aramis-112-804880 "Twin Peaks" was the strangest prime-time soap opera of all time. Its die-hard fans (including me) were fascinated by the residents of this town in the northwestern corner of the U.S.A. A re-viewing nearly thirty years on show parts of it still stand up, some parts work if you push them, and parts are woefully inadequate.Touted at its 1990 premiere as the groundbreaking show of the 1990s (two months into that decade). Yet it seems quaint even for those days, since no one in the show has a cell phone (Agent Cooper talks on a huge voice recorder that might be mistaken for one). No one has heard of DVDs or the Internet. Office workers and people at home almost all use typewriters. Instead of being the groundbreaking 1990s show it closed the door on all that had come before; as Debussy said of Wagner, "Twin Peaks" was a glorious sunset mistaken for a dawn.The series' primary conceit, the murder of Laura Palmer, is really a clothesline to hang out all Twin Peaks' washing of the town of Twin Peaks. Laura herself is an impossible dynamo. A beautiful, strong-willed Prom queen, she was a full-time high school student working at a perfume counter at a Department Store; on the side she helped with an immigrant improve her English, worked with an adult who had the mind of the child, and organized and worker in the local "Meals on Wheels" program. She was balancing two boyfriends (in a simple role-reversal, a rebellious teen who was captain of the football team, and on the other side an almost too-sensitive biker). Laura was also a cocaine addict, she worked with an immigrant to improve her English, worked with an adult with the mind of a child, and was a prostitute in a Canadian bordello. Talk about time management! These details were given out in dribs and drabs, so when the show ran it was easy to miss their collective ramifications, which was part of the series' macabre humor.Laura Palmer's murder was the tightrope of the main storyline, and its unfolding is just as powerful today (unlike "Who shot J.R.?") Yet the series was really about the town and its soap-opera denizens, with the creators' twisted, often grisly, humor paramount. And here's where the series flags.Laura Palmer's murder sparked "Twin Peaks" but that story could, like chewing gum, be stretched out only so long. And while it had several storylines in place, including some that were of great moment (the vanishing of Major Briggs, the defrocking of Agent Cooper, etc) the series had not started anything nearly with the intrigue of Laura Palmer's murder. Nevertheless, it ground on, throwing hopeful straws in the wind, until only a few "TP" lunatics like me remained in its dwindling audience.The worst: Most of the women in Twin Peaks are ravishingly lovely, but the writers make only the guys bizarre. It's like they lacked the guts to make lovely women weird. Only weird-looking women were allowed to be weird (like the Log Lady; or Nadine, she of the eye patch, whose post-suicide-attempt story is ridiculous and embarrassing. The there's the silly string about who is the father of Lucy's baby. Lucy and Andy are characters we've come to care about, but the show's darker comedy makes it all look facile. Then there's the need for Lynch and his acolyte directors to focus on the disgusting things in life, like drizzling people or folks with cake smeared on their faces, or boys in tuxedos holding creamed corn in cupped hands. Yuck. Repulsiveness just for the sake of it.The best: Lynch stalwart Kyle McLachlan's invariably cheerful Agent Dale Cooper. Both incisive and very funny, in these days when the FBI has spies infiltrating the camps of presidential candidates they don't want elected, it's nice to see an idealized agent who upholds honor and good old American decency, though I suspect Lynch and Frost were being sarcastic about him. Michael Ontkean's sheriff is, like Andy Taylor before him, a fine anchor in a silly town. SPOILERS: And then there are the bizarre touches that still work to evoke a giggle. Like Waldo's assassination (if you don't know Waldo I'll only say he's a key witness to a murder plot). Major Briggs' touching yet hilarious pontificating still resonates. And there's the anti-Scooby-Doo theme that when real teens involve themselves in serious investigations, serious consequences occur (as with Audrey at Jack's, and the painful betrayal of Harold Smith).Despite having much going for it, "TP" started with a bang but devolved into a curiosity of diminishing returns. Disclaimer: My home town had about a hundredth of Twin Peaks' 50,000-odd residents (very odd, some of them) so I bring a different perspective to it than city slickers who think anyone who doesn't want to live in NYC or LA is ipso facto nuts. Parts of the small town ambience ring true but most is hokum. And I grew up on property with 40 acres of woods, so to me the woods is a place of happiness and wonder rather than dark mystery and hidden threat. It's the dwellers of small dens in valleys of glass and concrete where the sunlight rarely shines, who are strange and unnatural to me. But "TP" kept me enthralled anyway during it's first run, though parts of it bore me now and I fast-forward through some storylines.

