The Little That Remains... The Death (and Resurrection?) of Twin Peaks and Sherlock Holmes
This article contains spoilers for both the Sherlock Holmes
stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and the television show Twin Peaks, up through
and including the end of both of these series.
Read on at your own peril…
"Is it future or is it past?"
--- The Man From Another Place, Twin Peaks
--- The Man From Another Place, Twin Peaks
“A few words may suffice to tell the little that remains.”
--- John Watson, The
Final Problem
BRIAN: There is nobody alive today who knows what it was like to
read Doyle’s “The Final Problem” when it was first published. According to all accounts, the shockwaves
that this story sent throughout that era’s pop culture were devastating. Holmes
was dead! Sherlock Holmes --- the
Great Detective, champion of the oppressed, the one person who could always be
counted on to solve the crime and bring justice to the wronged, be they
privileged or poor. His stories had
regaled the readers of The Strand magazine for years; had become a very part of
those readers’ lives; and now, those readers learned to their disbelieving
horror that their favorite literary character had met his demise at the hands
of his archenemy. No more Holmes. No more
stories.
We will never know exactly how Doyle’s contemporary
audiences felt, but we do know what
those audiences did. According to Loren D. Estleman’s article “On
The Significance of Boswells”, “…more than twenty thousand Strand readers
canceled their subscriptions immediately, and young men and women appeared on
the streets in, respectively, black armbands and veils”. Although the final figures have yet to come
in, it may be similarly assumed that several thousand Showtime viewers canceled their
subscriptions following the series finale of Twin Peaks: The Return.
DERRICK: From the audiences actions, I think we can get an idea of how they felt. Doyle received letters starting with "You Brute!" He was physically attacked by an umbrella wielding woman for killing off Holmes, and even Queen Victoria was supposedly not amused when reading of the great detective's demise. While some fans are mortified by the ending of Twin Peaks (they shouldn't be, but more on that later), at least David Lynch and Mark Frost have not been beaten by umbrellas (though that might make for a great scene in a Lynch film).
BRIAN: Despite their actions, we do not know what Doyle's audiences felt in their hearts at the loss of Holmes, but we do know what Frost and Lynch's audiences felt at the end of Twin Peaks: disbelief. For many, they simply refused to let go. Personally, I had believed that the end of season two was only a temporary setback for Agent Cooper; that he would eventually find his way out of the Black Lodge, and that our hero would be triumphant. How could it be otherwise? It's Coop! I was not alone in this belief, either -- fans kept the series alive through clubs, conventions and the excellent magazine Wrapped In Plastic. We knew that there were more stories to be explored in this bizarre universe, despite the hanging threads left by the series and by Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Now, with the end of the current season, we are left with yet another cliffhanger ending. And again, fans are refusing to let the series die. Dozens, if not hundreds, of websites and blogs (such as this one) have sprung up analyzing every last detail of the 2017 series, debating every scrap of trivial dialogue and throwaway scenes. Had the internet existed in the 1890s, I'm sure we would have all kinds of historical blogs analyzing the Doyle canon for hints as to Moriarty's influence in earlier stories, or theorizing how Mycroft and Watson could have covered up Holmes's demise; how "The Final Problem" was simply a fever dream brought on by an excess of cocaine.
DERRICK: I agree with the feeling of disbelief and loss. However, I don't see the ending of Twin Peaks as a cliffhanger. I think it had a definitive ending that is open to multiple interpretations. The two main ones seem to be: 1. The multiple reality ending in which Cooper successfully saves Laura Palmer and traps Judy in the Black Lodge. The best analysis I've read of this ending was by Alex Fulton on the website Medium. You can read his excellent analysis here. 2. The dream ending in which Cooper and Aubrey are really Richard and Linda experiencing a shared dream as their relationship comes to an end. This interpretation I've seen in a few reviews and blog posts; however, it probably warrants its own complete entry here as I've never seen it fully fleshed out to the extent of Fulton's analysis of the multiple reality ending.
We also have to remember that Doyle did resurrect Holmes and explained that the great detective faked his death at the Reichenbach Falls. He then continued writing Holmes stories almost until his own passing from this world to the next. While in many ways, Season 3 of Twin Peaks was also the resurrection of Agent Dale Cooper, it is possible that it, too, is not the last time Lynch will direct the character. There could be a Twin Peaks Season 4, though even if there is, I doubt Lynch would give viewers an ending where all loose threads are wrapped in a neat little bow.
BRIAN: My great hope is that the void left by Twin Peaks will inspire other filmmakers to create challenging works of television. The influence of the original series on modern TV is unmistakable; if you weren't alive prior to 1990, you don't understand what a wasteland TV was compared to the golden age we're currently enjoying.
When, in the 1920s, Doyle announced that he was officially retiring Holmes (for real, this time), it inspired a young college freshman named August Derleth to create the pastiche character Solar Pons as a way of continuing the spirit of the Doyle canon. Derleth went on to great success as a writer and publisher, and (shameless plug) his Solar Pons lives on today in a new volume published here at Belanger Books (new-solar-pons-book-sherlock-holmes-of-praed-stree). Several other authors have cited Doyle's stories as influencing their work --- including a certain Mark Frost, who not only enjoys Holmes but Pons as well; the character he plays in Twin Peaks is named Cyril Pons.
