'Twin Peaks' 2016 Revival: Does Anybody Care About Showtime Reboot Without David Lynch? [VIDEO]
The departure of David Lynch from the 2016 Twin Peaks revival has caused quite a stir among diehard fans, prompting some to say the show shouldn't move forward without him.
Lynch abruptly exited the Twin Peaks revival project on Sunday, announcing to the public that he was unable to negotiate a deal with Showtime. This has resulted in a lot of uproar from fans of the quirky series.
The visionary director had originally announced that he would be directing all nine episodes of the revival, in addition to co-writing all episodes with Mark Frost, his fellow co-creator. While the scripts have allegedly been written, many fans feel that him not directing will result in a less special result.
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Without Lynch in the picture, is a Twin Peaks revival without him even worth considering? Let's break it down.
Lynch only directed six episodes of Twin Peaks' original 30-episode run. The director helmed the pilot episode, the third episode (involving Cooper's dream), the first two episodes of the second season, Lonely Souls (when Laura Palmer's killer is revealed) and the second season finale.
Despite only directing six episodes, many fans believe most of them to be among the best the series ever produced. The pilot episode is still one of the best, most intriguing first episodes of a series in TV history, while the surrealistic third episode is among the most delightfully unusual episodes ever. Moments of Lonely Souls and the season 2 finale are also genuinely frightening even by today's standards.
Lynch was also behind some of the more unusual Twin Peaks developments, such as the polarizing Josie-in-dresser-knob scene in season 2. He was also the one to discover Frank Silva, who would later become the series' menacing villain BOB.
However, Lynch was often not present on the set of Twin Peaks while it was being produced. He spent a great deal of time filming the movie Wild at Heart during the second season, with much of the burden falling on Frost and lesser known writers and directors.
Following the news of Lynch leaving the revival, many of the show's cast members have come out in support of him, filming a video of what Twin Peaks would be like without the director at the helm. It is clear that many of the actors will feel that an integral piece of the show is missing, assuming they return for the revival.
Ultimately, Twin Peaks without Lynch would be missing a lot of the magical wonder the original series created. However, even if it were to go on without Lynch, Frost appears to still be on board. Frost was an important part of creating the show's characters and relationships, so a great product is still manageable.
Showtime has reportedly reached out to Lynch directly, according to Variety, with plans to continue negotiations. There is no word on if Lynch is reconsidering doing the revival.
The Twin Peaks revival was originally supposed to air in 2016 on Showtime, though it is uncertain what kind of impact this setback will have.
