'Twin Peaks' Season 3 Episode Descriptions Are Cryptic And Weird and...Lynchian

We're only a few days away from the wildly-anticipated return of Twin Peaks, but we're still largely in the dark about what the revived series will actually contain. More of Kyle MacLachlan's FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper? Absolutely, but even something as seemingly simple as that is tinged with a spoilery caveat I won't get into now. Will we see another murder in the small Northwestern town? Almost certainly. But beyond that, it's been nothing but tumbleweeds out there when it comes to plot details.

But some new descriptions of the first eight episodes have just surfaced, and in typical Twin Peaks fashion, they're intriguingly – and almost frustratingly – mysterious.

The AV Club pointed us to the fan site WelcomeToTwinPeaks, which tracked down some descriptions from Showtime's website. Before we jump into those, it's worth noting that Peaks co-creator David Lynch is directing every installment of the revived series (as he should be!), and that he considers the new Twin Peaks to be an eighteen-hour film that's being spooled out in "parts" instead of a traditional television season broken up into eighteen episodes. That ought to make for some...interesting structuring to this season, but in any case, let's dive into the descriptions of the first eight parts.

Part 1: My log has a message for you.

Part 2: The stars turn and a time presents itself.

Part 3: Call for help.

Part 4: ...brings back some memories.

Part 5: Case files.

Part 6: Don't die.

Part 7: There's a body all right.

Part 8: Gotta light?

Among those descriptions, only one thing seems like a sure bet: part 1 should feature the return of Catherine E. Coulson's mysterious Log Lady dispensing valuable information to someone in need. Further speculation: "The stars turn and a time presents itself" could reference an alignment that could hint at the opening of the portal to the Black (and White) Lodge, which might link to the last time we saw Cooper in the season 2 finale. "Case files" could be a good place to reintroduce FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (played by Lynch himself).

But the rest of these are so purposefully cryptic that it's impossible to know what Lynch has in store. And frankly, that unpredictability is a huge part of the joy of the series in the first place, so I wouldn't have it any other way.

Twin Peaks returns to television with a two-part season premiere this Sunday night on Showtime, and episodes three and four will be available on demand right afterward. Those episodes will then air the following Sunday, and the show will settle into a routine of airing a single episode per week until its two-part season finale on September 3, 2017.

Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential broadcast series of all time, 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 for 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-five years later, the story continues...