Discussed in this essay:

Twin Peaks: The Return. Showtime. Sundays, 8 p.m. May 21 September 3, 2017.

First, let’s stipulate that the timing here — the airing of terrifying and absurd new episodes of Twin Peaks in one of the most terrifying and absurd periods of American history — was, largely, an accident.

It is true that in the final episode of the original show, which aired on June 10, 1991, the ghost of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), the prom queen whose murder set the whole series in motion, tells FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) that she’ll see him…