Twin Peaks: Classic or Dud?

Yeah, it was Jacobi that I was thinking of. (Other people were strongly reminded of Laura but did not exactly mistake one for the other.) I guess he was at a bit of a distance.

I think at the time I first watched I went through phases of suspecting and not suspecting the correct killer - it seemed like a good explanation but there was so much weirdness going on in the show that I just didn't know whether I should expect the logical answer to be the correct one. Now that I think back on it though, the way the show misdirects you fits perfectly with the themes -- the idea that there's some grand evil conspiracy plot coming from somewhere outside (all the stuff with Leo and One Eyed Jacks and the vague sense that there's something "bigger" going on) is almost a critique of our failure to apprehend that the evil could have been right there in her home, like what I was saying upthread about it being so unfathomable for many people that a father was doing this that supernatural explanations become preferable.

I distinctly remember deciding (correctly) that I knew the killer, and then thinking "no, that's too dark for a network TV show in the early 90s, it must be someone else."

I believe they knew in season 1 that her father was at least sexually abusing her. Consider Audrey's season cliffhanger where after following Laura's footsteps she ends up in bed with her own father.

IIRC there's a scene pretty early on where Leland dances with a photo of Laura, breaks the glass and cuts his hand, and then stains Laura's image with his blood... The second time I watched TP this definitely felt like foreshadowing, but if they really hadn't decided who the killer is until later on, then that was quite a fortuitous scene to include!

But yeah, it wasn't really a mystery you could solve by paying attention to clues, the show was surreal for that, plus there was a bunch of red herrings that ultimately meant nothing. For example, early on it's hinted there's something sinister with Mike and Bobby, because they share their names with Bob the evil spirit and Mike the one-armed man, but turns out they had nothing to with Laura's death, and the name connection is never explained.

he has murdered innocents. he has engaged us in subterfuge and red herring-- a fish i don't particularly care for.

I was super convinced it was Andy for a while

lol

Walks into the station the next day with "FIRE WALK WITH ME" stuck to his forehead.

IIRC there's a scene pretty early on where Leland dances with a photo of Laura, breaks the glass and cuts his hand, and then stains Laura's image with his blood... The second time I watched TP this definitely felt like foreshadowing, but if they really hadn't decided who the killer is until later on, then that was quite a fortuitous scene to include!

Yeah, this was one of the things that made him seem suspicious. Hurting 2 OTM about the 'conspiracy' misdirect. Tuomas also OTM about Mike/Bobby.

With all the red herrings, unexplained supernatural shit, competing storylines, and bizarro twists (Andrew Packard has been alive this whole time??), what this show makes me think of most at this point is a predecessor to Lost. (I could see the obvious influence on Veronica Mars at first but that show was comparatively way more of a tightly crafted mystery series in the traditional sense.) I feel like it has some similar strengths and weaknesses, although at least this doesn't drag on for six seasons of bullshit. Easy to forget now how gripping Lost used to be!

If I've never seen Lost, would it make sense to go back and start now, or is it a "you had to be there" thing? I know the ending was famously disappointing. Not that I'm looking for a show to take over my life, mind you, just people were such evangelists at the time but I feel like that's evaporated since the finale, whereas other big shows of that period still have people going "Oh, no, you have to watch that."

(and I would say Twin Peaks stands that test, even with the always-difficult problem of recommending a show where you have to explain "You'll probably want to give up somewhere in Season Two, everyone does, but stick it out til the ending, it's worth it!")

My stock recommendation for anyone curious about L O S T: watch just the first five seasons and pretend that it ends really bleakly.

If you want this experience, then, yes, definitely: http://www.theonion.com/articles/poor-bastard-who-just-started-watching-lost-in-for,30378/

2xpost

stick it out til the ending, it's worth it

OK, I needed to hear this.

We just started watching the Bluray set weekend before last. I've seen the first season probably dozens of times, and then up through the revelation of Laura's murderer maybe twice. Having only seen the latter half of season two once before, I'm curious to see how it holds up. But I definitely remember that last episode being a keeper.

Sund4r: Yeah, this is the way it happens. If you're finding at least a few things in each episode to be interested in/charmed by then I'd say stick it out as the finale (with Lynch back at the helm) is really fucking classic. But there's definitely a moment where it's more like "fuck, I've sunk this much in, it'd be stupid to stop now!"

re: Lost: lol, OK, I think the Onion has cleared this one up for me

As much as it pains me to do so from this vantage point, I probably would still recommend those first five seasons, with the caveat that, regardless of what the producers say, it's absolutely a shaggy dog story with no satisfactory resolution. The ride was fun for a while, though.

