TV

Late to the Party: Twin Peaks (Season 1)

I was thinking about how I would go about writing my Twin Peaks Late to the Party entry. Despite its classic status, I’ve managed to avoid most, if not all, of Twin Peaks’ plot points. So I decided that I’m going to be writing down my thoughts as I watch each episode. A sort of more “formal” liveblogging, if you will.

This only covers the first season because I kept hearing that the second season was terrible and not worth my time. I will be adding my post-season thoughts in parentheses and italics.

(Post-Season 1 Thoughts (PST): Uh, was anyone gonna tell me season 1 ended in a cliffhanger or was I only supposed to find out after watching it for a user feature on an offshoot forum of a pop culture website?)

Pilot

  • I can’t remember how many times I’ve queued up the first episode to watch then got discouraged by the hour and a half runtime. But the episode kind of flew by for me despite the long runtime.
  • Wow, what a long intro. But I’m kind of digging the melodramatic music. (PST: Anyone else sing along to the end credits? No? Just me?)
  • I didn’t think I would be so affected by Laura Palmer’s parents’ grief. Some stellar acting here.
  • Don S. Davis had a prolific career, but I recognize him as Scully’s dad on The X-Files! I wonder if casting him was a deliberate homage to Twin Peaks, where he also played a military dad to Bobby Briggs (who’s the worst, by the way).
  • One reason why I wanted to watch Twin Peaks is that I keep hearing The X-Files (which is my favorite show) wouldn’t exist without it. I can definitely see the similarities — especially the grainy, dreary, gray Pacific Northwest atmosphere. You just can’t replicate that vibe nowadays. (And TXF tried and failed with that godawful revival.)

Episode 1

  • I finally understand all the coffee + Dale Cooper references!
  • Some classic “Computer, enhance!” there with the ability to zoom in to the video and see James’ motorcycle in the reflection of Laura’s eye.
  • Audrey and Cooper… I heard they become a thing. Not sure how I feel about it. Kind of iffy about the age gap of their characters.
  • Who is Diane?? And does Cooper send his tapes to DC every night? (PST: Cooper seems to get his requests to Diane fulfilled later in the season, so I’m supposing Diane is an actual person? And I can’t remember what episode it was, but we got a bit of backstory regarding Cooper’s past and love life. I hope that gets explored more.)

Episode 2

  • There are like three men on the show who aren’t actively terrible.
  • Protect Josie Packard at all costs! (PST: I know, I know. I can’t believe that I ultimately ended up finding Catherine more interesting than Josie.)
  • Shelley has terrible, terrible taste in men. I had to laugh when Bobby was acting all indignant when he found out that her husband physically abused her. (PST: So Bobby might actually really be concerned about her? Who knew he’d be one of the more complex characters on the show? He’s still an asshole, though.)
  • Finally, some weird shit goes down. The first two episodes seem like a pretty straightforward small-town murder mystery. (PST: Cooper’s dream was one of the only outright “strange” things that happened this season. I heard there was more in season 2… I’ll probably watch it. At least the first 9 episodes. Will talk about this more later.)
  • Makeup actually did a pretty good job with “old” Cooper, based on how Kyle MacLachlan looks now.

Episode 3

  • I love how the closed captions calls the show’s music “dreampop.”
  • I really don’t care about Josie and the sheriff. They are so bland. (PST: And now I realize they’re boring on purpose. But I actually found all the romance on this show distracting. Usually I don’t mind romance, but for some reason I felt all the pairings were inauthentic, for lack of a better word.)
  • The funeral was just so sad. I actually felt a twinge of sympathy for Bobby. He speaks the truth!
  • The Bookhouse Boys is such a corny name, but it fits the show. (PST: I wish the “darkness” in the woods was explored more. I’m guessing it will be in season 2?)

Episode 4

  • I need to read all the thinkpieces about Invitation to Love. It’s just such a bonkers soap opera within the show, and I feel like I’m missing some connections there.
  • LLAMA!!!!
  • Lucy and Andy are precious. It’s gonna kill me if they also turn out to be scummy.
  • Is it me, or is the intercom in the precinct pretty high-tech? Everyone can basically communicate with each other without any interference no matter what room they’re in.
  • In my opinion, Norma is the prettiest character on the show. Not really relevant to anything, but I’m just in awe of her beauty every time she’s on screen. (Yes, I do think the same thing when Josie and Shelley and Audrey are on screen. The casting of this show is iconic.)
  • I was wondering whether Laura and her cousin were played by the same person, so I looked it up and they are. Sheryl Lee does a good job differentiating the two. I mean, Laura is barely on screen, but she still feels like a real person. (PST: I’m wondering if we’ll find out more about Maddy in season 2. She just kind of came out of nowhere and feels like a plot device instead of an actual character because she conveniently looks exactly like Laura.)
  • I still don’t know who killed Laura, but Donna looks/acts really sketchy sometimes. If I were watching the show while it was airing, she would be my main suspect. I mean, she could still be the killer at this point!
  • So Laura’s mom’s visions aren’t just hallucinations, and Donna says Laura also experienced visions. (PST: Are they going to cover the supposed supernatural abilities of both Laura and her mom in season 2? I feel like there are so many loose threads at the end of season 1!)
  • So Josie got a letter with a drawing of a domino… Oh okay, they weren’t even trying to hide her connection to Norma’s husband. It’s kind of funny to think that Hank spent his time sketching out that domino piece for Josie.

