Quick Takes: Twin Peaks Returns to TV [Winter 2015 TCAs] 

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

If you haven’t heard about the return of Twin Peaks, you haven’t been paying attention. Series creators Mark Frost and David Lynch will write, produce and direct all nine episodes of this limited series. And Kyle MacLachlan is back as FBI Agent Dale Cooper.

Set in present day, the series promises to provide long -awaited answers. In case you’ve forgotten some of the details of the show in the intervening 25 years or if it’s all new to you, Showtime will re-air the first two seasons of the series prior to the premiere of the new season.

Twin Peaks followed the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town who were stunned after their homecoming queen Laura Palmer was shockingly murdered. The town’s sheriff welcomed the help of FBI agent Dale Cooper, who came to town to investigate the case. As Cooper conducted his search of Laura’s killer, the town’s secrets were gradually exposed. The mystery that ensued set off an eerie chain of events that plunged the inhabitants of Twin Peaks into a darker examination of their very existence. Twenty-give years later, the story continues.

Showtime Networks President David Nevins answered some questions about the series during his executive session.

Let’s talk a little Twin Peaks. What was the meeting like with Mark and David? Did they need to do much selling or is it basically they say we want to do more Twin Peaks and you say yes?

David Nevins: “Well, it was a little bit the other way around where I was begging them and hoping to pass muster with David Lynch. It felt like the only way that you could do it would be to have David commit to directing all of them, so that was the thing I was begging for. I think it’s something they had been toying with for a long time. I think in David’s mind, 25 years was the magic number. There’s a reference in the original, that ‘I’ll see you in 25 years.’ So he pays attention to that kind of numerology in a big way. He came in. I said this before, but he fixated on some of the artwork in my office. That was helpful. I have some very violent, weird imagery ‑‑ there’s a bookshelf falling on a young girl. I think he liked that and we were off in business.”

Given how specific the show is and David’s process, is this the kind of project where you’re giving notes and you’re writing checks and leaving them alone to do whatever insane things they want to do?

David: “I am just the grateful recipient of it. Although, I will say they have been very specific in promising closure and I think that’s exciting. I don’t want to even say what I’ve seen. But from what I’ve seen, I think this is going to live up to expectations and then some.”

Edited for space and content.

The continuation of Twin Peaks will debut in 2016 on Showtime.