Twin Peaks: Season 3, Part 1 "My Log Has a Message For You" Review

 "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

-Ben Horne

Twin Peaks: The Return picks up with Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) having a surreal conversation with the Fireman (Carel Struycken), who may or not be the same individual as the Giant.

Dr. Lawrence Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) now lives in the forest and receives a delivery of shovels.

In New York City, Sam Colby (Benjamin Rosenfield) is at work.  His job is to watch a glass box with a tube the leads outside the building.  The box is constantly being recorded and Sam has to change out SD cards when necessary.  He gets a coffee delivery from Tracey (Madeline Zima), who wants to see where he works, but the security guard won't let her in.  The next night,  Tracey arrives with another coffee delivery and the security guard is nowhere to be seen.  Sam lets her in to see the glass box.  Sam tells her he has never seen anything in the box, but his predecessor did.  They kiss and start to have sex until the Experiment (Erica Eynon) appears, which proceeds to break out of the box and kill Sam and Tracey.

Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) continues to run the Great Northern Hotel, but Jerry Horne (David Patrick Kelly) has gotten into the marijuana business.

We learn that Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) and Andy (Harry Goaz) have gotten married and have a son.  They both still work for the Sheriff's Department.

Cooper's doppelganger, Mr. C (Kyle MacLachlan) arrives at a rural house deep in the woods.  After knocking out the guard, he picks up Ray (George Griffith) and Darya (Nicole LaLiberte) and they leave.

In Buckhorn, South Dakota, the police are called to an apartment building due to a strange smell coming from the apartment of Ruth Davenport (Mary Stofle).  The police discover her decapitated head and the body of an unknown man that is missing its head.  They find the fingerprints of the high school principal, Bill Hastings (Matthew Lillard), in the apartment and have him arrested.  During questioning, Hasting denies knowing Ruth, but there is a gap in his alibi and he asks for his lawyer.  The police also find a lump of flesh in Hastings' car.

Deputy Chief Hawk (Michael Horse) gets a call from terminally ill Margaret Lanterman (Catherine E. Coulson), who gives him a message from her Log.  Something related to Agent Cooper is missing and he has to find it and it has something to do with his heritage.  Hawk brings in Andy and Lucy to help.

What Works:

This season begins with a strange, surreal, and seemingly nonsensical conversation between Agent Cooper and an otherworldly being.  That's the perfect way to get things kicked off again.  It's like we never left!

The glass box subplot is absolutely wonderful.  It feels dark and sinister even before Sam and Tracey get slaughtered.  I don't fully know what it means, but it's really good stuff.  I especially love the look of the Experiment.  It's the stuff of nightmares.

Mr. C's introduction to this season is a highlight of the episode.  His drive through the dark forest is unnerving.  I kept expecting some nightmare to jump out of the shadows.  The way he takes down the guard so casually is also really great.  He doesn't get much else to do in the episode, but the music and MacLachlan's performance do a great job of reintroducing us to this character.

The investigation into Ruth Davenport's murder takes up the biggest chunk of the episode.  It's a David Lynch take on a police procedural and I mostly dig it.  You gotta feel bad for the police officers who first arrive on the scene as they deal with nonsense from both Marjorie (Melissa Bailey) and Hank (Max Perlich).  Plus we get Matthew Lillard, who's just an incredible actor.  I also love how gruesome this storyline gets.

Finally, Catherine E. Coulson is absolutely wonderful as Margaret.  She died just a few days after shooting her last scene and you can tell she's in pain as she delivers her dialogue, but she uses that to give an absolutely heartbreaking performance.

What Sucks:

I do think that some of the stuff with the police officers arriving at the Ruth Davenport crime scene goes on for too long.  Having them deal with Marjorie is one thing.  It's pretty hilarious, but the Hank nonsense doesn't really add anything for me.  It's a bit too much for characters we never see again.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For this episode, the Award goes to Mr. C for his efficiency at taking out the guard.  This is his 2nd time winning this Award.

Verdict:

This was a great premiere and really got the season started on the right foot.  The glass box and the South Dakota murder are really interesting storylines, even if there isn't an apparant connection to Twin Peaks yet.  Plus we get some really good performances from Kyle MacLachlan, Matthew Lillard, and Catherine E. Coulson.  I think some of the stuff with Hank and Marjorie could have been trimmed, but this episode has still got it going on.

 9/10: Great