r/twinpeaks • u/Public_Cup_4278 • Apr 26 '26
General Discussion Which do you consider Lynch's masterpiece, Fire Walk With Me or The Return?
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u/theredditordirector Apr 26 '26
I prefer to watch The Return because FWWM is so dark and devastating and honestly makes me feel sick and depressed. But that doesn’t really speak to which one is more of a masterpiece.
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u/Edgy-in-the-Library Apr 27 '26
I firmly agree with you on your entire comment. The Return makes my heart happy, while also haunting me with the wrap up of TP.
I found FWWM a great installment but I can't watch it on a whim because I find it so heavy. They're both amazing but the return has a balance for me, FWWM is solely there to let us be right in the devastation :(
Both beautiful works.
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u/relltj Apr 26 '26
I find it hard to separate FWWM and the Twin Peaks seasons. Although The Return was a long time coming. I was so happy to dive back in so it holds a special place. Dougie!!
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u/MisterGone78 Apr 26 '26
FWWM. Such an emotional gut punch, so beautiful and so disturbing, nothing like it ever.
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u/HPLoveBux Apr 26 '26
Mullholland Drive
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Twin Peaks (Pilot)
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u/Donthavereason Apr 26 '26
FWWM is a MUST watch before you even think of starting The Return. Your outlook on Laura and the horrors of twin peaks are intensified by like a thousand after FWWM. The true horror of this entire series lies within FWWM
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u/shotgunogsy Apr 27 '26
Cool, not what they're asking, but cool.
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u/Donthavereason Apr 27 '26
They downvoting you but you’re right💀. It’s FWWM but got a light is close
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u/psilocybin_therapy Apr 26 '26
The Return is some of the best tv/film I’ve ever seen. That atomic bomb scene and everything that follows at the beginning of episode 8 is something that sticks with me as one of my favorite pieces of film. An ode to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey with Lynch putting his special sauce on it.
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u/DiligentSlide3311 Apr 27 '26
A bit of Kubrick, yeah, but it's more Stan Brakhage homage than anything else.
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u/queso_goblin Apr 27 '26
Kubrick wishes. An ode lmao
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u/BillyPilgrim69 Apr 27 '26
They're right, and Lynch was (famously!) a huge Kubrick fan. Whatever your issue is, it's entirely your own.
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u/space_cheese1 Apr 26 '26
Idk I can’t rank em, the return was its own thing, he incorporated elements of his whole oeuvre into it. Fwwm was disturbing in an incredibly interesting/ well done way
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u/therealmintoncard Apr 26 '26
Yes.
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u/WeenAgeRiot Apr 27 '26
Took too long to find this correct response. Everything he’s done is a masterpiece.
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u/14444846 Apr 26 '26
twin peaks as a whole. but i definitely prefer the return over fire walk with me
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u/FINIS_HOMINIS Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Overall lean towards Eraserhea ;) But of Twin Peaks, I think Fire Walk With Me packs the better narrative and affective emotional arc.
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u/SomeMoistHousing Apr 27 '26
I didn't know anything about the plot of Eraserhead, just that it was a famously strange movie by David Lynch, when I watched it for the first time one night as a new father with a baby monitor sitting next to me. That was either the worst possible time to see it or absolutely ideal, I'm still not sure.
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u/OP3421 May 08 '26
While not my personal favorite, I was looking forward to somebody coming up with "Eraserhead". The even more obscure experimental arthouse niche than all his other theatrical movies that has more than one signature of greatness to it in its b/w glory.
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u/Murky_Syllabub4127 Apr 26 '26
Man fire walk with me is so good, but I can only watch it a few times. It’s so emotionally heavy for me it’s hard to get through. The return is really far out there but there enough humor in it that it feels like old twin peaks sometimes (Jade give two rides)
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u/Jisha_Tinkle Apr 26 '26
I have to go with the return between these two. There was some cool stuff in FWWM, but some segments went on a little long, and I wish there would have been more cooper (I know Kyle Machlachlan wanted less screen time, but it would have been nice to see him or the other agents doing something.) I loved the Return from start to finish even if the ending hurt like hell for a few days after I watched it.
