former allies in the department, who now work under the new 
sheriff: Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), who fulfilled his father's 
'vision' by marrying Shelly Johnson and 'living a life of deep harmony 
and joy' as the man whose primary responsibility is keeping the peace 
in Twin Peaks. Bobby would be the unlikely new hero of the new Twin 
Peaks: Atoning for his hell-raising past - drug-dealing, an adulterous 
affair - forgiving himself for his role in Laura's deterioration, 
following in the footsteps of Harry in the original series, and 
serving as both adversary and ally to Agent Cooper.

Audrey Horne (Sherilynn Fenn), Agent Cooper's admirer, never left Twin 
Peaks. Instead, Audrey has officially taken over management of the 
Great Northern Hotel, working under Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie) 
after severing her relationship with her father Ben (Richard Beymer). 
She's also permanently wheelchair-bound due to the blast in the bank 
vault, which permanently killed her dreams of escaping the town. (As a 
bonus, this also hearkens back to Twin Peaks' obsession with doubles, 
recalling Donna Hayward's wheelchair-bound mother, who had an affair 
with Audrey's father).

As for the rest of the show's sprawling cast, in brief: Annie 
Blackburn (Heather Graham) is back in the monastery, deeply scarred 
from her experience in the Black Lodge; the widowed Catherine Martell 
is the town's most successful businesswoman; Shelly Briggs (Madchen 
Amick) owns and runs the Double R Diner, which she took over when 
Norma Jennings moved away; Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle) lives a 
peaceful, quiet life in town; Big Ed (Everett McGill) still runs the 
Gas Farm; and Deputies Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz) and Hawk (Michael 
Horse) work alongside Sheriff Briggs, lending the expertise they 
gained during the Laura Palmer murder investigation. There's a 
widespread, unspoken understanding that no one ever mention the 
universally-hated James (James Marshall).

A final major rule I'd insist on playing by: No recasting characters, 
including those played by actors who have passed away since Twin Peaks 
went off the air. (Moira Kelly's disastrous turn as Donna in 1992's 
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is more than enough reason not to try.) 
BOB (Frank Silva) can be played by a series of 'vessels' that he 
possesses. Pete Martell (Jack Nance) died in the bank vault blast.
  From a storytelling perspective, the biggest loss is Major Garland 
Briggs (Don S. Davis), who seemed best-positioned to help the real 
Agent Cooper escape the Black Lodge. But the character's inability to 
save the real Cooper from the Lodge - right up to his own death - 
would help to illustrate the utter futility of Cooper's situation, and 
the malevolent brilliance of BOB's master plan, which had really been 
about capturing Agent Cooper from the very beginning of the series.

The time has never been riper for a new Twin Peaks, which could serve 
as the long-awaited continuation for a legion of fans and earn a host 
of new ones by setting a bold new standard for crime dramas on 
contemporary network television. There's no reason that most of Twin 
Peaks' massive ensemble cast can't be reassembled today; the vast 
majority are still working actors, and none of them rose to the 
heights that would make a recurring role on a network series - 
particularly one as beloved as Twin Peaks - an unappealing offer. All 
it would take is the cooperation of series creators David Lynch and 
Mark Frost, and a network bold enough to pick up where Twin Peaks left 
off.

Your move, NBC.

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(c) 2013 YahooNews


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