The true question is, despite my fanboyism - did this need to be 18 episodes? It was originally 9 and to be honest, this story could have been 9.
The ironic thing is that all the stuff anchoring this to the original Twin Peaks - Shelly's niece plotline, Caleb Landry Jones plotline, Norma "expand the RR" plotline, Dr. Jacoby radio "plotline," James and Hulk hand plotline (mostly), Andy and Lucy "plotline"... it was complete fluff to the overall narrative.
Twin Peaks: The Return edited back into 9 episode might be even more compelling. I'm not sure. 45 minutes of Episode 8 can not be cut down - that HAS to exist as it is, as do many other plotlines. And in a year or two I might be shouting accolades for Lynch's 18-hour pièce de résistance. And ANY Lynch content is gold after a 10-year absence. But as hard as it is for me to say, for the story it was trying to tell, 9 episodes of The Return may have worked even better.
Still, the final ep is going to keep many a fan coming back. There's a lot to evaluate here now that we have the whole picture to work from. Judy/Mother and Laura/texas chick especially.