Episode 5

  • So everyone in this town is just sleeping with each other, huh?
  • Tempted to fastforward through the scenes with James and Donna. They’re even worse than Josie and Harry.
  • Bobby’s therapist appointment: Wow, so Laura’s the one who forced him to sell drugs. With this revelation, you have no choice but to reevaluate their entire relationship. After every piece of information that gets revealed about Laura and how she affected/ruined the people around her, I can’t help but wonder what she was like when she was alive. And if Donna is as close to her as she says, then what kind of person is she?
  • Log Lady speaks! Does the log have special powers? Was it once part of the mysterious woods? Will we ever know?
  • Damn, so Josie is scheming with Jerry Horne? At this point, I just want Pete to get away from the mess of that whole situation. (Don’t tell me he’s terrible, too!)
  • Audrey is in Cooper’s bed, and the episode ends. I just can’t get on board with this pairing at the moment. If they do end up together, maybe I wouldn’t mind so much in the revival when they’re no longer consist of 1 highschooler and 1 adult man.

Episode 6

  • Still rooting for Andy and Lucy. They’re a small piece of innocence in this wretched town.
  • Of the cast of characters, Laura is most intriguing to me, then Dale Cooper. I’m sure Lynch did this on purpose. But seriously, Laura’s tapes are so fascinating and tragic.
  • Shoutout to Angelo Badalamenti, who composed the music for the show. Every single track is so fitting and memorable. The mixing is A+ as well — I love the way tracks transition into one another, from jaunty to melancholy to tense, and sometimes all at the same time!
  • Anyone ship Cooper and Truman? I feel like they have the best chemistry out of everyone on the show, and they constantly have each other’s backs. That coffee/presents conversation was adorable.
  • So all the affairs and scandals in the town are basically open secrets. In a previous episode, Cooper basically had a monologue about how Twin Peaks was a breath of fresh air in a corrupt and thoughtless world. I wonder what he thinks of it now?
  • Ooh, Audrey comes across an Asian dude in the hotel hallway. (PST: So he wasn’t significant at all? I thought he’d have some connection to Josie or something, considering they’re the only two Asians on the show.)
  • HANK SHOT THE BIRD! Poor birdie.:(
  • Okay, so I suppose that objectively, Kyle MacLachlan is an attractive man. I never really thought about it. But for some reason, Cooper wearing glasses makes him a hundred times hotter.
  • I don’t know if Twin Peaks started it, but that cherry stem trick has been done so many times over the years that I just find it funny now. I bet Audrey just practiced that in her room.
  • Bobby isn’t redeemed by any means, but I was starting to find him interesting. Then he goes and tries to kill James! (PST: Okay, I thought he was stuffing cement down the exhaust of the bike but it’s just cocaine and he’s trying to frame James. Marginally less horrible.)

Episode 7

  • I wonder who attacked Dr. Jacoby. (PST: They never said who it was, did they? At least in season 1.)
  • Josie killed her husband! But it looks like she’s in over her head with Hank. I don’t think the blood pact thing landed, and the blood looks so fake.
  • Pete is so sweet. He, Andy, and Lucy should just leave Twin Peaks and settle somewhere less murder-y and fucked up.
  • I don’t know if Big Ed’s actor just isn’t very good or if he’s doing it on purpose, but his reaction was pretty dry at finding his wife’s lifeless body. I can’t really tell what he’s going for here.
  • The way Jacques Renault described the night Laura died is so disturbing. I think leaving it to our imagination is way worse than whatever the show could come up with. Even if he didn’t kill Laura, I’m not too upset that Laura’s dad killed him.
  • Norma. Heart eyes. That’s all.
  • Is Bobby the proto-Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica? He’s so slimy and can’t be killed!
  • I love Piper Laurie’s transatlantic accent, but it always seems like she’s displaced in time and should be in an Old Hollywood movie instead of a cult classic 80s TV show.
  • That old crone fixing Audrey’s dress is so random but it tickles me the same way the llama and the Log Lady do.
  • I don’t really wanna see Audrey’s dad walk in on her in that dress.:/
  • COOPER WAS SHOT AND THE SEASON ENDS. AAAAAAAH.

So that was Twin Peaks, huh? At least season 1 of it. Does it live up to the hype? I have to say that the show was totally different from what I expected, but the “atmosphere” of it was in line with what I thought it would be. It had fewer supernatural elements and the tone was lighter than the impression the internet gave me. I still liked it a lot, but I feel like I need to marinate in the show a bit more to fully appreciate it.

Like I mentioned, I thought that season 1 would be self-contained and I could stop there, since people kept saying season 2 was terrible. But apparently episodes 1-9 of season 2 closes\ Laura’s story, so I’m definitely watching at least those. There are way too many questions that need answers! I’ll also be putting up a separate post with my thoughts on those episodes.

But after that… Should I watch the rest of season 2? How about the movie and the revival? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to hit like and subscribe.

What did you think of the show? Does it deserve its cult classic status? Please spoiler anything that occurs in season 2 and beyond.

Lastly, this is actually my first David Lynch production. Any recommendations for his other work if I enjoyed this one?