Twin
Peaks Revisited: Monumental Television At Its Best
Twin Peaks came along during a renaissance in
the television industry. Starting with Hill Street Blues, through
St. Elsewhere, thirtysomething and Moonlighting,
the medium that was once considered a “vast wasteland” proved
it could deliver intelligent, quality storytelling. It was within that
euphoric environment that Twin Peaks was unleashed, and no
series better encompasses the good and the bad of that period than this
David Lynch creation, which was recently released on DVD.
Because
of his time as a film auteur, Lynch brought a stylistic approach to
the show as opposed to the static direction television had experienced
up to that point. And although humor and quirky had already been seen,
mainly on such shows as Moonlighting and St. Elsewhere,
Twin Peaks took it to another level while likewise mixing genres,
from comedy to crime drama to horror story to a philosophical consideration
of good and evil.
The series
was larger-than-life storytelling, as that final description can attest.
Because of this, its billing and promotion as a “who killed Laura
Palmer” mystery was both a curse and a blessing. The simplicity
of such a one-sentence tagline attracted a large initial audience that
might not have been drawn to the unique “weirdness” of the
series. But as the story continued, and the murder was left unresolved,
the audience dwindled, unable to appreciate (and, yes, comprehend) the
larger picture being painted.
Twin
Peaks was in reality about how evil exists beneath even the most
tranquil of facades. The town of Twin Peaks is small town America at
its finest, a picturesque setting with good-hearted people and the best
damn pies ever baked. It’s the type of place were the high school
homecoming queen volunteers with the local Meals-On-Wheels and tutors
the mentally challenged, the kind of town that exudes a simplistic beauty
and awe.
But no
matter how perfect, evil still lurks in the shadows. Laura Palmer, the
homecoming queen whose murder kicks off the series, personifies that
contradiction, as underneath her sweetheart exterior are “secrets”
that are slowly revealed as the investigation into her death unfolds.
She was, in fact, a tortured soul, haunted by evil, with drug and sexual
addictions and a manipulative personality. But it’s not just her,
but the town itself that has greater mysteries, and one soon discovers
that there’s very little about this small enclave that resembles
how it initially appears.
Twin
Peaks, however, takes such a concept further, adding the metaphorical
twist that the battle between good and evil actually takes place in
a mystical parallel universe consisting of dancing dwarfs, gentle giants
and possessing entities named “Bob.” It’s a town where
the residents have regular visions of this evil, the woods have a supernatural
aura and a lady with a log serves as the local shaman. This analogical
interpretation is so dense and layered that even now, over fifteen years
since the series aired, fans are still debating the philosophical implications.
Although
coming from a motion picture background, Lynch was still able to craft
a television series that both learned from and paid homage to the shows
that came before it. There was a large ensemble cast, just like Hill
Street Blues. Quirky humor ala Moonlighting and St.
Elsewhere. There was even a one-armed man named “Gerard.”
More significantly, it was the soap operas of the times that Twin
Peaks most borrowed from. The rich and powerful of the town wheel-and-deal,
sleep-with-and-backstab each other on a regular basis. Characters thought
long dead turn out to have been alive all along, and even the smallest
of roles have enough drama in their lives to fuel numerous spin-offs.
But despite
its large supporting cast and multiple storylines, Twin Peaks
still found a way to give them all their proper due and screen time.
The show was also fortunate to have Kyle MacLachlan in the role of FBI
Agent Dale Cooper, one of television’s truly iconic characters.
In one of those rare moments when the perfect actor was cast in the
right part with exceptional dialogue to recite, MacLachlan, in an Emmy-winning
performance, brought the proper balance of wild-eyed wonder and steely-eyed
determination to Agent Cooper.
But it
wasn’t just MacLachlan that stood out, but the cast in general.
From Michael Ontkean (Sheriff Truman) to Jack Nance (Pete Martell),
Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran) to Harry Goaz (Deputy Andy), Twin Peaks
added a perfect blend of young actresses and veteran actors to the mix.
As a testament to the level of the show’s thespian pedigree, the
cast included Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Jacoby), father of Amber Tamblyn, and
Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward), mother of Bones actress
Emily Deschanel.
The 1980s
have often been considered the Second Golden Age of Television. When
the decade began, both cable and HBO were in a position to start significantly
cutting into the viewership that the three networks (no FOX yet) had
exclusively enjoyed. Sensing the fraying to come, television executives
decided to cater to the demographic that advertisers were most willing
to pay top dollar for, and since such an audience was both sophisticated
and intelligent, high-concept creators like Steven Bochco, Glenn Gordon
Caron and Lynch were enlisted and given creative freedom.
But like
all good things, this experiment wouldn’t last. Some of those
creators and showrunners had no previous experience producing a television
series (and were obsessed with expensive visions), often causing production
costs to run over budget. Creative control could also lead to creative
missteps, resulting with ratings taking a downward tumble virtually
over night. And once “quality” started to equal less revenue,
it was pretty much over: by the end of the decade, the networks reestablished
control over the shows they were, after all, paying for.
In this
sense, Twin Peaks was both the defining achievement of its
era, as well as major contributor to its demise. It was monumental television
at its best, and left behind a legacy of mixed-genres, quirky-humor
and philosophical-musings, while taking the intelligent storytelling
started by other shows of the 80s to an even higher level: that of “art.”
But its ultimate failure and quick cancellation also meant that it would
be half a decade before any network (the infant WB) would be willing
to take such a risk again (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
Hill
Street Blues may be considered the granddaddy of quality television,
but the current generation of shows owes more to Twin Peaks
than any other. From Lost to Heroes, Pushing Daisies
to Desperate Housewives, it’s hard to imagine any of
them if Laura Palmer hadn’t been found on a beach, wrapped in
plastic, one eerie night way back in April 1990. And thanks to the show’s
release on DVD, television fans can now revisit that significant moment
any time they want.
November
5, 2007
