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David Lynch Drops Out of “Twin Peaks,” Season 3 Might Still Happen

Blame Showtime: director cites scarce financial resources

Apr 6, 2015 08:42 GMT  ·  By
David Lynch will not return for season 3 of “Twin Peaks,” after a falling out with Showtime
   David Lynch will not return for season 3 of “Twin Peaks,” after a falling out with Showtime

“Twin Peaks” has been off the air for over 2 decades, during which time loyal fans did not stop asking and praying for a continuation of some sort, one that would offer them better closure than the feature films or the rushed second half of the second season did.

It is a known fact that series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost were not happy with the direction of the second season, and that they let ABC call the shots on how it would end. Showtime promised to right that wrong in 2016, with a third season for the series, one that would bring Lynch and Frost together again.

David Lynch, over and out

Not only would they return for the new season, along with as many members of the original cast as possible, but Lynch was also booked to direct every new episode.

This was amazing news, because it guaranteed to fans that the show would return to its true nature, and that it would be again the amazing, mysterious and super eerie program it was back in season 1.

Lynch broke the news on Twitter last night that he’s out as director of the planned new season for the show. He doesn’t say if he will still be a series creator, but he implies that he’s out for good, because he says that he has no idea of the fate of “Twin Peaks.”

You can read his full statement in the tweets below. He makes no mystery out of the fact that his vision of the new “Twin Peaks” required more money, money that Showtime was not willing to pay. Apparently, he’s been trying to get network bosses to change their stance for almost a year and a half, to no avail.

Can there be a “Twin Peaks” without David Lynch?

Kyle MacLachlan is confirmed to come back as Special FBI Agent Dale Cooper. Madchen Amick (Shelly Johnson), Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer), Ray Wise (Leland Palmer) and Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) are said to have been approached with offers, but an official decision had not yet been reached as of the time of Lynch’s announcement.

Chances are that the actors and even Frost might return to “Twin Peaks” even though Lynch is no longer attached, but that brings to the table an even more important question: can “Twin Peaks” exist without the man whose brilliant mind created it?

You have to understand, “Twin Peaks” is Lynch’s brainchild and even though someone could come and try to replicate his vision, it won’t be the same thing.

Lynch is notoriously difficult to work with because his ideas don’t fit into TV stereotypes for what makes a successful show. The reason he was pushed to the side on the second season of the series was because he had no intention of revealing Laura Palmer’s murderer: contrary to what audiences and network bosses assumed, the show wasn’t about a murder and the need to solve it.

“Twin Peaks” was meant to be bigger than that: a world at the juncture of light and dark, to which viewers had access because of Laura’s death. The death was just a vehicle to get us there, which, in Lynch’s mind, meant it could be left unsolved.

With the announcement for the third season, fans received an unspoken promise that Lynch would be allowed to do things his way, that he would finally get to give the strange world he’d created 25 years ago the closure it needed.

And now he’s out. So no, “Twin Peaks” can’t exist without David Lynch. A third season will probably be made because interest in it is very high, but sadly, it won’t be the “Twin Peaks” the fans had been waiting for.