I watched the first 4 seasons of Lost. They were amazingly skilled at making you think something was going to happen and there was lots of good suspense, but honestly I feel stupid now for believing it was going to unfold into something rewarding. I think the naysayers were right mostly.

It has its moments but I'd discourage people from watching it, it just doesn't have enough truly satisfying moments and it is WOEFULLY padded out with people leisurely checking up on each other and pointless mood summation montages.

For Twin Peaks, there are lots of great moments and unlike Lost I don't think it really needed a payoff.

Don't get me wrong: Twin Peaks is flawed but great. L O S T was deeply flawed but fun for a while, but also ultimately a cowardly/hostile work that was completely untrue to its established premises. The producers pretended it was an intricate machine but it was just a box that made noise.

Sund4r you should definitely stick with it to the ending, the finale is fantastic

finally watching this after about 10 years of being aware of it as a major influence on a lot of other stuff i like

it took awhile for me to recognize Sarah Packard while treaming The Hustler on Netflix last night. Is Josie's last name a reference?

We just finished the series last night. Oh my god does that last third or so of season 2 draaaaaaaaaaaag. I've only ever seen it once before and I have a hard time imagining I'd sit through it again. You can definitely tell at what point Lynch took a powder. It becomes turgid and, frankly, really uninteresting soap-by-numbers for such a long stretch. But, wow, that last episode. But in addition to the wow factor, I really appreciate the perversity of Lynch's relaxed pace (e.g. the bank manager doddering around for ten minutes and Andy taking Harry's breakfast order) in light of all the dangling threads and metaphysical urgency.

Having only really listened to the initial soundtrack dozens upon dozens of times in the past, I just finished properly listening to the season two soundtrack and...goddamn. That thing is amazing. It's like a dark, ambient remix of the themes and recurring motifs from the first season. Badalamenti and Lynch are such a perfect pair.

yeah, the season 2 soundtrack is so good! Harold's Theme *swoon*

heard a rumor that Badalementi is still a holdout for the new season :(

Noooooooooooo

i'd like to squash that rumor now. my evidence is that it is unimaginable and it is unconscionable, therefore it cannot happen.

There's been some talk of John Williams taking the reins, so all is right with the world.

lol

Christopher Young could kill as twin peaks composer if it came to having to replace Angelo.

^ i misread this at first and am now imagining Twin Peaks Season 3 as scored by D'Angelo

Josie Packard is in Marco Polo. I cannot escape TP characters lately.

I watched about half of the FWWM deleted scenes last night. Whoever said that they kinda weren't worth the wait was OTM, but it's a bit of a fun trip nonetheless. Seems like it's about half weirdo mystic Lodge stuff and half "Hi, it's your old pal Ed, remember me from tv's Twin Peaks?". Between these deleted scenes and the deleted Wild At Heart scenes, it becomes clear that the Lynch of that era was keen on editing relatively comprehensible scenes down until they were as obtuse as possible. I kinda get why Laura's the muffin now (although it remains to be seen if I'll ever learn what a Great Went is).

First promo shot:

https://twitter.com/DAVID_LYNCH/status/554768700536938498?lang=en

looks like he's hosting a late night show

It's strange, but I really didn't want David Lynch to cave in and do this. Like, just make something else good, ignore the fans who can't let go. But it probably will at least be kind of good since he's making it.

looks like he's hosting a late night show

Perhaps he is. Twin Peaks Tonight!

musical guests James and Donna

maybe they'll finally let agent cooper hook up with audrey (who is now CEO of her dad's corporation, i assume).

I hope dick tremayne is in it

I love that guy

little nicky is now mayor

Man Alive- he's not caving. He's said for years that he wanted to return to Twin Peaks in some form but only if he got good enough ideas.

lucy is sheriff

xps I would go for that! I get that they fucked up but I still like a lot of that stuff in those meandering episodes. I love Ben Horne in all his incarnations. "Sometimes the urge to do bad is almost... overpowering" *munches carrot*

I wonder how much of the zaniness they will retain

ben horne has retired from active leadership of his company after his injury brings his mental competence into question. instead, he opens up a high-end ice cream shop (local ingredients only) with his brother jerry.

I love Ben Horne so much