“Our air, our water, our Earth”: Trans-corporeality and Toxic Bodies in Twin Peaks: The Return

Yates, Mark

Abstract

This article offers an ecocritical reading of David Lynch’s and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). Within The Return, Lawrence Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) claims that “our air, our water, our Earth—the very soil itself—our food, [and] our bodies [are] poisoned,” and audiences accordingly witness a variety of vomiting, infected, and irritated bodies throughout the series. These toxic bodies highlight the contamination of trans-corporeal networks, indicating that the town of Twin Peaks has been affected by a series of environmental crises which—within The Return—are symbolised collectively through the development and fallout of nuclear weapons. By offering a reading of how man-made contaminants enter, poison, and pass through the trans-corporeal bodies of Twin Peaks, this article demonstrates the ways in which The Return encourages an appreciation of the trans-corporeality of all life on earth.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 19, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 20, 2024
• Journal: Supernatural Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Art, Media, and Culture
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Publisher URL: https://www.supernaturalstudies.com/home