David Lynch Saved ‘Twin Peaks’ Season 2 with One of TV’s Wildest Cliffhangers

David Lynch never much followed the rules, and Twin Peaks showed television how far that could go. Season 1’s blend of warmth, surreal mystery, and psychological dread sparked global fervor, but Season 2 slid into artistic inconsistency, poor ratings, and an exasperating cancellation.

Lynch’s return to direct the finale amplified the show’s cultural footprint and, by delivering a diabolical cliffhanger, helped preserve its mythic status. Mark Frost has described how a jump from a seven-episode run to a standard 22-episode order created pressure, and ABC’s insistence on revealing Laura Palmer’s killer midseason reduced the creators’ control.

With less oversight on the back half, Twin Peaks lost some of its original tone. Lynch came back after a 14-episode absence and, production coordinator Sabrina Sutherland says, rewrote parts of the script to steer the finale closer to he and Frost’s initial vision.

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