Sober-Friend This groundbreaking pilot took America but surprise. First airing in 1990 the pilot changed television forever. In fact it made Television Cool. The pilot starts off with a man discovering a body "Wrapped in plastic". When the Sheriff arrives we discover the victim is Laura Palmer. She is the high school Homecoming Queen who had secrets that ultimately may have caused her to be killed. The question is "Who Killed Laura Palmer"?Now David Lynch said later that "Her Death Was Never To Be Solved". However after the ratings freefall ABC made the show solve the mystery. Now the creators of the show saw how this show was marketed. After 14 episodes spanning 2 Television seasons the mystery was solved but the show then went into a tailspin. Regardless of what fans tell you the shows 2nd season was not as good as the first season. Even before the mystery was solved "The Show was at a standstill". However this review is about the pilot and it's a great one. Robbed of Emmy Awards the pilot today has not been matched by any other show that has been made since! This is well worth watching. Even the 2nd season is upto they mystery is solved. IS THIS IS A MUST SEE "YES"

Rick Black When it comes to television there are many shows you can call classic. There is also shows you can call influential. Most of all there is very few shows you can call groundbreaking. "Twin Peaks" happens to be all that however its also a show that went off the rails fast. Season 1 every episode was great. There was something in every episode that was jaw dropping. Season 1 was also "Not as popular" as you think it was. The first episode was. That was the 2 hour feature length pilot. It aired on Sunday Night. The next 6 episodes aired on Thursday's at 9.It was a tough time slot. It aired opposite "Cheers". The first weeks episode was highly rated. However the next 5 weeks the show kept losing viewers. Things looked "Murky" for another Season. The last episode was moved to the 10:00 pm time slot on Wednesday! Mark Frost had to push ABC into letting him know about another season. He didn't want a cliffhanger. He was going to solve the mystery if it wasn't renewed! He was editing the final episode up to the last minute. The show was only picked up for another season because FOX (and possibly a cable channel) was interested in picking up the show. The final episode of season 1 did win its only Wednesday Night time slot. Things were looking great for the shows 2nd year. Because it won its Wednesday Night Time Slot everyone was shocked that ABC schedule the show for Saturday Night at 9:00 for the 2nd Season. Everyone thought it would play on Wednesday at 10:00. However what people seem to forget that episode still had 50% less viewers than the pilot episode. Thus the problems for season 2. When Season 2 aired each episode kept losing viewers. ABC forced the creators of the show to "Solve" the mystery of "Who Killed Laura Palmer". The show fell apart after that. The next 6 episodes were a mess! There was no longer a mystery. When the show found its footing again it was too late. A last ditch effort to save the show. ABC re-scheduled the show back to Thursdays at 9:00. However not only did "Twin Peaks" have compete with "Cheers" there was a new show on FOX that was getting the young crowd. That show was "Beverly Hills 90210". "Twin Peaks" ended up being the lowest rated show ever (up to that time) in that time slot. ABC canceled the show. The final 2 episodes aired as a movie on Monday Night after the television season was over.The show was great in Season 2 until they solved the mystery. After that it was just another soap and not a very good one at that. The final episode (Directed by David Lynch) was great. However it did end on a cliffhanger. That cliffhanger was left unsolved until 2017. In all if you have never seen the show you should. Watch the television shows then "Fire Walk With Me". I loved "Fire Walk With ME". To me that was much better than any of the season 2 episodes!Don't get me wrong season 2 is still good television. Its far better than the shows that ABC puts on today. Its just that the 2nd season had to compete with the 1st season. Even 26 years later Season 3 of "Twin Peaks" is still competing with season 1

Coventry How does one begin to describe the series that is his absolute favorite and of which he firmly believes that it remains the most genius and unique piece of television heritage of all times? Perhaps with the obvious statement that every single episode is a mini- masterpiece; - a true feast for all senses that puts you in a kind of magical trance throughout its running time and even long after it's finished. I recently finished watching the series integrally for the third time. The first time was when it first aired on Belgian television in the early nineties. Since I was only 11-12 years old around then, many of the surreal aspects and expressionist trademarks were incomprehensible for me, and I also vividly remember that my parents strongly