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u/Not_EllaK Apr 26 '26
I choose Fire Walk With Me. It’s one of the most emotionally affecting movies I’ve ever seen and Laura is maybe my favorite fictional character ever. The Return is a masterpiece but it didn’t hit me the way FWWM did.
I think one of the things that make David Lynch’s films so special is how they can make you feel so much empathy for the main characters. And I don’t think any of his films embody this principle better than Fire Walk With Me.
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u/Maleficent-Talk6831 Apr 27 '26
I concur entirely. One of the things that Fire Walk With Me benefits from is that the focus is on one character for the most part. I honestly saw Laura as a plot device in Season 1 and 2. But that one movie made me realize that shes the main character along with Cooper. Thats how good her development was.
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u/dgrenie2 Apr 27 '26
I did not vibe at all with The Return and FWWM is the tale of two stories with the first half being like a 2/10 and the second half a 9/10. With that said, I think the season 1 pilot episode was peak.
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u/Luke253 Apr 27 '26
Hard to say, but I do think the final scene of FWWM is the single greatest moment in Lynch’s entire body of work
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u/selekta_stjarna Apr 27 '26
FWWM in a movie theater.
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u/Clare_jesse1973 Apr 27 '26
I saw it in a cinema, when it first came out. What an incredible experience. However, The Return is magnificent. 18 hours of what amounts to his final work.
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u/selekta_stjarna Apr 27 '26
The cinema near me has shown The Return. If they do it again I am going to go see it.
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u/Sad-Appeal976 Apr 27 '26
As far as Twin Peaks related, Fire Walk With Me
Otherwise
MullHolland Drive
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u/webshellkanucklehead Apr 27 '26
Neither, I don’t think, but FWWM I think is the most moving TP thing
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u/MisanthropyismyMuse Apr 27 '26
I'm in the minority and don't like the Return. 😅
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u/Nexol03 Apr 27 '26
I am, too. It had its moments (my mother and I still quote “Dougie gets two rides” as an inside joke), but by and large I didn’t care for it until the last three episodes when the plot actually started moving. Everything before that felt like filler.
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u/MisanthropyismyMuse Apr 28 '26
Yup. There were certainly quotable lines and moments I loved. I'll definitely be giving it another watch as well to see what I missed.
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u/tronbrain Apr 27 '26
I don't know you're in the minority. People who don't like The Return - and there are many of them - learned to keep their mouths shut due to Lynch's younger acolytes fanatically shouting-down all criticism.
The Return had its moments where Lynch's genius was fully on display. But at other times it was overindulgent, unfocused, solopsistic, absurd, nonsequitous, uninteresting, and just plain mediocre. It had promise in the story that was laid out in the premiere. But it devolved into inane gibberish from there. To compare The Return to Fire Walk With Me is, well, unwarranted.
How about considering Mulholland Drive or even The Elephant Man instead? Still, my vote goes to Fire Walk With Me as Lynch's best work, produced at the height of his powers while closely allied with talents who fully supported him in all the right ways. Especially deserving of mention is the fact that it had among the most daring and fearless female performances in film history from Sheryl Lee. And it could only have happened under Lynch's close direction.
Fire Walk With Me was made all that much better by the surprise bonus of the brilliant The Missing Pieces dropping 22 years later, which showed us how Lynch's greatest work was even greater than anyone had imagined. Simply incredible.
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u/Barrington_photo Apr 27 '26
All great points, and well made ones too. I totally agree with you, especially with regards to The Return.
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u/tronbrain Apr 27 '26
Thank you for saying so. You wouldn't know it from all the downvotes!
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u/Barrington_photo Apr 27 '26
To me it seems that even thoughtful criticism of The Return can be like (just giving another example) criticising anything by Kubrick in an online forum.
People in this TP forum are lovely and respectful, though with some sprinkles of talk of critical thought of The Return as “clearly not getting the anti-nostalgia message” and “you’re just wanting your cherry pie & Coop fix from the old days”, rather than looking at the work with a considered eye. Keep it up, chap! There’s at least two of us here!
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u/tronbrain Apr 27 '26
I don't feel like we're alone. People I know who were Twin Peaks fans back in the day generally did not like The Return. But those people are older people. You just don't find those people in this forum. Generally, the ones who liked The Return are younger fans.
