David Lynch

[BomberPat]

There is some absolute nonsense in series two for sure, and if you just wanted to do a "David Lynch's Twin Peaks" watch-through, you could easily cut two thirds of the series out and miss nothing of importance in terms of continuing stories from series one, or leading into FWWM and The Return. The thing that really got me is the sheer volume of characters constantly being introduced through series two, it's just so busy.

[Chili]

I actually think my favourite line delivery in the original run is Cooper and Big Ed at One Eyed Jacks on a reccy and Ed gets asked 'You look like a cop' and when Blackie asked what he does, instead of his fake occupation he just blurts out 'own a gas station' with a funny delivery of absolute pride. It just really cracks me everytime I see it.

[Thunderplex]

All comes down to this for me.

 

[Merzbow]

I'm not sure just how much of season two was Mark Frost, knowing him more after reading his two brilliant books made for The Return it just doesn't have that conspiratorial or more fortean like stamp on it. I think it was Sabrina Sutherland (maybe Frost, too) that said more recently that Lynch wasn't as hands off as the lore suggests and that he went over and had a hand in every script of the season while being far, far more present than people say, the whole "he was away with Wild At Heart" thing just isn't true either as that was done during season one.

Edit: Harley confirms he was there all season 2 and to add I think it was actually Frost who left during the season for a long period.

 

Edited January 20, 2025 by Merzbow

[davertfnewman]

I'll go with Catherine Martell as Mr. Tojamura as the worst bit. On the same low par as Diane Rigg's "disguise" in Theatre of Blood.

[Jazzy G]

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2025 by Jazzy G
Link works now

[BomberPat]

even if Lynch was going over scripts, he wasn't there directing, and that really shows - I think some of the weirder material in series 2 wouldn't be looked down as much if it had his direction behind it; it's the combination of the story going a bit bonkers, and the direction becoming a lot more pedestrian. 

I will probably re-read Mark Frost's books during this rewatch; I remember not thinking too much of the second one, and enjoying the parts of the first that really fleshed out the history of Twin Peaks (though it really starts to undermine the idea that, before Agent Cooper showed up, Twin Peaks was a small town where nothing ever happened), but I found some of the Fortean stuff kind of off-putting; it felt like Frost trying to tie a bunch of existing conspiracy and UFO lore into Twin Peaks, which also at times feels like the direction series 2 was threatening to take with Major Briggs' disappearance, messages from space, and lights in the sky and so on. I wonder if Frost's explanation for the weirder stuff in the show would have more likely moved in that direction, compared to Lynch's more esoteric take. Now, though, I think I would give it a more generous read - the book is supposed to be a dossier of files the FBI kept on Twin Peaks and associated phenomena, and they believed that it was tied to UFO phenomena, that doesn't mean that it was. The only people in the FBI that might have thought differently were people involved with Blue Rose, and those out on the fringe like Windom Earle.

 

One other thing I just remembered that really struck me at the end of series 2 is the unexpected reveal that Nadine is supposed to be 35 years old.

[Chili]

I actually thought the fella who played Windom Earle was great and remove a lot of other shite and keep his story around and this added danger would have been alright.

You didn't need that James and the honey trap, Billy Zane or that infuriating story with Nadine shagging Gary Hershberger.

*I liked a scene in the return but spoilers*

Edited January 21, 2025 by Chili

[Chris B]

Since I know at least one poster in this thread hasn't watched The Return yet, could we avoid specific spoilers, please?

[Chili]

5 minutes ago, Chris B said:

Since I know at least one poster in this thread hasn't watched The Return yet, could we avoid specific spoilers, please?

Yeah sorry everyone I just clocked that

[BomberPat]

2 hours ago, Chili said:

I actually thought the fella who played Windom Earle was great and remove a lot of other shite and keep his story around and this added danger would have been alright.

Windom Earle is another case where I think, with Lynch more actively involved, he could have been a completely different and more interesting character - that performance with sinister Lynchian direction, rather than him goofing about in costumes and doing soliloquies to Leo for most of his screen time could have made for a good villain.

But the main problems with series two, as far as Earle is concerned, are that the show already had villains, and it completely sidelines them for ages only to introduce this new guy. You find out what BOB is, and then he just fucks off for most of the series! 

Creatively, I can see the justification - once Laura's murder is solved, there's no reason for Dale Cooper to remain in Twin Peaks, and if he does stick around (apparently at one point the plan was for him to resign from the FBI and become the town pharmacist), he has nothing to work on. I can absolutely see a writers' room meeting, and one that reached such a prosaic conclusion that I can't imagine Lynch being part of it, deciding that what the show needed was a Moriarty to Cooper's Sherlock, but I don't think they ever really nail that dynamic, largely because Earle just feels like he doesn't belong in Twin Peaks at all, he's such a different kind of villain. And having the main evil of the show embodied in a monologuing cartoon baddy, rather than in a broader sense of corruption and subterfuge, seems to miss the point of the series too. He's just a character I struggle to get a handle on.

He's also part of the problem I had with that first Mark Frost book - he brings in the outside world, and makes the world of Twin Peaks bigger, which means it's no longer a story about the darkness hiding in a small town where, on the surface, nothing seems to happen. Suddenly everything happens there.

But I agree that he'd probably be a much better fit if you cut a lot of the other fluff from series 2. And again, there's just so many new characters constantly being introduced in that series that he might have had more impact if you hadn't met two dozen others by the time he comes along.

[Mr_Danger]

Great memories of me Nan buying me the Twin Peaks box set on pirate from EBay and hearing the music and popping her head around the door to tell me she liked the music, watching about 2 minutes of it and going “What the shitting hell is this you’ve got on”.

Got a rewatch planned but can’t find it on the dodgy stick. I got as far as the mad fucking casino episode on The Return before I decided to shelve it until I was in the mood and never got to finishing it. There’s only that , og Dune and Inland Empire left on my Lynch watchlist. 

[Merzbow]

If you end up buying it it's a good time as they're re-releasing “Twin Peaks: From Z to A” in a couple of weeks, it's the entire collection with film, Return etc and bonuses in one box.

Edited January 21, 2025 by Merzbow

[The King Of Swing]

Only a couple of years ago that I finally watched the original series of Twin Peaks (still need to finish The Return) and as flawed as S2 is, I still got a lot of enjoyment out of it. 

The finale scared the crap out of me. It's like a Nightmare brought to life. 

I vaguely remember seeing the first couple of episodes when I was younger (on Channel 5, right?) and I was also scared shitless by the Bob reveal. 

 

[SuperBacon]

There's been a lot published on Lynch since he passed but I particularly enjoyed these two pieces.

https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2017/09/25/fix-heart-die-startling-empathy-david-lynch/

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/muted-golden-sunshine-david-lynchs-los-angeles/