TWIN PEAKS

THIS WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS - FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES AND THE FIRST FOUR EPISODES OF THE NEW SERIES. SO CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So back in early 1990 Twin Peaks appeared on television and if memory serves me correct, it was on Australian television roughly the same time at the US, so as not to spoil anything. The world was standing at attention and watching it in hoards...I was not!

I tend not to ever like to jump in on things 'everybody' is watching, and usually that is because they are shite, but sometimes I am wrong, and miss out or am a late starter on great things. Twin Peaks was an example of this!

About halfway through the series I was, damn, I really wish I was watching this. Funnily enough, not a lot of people I knew were watching it. But of course how do you start watching a show that you have to watch week to week halfway through!?

Luckily for me, the started showing repeats from the beginning very late at night around that time!

What luck!!!!

And so each night I taped it and slowly and surely caught up and of course I was hooked.

Ok, obsessed!

To me, Twin Peaks was never about who killed Laura Palmer (although that was intriguing and I recall being pretty suss of her Dad quite early on), it was about the town, the mysticism, and the fabulous cast of characters.

And Agent Dale Cooper...

...oh my!!! 

I do believe, at 19/20 he was my first adult crush, and I have adored Kyle MacLachlan ever since.

But I loved most of the other characters, the women/girls were strong and amazing, the boys weak and stupid, they made me laugh. Sooky Bobby and dopey James...urgh (hot for sure, but just idiots). I loved Truman, and Hawke, and Andy and Lucy. I was thrilled by some of the older cast, Lipton, Chen, Tamblyn, Wise...these were big time movie stars on this television show. That just didn't happen back then. Later some of my faves turned up in the second series, Heather Graham, Billy Zane, and in a lovely turn, David Duchovny as Denise!

Oh and Sherilyn Fenn, what girl didn't want to be Audrey Horne!?!

These people were like family to me.

And so I watched through the first series, hooked and mystified, through to the opener of the second series. Yes, I was right Laura's Dad did kill her, but in a horrifying twist, he was possessed by a demon called Bob!

WTAF!?!?

Honestly, to this day, if I think of Bob, I will go to sleep and wake up and see him at the end of my bed and nearly have a heart attack until I realise it is just my imagination playing tricks, that's how fucking horrifying that character is!!!

The second series barreled out of control, but I stuck with it, because I loved that show and those characters so goddamn much. Then it started to come good, but it ended with Bob taking over Agent Cooper!!

WTAFAFAFAF!?!?!

That was just too much for me, I felt like I had been physically gut punched by Lynch himself, and the show ended, was never picked up, leaving my hero in limbo...for ever!!!!!

A few years back they released the show as a boxset, and whilst I still owned my taped from television VCR copies of the show, I had to have the DVDs. I rewatched the show, and it held up extremely well!!!

It was a slow burn, but that is it's beauty, but the ending still stank and made me shitty!

Then Lynch announces a new series, with all the old cast coming back.

I nearly died.

Then it wasn't on.

Oh well...

And then it was and slowly little snippets came out, but really no actual information. All we knew was most the cast returned and it would be done on Lynch's terms, which could be good or bad! Frost was back on board to help him write it, so that was good.

So, last Monday I sat down to the first four episodes on this new beginning.

To say I was excited was a HUGE understatement.

I had donuts to accompany me of course!

So here are my thoughts divided into EPs 1 and 2, then 3 and 4!

Episode 1 commences as Series 2 ended. Our hero, Coop, is in purgatory while he is possessed by Bob. Scenes from the red room are shown.

Episodes 1 and 2 have potential new storylines with potential new characters. I say potential, because it's Lynch, who knows!

Then somewhere in New York atop a factory like building is a room and some sort of glass portal, where a young man is looking after camera equipment that is filming the portal from every direction. Later a creepy figure comes through the portal and slays two youngsters. Cooper is also seen floating there. 

Also a dead mutilated body of possibly two different people turns up. The head belongs to the local librarian (geez!!!!) and it appears the local head master is behind it. There are lots of scenes with this happening, seemingly not linked to anything until Bob shows up with a map and the town they happened in is shown, and then he shoots the head masters wife, before going on a killing frenzy.

All the Bob stuff is chilling, him at a weird cabin with weird people, him killing, him driving manically. He's up to no good, that's for sure.

Intertwined with all the new is the old, or old as new. We revisit Twin Peaks, we see Doc getting a delivery, the Horne brothers arguing as if no time had even gone by, the sheriff's department, Lucy, Andy, Hawke, The Log Lady (I wept).

