Tuesday 18 July 2017

Who Killed Laura Palmer?: Twin Peaks Series 1

So I have momentarily paused the X-Files, leaving Mulder and Scully standing in the charred remains of their office, torched by the Smoking Man to announce his return from the dead.

The truth may indeed be out there. I still want to believe. But for the moment, I am pausing.

Instead, I am returning to the year of my birth. In 1990, David Lynch unleashed Twin Peaks onto an unsuspecting public. I am almost as in the dark as the original audience was. I know a few bits. I know it's weird, I know it was amazing until it suddenly wasn't, and (unlike the original audience) I know it shall return.

So, much like I did for the first series of the X-Files, here are my thoughts on Twin Peaks.

Come, fire walk with me.

Pilot
  • I've not even started yet, but the DVD is giving me the option between 'With or Without the Log Lady Intro.' Those are not words I expected to see when I woke up this morning...
  • Oh, *that's* where this music is from...
  • That's a very specific number of people. But then again, 1990 was an American census year.
  • Stunning scenery.
  • Well, these all seem like nice normal balanced people.
  • It's so 80s. I mean obviously it is, it's from 1990, so everything would be very 80s. Nice reminder that the past isn't easy to compartmentalise.
  • Correctly calling out the actor who played Scully's father in the X-Files episode 'Beyond the Sea.' I need to get out more...
  • The realisation of the family is utterly heart breaking.
  • Was there a person wearing a legitimate tin hat?
  • Bobby's hair...
  • The Sheriff is called Harry S Truman. No, really...
  • Ah, someone crossed the state line. At least that explains why the FBI are involved.
  • Special Agent Dale Cooper seems as balanced as the townsfolk...
  • They all need speaking to about their ties.
  • Who the hell is Diane?!
  • Well, it isn't the boyfriend. Otherwise this would have made a terrible series.
  • My guess was Swedish, turns out they're Norwegian.
  • I tell you what, this Dale Cooper bloke is good.
  • The FBI appear to have a good contract with providers of ridiculously effective torches.
  • The safety deposit box company seem to have ended up with the moose that Basil Fawlty tried to put on the wall.
  • 'Who is the lady with the log?" "We call her the Log Lady." Names apparently aren't their strong point in Twin Peaks...
  • The fight scene was only missing a 'POW' to make it 60s Batman.
  • I jumped at the end. Flipping heck...

Episode 2
  • Confirms my view of Dale Cooper as a nice normal bloke.
  • I love the music.
  • Seriously, what the hell has this girl got herself into?
  • Bloody big clue from a bloody shirt
  • Flipping heck, those drapes...
  • That fog horn is creepy as anything.
  • Damn, Cooper is good...
  • How did that fish get in the percolator?!
  • Is there anyone in this town living a normal life?!
  • Note to self- Mrs Palmer= jumping time.
  • Them clothes, so 80s.
  • Back when threatening someone with going to Bulgaria was a serious threat...
  • Bobby's father is a real bundle of joy
  • Cherry pie- I gather this is important...
  • Is Dale Cooper going to just flirt with every woman in sight?
  • I mean, it's a town based on logs. What is so special about this one?
  • "My log saw something that night"- I hope she got an Emmy for that.
  • Woah, domestic abuse lobbed in...
  • Talk about jumping in your best friend's grave.
  • Woah, doctor...
  • Did I mention how great the music is?

Episode 3
  • I'm confused, is this episode two or three?!
  • If they had hipster uncles in 1990, the guy whose just walked in would be one.
  • Perfectly capturing the awkwardness of having your other half round to your parents.
  • The bar. Quad. The. Actual.
  • There's a One-Armed Man. I hear that Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones are in hot pursuit...
  • I thought it was a while since the drapes had put in an appearance.
  • I recognise the way they all leaned in off their seats from my students.
  • I want to start a lesson with Tibet anecdotes...
  • Next time I need to find out something, I'm going to lob rocks at a bottle...
  • Love the men from the FBI.
  • Woah, there's an apostrophe? No one said anything about that...
  • Jesus, this became one heck of a lot more confusing very quickly.
  • Has Cooper aged? Lucky that, if in 27 years time anyone wants to make a sequel, that'll be really helpful...
  • WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?!
  • I'm sorry, is this 70s light entertainment, with a pointless confusing dance routine in it??

