Geez Louise, has it really been THAT long since anything has been posted here? That’s ABSURD (see what I did there? I’m the worst). Well I’ma gonna try to get us back on track, not with the promised Morgado Revue Of Books on Donald E Westlake’s Jimmy The Kid (that’s on hold until I find an auction for a copy someone can actually BUY), but on an classic tv show I’ve been watching that very definitely fits this sites title. That show of course (and if you’ve been reading my Tumblr you know this already… but then, I haven’t posted anything since I started it, whoops), is Twin Peaks.
First things first, if you’re gonna pick this up on dvd, DO NOT BUY THE INDIVIDUAL SEASON SETS. There are only 2 seasons, so it’d be cheap, but it’d pointless, because the pilot episode is NOT on the season 1 dvd, due to some confusing rights issues resulting from it being issued as a stand alone movie overseas. What you want to get is the Gold Box edition shown above. Not only does it have the pilot, but it has said stand alone movie version, and a disc and a half’s worth of extras. WIth that out of the way, good God does this show fit into this site’s theme. While it’s considered one of Lynch’s most accessible works, it is freakin’ WACK A DOO.
Ostensibly a murder mystery (tho the murder was intended to be a never solved Macguffin), Twin Peaks was also equal parts black comedy, supernatural horror movie, and melodramatic soap opera parody, full of eccentric characters and absurd touches like ladies who talk to logs, mysterious dreams starring dancing dwarves, eye-patch wearing super strong women, and food so good that it sends characters into near orgasm. All that weirdness, coupled with noirish back stabbing and double dealing galore, all dressed up in 1950s fashions and set to a sort of ambient soft jazz.
Who killed Laura Palmer was THE water cooler question of 1990, but the thing is, Lynch was right. It really didn’t matter who actually did the deed (and if you somehow don’t know, I’m not gonna spoil it), because it was only a small part of what presumably would have become the main conflict of the series. All things considered, it mattered about as much as knowing if Sawyer really killed Locke’s father or if it was just the smoke monster in disguise on Lost (tho it was, in fact, Locke’s father). While I’m on the subject, I think it should be pointed out that Lost would have never existed without Twin Peaks, and it’s funny just how many similarities there are between the two. Not in style or anything, obviously, but just in terms of creating a rabid fanbase, juggling multiple fantasy-ish elements, and setting up tons of questions and mysteries that you need a book to keep track of… all of course setting things up for an unsatisfying conclusion. At least Peaks has the defense that it was cut off at the knees and canceled before it could finish.
Still, on pure style alone, Twin Peaks is a fantastic show. Sure, it’s shortened life span makes a lot of it incomprehensible and unsolvable, but that’s ok. It’s well worth the 30 hours or so you spend there, and like Kyle MacLachlan’s Agent Cooper, you won’t wanna leave. You will also want to eat cherry pie. And donuts. And a bearclaw. And a smoked cheese pig. And…
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