Twin Peaks: Thoughts On Season One

March 23rd, 2008

Twin Peaks

I watched the first season of Twin Peaks twice: once casually, and a second time to write blog posts. The second viewing made me appreciate the show much more.

All in all, the short first season of only eight episodes (seven plus the pilot) is solid entertainment. Through the grisly murder of teenager Laura Palmer, we become acquainted with the townsfolk of the small Northwest town of Twin Peaks. There’s an overarching feeling of innocence that becomes tainted by Laura’s brutal death and the subsequent investigation.

Twin Peaks

Some characters are genuinely naive like Andy and Lucy. Innocent but capable of dark deeds are Shelly and Donna. More troubled are Norma, Ed, Harry, James, Audrey, Leland, Dr. Jacoby, and Maddie. The darker forces are Leo, Ben, Jerry, Hank, Bobby, Josie, and Catherine. Others act as mysterious, guiding agents – Hawk, Major Briggs, and the cryptic Log Lady. The balance is unquestionably tilted to the dark side.

A few characters have their fingers in nearly all nefarious activities: Ben Horne, Hank, and Leo. Ben owns One Eyed Jacks, Horne’s department store, brings cocaine into Twin Peaks, and double-crosses Catherine by pretending to help her but is really helping Josie. Ben decides to kill Catherine during the mill burning. Hank helped Josie with her husband’s murder, shot Leo at the behest of Ben, phoned Catherine to lead her to the mill, and is married to Norma. Leo is outwardly dangerous, but isn’t too bright, and completely readable as an asshole.

Twin Peaks

I fear less overt evil that masquerades as innocence – Josie Packard. Through the season’s first half, she seems helpless, tormented by Catherine and Ben, but she’s later revealed to be responsible for her husband’s death.

Twin Peaks also satires soapy romance with its many love tangles. Ed, married to Nadine, is having an affair with Norma, who is married to Hank. James was Laura’s girlfriend but is becoming involved with Donna. Shelly, Leo’s wife, is having an affair with Bobby.

Into the twisty woods strides Agent Cooper, who lends an objective eye as an outsider. But he’s equally flawed and in some ways, insane. He talks to a tape recorder named “Diane”, has unhealthy obsessions with coffee, trees, and a pocket whistle. He also uses unorthodox investigative methods such as pitching stones at a bottle and an unsettling reliance on dream interpretation.

Twin Peaks

It’s Cooper’s dreams that form the most surreal and head-scratching entertainment in Twin Peaks. What to make of a dancing midget in a dark room and the haunting images of BOB in Laura’s bedroom? These visions are presented early in the series and rather annoyingly, aren’t explained by season’s end. But despite their incomprehensible nature, they’re certainly unforgettable.

These surreal visions make up the darkest undercurrent of Twin Peaks which permeates the show in brief yet powerful moments. Moments like the camera zooming in on Jacques’ mouth as he recalls Laura biting the poker chip. Waldo the bird’s blood spattered across a row of donuts. The one-armed-man going down a blue hallway in the hospital. Sarah Palmer seeing Laura’s face superimposed over Donna’s (Traces To Nowhere).

There are also some interesting visual themes running through the show. The color red is used constantly, from the red room of Cooper’s dream, a swinging red traffic light, and One Eyed Jacks. Birds, most notably owls are referred to.

Twin Peaks

Then there is the central figure of Laura Palmer. Her presence sums up the tainted innocence of something good that was scarred by evil, which describes the town as well. She rebels against her family and takes things too far. What little we know is she had a very dark side that could even be called a possession. Her cousin Maddie, played by the same actress, is a disconcerting presence. The one disappointment I had with the first season of Twin Peaks is how the murder of Laura Palmer isn’t resolved.

For a time, it seems Cooper is getting nowhere, then somewhere, but everything goes to heck in the last episode. Cooper is shot, the town is a mess, and characters’ fates are uncertain. Luckily, the killer of Laura Palmer is revealed partway through season two, and it’s a doozy.

TV Shows: Twin Peaks

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