Twin Peaks has exploded back into the popular consciousness in an almost unexpected way. The truly bizarre and visionary show from David Lynch and Mark Frost has a following, but even the hardcore fans weren’t prepared for the unique weirdness that is Twin Peaks.
Kyle MacLachlan started things off by greeting the Hall H audience with a familiar, “Hello!” Moderator Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) jumped right in and asked the returning actors what it was like when they got the call to return to Twin Peaks. MacLachlan had the best answer when he told David Lynch, “I never left Twin Peaks, David. I’m ready to go.”
The crowd swelled with emotion, but that was after a delightfully humorous video from Lynch. It was filled with darkly silly bits like an off-camera accidental suicide and Lynch holding a severed arm that was holding O.J. Simpson’s last golf ball he hit before going to prison. The crowd didn’t quite know how to respond. It was an interesting experience seeing a bunch of self-described weirdos get hit with an atom bomb of oddness.
But the main recurring theme of the panel was how much the cast loves David Lynch. “He is just full of joy and life,” Matthew Lillard said with an abundance of energy. Naomi Watts even said that after doing Mulholland Drive with him, she did everything she could to work with Lynch again on anything. When she found out she would be working on Twin Peaks, she was more than game.
Maybe Twin Peaks was a little too weird for even Hall H. One attendee who hadn’t seen the show asked if it could be described in a nutshell. “Throw away the nut,” was MacLachlan’s response. And everyone seemed perplexed by even that response.
Twin Peaks has always been niche and this Hall H panel proved that. Sometimes, it’s great that things only speak to a core audience. Those are often the things that are the most artistically challenging, and Twin Peaks has always been that. This weirdo is very happy it’s just the way it is.