Twin Peaks

[Ancalagon]

Okay, so I'm a massive Twin Peaks fan, as those of you who recognise my avatar can probably tell. For those of you who aren't aware of it, it followed the investigation of an FBI agent in to the death of Laura Palmer, although as the series went on, that became more of a Macguffin that led the viewer in to the twisted goings-on in the town itself. Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, it became, briefly, hugely popular; before being cancelled at the end of its second season.

For me, its a flawed masterpiece. A lot of the second season focused on silly sub-plots; as under pressure from ABC, they tried to make the series more accessible to casual viewers. The over-arching story, however, was fantastic, and the David Lynch directed episodes are truly wonderful.

It also had a lasting influence on TV. Twin Peaks showed that television could be surreal and different, and still be popular. The creators of shows like Lost and Carnivale have acknowledged their debt to Twin Peaks; it's good that American TV still produces shows that aren't immediately accessible, but provide such a payoff when you persist with them.

So, does anyone else here like Twin Peaks? What did you think of the second season? What are your favourite Twin Peaks moments? And to anyone who hasn't seen it, please give it a try.

 

[Chipperz]

I've only seen Fire Dance With Me. I think it was good, but then again, I'm not sure what happened. I THINK there was a midget and some girl got raped and murdered?

Seriously, it's the only time I've considered getting acid to help me understand something.

 

[Archemetis]

Don't know what this Twin Peaks thing is, but...
I'm sorry, the moment I saw Twin Peaks I assumed this was a topic about breasts...

This says just SO much about me right now...


/shame.

 

[oliveira8]

People not knowing what is Twin Peaks is very....sad.

People that still havent heard the line "Who killed Laura Palmer?", need to start turning off 24 and watch proper TV series.

Generalization ftw!

 

[Ancalagon]

I've only seen Fire Dance With Me. I think it was good, but then again, I'm not sure what happened. I THINK there was a midget and some girl got raped and murdered?

Seriously, it's the only time I've considered getting acid to help me understand something.

It's 'Fire Walk With Me', and I saw it first as well. It makes no sense without having seen the series, and doesn't entirely make sense after having seen it. Still scared the crap out of me, though. I didn't know why at the time, but once you understand what's going on, it's terrifying. But the film lacked a lot of the humour of the series, and was poorly received at the time for being so miserable. If you really want to understand what's happening without having to watch the series, then (and please don't read this if you're going to watch the series):

Spoiler

Laura Palmer's father was possessed by an evil spirit called BOB, from a place called the Black Lodge, of which my avatar is an image. For most of the time, Leland would act normally, but late at night, he would be taken control of by BOB, and would creep in to his daughter's room and rape her. Creatures from the Black Lodge live on a substance called Garmonbozia, created from the fear and suffering of people. Laura realises during the film that BOB, who she had only ever seen as BOB's true self, a greasy-haired monster, is actually her father. She also realises that BOB wants to possess her, and chooses to die by his hand rather than be possessed. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Chipperz]

It makes... A BIT more sense... Was that midget dude the leader or something?

 

[Jumping_Over_Fences]

The second season of the show was not necessarily bad. I feel compared to any normal show, the second season really can stand up as a great show. However, when put next to the brilliance of the first season, it just pales in comparison. Also, it could have a lot to do with the fact that David Lynch and Mark Frost were pretty much making everything up as they went along. It would have been better if there was a clearly mapped out plan, but that could have a lot to do with the fact that they may not have thought it would go two seasons.

...and don't even get me started on the abomination of Fire Walk with Me.

 

[Archemetis]

People not knowing what is Twin Peaks is very....sad.

People that still havent heard the line "Who killed Laura Palmer?", need to start turning off 24 and watch proper TV series.

Generalization ftw!

I've never heard of Twin Peaks, or heard the phrase "Who killed Laura Palmer" even uttered in my twenty-one years on this earth, another thing i've never seen is a single episode of 24.

indeed, Generalization ftw.

(No insult meant, I just figured someone was gonna pick up on that at some point, may as well be the first guy ignorant of the show to post. )

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I'm still workin on it, got the gold set for x-mas. It's still a bit of a hard watch overall though, very 90's.

 

[Ancalagon]

It makes... A BIT more sense... Was that midget dude the leader or something?

Okay, this really isn't going to help, but:

Spoiler

The midget is the embodiment of MIKE's, who was BOB's partner in crime, arm. MIKE cut off his own arm to stop himself from helping BOB commit his crimes. You see MIKE in the film when Laura and Leland are in the car, and MIKE starts shouting at Leland/BOB, and Leland starts revving his car. He does this to drown out MIKE, but also to cover the smell of scorched engine oil, which is the smell that is produced by members of the Black Lodge.

 

[oliveira8]

People not knowing what is Twin Peaks is very....sad.

People that still havent heard the line "Who killed Laura Palmer?", need to start turning off 24 and watch proper TV series.

Generalization ftw!

I've never heard of Twin Peaks, or heard the phrase "Who killed Laura Palmer" even uttered in my twenty-one years on this earth, another thing i've never seen is a single episode of 24.

indeed, Generalization ftw.

(No insult meant, I just figured someone was gonna pick up on that at some point, may as well be the first guy ignorant of the show to post. )

You should watch it.

It was the series that..well...made TV what is today.

It managed to mix every type of genre and come out on top. It was Crime/Drama/Fantasy/paranormal/Thriller/Mistery/Sci-Fi/terror/Romance and even some comedy.

It was a landmark on TV history.

You know Lost? How everyone thinks its the greatest thing ever to grace our lifes? Well its not..What Lost is doing today, is what Twin Peaks did in 1990 but better.

 

[ThaBenMan]

I've never seen it, but my mom has told me about it. It sounds very interesting, I'll have to try and check it out sometime.

 

[high_castle]

I loved season one of the show, thought season two was alright, and I don't acknowledge existence of any movie. Fire walk with whom? /sarcasm

Seriously, though, the show had a profound influence on American television. No Twin Peaks, then no X-Files. Probably no Buffy or any of its spin-offs either. No Lost. No American version of Life on Mars (which deserves a mention for making the British version make sense in comparison). Season one was pure gold, despite being largely comprised of David Lynch's trippy dreams.

The owls are not what they seem.

 

[Ancalagon]

I'm still workin on it, got the gold set for x-mas. It's still a bit of a hard watch overall though, very 90's.

I actually agree that it hasn't dated so well, and there are moments when it's cheesy beyond belief. But I promise that it's worth persisting with, especially through the middle of the second series, because the ending is amazing. And I'm quite jealous of you having the Gold Box, since here in the UK the second series hasn't been released on DVD, and I had to watch the second series on nearly twenty-year old VHS the first time. I've now got German DVDs of the second series, which makes things a lot more bearable.

 

[Worgen]

the only thing I know about twin peaks is from the joke on an old simpsons episode with a guy dancing on a cliff with a unicorn in the moonlight

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

It makes... A BIT more sense... Was that midget dude the leader or something?

The midget is Bob's arm in spiritual form at the Black Lodge.