DERRICK: In many ways Agent Cooper can be seen as a modern day Sherlock Holmes, but perhaps it is more accurate to call him a modern day Solar Pons. As one can read in the new collection of Pons stories, The Papers of Solar Pons, Pons, like Cooper, was a modern day (for his time) version of the Sherlock Holmes character. Perhaps we will see a new Agent Cooper, maybe Agent Copper, who will continue the work of the FBI agent but under a slightly different guise. It is also highly likely that we will see an emergence of Twin Peaks fan fiction online, similar to the plethora of new Sherlock Holmes stories which never stopped being written from the time Doyle put down his pen. It will be interesting, years from now, to see if any of these tales get accepted as part of the Twin Peaks canon.
BRIAN: Hopefully, the end of Twin Peaks is just the beginning for a new generation of creators.
Check out the Solar Pons Kickstarter here.
DERRICK: From the audiences actions, I think we can get an idea of how they felt. Doyle received letters starting with "You Brute!" He was physically attacked by an umbrella wielding woman for killing off Holmes, and even Queen Victoria was supposedly not amused when reading of the great detective's demise. While some fans are mortified by the ending of Twin Peaks (they shouldn't be, but more on that later), at least David Lynch and Mark Frost have not been beaten by umbrellas (though that might make for a great scene in a Lynch film).
 |
| Is Dale Cooper a Modern Day Version of Solar Pons? |
BRIAN: Despite their actions, we do not know what Doyle's audiences felt in their hearts at the loss of Holmes, but we do know what Frost and Lynch's audiences felt at the end of Twin Peaks: disbelief. For many, they simply refused to let go. Personally, I had believed that the end of season two was only a temporary setback for Agent Cooper; that he would eventually find his way out of the Black Lodge, and that our hero would be triumphant. How could it be otherwise? It's Coop! I was not alone in this belief, either -- fans kept the series alive through clubs, conventions and the excellent magazine Wrapped In Plastic. We knew that there were more stories to be explored in this bizarre universe, despite the hanging threads left by the series and by Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Now, with the end of the current season, we are left with yet another cliffhanger ending. And again, fans are refusing to let the series die. Dozens, if not hundreds, of websites and blogs (such as this one) have sprung up analyzing every last detail of the 2017 series, debating every scrap of trivial dialogue and throwaway scenes. Had the internet existed in the 1890s, I'm sure we would have all kinds of historical blogs analyzing the Doyle canon for hints as to Moriarty's influence in earlier stories, or theorizing how Mycroft and Watson could have covered up Holmes's demise; how "The Final Problem" was simply a fever dream brought on by an excess of cocaine.
DERRICK: I agree with the feeling of disbelief and loss. However, I don't see the ending of Twin Peaks as a cliffhanger. I think it had a definitive ending that is open to multiple interpretations. The two main ones seem to be: 1. The multiple reality ending in which Cooper successfully saves Laura Palmer and traps Judy in the Black Lodge. The best analysis I've read of this ending was by Alex Fulton on the website Medium. You can read his excellent analysis here. 2. The dream ending in which Cooper and Aubrey are really Richard and Linda experiencing a shared dream as their relationship comes to an end. This interpretation I've seen in a few reviews and blog posts; however, it probably warrants its own complete entry here as I've never seen it fully fleshed out to the extent of Fulton's analysis of the multiple reality ending.
We also have to remember that Doyle did resurrect Holmes and explained that the great detective faked his death at the Reichenbach Falls. He then continued writing Holmes stories almost until his own passing from this world to the next. While in many ways, Season 3 of Twin Peaks was also the resurrection of Agent Dale Cooper, it is possible that it, too, is not the last time Lynch will direct the character. There could be a Twin Peaks Season 4, though even if there is, I doubt Lynch would give viewers an ending where all loose threads are wrapped in a neat little bow.
BRIAN: My great hope is that the void left by Twin Peaks will inspire other filmmakers to create challenging works of television. The influence of the original series on modern TV is unmistakable; if you weren't alive prior to 1990, you don't understand what a wasteland TV was compared to the golden age we're currently enjoying.
When, in the 1920s, Doyle announced that he was officially retiring Holmes (for real, this time), it inspired a young college freshman named August Derleth to create the pastiche character Solar Pons as a way of continuing the spirit of the Doyle canon. Derleth went on to great success as a writer and publisher, and (shameless plug) his Solar Pons lives on today in a new volume published here at Belanger Books (new-solar-pons-book-sherlock-holmes-of-praed-stree). Several other authors have cited Doyle's stories as influencing their work --- including a certain Mark Frost, who not only enjoys Holmes but Pons as well; the character he plays in Twin Peaks is named Cyril Pons.
DERRICK: In many ways Agent Cooper can be seen as a modern day Sherlock Holmes, but perhaps it is more accurate to call him a modern day Solar Pons. As one can read in the new collection of Pons stories, The Papers of Solar Pons, Pons, like Cooper, was a modern day (for his time) version of the Sherlock Holmes character. Perhaps we will see a new Agent Cooper, maybe Agent Copper, who will continue the work of the FBI agent but under a slightly different guise. It is also highly likely that we will see an emergence of Twin Peaks fan fiction online, similar to the plethora of new Sherlock Holmes stories which never stopped being written from the time Doyle put down his pen. It will be interesting, years from now, to see if any of these tales get accepted as part of the Twin Peaks canon.
BRIAN: Hopefully, the end of Twin Peaks is just the beginning for a new generation of creators.
Check out the Solar Pons Kickstarter here.
Belanger Books is a small press owned by artist Brian Belanger and author Derrick Belanger specializing in new Sherlock Holmes books, Children's books, Steampunk, and genre specific anthologies. Some of our books have been #1 bestsellers in their categories on Amazon.
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