Streaming on: Netflix
Episodes: 29
Time it took to binge: 2 weekends
Twin Peaks was a pop culture phenomenon that, in my opinion at least, TV has yet to recapture.
I've heard about the show since I first got into pop culture and everyone always talks about it.
It's always mentioned whenever someone talks about the "greatest shows ever" or "biggest cult hits of all time." Heck, earlier this year, the Writers Guild of America voted it the 35th best written TV show of all time.
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| image via: rapgenius.com |
The show follows an investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper into the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer in the small town of Twin Peaks, Washington.
So, why was Twin Peaks so popular? It's because of how incredibly bizarre it was.
The show had an incredibly campy and melodramatic tone that satirized soap operas while also crossing into really disturbing supernatural surrealism that Lynch was known for.
Did I mention that a key character of the show was BOB, a dark entity from another place whose main purpose in life is to create chaos?
Or that he's from The Red Room? A place from another dimension where everyone speaks backwards and evil doppelgangers lurk?
Just look at the opening scene from season 2, episode one.
Season 1 ended in a hell of a cliffhanger where Agent Dale Cooper went to answer his door, only to be shot point blank by a mysterious gunman.
For months, America awaited the fate of Agent Cooper, and this is what they were treated to:
Burning through season 1, its not hard to see why people were so in love with this show. Remember how much fun the "Who Sot JR" episode of Dallas was? Imagine that, but stretched into an entire series.
Mysteries like Twin Peaks are a lot of fun to get into because of how cuckoo season one is. The show features an eccentric supporting cast that ranges from The Log Lady (her log is psychic, she translates what it says,) the scheming duo of Catherine Martell and Ben Horne and dimwitted police deputy Andy.
Oh, even David Duchovny pops up as a cross-dressing DEA agent.
Also, did I mention how hot the women of Twin Peaks are?
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| image via: heartymagazine.com |
Season 1 was such a blast. Then season 2 happened.
Season 2 saw a decline both in viewers, and in quality. It's just not as fun as season 1.
Season 2 feels unfocused and a lot of the episodes feel more like filler, as if no one knows what they're doing anymore. Think season 3 of Lost or season 2 of Revenge messy.
Personally, I think part of the problem was because of how stretched out season 2 was. Season 1 was only 7 episodes, providing viewers with a taut, focused thriller. At 22 episodes, season 2 felt like it was making shit up as it went along to fill in time. Need I mention that story line involving James and Evelyn? No?
Good.
Apparently, viewers were getting impatient with how little progress was being made into the main mystery, which led to Laura's killer being revealed midway through season 2, which led to an overall disinterest in the show.
Characters like Agent Cooper and Audrey Horne both got some really dull love interests in the second half of the season in order to gain back some viewers. We were also introduced to a former villainous partner of Agent Cooper, but even by soap opera standards he was way too silly to be taken seriously.
Ultimately, this led to the show getting cancelled at the end of its second season after losing 2/3 of the viewers that made the show a bonafide hit. It's a shame that the show got cancelled.
While I had a lot of problems with season 2 of Twin Peaks, there was still nothing like it. It represented how unique the show was and I'd love to revisit the world of Twin Peaks again.
Thankfully, David Lynch made Fire Walk With Me, a prequel film detailing the life of Laura Palmer. It's pretty great. It's available to checkout at the UTPA library and I ranked it highly on my list of best films based on TV shows on my other blog.
| image via: theweek.com |
Thoughts? Comment below and tune in next time as I discuss Freaks & Geeks!
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