About the series.
Twin Peaks is a 1990 American television series, created by Mark Frost and David Lynch, about the investigation of FBI agent Dale Cooper into the murder of high school student Laura Palmer in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington, having its pilot episode aired on April 8, 1990 on ABC, followed by seven episodes forming the first season.
The plot was considered revolutionary at the time, as it deviated from the formulas of other series that generally sought some sense of morality. Twin Peaks had a complex story never seen in a series before, strange and eccentric characters, plots full of mysteries, being difficult to categorize it, as it had alternating moments between suspense, surrealism, drama, police, humor and psychological terror. The series influenced other series, such as The X-Files. The mysterious death of Laura Palmer, the theme song by Angelo Badalamenti, as well as the way each inhabitant of Twin Peaks was involved with the death of Laura Palmer, helped to hold the plot and tension and have a 1st season acclaimed by the public and critics to the present day.
Twin Peaks became one of the most watched shows of the 1990s and an international critical success. Reflecting its devoted fans, the series has become a part of popular culture, becoming a staple for other television series, commercials, comics, video games, movies and music. On June 10, 1991, the second season was released, with 22 episodes, with more surreal scenes and more characters.
The various schedule changes by ABC hurt the audience, and made the broadcaster pressure David Lynch to reveal Laura Palmer's killer. This revelation led to less public interest in the series, as Laura Palmer's death helped maintain tension in the series. In 1992, the series had a prequel that showed the last days of Laura Palmer, the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and in 2017 the series returned as an 18-episode limited series on the cable channel Showtime.
Production
Set in the fictional Washington town of Twin Peaks, exterior scenes were filmed primarily in Snoqualmie and North Bend, with additional scenes shot in Southern California. Most of the interior scenes were filmed on sets built in a warehouse in the San Fernando Valley. These places in the United States. Yes, there are people who ask.
Broadcast (In Brazil)
In Brazil, the series began to be broadcast by Rede Globo on April 7, 1991, always on Sundays, right after Fantástico. However, this was a bad time for those who wanted to watch the attraction, since they would have to wake up early on Monday to study, work, etc. In addition, from the beginning, the broadcaster “reformatted” all episodes to make them “fit in the grid space with many commercial breaks”, therefore, “cut” several minutes of each episode, eliminating excerpts that “the broadcaster considered details”. These cuts of the “details” immediately harmed the understanding of the series, since, as has always been the tradition of David Lynch, the explanations and the "meaning of the whole" are always in details that add up from episode to episode and, without these, the series was completely meaningless.
With that, the return in audience was low, and the broadcaster skipped a few episodes — further worsening the understanding of the series by viewers and the audience — and, soon after, canceled its transmission completely, creating a real confusion with those who tried to follow the series. In 1993, Rede Record replaced the series on Brazilian open television, showing all its episodes completely, without cuts and in sequence, until 1994, making the series understood and winning over passionate fans; the network would still return to reprise Twin Peaks in 1995 after a brief break.
When the series was released on VHS and DVD, it became a cult following. After more than 20 years, the series won a rerun on Globosat's Canal Viva from May 1, 2012.
And can you believe that when I told you about this series a few years ago, I was told I was making it up?
Review reception
In its first season, Twin Peaks received wide acclaim from critics. Based on 16 professional reviews, it has a score of 96% on Metacritic. By votes of the site's users, it reaches a score of 9.3, used to evaluate public reception. The second season of has a score of 9.0 given by users of the same site.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Twin Peaks has a 98% approval rating from critics gathered on the site, while the second season has an 87%.
Why did the series mark me? And why you MUST watch.
This gigantic milestone in television was due to the complexity understood in the series, a type of narration restricted to cinema. Before Twin Peaks, the stories of these productions were simplistic and considered even childish.
Each character shown in the “soap opera”, which would be the first season, with 10 episodes, has an eccentric character, with numerous quirks, moralities and very characteristic tastes.
The success on TV was so great that the question “who killed Laura Palmer?” it went around the world, leaving viewers mesmerized and with a knot in their heads for not knowing how to unravel the mystery documented in each chapter.
At the end of the first season, the murderer was not revealed — as Lynch planned — However, the calls from fans desperate to know who had killed the girl on the station were so many that the filmmaker decided to make 22 more episodes, with a not only investigative nature, but now supernatural.
Well, I'll confess one thing, the series also marked me, because it left me without sleep for days, due to a scene at the end of the first episode of the second season. That on Rede Globo, it wasn't broadcast like that, as I said up there, in the descriptive part of the series. As it was Sunday night, I was falling asleep, and I woke up just with the screams that appear in the scene. I stopped watching the series there. Additional information about the series I looked for in newspapers and magazines at the time (which were already few due to the low audience of the series both in the US and in Brazil).
I watched the prequel to the series, three years Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and that discomfort came back and again, I went days without sleep.
That only went away when I was ashamed of myself and as I was a big fan of the series, I bought the DVD and watched all the episodes, including the heavy one. It was liberating, I became even more of a fan of the series.
