Deputy Tommy ‘Hawk’ Hill:
One woman can make you fly like an eagle, another can give you the strength of a lion, but only one in the Cycle Of Life can fill your heart with wonder and the wisdom that you have known a singular joy.
NOTE: This entry contains many spoilers, if you have not watched Twin Peaks, the television series or the movie, Fire Walk With Me, and do not want it spoiled – STOP READING! You have been warned!
When David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks was airing back in 1990-91, I watched the television series like many of my friends and family. I loved the quirkiness. I loved the “lynchiness” of the plots. I loved the cast of characters and celebrated and embraced their oddness. I can remember the suspense. I can remember being scared. Over the course of 30 episodes, I and the rest 0f the audience was treated to a murder investigation and detective story that was unlike anything else on television.
I can remember debating who most likely was Laura Palmer’s killer after each of the first 14 episodes – I did not guess correctly – and was shocked when BOB was revealed in episode 15 “Lonely Souls” (Season 2, Show #7).
Twin Peaks became my “must see TV.” I remember watching all the way through the final episode (#30) even though the show had begun to lose my attention. I can recall being somewhat dissatisfied with the final scenes in the red rooms aka White Lodge and Black Lodge. I was disturbed by the revelation that BOB had entered Agent Cooper in the final scene.
A few years later, I did rent Fire Walk With Me, but the movie never did much for me other than graphically show the gruesome murder. It was sad and depressing and I felt like a gawker at a murder scene.
So I left Twin Peaks behind with a sense that I would never see a show like it again. I knew I would miss the idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks. It also explains my taste for shows like Northern Exposure (for the quirky small town tales) X-Files, and Fringe. Over the last eighteen years, I have not given it much thought other than an occasional chuckle to coffee and pie references. I will admit to still saying “Damn good coffee!”
Dale Cooper:
Harry, I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
Now on Tuesday of this week (December 29, 2009), I was working on a non-paid project that had some Twin Peak cultural references so I pulled up the series on Fancast and re-watched the first episode again. Once that had finished, I just started watching all 29 others which took me well into Wednesday. Now that I have finished, I have come away with a stronger, more appreciative view of the series. While I had not forgotten the main story line, much of the quirkiness and humor had faded from my memory.
Deputy Andy Brennan:
Listen, the Tacoma Sperm Bank was looking for donors. Naturally, I applied because it was my civic duty… and I like whales. A routine physical revealed that I was sterile. Sure I thought that meant that I didn’t have to take a bath. But then they told me the truth. Cheryl, I cant have babies. So how are you pregnant?”
The solid performances by the main cast still was there and the side gags still made me laugh. The odd side characters still engaged me including Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn), Major Briggs (Don S. Davis), and Jerry Horne (David Patrick Kelly). I had not realized how many up and coming – and now famous – actors were in the show including David Duchovny playing a cross dressing FBI agent and Heather Graham playing Agent Coopers love interest in season two.
All of the visual nuances were there to be seen again; dwelling on donuts, birds, and stoplights. The great music still haunted me. I had forgotten about the ever playing television soap opera “Invitation to Love” ever on in season one, Ben Horne’s manipulative attempt to save the Pine Weasel, and how much pie was featured throughout the series.
Watching the final episode, I knew what the outcome was going to be, so I was not as emotionally involved as I was the first time. With being less invested, the ending was easier to take and appreciated.
In the last episode, Agent Dale Cooper enters the Black Lodge in search of his love interest Annie and his nemesis Windom Earle. Inside this mystical place resides many of the now departed and other-worldly spirits including BOB. In this place, he meets Laura Palmer, Laura’s killer, and even an evil version of himself. Much of the imagery is unsettling and disturbing. As the show ends, we are left with Agent Cooper possessed by BOB and ready to commit mayhem. But is this the real Cooper, or is it his doppelganger (as we learn in the movie)?
And once again I am left with bigger questions about good and evil; the sense of self and the path we take in life. What is different for me this time, from a perspective of 18 years later, that the question of good and evil is not to be answered easily but is the part of life’s journey.
Twin Peaks stands up to the test in time, both as a cultural reference and as work of art.
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