For those who only have a working knowledge of anime, manga and video games, I present Geek School: My feeble attempt at injecting some culture into the anime/otaku/weeaboo community. So gather round, kids, as this elderly 20-something imparts his knowledge of geeky elements you should probably know about.
If crime dramas seem tired and played out, Twin Peaks is just the swift kick in the balls the genre needed. The concept for the show sounds fairly simple: a murder mystery in a small town. But when director David Lynch is involved, you know you are in for something both creepy and surreal. And if you're not familiar with the odd films of David Lynch, Twin Peaks is a crash course in everything that makes a Lynch production, well, weird. There is a scene in The Simpsons where Homer watches an episode of Twin Peaks where a giant is dancing with a unicorn next to a traffic light and admits to not having a clue what is going on. While The Simpsons is exaggerating the show a tad, Twin Peaks is certainly not for those expecting a simple crime drama.
Taking place at a small town in Washington, homecoming queen Laura Palmer is found dead and wrapped in plastic near a river. Word of her death spreads fast and the town grieves over the loss. FBI agent Dale Cooper is called in as Laura's death matches the pattern of a serial killer they've been tracking. As Cooper uncovers more evidence on Laura including her dangerous double life, strange things begin happening in Twin Peaks (not that it wasn't strange already), all of them connected to Laura Palmer's death. Vendettas are made, relationships are formed behind other's backs, characters with doubles lives are revealed and violence errupts in the corners of this small town. One of these odd events include Cooper having a dream in a red room with a dancing midget who talks backwards. Using these dreams of weird imagery and cryptic messages, Cooper slowly tracks down more suspects and clues to the case at hand. And the plot only grows thicker from there.
I find it very hard to describe just what makes Twin Peaks so appealing and so satisfying. Its part character drama, part campy humor, part David Lynch surrealist horror. At one point you're laughing along with the tropes that the show is intentionally inserting as satire, the next you're creeped out by all the bloody murder and omen dreams. The only way I can possibly sum up the tone of this show is just...surreal. Even the opening theme is a tad misleading in describing what the show is like as it features a slow synth track against a logging factory. The best element of the show is by far the characters. Dale Cooper is easily one of the best characters as he is constantly amazed by small towns, tape records every bit of his actions for the case of Palmer and is generally just a real entertaining guy for an FBI agent trying to catch a serial killer. There are also plenty of weird characters to decifer like the Log Lady, a crazy woman who believes she can psychically communicate with a log, and Killer BOB, a spirit of evil that manipulates the town.
Twin Peaks ran for two seasons on ABC, both ending on cliffhangers. Though the series tied up the case of Laura Palmer, it was still left unresolved. The series was followed by a theatrical movie, Fire Walk With Me, but didn't really bring anything new the table acting more as a prequel. Though Lynch claims there was almost THREE HOURS cut from his original idea, the rumored five-hour version will probably never see the light of day if not for Lynch's hesitance then the negative fan reception. Trust me, it's better to just pretend this movie doesn't exist.
Though the story starts tripping during the final episodes of the second season, Twin Peaks is definitely worth the watch. David Lynch's trippy vision of a seedy small town has earned the show a cult following and a special place in TV culture. It has been parodied multiple times and attempted to be duplicated by poser shows like Happy Town (as if anyone remembers that turd). Ever wonder just what that whole scene in The Simpsons was all about where Chief Wigum has a vision of Lisa dancing while holding a burning playing card? Watch Twin Peaks and you'll know why...maybe.
Why You Need to See This: Twin Peaks is a crime drama that takes twists and turns of the supernatural, comical, surreal and darkly horrific nature unlike anything else on television.
Why You Need to See This (insulting): STOP ROTTING YOUR BRAIN ON LAW & ORDER RERUNS AND WATCH SOME TELEVISION THAT'LL ACTUALLY MAKE YOU THINK!
Where You Can Get It: As of this writing, Twin Peaks is on Netflix streaming. You can still find copies of season 2 on DVD in some places, but the only way to watch season 1 on DVD is through the Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box Edition.
What to Watch For: A weird dancing midget who speaks backwards, which is actually just backwards talk played backwards to sound like real words with different tone.
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