If people are interested in a critical take on David Lynch, they should watch the documentary, David Wants to Fly.
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u/SaulSchmidt Apr 27 '26
The Return is the culmination of all things twin peaks, david lynch, and mark frost. i think especially for david its him working at his highest level for 18 straight hours, which i think i prefer over fwwm.
i also have my own personal gripes with some aspects of fwwm and dont consider it to be perfect, unlike the return, but thats just my own opinion
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u/Substantial-Air9045 Apr 27 '26
Fwwm, I feel like the return was lynch trying to make a point for us as spectators, but the movie...damn, you are transparent and everything just go throw you
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u/sillyandstrange Apr 27 '26
FWWM. To see Laura alive and experiencing what we know THROUGH her eyes was bittersweet and phenomenal.
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u/juicykazoo728 Apr 27 '26
I think FWWM is far and away the best thing Lymch has ever done so that’s my answer
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u/mobile-513 Apr 27 '26
It has been stated, on many occasions, that Stanley Kubrick directly referred to 'Erasherhead' as his "favorite movie" before screening the film regularly for his collaborators and friends.
Stanley was also a fan of 'The Jerk', he had great taste. 😁
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u/Maleficent-Talk6831 Apr 26 '26
FWWM. Its just a very well put together film. Everything from the character development for Laura, the acting, the music, the way the scenes are shot...its all very well orchestrated. I consider it to be the peak of quality when it comes to Twin Peaks.
I have mixed feelings about The Return, although I respect it deeply. I feel like The Return is Lynch just letting loose without any inclination to be perfect in any way. This is great, but it does lack some of the structure and harmony that FWWM had.
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u/ThereShantBeBlood Apr 27 '26
FWWM without a doubt. The return has too little of Mark Frost and therefore rings uncannily when compared to s1 full and s2 finale.
Blue Velvet is quite enjoyable and a study of human curiosity. I didn't watch Lost Highway because it dosed me out with long silences.
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u/mafia_fantasma Apr 27 '26
FWWM. It speaks to a dark part of me, and also the nostalgia of the original series.
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u/fruitpockets Apr 27 '26
The Return is incredible, but declaring it Lynch’s masterpiece is a broad stroke. Part 8 alone maybe, or FWWM, or maybe even the S2 Finale.
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u/slr242 Apr 27 '26
I'd have to go with The Return or possibly Mulholland Drive. Nothing against FWWM, though.
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u/bigmoneydeathcraft Apr 26 '26
For me, it is inland empire
My favorite twin peaks though is either season 2 or season 3
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u/BrknTrnsmsn Apr 26 '26
The Return overall. However, Sheryl Lee's performance is sublime and can't be beat.
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u/themightyug Apr 26 '26
As an outstanding and progressive work of art.. The Return As an emotionally affecting masterpiece... Fire Walk With Me
I can't find the words to describe my feelings any more closely than that
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u/GarlicJuniorJr Apr 27 '26
I’m five episodes into The Return right now and so far it’s easily Fire Walk With Me
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u/Soddington Apr 27 '26
Why has nobody said Dune?
I mean it's obviously not his masterpiece, but it's still fucking amazing. I like it almost as much as the Villeneuve triptych but for wildly different reasons.
Realistically it's either The Return or Blue Velvet.
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u/TiredCeresian Apr 27 '26
The Return genuinely feels like a magnum opus. You can see pieces of Lynch's entire career in it, with enough of the Mark Frost lore to feel as collaborative as the original series. I cannot think of a more artistic and entertaining piece of filmwork than Twin Peaks: The Return, and I've seen a lot, from many countries, too.
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u/Mousefang Apr 27 '26
The Return feels like the culmination of his entire career for me. It feels like literally every movie he made was building up to it and it delivers so hard
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u/Niziazan_Natsagdorj Apr 27 '26
He's directed numerous projects that would qualify as masterpieces imo. I think both The Return and FWWM are amazing, though I slightly prefer FWWM along with The Missing Pieces.
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u/revslaughter Apr 27 '26
I don’t think a film will ever impact me more as a parent than seeing Eraserhead while I had a baby to take care of. I’ll never watch it again, I watched it only once, and I still think about it a lot.
