The single greatest work of art, across all mediums

The most pure, unaltered, uninterrupted vision seen through to its very end of all time. A modern-day re-imagining of Homer’s Odyssey, as well as a culmination of a single man’s entire career. In the hundreds and thousands of years of humanity’s capability to express themselves artistically, I’m truly convinced we saw the absolute peak of this ability only seven years ago, in 2017, with Twin Peaks: The Return; a monumental once-in-a-lifetime achievement twenty-five years in the making that can never, ever, be executed in quite the same astonishing, jaw-dropping manner again. A series that already pioneered the television drama format that we take for granted today, and a revival that elevated it to a whole other level that no one could have possibly predicted, once more, doing exactly what Twin Peaks did for television all the way back in 1990. It truly is a miracle that we received this when we did, and that Lynch, Frost and everyone involved were able to execute the continuation of this iconic, timeless story in the most particular, original and imaginative way possible.

In a world where The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and The Wire existed, you’d think to yourself, “what more can long-format television possibly bring to the table that hasn’t already been done?”. Enter Lynch and Frost once more, and delivered they did one of, if not, THE most innovative, inventive, expansive and audacious pieces of television ever produced. A slow, baffling, experimental, sometimes tedious unconventional work, yes, but striking, so unbelievably striking and hypnotizing from its first moment to the very end - a literal 18 hour 2001: A Space Odyssey stargate sequence. With patience comes reward, and reward is what you get with The Return if patience is what you bring to your experience. The way everything clicks together, piece by piece, episode by episode, when at times you may be thinking to yourself, “how is this relevant, how is this gonna tie together, what’s the purpose of this?”, leaves me stunned every time I see it the way the smallest, insignificant details eventually tie in to the larger picture.

Don’t try to make sense of every little thing being thrown your way, don’t be put off or intimidated by its abstractions or flat-out weirdness, just go along for the ride and don’t look back. I’ve seen this series ten times now and I’m not any closer to cracking the conundrum of what the hell is going on half the time myself, and in all honesty, I don’t really care to know the facts of the big picture, because it’s the unknown and the unanswered that keep me returning to Twin Peaks. Bask in it, bathe in it, let it flow through you. Words I’m sure Lynch himself has probably said at some point.

If The Return is David Lynch’s final work, then what a final note to end on. Possibly the finest swansong in history. Whatever you want to call it (as there has been much debate whether The Return is a film or show) does not matter to me in the slightest, because nothing changes the fact that Twin Peaks: The Return is the single greatest work of art, across all mediums, that I have ever had the pleasure to experience, and will continue to experience many, many, many, more times for the rest of my life.