Why Twin Peaks so brilliant? (1 Viewer)

Kevin Porter · Jan 29, 2002

I bought the first season of Twin Peaks today and I just an hour ago finished watching the first episode of the set. At this point I don't know what to think of it. I'm very mixed and I need to see the other episodes. Since people everywhere rave about it's innovativeness and brilliance, I want to know why is it so brilliant?

~Kevin

P.S. Please don't discuss further episode plots/plot points so it won't be spoiled for me.

Luc D · Jan 29, 2002

Yikes! You purchased this without ever having seen an episode??? Either you're brave or you have a lot of money.

Anyway, it's brilliant for a lot of reasons. For one, like all of Lynch's work the show has a unique tone, mood and deep subtex rarely found in any network show. It also subverst the conventions of the soap opera and cop drama and perverts them into something, well, something I don't think anyone has ever seen before on television.
Also, how it manages to mix bizarre humour with such dark and disturbing subject matter without alienating the viewer is quite a feat (I think). Greatest of all is how the show slowly works towards something instead of cheaply gratifying viewers at the end of each show with forced and insincere conclusions.
But I'm surprised someone would buy this without ever having seen it because you either hate Lynch or you love him. Taste is subjective, but with Lynch it's REALLY subjective.

TonyD · Jan 29, 2002

many people think it's brilliant. i am not one of them.
i enjoyed it for the first one third of the way through it's run but i think it went on too long and went in no direction. it seemed to me that lynch wanted to see how long he could keep a show going that was about absolutely nothing. i don't think he ever intended it to have a true conclusion. and i would like to know what the series was about and why it is considered brilliant myself.

BrianB · Jan 29, 2002

It's about the beauty of small town life and the dark seedy underbelly that it frequently contains.

It's about love conquering all, yet sometimes still not being enough.

It's about the absurdity & minutae of everyday life.

It's about the deep dark sercrets that people keep hidden from their friends, their loved ones & sometimes themselves.

Why do people love it so much? I can't speak for anyone but myself... I love it for the humour, for the 'wacky' characters, the style & direction of Lynch, the writing of Frost, Peyton & Engels, the ongoing story & the overall 'sadness' of the show.

Before TP, you didn't have shows like Northern Exposure, XFiles, Millenium... Twin Peaks took risks by bring dark dark material & the idea of not every episode being all wrapped up nice & easily... I loved it at the time, watching it on a Tuesday evening back as a high school kid in the UK, and I still love it today. I find new things in it each time I've watched it, and that's a lotta viewings!

Kelley_B · Jan 30, 2002

I don't think it could have been put to words any better than what BrianB said. I used these DVDs to introduce Twin Peaks to my girlfriend and she hated the first episode(not the pilot), but by the end of the second episode she was hooked and couldn't get enough.

You have to let the characters in TP grow on you, open up and let them into your mind, don't just watch the show live the show, learn the characters quirks, their relationships to each other, once you get past all that you will be able to truely see how great the show is.

Michael Reuben · Jan 30, 2002

I bought the first season of Twin Peaks today and I just an hour ago finished watching the first episode of the set.

It might help if you saw the pilot, which established a style and tone, and provides a detailed introduction to certain characters, that you just don't get in the first episode and that no synopsis can adequately convey.

M.

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MikeAW · Jan 30, 2002

To me, I feel the show's quality depends on when David Lynch's involvement ended as director...could someone please give us an idea when that was.

BrianB · Jan 30, 2002

David Lynch really only directed a handful of episodes.
From the Twin Peaks FAQ:
- the pilot (1000)
- episode 2 (1002)
- episode 8 (2001, the 2-hour, season 2 opener)
- episode 9 (2002)
- episode 14 (2007)
- episode 29 (2021-Part 2, the series finale)

MikeAW · Jan 30, 2002

Thanks Brian, and so much for buying the box set...cross that one off my Want List !

Though the pilot can be purchased separately, I understand, I will just put on "Blue Velvet".

Richard Travale · Jan 30, 2002

Wasn't there an early episode of Northern Exposure with Joel looking through a telescope: "There's a lady down there. And she's carrying a log."?

