ABSTRACT
When Part 8 of Twin Peaks: The Return aired on Showtime in June 2017, fans and critics referred to it as a game changer. The centerpiece of the episode was an extended scene of the Trinity atomic bomb test that morphed into a second where The Fireman creates a golden orb from a mushroom cloud-shaped aura and with Laura Palmer’s face. Two contrasting pieces of music accompany this narrative: the atomic bomb detonation is underscored with Krzysztof Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960), and The Fireman’s scene is scored with new music by the series’ composer, Angelo Badalamenti. This chapter explores the chaos and creation narratives present in these two scenes as read through their accompanying musical scores. I argue that both scenes—the detonation of the atomic bomb and the creation of BOB and Laura—give the audience an aural and visual sense of the dual chaos and creation motives in the episode. The use of Threnody establishes a political and cultural statement about the creation of evil through the bomb, while the music used for Laura’s creation scene represents her redemption.
