An eerie small town set into a mountainous area surrounded by trees and dark clouds, with a lake in the background.

Molly Grogan

David Lynch and Mark Frost’s weird and wonderful TV series Twin Peaks first hit the screens back in 1990. Now, you need only look up the show to observe the cult following it has accumulated – comprised of original viewers and recent converts alike.

For those unfamiliar, Twin Peaks follows a colourful cast of characters in a seemingly mundane North-Western town, who must grapple with the tragic murder of girl-next-door Laura Palmer. The two-hour pilot episode contains many heartbreaking moments of revelation by her nearest and dearest before grief engulfs the entire community. We watch Laura’s parents Sarah (Gracie Zabriskie) and Leland (Ray Wise) deliver a painstakingly human portrayal of a parent’s despair at losing a child. The scenes feel, and indeed are, very long. This – along with intense close-ups of their wailing faces – helps emphasise their pain.

However, this show isn’t simply about a grieving community. It contains all the components of a perfect autumnal watch – a cozy aesthetic, plenty of knitwear, and a soppy plot line. Throw in a detective obsessed with good coffee and the smell of Douglas firs and you have, as Agent Cooper would say, a damn fine show.

A PRODUCT OF ITS TIME

The first two seasons of Twin Peaks ran from 1990-91. Nearly three decades later, the show was rebooted for a third in 2017. However, without the show’s early nineties nostalgia, I do wonder whether the series would be a success today. The show has eccentric and often nonsensical storylines, as well as melodramatic monologues and a whining soundtrack. In the age of TikTok and micro-trends, would Agent Cooper become the internet’s new babygirl? And would an audience of Gen-Zers be so willing to persevere with the endless secrecy shrouding Laura Palmer’s mysterious murder?

“I made a rule for myself that I was not allowed to look at my phone whilst watching, in order to enjoy the build-up of tension”

Having accessed the series on demand, I had a privilege that original viewers did not – the ability to watch episode after episode consecutively. I made a rule for myself that I was not allowed to look at my phone whilst watching, in order to enjoy the build-up of tension. Nowadays, we so often miss out on the full effect of TV because we’re so partial to a double-screen session. However, suspense is the make or break of mystery series such as Twin Peaks. Without it, the world that has been built can fall to pieces in a second.

A MASTERCLASS IN WORLDBUILDING

Twin Peaks is a masterclass in worldbuilding. Only David Lynch could make Nadine, a one-eyed housewife obsessed with creating silent curtain runners, feel like someone who could be your next-door neighbour. However, the entire ensemble gives performances that are key to the success of the show. Without them, perhaps my perseverance with the show’s overly camp and melodramatic plotlines would have been tested.

“Instead of questioning why these strange things happen, just enjoy the experience of watching the events unfold”

However, any die-hard fans of Lynch’s previous work will know that trippy, nonsensical plots are at the heart of what he does. In fact, so intrigued by the director’s strange genius, I took myself to the cinema to see Blue Velvet (1986). This is a bizarre neo-noir murder mystery following a baby-faced Kyle MacLachlan as Jeffrey, a college student who finds a severed ear in a nearby field and is drawn into a seedy underworld of crime and corruption. Just like with Twin Peaks, I found the best way to watch it was to simply accept the strangeness of it. Instead of questioning why these strange things happen, just enjoy the experience of watching the events unfold. If nothing else, his work is an escape from reality.

COMPARISONS WITH RIVERDALE

Similarly, Riverdale (2017) is a modern example of a show that requires its audience to suspend rational thinking in order to have an enjoyable viewing experience. If you look closely, the two shows are really not all that different. The atmosphere and aesthetics mirror one other, as do their small-town settings. These settings are peopled by eccentric characters who become entangled in dark mysteries (not to mention the Mädchen Amick crossover and the diner hangout spot). Described by The Guardian as a “campy, maximalist romp”, the show is known for its otherworldly storylines and for diverging from its original source material, the classic Archie Comics (1939).

AN ESCAPE FROM REALITY

Perhaps comparing a masterpiece like Twin Peaks to Riverdale is going slightly too far. Either way, in a world where most of us are perpetually online – always questioning the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of the atrocious things we see in the news – it might be hard to watch something as unserious and ridiculous as Twin Peaks. However, I believe that part of what makes it so compulsively watchable is that it provides viewers with escape. An escape into its twisting and turning plotlines; into the lives of its characters; and into the sensory magic that its soundtrack and colour palette evoke. It is impossible not to be drawn deep into its quirky charm.

Before you know it, the screen is asking if you’re ready to play the next episode. Soon you notice that, somehow, you’ve already reached season three.

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Featured image courtesy of Kevin Schmid on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.

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