Twin Peaks: Season 1

We're here.

I didn't even begin to have an inkling of what Twin Peaks was, and I gotta say upfront it is not like Fire Walk With Me really at all. Obviously I've only seen the first season of this show thus far and to be honest the thing I saw most in association with this show out in the wild as it were was, there's some great big underlying mystery that people have tried for decades to crack, and maybe I just read stuff on face value but this first season while not necessarily cut and dry is very easy to grasp, understand, and enjoy. Not the wisest decision to watch the film first, that's my bad but I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn't hooked. Spanning only a modest 8 episodes we follow Special Agent Dale Cooper as he arrives in the rural town of Twin Peaks to aid in the murder investigation of Laura Palmer. But it's not really the full extent of the show, we spend a lot of time getting familiar with this town and vastly more so it's residents. Who they are, what they do, what's their link to Laura, what relationships do they have with each other, it's really impressive storytelling to see this engrossing web get weaved episode by episode and not for a microsecond does it get dull. Obviously a show has groundwork to set up and ample time to do so, but it really does craft this character in and of itself for the town of Twin Peaks all on the backs of these characters in relatively a short span of time, and the writing is really damn good at it. It's more an ensemble series rather than a main star and a revolving door of supporting characters. In fact it was really hard to narrow down the cast list for this review because there's that many! I suppose we'll start with Kale as Dale Cooper who is easily my favorite character of the show, I seriously have no clue what it is maybe it's the script maybe it's the delivery but he just cracks me up in this! It's impossible to describe, you just gotta see it. Which kinda sums up this show so far for me, I'm not a fine enough wordsmith to articulate what I have seen here and there's almost too much to talk about. I can't remember who said it but they equated Kyle playing Dale as David Lynch, and it clicked eerily well so maybe that's why I love him so. To lightning round the characters so we don't spend all day just discussing that we'll focus on main supporting cast. Agent Cooper works in cooperation with Sherrif Harry S. Truman (Yes I'm serious.) played by Michael Ontkean who is head of the modest yet dedicated police force of Twin Peaks. We meet Laura's best friend named Donna played by Lara Flynn Boyle who takes the murder investigation into her own hands seeking answers, where she interacts with anarchy incarnate rich girl Audrey played by Sherilyn Fenn and biker boy James played by James Marshall to aid in her investigation. But there's other goings on in Twin Peaks and not all of it is good but you'll have to watch the show to learn more, and there are a lot of names so I recommend having a notepad to help keep all the strands untangled. It's worth it, that's all I'm saying. Very interesting to watch especially by episode 3 which everyone claims is the make or break episode for audiences, the first two episodes get you situated in this world with these characters and takes it's time to build the world, and thennn the 3rd episode happens and all I have to say is The Red Room. I don't even know what, but I'm rolling with it. Then the show adds supernatural otherworldly elements into it, but nor does it lean heavily into it either! It's just sorta there and isn't made that big a deal of, but I get why people would be turned off on that because the first two episodes for the most part are a mystery drama and people don't like when something shifts genres unexpectedly. I call it the From Dusk Till Dawn effect. But I was so engrossed in this show that it was just another layer of enjoyment for me! Some people might laugh at the almost soap opera-esque moments but I feel that was intentional on David's part. I'm kinda having a hard time to describe why I liked it as much as I did, I can't even remember the last show that got me so hyped and scrambling to put the next episode on because of the last episode's ending. I can't pin it on anything specific like the mood or style, or the fine acting, or the deepening story with all these characters affecting it, I'm really stumped on this. I just loved it. Couldn't recommend it stronger if I tried in all seriousness even when I know it just isn't going to be everyone's damn good cup of coffee. I haven't seen anything else like it in my life and most likely never will again, so I feel compelled to spread the word. Even though this show just had it's 34th anniversary so it's been around in the ether for some time, I don't care you have to watch it. I have spoken. Great start so far, 4 stars across the board, 9/10! !kcor s'teL