Twin Peaks
 

Not too long ago, I got on a huge Ray Wise kick. It seemed ridiculous to me that a man so full of talent should be so widely unknown. As such, I went mad watching nearly everything the man has done, so that I could better justify to myself just how exemplary a performer he was and is, and how tragic it is that he's not got a single award under his belt.

My viewing led me to Twin Peaks, a television series for which I'd heard very mixed reviews, but that was directed by David Lynch - an attribute I found beyond positive.

It soon became apparent that Ray Wise, although playing Leland Palmer, father to Laura Palmer whose death the show was set up to be based around, was not going to be one of the main characters - or at least not really. But I watched the show in its entirety anyway...

I guess what I'm really saying is that I came for Ray Wise, but I stayed for Kyle MacLachlan, the brilliant actor who, in this program, portrayed Special Agent Dale Cooper.

I'd seen Blue Velvet some years back and really loved it, but never bothered to really pay attention to the actors in the film; it was more the piece that I was interested in, and not the various cogs that made it work. As such, it was during my marathon watching of Twin Peaks that I became aware that our lab, Orson, is actually named for Kyle MacLachlan - apparently he was a major character on Desperate Housewives, named Orson Hodge - and my dog's "middle name" is Kyle, for the actor who portrayed said character. Needless to say, I felt a little ridiculous for not having acknowledged this man's brilliance previously.

I also found myself oddly drawn to the town and the characters who resided within it; granted, the population of Twin Peaks is shown in the title sequence to have in excess of 50k people, and my town has less than half that, but it really felt like home almost. Even if it's set clear on the other side of the country.

Yesterday, I went to hang out with my friends, and we were talking about Twin Peaks - I'd watched every episode, sans finale, and recall saying, "I know that one of two things is going to happen when I watch the finale; I'm either going to cry like a bitch, or I'm going to completely die inside and feel completely numb."

Strangely enough, both things happened.

I'm not going to offer any spoilers, for those who've not yet watched the show, but I am going to ask that if anyone else is a fan of the show, they contribute their takes on it here - using spoiler tags appropriately, of course.

Great show! I didn't like it all that much when it was originally on TV but a couple years ago I went back and watched the whole series, and really enjoyed it.

I went on a Twin Peaks kick a few months ago. It was all I talked about, but I had to take a break from it (only a few episodes and the movie to go). I love lynch, his bizarreness and his ability to throw that stuff on a major network. It makes me wonder how some women can just totally fall head over heels for James and his inability to resist their advances which in turn causes stupid problems with Donna. Agent Cooper is a kind goofball with an unwavering dedication to his work, which makes makes him one of my favorite characters. Audrey Horne, Audrey Horne, what a doll, I would totally sweep her off her feet and we'd travel the world together *sigh*, but I have a feeling she'd leave me for another dude.

Also, creamed corn

i was a huge fan and i got the entire thing on DVD, plus deleted scenes (which are on Super 8 cos they apparently wiped off the original print)

i am of the view it was kinda meandering and aimless after Laura's killer was revealed, but only showed some strength in the final few episodes

perhaps in Season 3 (which never happened cos it was cancelled), it would get better again

Over 20 years later and it still amazes me that a show like that was ever on network TV, especially during that era.

I recently watched Twin Peaks as well. I've been a David Lynch fan for a while now and kept hearing good things about the show. I ran across it on Netflix and for a while it was pretty much all I was watching.

My girlfriend and I have constant debates now on what the show means. While the ending was so ambiguous and so many questions were left unanswered, I think it totally fits the David Lynch aesthetic. Because it was such an intense cliffhanger, it kept me thinking about it for a while after I was done with it. David Lynch's best work always stays with me and Twin Peaks was no different. I actually feel like going back through the series to see if I can pick up anything new.

If you really enjoyed the show, definitely watch Fire Walk With Me. It's a prequel movie that takes place a week before Laura's murder. The humor of the show isn't there and it is a pretty dark movie, but it's still worth checking out. Although by the end you kind of can't wait for Laura to get killed...she's really damn annoying.

Now...if anyone wants to discuss wtf this show means...let's do it. This is one of the craziest shows I've ever seen.

I seem to recall Lynch said that the cliffhanger wasn't meant to be the end of the series, that more movies were to follow after Fire Walk With Me, but after its disastrous reception at Cannes and Sundance, he abandoned the idea.

I've heard that they were expecting to at least do another season of the show but it was cancelled abruptly by the network.

I'm not sure if anyone here's really heard of this, but the character Dale Cooper was (strangely) an allusion to a real person:

D.B. Cooper, Wiki

Also, I've never heard of the actual inspiration for the premise, but a rather serendipitous thing occurred today - and I think that maybe, just maybe, I've stumbled across the real life inspiration. In my local newspaper. While watching Twin Peaks with my mother. We're both concerned at how weirdly coincidental my opening the newspaper and the opening credits of Twin Peaks beginning to play worked out.

I'm familiar with the D.B. Cooper story but I wasn't aware there was any Twin Peaks connection.