Below, I present some reasons for you to watch the series.
Reason 1: Embrace the strange, surreal, and supernatural.
The highest point of Twin Peaks is that the series encompasses several surreal and supernatural events, in addition to having very, very strange characters! In the very first episode, we see the main character in a red room, with a striped floor, next to the dead young Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and a dancing dwarf. All of this is just the agent's vision, but one that must be taken very seriously, after all, this is not just any room, but a kind of passage to another dimension. In addition, throughout the episodes, the story presents us with dreams, intrigues, apparitions, visions, and messages from beyond that gain real meaning in the plot. Not to mention the strange characters like the dancing dwarf, the giant man, the old angel, the one-armed, The Log Lady, the talking bird, the terrifying Bob and so on. . Therefore, accept, embrace and have fun with this strangeness, as it not only gives the series a special touch, but also the clues to discover who Laura Palmer's killer is, in addition to helping to unravel many other mysteries.
Second reason: The good humor of Twin Peaks
The series is not just about death and mystery! She also has her comedic side and that's wonderful! On several occasions, you'll find yourself bursting into spontaneous laughter when faced with an unbelievable scene that makes you think it's totally out of context (but it's not). All this is guaranteed by the characters themselves and their actions. There are some scenes that I found really amusing. The first is when Agent Cooper and Sheriff Harry are at the veterinary clinic and, suddenly, a llama appears, stops between the two, stares at Cooper and then leaves 'doing the Egyptian' as if nothing had happened. This scene is just too much! There's no way not to laugh!
Third reason: Phenomenal cast
There's no denying it: the cast of Twin Peaks is phenomenal and each character has their own quirks, something that will quickly win you over. I loved all the characters like Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn), Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle), James (James Marshall), Shelly (Mädchen Amick), Bobby (Dana Ashbrook), Ed (Everett McGill) and Ben Horne (Richard Beymer). Each one already draws attention individually and when they are together, fun is guaranteed and the mystery becomes even more engaging.
I'll confess something else, please don't call me a misogynist: ALL the women on the show are gorgeous.
Not all actors were known at the time, but they were successful thanks to Twin Peaks. For example, Kyle MacLachlan can also be seen in the Sex And The City series, in the role of Trey MacDougal, Charlotte's first husband. In How I Met Your Mother, he plays Captain George, the husband of one of Ted's girlfriends. Incidentally, he is involved in solving the pineapple mystery. Those who watched the series know what I'm talking about. Another cool thing is that creator David Lynch also makes a cameo in the series. He plays Gordon, Cooper's boss, an agent who speaks extremely loudly due to his hearing problem. There's no way not to laugh with him too!
Fourth reason and for me, the best: Dale Cooper
Dale Cooper is the investigator you respect. He conquers you as soon as he sets foot in the quiet city, because his “different” way is what makes the series special. First of all, he is an extremely intelligent agent, who captures everything around him, including, he quickly discovers who is catching who in the series and that is great! Also, Cooper takes everything very seriously, be it visions, codes, spirits and riddles. He rules out absolutely nothing. He is a true supernatural Sherlock. Secondly, Cooper is a person who appreciates every moment of his day and that includes eating times. Coffee, cherry pie and donuts can never be missing! As he praises and declares his love for coffee, it makes you want to go to the kitchen to prepare your cup. Another interesting point is that the agent always has a tape recorder in his hands recording everything for Diane, a special assistant who, in addition to helping with his needs, listens to his outbursts. But Diane is only mentioned and does not appear in the series.
Fifth reason: Soundtrack
The Twin Peaks soundtrack is composed by the talented Angelo Badalamenti. He is responsible for the opening music of the series, the score for the sad and mystery scenes, and also for the moments when the characters are plotting something. I call it the “deception trail”. It's great.
I cited the composer in this text here due to his death.
Datasheet
Twin Peaks
Creation: David Lynch and Mark Frost
Screenplay: Mark Frost, David Lynch and crew
Directed by: David Lynch, Mark Frost, Duwayne Dunham, Tina Rathborne, Tim Hunter, Leslie Linka Glatter, Caleb Deschanel, Todd Holland, Graeme Clifford, Uli Edel, Diane Keaton, James Foley, Jonathan Sanger, Stephen Gyllenhaal.
Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Sheryl Lee, Madchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, Piper Laurie, Richard Beymer, Lara Flynn Boyle, Ray Wise, Sherilyn Fenn, Warren Frost, Peggy Lipton, James Marshall, Everett McGill, Jack Nance, Kimmy Robertson, Joan Chen, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse, Wendy Robie and Russ Tamblyn.
Duration: 2 seasons (1990 – 1991) — 29 episodes (approx. 50 to 60 minutes — time varies in the opening and final episode of each season). Season 3–18 episodes.
About internet series:
Here's an example of how Twin Peaks influenced television:
For sure, one of the best series I've ever watched