Yes, I loved this episode. It was the one where Holling was going to take Joel and Elaine to see his favourite view but Elaine got the flu and they couldn't go until the end. Joel thought that they couldn't go but Holling said it wasn't far from here(NE was filmed just up the Highway from TP). The view turned out to be the falls of the Great Northern and they could hear the Arm's dancing music in the background. It was very funny.

Back on Topic, Kevin, another big thing to look for in any of Lynch's work is symbolism. He is a massive symbolism junkie.

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ChadM · Jan 30, 2002

For me, at least, the shows brilliance was the trio of actresses that were on it:

Sherylin Fenn,

Madchem Amick and

The girl who is now way too skinny (name escapes me).

When I was in high school that was the stuff dreams are made of. Three incredibly HPOA.

Chad

That being said after a while the show seemed to have no direction at all (kind of like X-files).

Jon Bell · Jan 30, 2002

I loved this show when it was first run. I think I still have the VHS tapes. I remember liking it just because it was so wierd and unpredictable.

An example-- there's a scene in one of the early episodes (maybe the second or third episode) where there are two or three characters in a conference room, maybe at the police station. One of the flourescent lights is just blinking like crazy. The characters never acknowledge it. I think I found out later that the light just did that when they were filming, and Lynch left it in because he liked the way it looked. In another similar scene, there's a stuffed deer head on the conference room table. Again, no acknowledgement.

It's the most unique tv show I've ever seen. I couldn't wait for the next episode. We were all talking about it at work, but the speculation of who killed Laura Palmer was second to just wondering about the wierd, unexplained trivial things that the characters were doing.

Considering how wierd it was, it's pretty amazing that it was so popular. As the show went on, I guess they felt that they had to keep going over the top, wierdness-wise. It eventually got to the point, for me, where it became too supernatural.

A question for those of you who watched Dark Shadows back in the day-- was it a similar experience?

Richard Travale · Jan 30, 2002

The girl who is now way too skinny (name escapes me).

Lara Flynn Boyle?

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TonyD · Jan 30, 2002

An example-- there's a scene in one of the early episodes (maybe the second or third episode) where there are two or three characters in a conference room, maybe at the police station. One of the flourescent lights is just blinking like crazy. The characters never acknowledge it. I think I found out later that the light just did that when they were filming, and Lynch left it in because he liked the way it looked. In another similar scene, there's a stuffed deer head on the conference room table. Again, no acknowledgement

this is the major problem i had with the show. after the novelty of it wore off after about 10 or 12 episodes it was about nothing had no direction an had things in there just for no reason at all and did nothing to move what little of a story there was along.
lynch liked the way it looked even tho it had nothing to do with anything on the show....pointless.
please don't think i am telling people who like it they are wrong. i just think that lynch was trying to see how ridiculas(sp?)he could make the show before people said enough already.

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Kevin Porter · Jan 30, 2002

another big thing to look for in any of Lynch's work is symbolism. He is a massive symbolism junkie.

Symbolism, eh? My friends are symbolisim addicts as well. (Moulin Rouge, The Messenger:The Story of Joan of Arc etc.) Do you mind explaining some of the symbolism to me Richard?

~Kevin

P.S. I saw episode 2 last night. I thought it was very good and better than the first one.

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BrianB · Jan 30, 2002

Kevin, to delve into the symbolism in Twin Peaks when you've only watched two episodes would spoil a LOT of the secrets & charm... IMO of course

Romier S · Jan 30, 2002

Brian said it best!

I never watched an episode of TP but all the talk on the forums really got me excited. I ordered the unedited Pilot online and went out and purchased the boxed set. I am on episode 6 right now and I am in love with this series! Its so quirky yet it pulls you in and never lets you go.

The best part is the characters. It really is what makes TP so interesting. Agent Cooper is by far my favorite. I love how he has this intuitive sense for figuring things out. I swear my favorite parts are when he figures out who is sleeping with and everyone is in amazement that he figured it out by body language alone. I cant wait to finish the set and the only thing I have to complain about is I CANT WATCH THE NEXT SEASON YET!!

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