Thoughts about Twin Peaks
I just finished watching Twin Peaks for the first time this afternoon. Very good series, and I now have some respect for David Lynch. I especially liked Kyle McLachlan's character Special Agent Dale Cooper because I found a lot to admire about him. The show is incredibly well-cast, and despite having a large ensemble, all of the characters have distinct, consistent personalities and connections. Their actions are predictable in a comfortable way; the show is structured so that characters are given plenty of time to evolve their relationships with one another.
There are a few things that set the show apart from most other TV shows. One rare element is the characters' ability to show and express emotions directly. Most Americans tend to repress difficult feelings and replace them with something lighter on the surface, but this show lets it all hang out. Initially it seems like a melodramatic stylistic choice designed to make the show a little more 'Lynchian,' but as the viewer grows to accept it as normal, it makes the characters' motivations much clearer. The real deceptions are revealed with far more subtlety: a veiled allusion, a change in the tone of voice, a telling glance, the narrowing of eyes. Actual acting!
The second element that helps the show's longevity is that even though it's set in the early 1990s, everyone seems to be living with ideals and fashions that haven't changed much since the '50s. FBI men wear black suits, light-colored button-down dress shirts, and black ties. Police officers wear khaki and brown uniforms. Girls wear skirts and sweaters, and one girl even sports saddle shoes part of the time. Jocks wear leather jackets and jeans. The gas station owner dresses in a country western style. The local business tycoon wears peak lapel suits and monogrammed shirts. The diner waitresses wear diner apron outfits. Everyone has a unique personal style and are no clear indicators of time period because nothing trendy is on display. No brand names, either.
The third element--one that really drew me in--was the music. Even though (as usual) Angelo Badalamenti only turns in a dozen or so themes, they're all used in such specific contexts that they become mood motifs. They're synthesized, dramatic, and heavily inspired by noirish jazz standards. Like the acting, at first they come across as overbearing and heavy-handed, then they coalesce with the other elements and create something that makes sense within the show's world, deepening it.
Angelo Badalamenti describes the creative process behind writing the 'Laura Palmer' leitmotif:
Finally, the surreal dream logic of the events that occur and the mysterious nature of the storyline are very unusual for network TV. Twin Peaks was scheduled to compete in the same time slot as the bar sitcom Cheers if that paints a clearer picture of what was on at the time. There really wasn't anything like it. It's dark, funny, intelligent, kitschy, and at times downright bizarre, but unlike most of Lynch's films the strangeness is actually explained in a fairly transparent manner, though that doesn't stop him from throwing in a kitchen sink of weirdness for the finale. I suppose everyone gets lost in the woods sometimes.
There are a few things that set the show apart from most other TV shows. One rare element is the characters' ability to show and express emotions directly. Most Americans tend to repress difficult feelings and replace them with something lighter on the surface, but this show lets it all hang out. Initially it seems like a melodramatic stylistic choice designed to make the show a little more 'Lynchian,' but as the viewer grows to accept it as normal, it makes the characters' motivations much clearer. The real deceptions are revealed with far more subtlety: a veiled allusion, a change in the tone of voice, a telling glance, the narrowing of eyes. Actual acting!
The second element that helps the show's longevity is that even though it's set in the early 1990s, everyone seems to be living with ideals and fashions that haven't changed much since the '50s. FBI men wear black suits, light-colored button-down dress shirts, and black ties. Police officers wear khaki and brown uniforms. Girls wear skirts and sweaters, and one girl even sports saddle shoes part of the time. Jocks wear leather jackets and jeans. The gas station owner dresses in a country western style. The local business tycoon wears peak lapel suits and monogrammed shirts. The diner waitresses wear diner apron outfits. Everyone has a unique personal style and are no clear indicators of time period because nothing trendy is on display. No brand names, either.
The third element--one that really drew me in--was the music. Even though (as usual) Angelo Badalamenti only turns in a dozen or so themes, they're all used in such specific contexts that they become mood motifs. They're synthesized, dramatic, and heavily inspired by noirish jazz standards. Like the acting, at first they come across as overbearing and heavy-handed, then they coalesce with the other elements and create something that makes sense within the show's world, deepening it.
Angelo Badalamenti describes the creative process behind writing the 'Laura Palmer' leitmotif:
Finally, the surreal dream logic of the events that occur and the mysterious nature of the storyline are very unusual for network TV. Twin Peaks was scheduled to compete in the same time slot as the bar sitcom Cheers if that paints a clearer picture of what was on at the time. There really wasn't anything like it. It's dark, funny, intelligent, kitschy, and at times downright bizarre, but unlike most of Lynch's films the strangeness is actually explained in a fairly transparent manner, though that doesn't stop him from throwing in a kitchen sink of weirdness for the finale. I suppose everyone gets lost in the woods sometimes.