Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return.

As far as endings go, Kyle MacLachlan is “still reeling” from the final line of Twin Peaks: The Return– “What year is this?”

The third season revival, which recently wrapped and is now available to stream in its entirety on CraveTV, came 26 years after co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost’s bizarre police procedural was abruptly cancelled following its second season.

When we last saw MacLachlan’s Special Agent Dale Cooper on the small screen in 1991, he had been inhabited by the evil killer spirit BOB. Bloodied and staring into a mirror, he sneered, “How’s Annie?” – a reference to Cooper’s then-girlfriend Annie Blackburn (played by Heather Graham).

A feature film, 1992’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, didn’t offer any clues as to the fate of the Cooper character.

In the strange 18-episode reboot, which featured many of the original cast, MacLachlan, 58, played Dougie, Mr. C and Special Agent Dale Cooper. In the Return’s final moments, Cooper is seen on a dimly-lit street, those four words – “What year is this?” – leaving fans dangling with another cliff-hanger.

MacLachlan doesn’t know what it means, and doesn’t think Lynch, who co-wrote the revival with Frost and directed all the episodes, will be shedding any light on that fateful last line. But he’s intrigued by the possibility of revisiting the Cooper character again if he’s asked.

“I never knew how it was all going to turn out,” he says over coffee in a downtown Toronto hotel. “I enjoyed watching [The Return] along with everyone else, and now that it’s over, I miss it.”

During a freewheeling conversation, the freshly pressed MacLachlan reflected on the legacy of Twin Peaks, Cooper’s ending and the future.

Twin Peaks was such a phenomenon when it first aired. What was that like for you?

When we signed on to do the pilot in 1989, we all signed a contract that said we will be part of this for five years. So they had us in the event the show was successful. We all signed it thinking it probably wasn’t going to be more than the pilot. We were all surprised that they wanted us to do more, but when it came out and it was a success that caught us all off guard. It was kind of crazy.

Now, fans are able to binge it and the people who have been with you all season can go back and re-experience it, what’s it like for you to have the complete Twin Peaks: The Return out there in the world?

I’m happy, I’m excited that all 18 hours have now been revealed. I feel a certain sadness that there aren’t more. I loved spending time with these characters. And as a fan, I loved watching each week as every new episode aired, always with the idea of not knowing what was going to happen or where I was going to end up.

Twin Peaks: The Return brings back old characters, like Sheryl Lee’s Laura Palmer, Miguel Ferrer’s Albert Rosenfield and David Bowie’s Phillip Jeffries, and introduces new ones – the evil Mr. C and Dougie, as well as Cooper’s former secretary Diane. What surprised you most about the new season?

One of the biggest surprises was when David Lynch told me Laura Dern was going to be Diane. I was so excited and pleased. My first thought was, ‘This is perfect.’ My next thought was, ‘How are we going to keep this a secret?’ She was wonderful and the whole way she went about creating that character was extraordinary. She’s also got an interesting relationship with David and that was fun to witness. The last time we worked together was Blue Velvet, and we’re both friends with David, but we don’t spend a lot of time together, all three of us. So it was interesting to see how they interacted. That was fun to see. Same with Naomi Watts. David and I have a great relationship, but it’s different than the one he has with the girls.

Twin Peaks went off the air in 1991 and the feature, Fire Walk with Me, wasn’t a box office hit. Did you ever think you’d get to play Dale Cooper again?

I really didn’t. David and I are neighbours in Los Angeles, so over the years when we’d see each other, I would always bring it up. I’d ask him, ‘Do you ever think about Twin Peaks?’ and David would say, ‘Not really.’ I could see there was no strong move on his part to return. So over the years, I assumed that was it and that those characters were going to live in what we had. So when he called me a few years ago and said ‘I need to speak to you, but it can’t be on the phone,’ I had no idea what it was about. I figured it was either a new project, or he was upset that I did something. But it turned out he and Mark Frost had started work on Twin Peaks again and I was absolutely thrilled about that. I wanted that from day one.

What did you think of the original cliff-hanger ending with Cooper inhabited by killer BOB?

To be honest I was excited by the prospect of playing what I thought at the time would be two Coopers because of the assimilation of Cooper by BOB and Cooper in the Black Lodge. I thought great, ‘I’m going to do both.’ As an actor, I was really excited to sink my teeth into that compelling story. To me, that was a great follow-up to the ‘Who Killed Laura Palmer?’ storyline. So I was disappointed that I didn’t get to continue that.

People must have come up to you for years saying, ‘How’s Annie?’

Sure. We thought we created a new line for everyone to say when [in episode 16 of The Return] Cooper says, ‘I am the FBI.’

Tell me about the ending for Twin Peaks: The Return and what did you make of the line, ‘What year is this?’ What was your reaction to that?

I’m still reeling from what that was. I remember filming it and thinking, ‘This is going to be a very powerful and frightening end to this’ – if this is indeed the end. I assumed that it was going to be the end, but you never know. But just like the first series, I’m excited about where that might lead. At this point there have been no discussions of any future episodes.

So maybe 25 years from now Cooper returns?

I’ll have a cane [laughs] and I’ll be walking very slowly.

What order would you recommend a Twin Peaks newbie to watch everything in?

I think they could probably start with the first series and enjoy that. But David has said that the pilot and the end of that first series is important. Then Fire Walk with Me has a much closer relationship to what we did in The Return than the original series. The current 18 hours is something that needs repeated viewing.

What do you hope the legacy of Twin Peaks is?

I think it’ll stay around and be talked about and written about and experienced for years. It’s one of those experiences you don’t expect to have watching television and I think people have described it as a hybrid of film and television. At the risk of sounding pretentious, it’s something you sit and experience and think about. That’s a rare thing for television.

After Twin Peaks, you enjoyed success on Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City. What was the secret to your longevity in Hollywood?

Just to keep working. To be honest, I think the influence my early work with David Lynch had on my subsequent career was pretty important (MacLachlan starred in Lynch’s Dune and Blue Velvet in the 1980s). As I look back on it, I think the roles I got were the result of various people being affected by David’s work. I think they were open to working with me because of my experience with David. His impact on my career was profound. It was everything.

What are the three movies you’d take to a desert island?

Apocalypse Now is something I’d definitely have to have. I’d probably bring Deadpool just because I’m a big fan of Ryan Reynolds and I never get tired of that movie; it’s pretty fantastic. I’d also bring something from David because that would be something that I could sit and think about for a long time.

Twin Peaks: The Return, perhaps?

All 18 episodes, for sure.

The first two seasons of Twin Peaks as well as Twin Peaks: The Return are available to stream on CraveTV.

Twitter: @markhdaniell

MDaniell@postmedia.com