DVD Pick of the Week - Twin Peaks: Season Two
“Sheriff, we got a lot to talk about…”
DVD Pick of the Week - Twin Peaks: Season Two
I don’t know if I’ve ever loved and loathed a recommended pick so equally as I do the second, and final, season of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s milestone series Twin Peaks. Let’s be clear, I’m a huge fan of the show; I don’t share the views of those who found it pretentious and overrated, yet at the same time I don’t universally adore every last freaky frame of it, either. After a strong start following up the short (it was a mid-season replacement) first year, the writers dug themselves a hell of a hole by rushing along plots and constantly attempting to top themselves on weirdness. Resulting, sadly, in a short shelf life for a show which almost single-handedly bridged the gap between 80’s glee and 90’s gloom on the small screen.
As with most fine ensembles, it’s the actors who keep the momentum going even when the scripts begin to wobble; Kyle MacLachlan’s Special Agent Dale Cooper remains one of the most charmingly memorable protagonists in TV history, and the enormous supporting cast always delivers. The first six or seven episodes of Season Two are five-star television. But in retrospect, it was a mistake to satiate a nervous network and rabid fanbase by revealing the central mystery of teen queen Laura Palmer’s murder before the midseason mark. The characters and mythology of the show, had they stuck it out, should have been strong enough to sustain the suspense for some time yet. The failure to supplant the Laura whodunit with something equally intriguing as the season wore on supports this. At first, Cooper being menaced by his psychotic ex-partner Windom Earle seemed promising, but it never quite took root. Meanwhile, far too many new subplots went absolutely nowhere.
And then there’s that finale – Lynch and Frost’s final “f- you” to meddling ABC, an episode as bizarrely obtuse as any of Lynch’s films in which the worst that could happen does and half the cast wind up in never-to-be-resolved cliffhangers. You have to admire the chutzpah, yet on the other hand it’s the sort of unforgivable brush-off of a fan base that gives us geeks our grudges to hold. Me, I’m over it; well, mostly anyway, though that final shot still makes me want to toss a cherry pie at my TV. For all the “Peak”ing that came before, though – and some of it was grand – this is an essential box.
Also recommended this week: All That Jazz: Music Edition; Bedazzled (1967); The Brady Bunch: Complete Series; The Lost Room; Mario Bava Collection, Vol. 1; Mothra Vs. Godzilla; The Natural: Director’s Cut; The Streets of San Francisco, Vol. 1.1; Volver
—Nicole Campos