Connecting the two is The Log Lady telling Hawke something is amiss with Agent Cooper.

Towards the end of Ep 2, Cooper is trying to escape the Red Room/purgatory, whatever you want to call it, we see him float into the portal and then disappear.

Then we are at the Bang Bang Bar with the hypnotic Chromatics singing. We see Shelley with friends and a badly aged James.

A lot of people and critics were disappointed with all of this! It wasn't Twin Peaks, it wasn't what they expected, it made no sense, blah, blah, blah!

I LOVED IT!!!

It was exactly as it should be, a few new storylines with new characters, which is necessary to move plot into a new phase and a lovely smattering of the old. This keeps the sentiment high and love close. Still things that make no sense, fuck with your mind, and scare you a little (ok a lot)! Some of it will fall into place as the season progresses, and a suspect some of it won't!

It's David Lynch people - get with the program.

And I think this is Lynch at his peak! 

The cinematography was exquisite, very Lynch, shades of Eraserhead, loads of dark and greys, very industrial, and yet going back to Twin Peaks, the town, exactly as you imaged. 

It was a wild ride and I couldn't wait to see what Eps 3 and 4 brung me.

They lifted the action and then some.

I was super impressed with Eps 3 and 4.

They mostly featured around Cooper. All three of him!

Yup, and MacLachlan was having the most delightful time, you could see it in his eyes. He is superb and totally knocking it out of the park!

So we have Coop 1 - the 'real' Coop in purgatory and not quite himself - no surprises there, poor bugger! He's trying to escape, doesn't have much to say, and is basically floating around.

Then there is Coop 2 - who is inhabited by Bob, he is super creepy and sleazy, dark eyed, golden skinned, long greasy hair and a little bit sexy (which is totally wrong I know, but this is what Lynch does, he fucks with you!).

And finally Coop 3, this is an odd thing, a spare Bob created (no!?!) he is a larger, daggier, suburbian Coop called Dougie, on a business trip and somehow (maybe, I'm not sure, it's still a mystery) gets inhabited by Coop 1, rendering him thinner, but monosyllabic (as Bob has all of Coops features in Coop 2...confused yet!?!). This gives MacLachlan the juciest scenes, particularly in a casino where, savant like, he is winning jackpots all over the place and having the most glorious time, then when he finally makes his way 'home' to his wife and child, trying to dress and eat and do things he just doesn't seem to know how to do, much to the amusement of his 'child'.

Coop 2 meanwhile is killing and on the loose, a merge gone wrong between him and Coop 1 see him crash his car and vomit up the remains of Coop 1 - or something like that. He is jailed and old friends are called in to come and get him. Old friends being Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrier) and Gordon Cole (LYnch himself) and Denise (David Duchovny) in the most exquisite scene!

While all of this is happening, there is much much more of Twin Peaks and the original cast. Seeing Bobby cry over Laura again was hilarious. Meeting Andy and Lucy's son, Wally (Michael Cera) was simply brilliant. 

There are two Sheriff Truman's, one who is sick (Michael Ontkean, who has retired from acting and could not be enticed back - so I presume we will never see him) and the other who is the actual sheriff (Robert Forster, who Lynch wanted to play the original character).

Episode 4 ends with Rosenfield and Cole realising something is terribly wrong after meeting with Cooper (Coop 2) and decide only one person, a female can help them and they think they know where she is.

Cut to Bang Bang Bar and the fabulous Au Revoir Simone playing.

Do they mean Audrey Horne???

I guess we wait and see!!

Of course a lot of it doesn't make sense, we're only 4 eps in and it IS Lynch. There are many questions to be answered, and some may never be answered.

That is cool by me!

Are there really three Coops, or two, and will he escape from purgatory and Bob?
What will happen to his wife and kid when he becomes one?
What if he never becomes one?
And who is trying to kill Dougie/Cooper and why?
What's with all the dead and weird women with no eyes?
Is the woman in burgandy on the bell the same creature that came through the portal and slayed the two young characters?
Is Bob behind all the killings, especially the Librarian?
I could go on.

I think those that are disappointed by Twin Peaks so far, haven't given it a chance and possibly were never real fans anyway.

You need to understand Lynch's wild ways, and how Twin Peaks operated in teh first instance, have no expectations and just join the crazy ride that it is.

Then I am certain you will be blown away in the very best possible way, as I was!

So bring on tomorrow and episode 5, I cannot wait!!

I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree with me, have I got something wrong, missed something, bring on the online water cooler conversation!