“I’ll see you again in 25 years.”
That’s one of the many mysterious things Laura Palmer said on the last episode of the second season of Twin Peaks. Given the nature of the show and it’s co-creator, David Lynch, the sentence could mean everything... or nothing.
After this very episode - the season two finale - the show was prematurely cancelled, leaving many loose ends and a legion of devastated fans. As two decades passed, the show only gathered more admirers, and when faced with the abrupt end of that fascinating universe, they were all faced with the same question: could the show really return in 25 years?
It’s clear that the abrupt ending and possible late continuation were not planned - the show was really cancelled at the time due to poor performance. Notoriously, ABC forced the creators to reveal who killed Laura Palmer midway through season two (something David Lynch was strongly against) and audience interest for the show declined rapidly after the reveal. Lynch became less and less involved with production, and matters were made worse because the show started focusing more on uninteresting subplots and vague supernatural elements than an intriguing mystery.
However, the very last episode marked the return of David Lynch to the director’s chair after a long hiatus. Lynch got rid of most subplots, filmed some possibly fatal conclusions to important characters, and composed a hellish ending sequence with a fantastic cliff-hanger to looked like the show was back on track…
Yet, due to the aforementioned lackluster performance with audiences, ABC cancelled the show in 1991 anyway soon after the end of season two.
The story, it seemed, would never be concluded.
The show gained a cult following and every year a rumor would arise of the show's return - most of them being just rumors. It didn’t help when, after 2006’s feature film Inland Empire, Lynch revealed he had no more interested in directing.
Yet, almost ten years after Lynch’s statement, Laura Palmer’s cryptic deadline was looming closer. If Twin Peaks was ever to return, it had to be then.
Finally in 2014 - 13 years after the end of season two - Showtime announced that Twin Peaks would be returning as a limited series.
Most of the original cast would be coming back and the two decades gap would be implemented into the script, becoming a part of the story.
The show officially premiered in 2017 - 26 years later.
Laura Palmer got really close.
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