The Return Is the Best Legacy Sequel
The film industry of today appears to be more interested in exploiting nostalgia than investing in new projects. Instead of creating original content, many studios are focusing on adaptations, sequels, prequels, remakes, and reboots of established franchises. This trend is commonly referred to as “legacy sequels,” which remake an original film while introducing a new franchise. Unfortunately, many of these legacy sequels have failed to live up to the hype, disappointing fans of the original films. For example, 2018’s Halloween lacked the thrills of John Carpenter’s 1978 original, while 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence was an embarrassment to fans of the 1996 film. Similarly, the Jurassic World trilogy has been criticized for poor storytelling and lackluster filmmaking.
However, not all legacy sequels are doomed to fail. Films like Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022) have been successful, largely due to the involvement of the original creators. Having George Miller direct another Mad Max film, using Harrison Ford’s passion for the character of Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, and having Tom Cruise perform death-defying stunts in Top Gun: Maverick were big reasons for the success of these films.
Television fans had long been waiting for David Lynch to return to the world of Twin Peaks. Although the original series was abruptly cancelled in 1991, Lynch had not returned to the franchise since the 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me failed at the box office and Cannes Film Festival. However, the 2017 sequel miniseries Twin Peaks: The Return was not simply a cash grab using nostalgia. Here’s why it’s the greatest legacy sequel of all time:
It Progressed the Story
Twin Peaks: The Return continued the story of the small town that was rocked by a shocking murder, revealing its darkest secrets. The original series was not a traditional mystery but explored the gap in society that existed as a result of Laura’s death. In The Return, Lynch delved deeper into this theme, showing how the town had devolved into darkness in the intervening years. The result was a more powerful emotional impact on viewers when nostalgic moments were included.
It Criticized Nostalgia
The original Twin Peaks used the mystery of the story as a means to criticize the flaws of mainstream television. The sequel series takes this criticism to a new level, demonstrating that digging deeper into the murder will only provoke more issues. By trying to undo the murder that happened twenty years earlier, Cooper only turns the town into a darker version of itself. Lynch used nostalgia for the original series as its inciting incident, showing that the desire to relive the past can have dangerous consequences.
The Brilliant Soundtrack
One of the reasons why the original Twin Peaks felt so cinematic was its score, which resembled Lynch’s classic films. To make The Return feel fresh, Lynch utilized the work of younger artists, including the Chromatics, Muddy Magnolias, and Rebekah Del Rio. The result was a soundtrack that complemented the show’s disturbing and bizarre images.
In conclusion, while many legacy sequels fail to live up to the original films, Twin Peaks: The Return is a shining example of how to do it right. By progressing the story, criticizing nostalgia, and utilizing a brilliant soundtrack, Lynch created a sequel that not only lived up to the original but surpassed it.
Today’s cinematic marketplace seems to value nostalgia over anything else. Instead of investing in new projects, the industry has turned in itself, and reverted to almost solely making films that are adaptations, sequels, prequels, remakes, or reboots of some sort of previously existing property or franchise. One of the most common ways to characterize this is the term “legacy sequel.” This refers to films that essentially remake an original, but use it as a gateway to start a new franchise. More often that not, this results in failure; 2018’s Halloween had none of the thrills of John Carpenter’s original from 1978, 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence made anyone that enjoyed the original 1996 film embarrassed by their nostalgia, and the Jurassic World trilogy represented some of the worst blockbuster filmmaking of the past several decades.
However, “legacy sequels” are not always failures. 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road2017’s Blade Runner 2049, and 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick aren’t just some of the best sequels in recent memory; they are among the most beloved films of the 21st century. A lot of this is due to having the original creator involved in the first place. Having George Miller there to oversee another Mad Max story, utilizing Harrison Ford’s passion for the character of Rick Deckard from 1982’s Blade Runnerand having Tom Cruise willing to perform death defying stunts that topped the original Top Gun is a big reason why Mad Max: Fury Road, Blade Runner 2049, and Top Gun: Maverick were as successful as they were.
One story that television fans had been asking for generations was if David Lynch would ever return to the world of Twin Peaks; although the original series had concluded after an abrupt cancellation in 1991, Lynch had yet to return to the franchise since the 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me bombed at the box office and received negative reviews at the Cannes Film Festival. However, the Showtime 2017 sequel miniseries Twin Peaks: The Return didn’t just utilize nostalgia to be a cash grab. Here’s why Twin Peaks: The Return is the greatest legacy sequel of all time.
It Progressed the Story
Twin Peaks originally told the story of a small town that is rocked by a shocking murder that reveals its darkest secrets. After the horrific discovery that the teenager Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) has been murdered, the FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) travels to the town of Twin Peaks to investigate who could have been responsible for the crime. What follows is not a traditional mystery in any way. Instead of solely focusing on the details of the crime, Lynch explored the gap in society that existed as a result of Laura’s death. Similar to the thematic subtext he explored in his 1986 masterpiece Blue VelvetLynch examined how the seemingly “ideal” small town community wasn’t quite as perfect as some had imagined.
Rather than trying to introduce a new threat, Twin Peaks: The Return deepened the text of the original story. Lynch continued to explore how the town of Twin Peaks had devolved into darkness in the time that had passed, and only occasionally allowed for nostalgic moments. As a result, the callbacks felt more powerful; a moment where Laura’s old boyfriend, Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), bursts into tears when he sees a photo of her has a tremendous emotional impact on the viewer. This is only possible because Lynch has taken the time to show how Bobby has changed in the time that has passed since Laura’s death. Bobby was once a drug-addicted, disreputable teenager, but he had grown into a productive member of society.
It Criticized Nostalgia
In the original Twin PeaksLynch used the mystery of the story as a means to criticize the flaws that he saw with most mainstream television. Slate reflected that “Twin Peaks’ distinct power was inextricable from its context on 20th-century American network TV, something it was in direct dialogue with.” Within the context of the series, Twin Peaks uses the show-within-a-show Invitation to Love as a means to criticize viewers that demanded a direct answer to the questions that the series presented. Twin Peaks was always meant to be a satire; those that watched it purely to see whether Laura’s murder was solved were missing the point.
In Twin Peaks: The ReturnLynch shows that digging deeper into her death will only provoke more issues. By trying to undo the murder that had taken place twenty years earlier, Cooper only turns the town into a darker version of itself. If in the original Twin Peaks used Laura’s murder as a “MacGuffin,” then Twin Peaks: The Return used nostalgia for the original series as its inciting incident. This is apparent in the ways that Lynch treats his main character. Those expecting Cooper to be the same as he once was were likely disappointed to see that he doesn’t turn into the normal “Dale Cooper” until nearly the end of the series; for the majority of the show, he’s either the comedic oad Dougie Jones or the dark version of Cooper that took over his body in season 2.
The Brilliant Soundtrack
One of the main reasons that the original Twin Peaks felt so cinematic in comparison to other television shows was that it had a score that felt similar to many of Lynch’s classic films such as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. Pitchfork reflected that the musical numbers “are used as a guide back toward something resembling reality, a reassuring embrace of the familiar following the rest of the show’s deeply disturbing and bizarre images.”
In order to make Twin Peaks: The Return feel fresh, Lynch utilized the work of younger artists that could make the new version feel even more exciting; the use of the Chromatics’ “Shadow” in particular in the second episode is a standout. Other highlights include the Muddy Magnolias’ “American Woman” and Rebekah Del Rio’s “No Stars.”
