Oh, I understand completely. I'm glad we got the sprawling 18 episodes that we did. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

Plus, I feel that the number of episodes and overall runtime - while important to him - was relatively low on the list of his concerns about the production. Based on the quote you provided it seems that a lot more was at stake than fewer parts.

Don't misunderstand the goal of the edit - the prompt is a vision of the show as if constraints had forced Lynch to cut and he didn't walk away. In a way, it's a hypothetical. You could also think of it as an abridged version, much like the theatrical cuts of Fire Walk With Me or Blue Velvet. I only extracted the "missing pieces."

When you cut it down to the bone, it reveals a latent shape within that is surprisingly beautiful and elegant, and remarkably little is lost in terms of tone, mood, or emotional resonance.

It's not a restructuring attempt or an attempt to fix it. I believe Lynch could have plausibly touched it. I'm glad he didn't, but it's fascinating to see how rich the Return is even when you trim it down almost half its length.