First episode that I genuinely didn't enjoy. I think it has to do with the fact that I rewatched the first two seasons last week, and the pacing difference really struck me.
Every scene in Twin Peaks S1 and S2 (up until the murder was solved) felt significant, engaging and entertaining. This is because, even in non-plot relevant moments, the show had built up an immensely charismatic cast that was easy to become invested in, something S3 is largely devoid of.
S3's approach to death really rubs me the wrong way as well. For the vast majority of the original show, only a handful of characters died (Laura, Bernard, Jaques, Maddie, Hank, Leland), and every one of those apart from Bernard felt extremely significant and had real impact on both the overarching plot and the emotional states of the characters. In six episodes of The Return, we have a huge and almost totally insignificant body count. Could it pay off eventually? Sure, but the original show knew how to make every big event significant both in the moment and in the long term.
I think that the saddest possibility for Twin Peaks S3 is that people come to the same conclusion they did looking back on S2: That the show should have died when Leland did. Nothing after that had any impact. The Lodge is a mess, and the supernatural elements were only interesting when they existed on the periphery of a strong main storyline that was largely grounded in reality. S3 has no grounding, and I have a feeling that more and more people are going to drop off as this continues.