Episode 4
  • Whoever did the decorations in the hotel needs speaking to.
  • Dale Cooper really is brilliant (I think I'll make this observation a lot). 
  • "Suddenly, it was 25 years later." How. Bloody. Convenient. 
  • Good thing he can't remember who the killer is, would have made a crap series if he did. 
  • The pathologist got what he deserved... 
  • Oh my goodness, there's a TV series in a TV series, how very Hamlet. 
  • But for all the pathologist is not pleasant, he is Good. 
  • At least this woman's life revolves around more than the bloody runners. 
  • Of course there are secret tunnels. Why wouldn't there be secret tunnels... 
  • Funerals are horrible, there’s just no getting away from it. 
  • Bobby is really showing himself to be a lovely, pleasant young fellow. 
  • But maybe in his anger, he has a point to make… 
  • Overall, I think we can conclude the funeral went swimmingly… 
  • He is very specific with his pie requirements. 
  • It’s only taken till this episode before someone mentioned a secret society dedicated to fighting the totally mental goings on in the forest. Surely that borders on obstruction of justice? 
  • And bugging too, honestly the felonies these people are racking up is horrendous. 
  • Add to that a safe, a secret bookcase, and a secret writing desk. 
  • I do love a good bit of Native American philosophy. 
  • But I feel it won’t help a bit in solving what on Earth is going on here.

Episode 5
  • Having consulted Wikipedia, the fifth episode is apparently Episode 4. I mean, seriously, even the episode structure is confusing...
  • Well the doctor doesn't seem suspicious in the least.
  • Why does the doctor have two glasses lenses that are different colours?!
  • I'm glad that Cooper is on Harry Truman's side.
  • The one-armed man has been found. Tommy-Lee Jones is in hot pursuit.
  • THE ONE-ARMED MAN'S NAME IS GERRARD.
  • The background noises are so strange. It's really hard to explain why, they just are.
  • Hank bears more than a passing resemblance to Jorah Mormont.
  • There's an alpaca. Why is there an alpaca?
  • Bobby is definitely in way over his head.
  • Andy definitely needs some training on that gun of his...
  • Alphabetically by pet is a terrible way of organising files.
  • That there is a mobile phone.
  • Why are they so determined to get Scandinavians into Washington state?!
  • It has also taken until this episode for a firearm to be drawn. Good stuff.
  • They are clearly building towards a climax. Thing is, I know there isn't one yet.
  • Much like any woods in the X-Files, no one should go into them at night.
  • WHAT IS THAT ANIMAL ON THE WALL?!
  • Someone seriously needs to talk to them about taxidermy.
  • Dominoes. Because what I really wanted was another complex layer of Plot.

Episode 6
  • Some real humanity shown by Audrey and Cooper from the off.
  • Lucy! Long time, no see.
  • Solid encyclopaedia use...
  • Are they questioning the bird?! (Yes, they are...)
  • Ah yes, the tape.
  • I'm guessing the department store manager is in on all this too, then?
  • I really hope the TV show within a TV show isn't important, its lost me...
  • Can you use FBI money to gamble with for investigative purposes?
  • Cooper is onto Josey, isn't he?
  • THAT FOG HORN.
  • And the bloody bird as well?
  • Their evidence is a tape recording of a bird recounting the murder; I will enjoy watching that stand up in court.
  • Their cover identities are Barney and Fred. No, really...
  • Well, One Eyed Jack's is the place to be tonight...
Episode 7

  • What are the Log Lady intros actually for?!
  • Oh yeah, the Doctor's office, forgot about him...
  • Cooper still has his Clark Kent glasses on.
  • Good shot Andy.
  • Oh Shelly, that's not good...
  • Real sense of events moving, after weeks of slow pace.
  • Josey hasn't been a good girl...
  • Andy and Lucy are adorable.
  • Well, *that* announcement was unexpected...
  • To say that shit is going down in this episode is the understatement of the 90s...
  • Well now the TV series in the TV series makes a bit more sense at least.
  • I mean, between the murdering, the arson, the running around, this night in Twin Peaks is completly manic...
  • Revising an earlier statement, to say that shit is going down in this episode is the understatement of the 20th century...
  • WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!!

Overall... I'm hooked. How you could watch it rise to a cliffhanger like that, and then decide "Nah, not for me,' I cannot imagine. Looks like my summer watching is sorted...

I mean, what in the name of God is that doing there...

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