disapproved of me watching a show that dealt with prom queens being murdered and midgets talking backwards! And yet, even though I didn't capture perhaps half of what was going on, I principally remember that I was lured to the screen as soon as I heard the ominous tunes of Angelo Badalamenti's fantastic theme music and gazed at the show in sort of hypnotized state. The second time I watched the whole series was around 10 years ago when I insisted to introduce "Twin Peaks" to my then-girlfriend who never heard of it. She wasn't very enthusiast and gave up after only six or seven episodes of the first season. The relationship didn't last, not coincidentally I reckon, but I did complete the series on my own and became even more obsessed with the events and the many versatile and intriguing characters that live in the titular northwest lumber town. My third viewing naturally got inspired by the news of the new season – "Twin Peaks" is back after 25 years – and the hope that it'll quickly become available here in Europe as well. I'm not in the habit of writing user comments for TV- series, but I felt it was appropriate to make an exception for the greatest one ever made. "Twin Peaks" is the brain child of master filmmaker David Lynch, and anyone even remotely familiar with his repertoire ("Eraserhead", "Blue Velvet", "Lost Highway") knows that his imagination is unlimited as well as unpredictable, and that his style is inimitable as well as astounding. Even though "Twin Peaks" is far more accessible than the vast majority of Lynch's movies, overall weirdness and unworldly atmosphere remain primary factors in the pilot feature film and all 30 episodes. "Twin Peaks" is at its most brilliant when it's surreal, but the series is equally brilliant when the events are more rational. The basic premise is the search for the murderer of the 17-year-old local beauty Laura Palmer. When her body is discovered, wrapped in plastic nearby a lakeside shore, the sleepy and seemingly idyllic little lumber town is turned upside down and the darkest secrets of several eminent and less eminent town inhabitants gradually come to the surface. The local Sheriff's department, led by Harry S. Truman (that choice of name alone is awesome), receives the help of the slightly eccentric but mainly amiable and coffee-worshiping FBI agent Dale Cooper. How can the solving of only one simple murder case keep you glued to the TV- screen for one and a half seasons, whereas other detective/thriller series solve similar crimes in less than one hour almost every week? The short and simple answer would be that "Twin Peaks" is unlike every other show and every episode brings forward new surprises, unexpected revelations, enigmatic sub plots and dark new edges of familiar characters. The murdered Laura Palmer is a perfect of this herself. When her body is found, we – as well as most of the townsfolk – assume that she was regular teenage girl with normal interests and worries, but a few episodes later it becomes painfully clear that Laura was everything but a prototype teenager. This goes for practically every character and event in "Twin Peaks"; - nothing or nobody is what they seem, making this the most unconventional soap opera ever made. Even when the murder of Laura Palmer is resolved (allegedly the main reason why the viewing rates dropped significantly and the show got canceled), and the story primarily revolves on the cat-and-mouse game between Dale Cooper and his old nemesis Windom Earle, "Twin Peaks" continues to spawn creative and compelling inside stories. I could easily write a full-length review for each episode or an extended essay on every single supportive character of this show, but nobody like to read that much, right? I'll narrow it down to stating that every tiniest detail is worth discovering and every resident of Twin Peaks is worth getting acquainted with. There's a fantastic balance between nightmarish imagery and comical reliefs, there's the ideal mixture between surrealism and straightforward action/suspense and there's the underlying yet omnipresent ambiance of good versus evil. The episodes directed by David Lynch himself, six in total including the pilot film, are undoubtedly superior to the rest, but every director or cast member that worked on "Twin Peaks" truly surpassed him or herself. Same goes for the downright stellar ensemble cast. Most of these actors and actresses will be forever linked to their characters here, and they can be proud of it too! I'm in love with every woman that lives in Twin Peaks! Since age 11, I had a crush on Donna, Shelly, Audrey, Nora, Laura, Maddy, Josie, Annie, as well as a peculiar fondness for Nadine and the Log Lady. As for the men, well, I'd sure love to have a cup of coffee and a chat with the entire Sheriff's department, the Bookstore Boys, the Northern Hotel management and even the unreliable crooks. The show is more than 25 years old and still doesn't look the least bit dated. Can't wait to see the 2017 season!