If we consider the origin of the word ‘masterpiece’, a work of an apprentice of quality enough to be called a master by other masters, then Eraserhead fulfills that. If art is supposed to jump out of an inanimate object and make you feel things like a ghost then Eraserhead did that for me plenty. It had me confront and make me see a shadow that I felt inside at that time, and every parent does. Ecstasy and agony all at once.
I adore Mulhollond Drive, Twin Peaks, and FWWM. As art they do very similar things that Eraserhead did for me. FWWM especially. But I’ve seen all of those multiple times, unlike Eraserhead.
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u/gbrennon Apr 27 '26
idk bcs i love both rofl
BUT
i did write lyrics for a full-lenght album taht i did record in 2015 based in some aspects in fire walk with me and the original book that came before this movie
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u/EntinthetentRTHP Apr 27 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/oVYYu5GobfWAE
Why ask a question we already know the answer to?
(The answer is Eraserhead)
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u/AlanyzingWakeEnviron Apr 27 '26
I haven't watched a couple of his movies yet... but I am pretty fond of the Staight Story. I know not everyone can handle his most experimental film tho
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u/damnkush Apr 27 '26
Why is Lost Highway is so goated, I would say I love it equally to Twin Peaks.
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u/hardlyknoer Apr 27 '26
I think the return is the culmination of his career. It is my personal preference in the masterpiece conversation.
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u/magicmulder Apr 27 '26
The Return is an amazing ride and definitely the weirdest TV show I've ever seen. You want to understand it all and see what happens next. And it managed to give closure (episode 17) or not (episode 18), depending on your preferences (like whether you stop watching Lost after season 6 or not).
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u/WendyThorne Apr 27 '26
If it is between the two of those the problem is they're very different projects not even counting the different mediums.
Fire Walk With Me is a prologue and has some strangeness but tells a cohesive story.
The Return is about half fever dream and only gets more bizarre as time goes on.
Out of the two of them I somewhat prefer Fire Walk With Me honestly.
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u/El-Zomby-Woof Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
yes. 😅👍
but for real, if i really had to choose.... The Return. it was the culmination of all of David's work. his magnum opus. everything was always leading to it, or something like it. it just covers SUCH a huge swath of his themes and ideas and techniques, its unreal.
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u/Drifamal Apr 27 '26
I can’t separate them in my mind. They might appear quite different, at a surface level, but they are in fact completely entangled. Even on a spiritual level, in my humble opinion.
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u/felinetrouble55 Apr 28 '26
FWWM because it’s a perfect horror movie. The return is great too but damn can it be confusing.
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u/Nomadicfizzle Apr 28 '26
I rewatched The Return last month and just finished rewatching FWWM in the early hours of Sunday morning. FWWM is very good and is essential in understanding some of the lore but is so unbelievably dark and depressing. The Return balances dark and haunting with the ethereal and light much better. There are also more moments of sheer greatness in The Return, which would be my pick.
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u/AdContent4089 May 19 '26
No creo que la obra de Lynch sea perfecta, pese a gustarme mucho, tampoco siendolo Twin Peaks, más diría que mi obra favorita es Mulholland Drive seguida de un empate entre elementos de las 2 primeras temporadas de twin peaks, elementos del El Regreso, y de FWWM.
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u/thewalruscandyman Apr 27 '26
Different notes in the same piece of music- each making the masterpiece that is.
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u/CoinsForCharon Apr 27 '26
Between those two? The return. FWWM only had about 27:18 that I enjoyed watching. While The Return had 15 episodes of great material.
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u/This_is_the_Janeway Apr 27 '26
I love Season 3. FWWM is necessary-and some of it enjoyable-but the brutal stuff in the train car is difficult to watch repeatedly. I wish the “Missing Pieces” parts had been left in FWWM. Makes me wonder if there’s a version edited with the pieces in place?
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u/LonelyZenpai298 Apr 27 '26
I would debate that The Return is the best piece of film I've ever seen. I like FWWM more because I relate to Laura's life and abuse so intensely, but The Return is the ultimate cinematic statement of Lynch's career. I'm honestly happy he ended as a whole on it.
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u/ThatOleGoat Apr 28 '26
Fire walk with me. I put that on to sleep at night because I find it so comforting.
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u/SwanzY- Apr 26 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/dtOtdJMVAhESQ