The Golden Age of Television began roughly a decade and a half ago, but many would trace its origins to a much earlier period. One catalyst for this process was a short-lived US broadcast television series that became the first to earn cult status. That show was Twin Peaks, originally aired on the ABC network between 1990 and 1991.
The show’s creators were Mark Frost, a famed television writer known for high‑quality dramas, and David Lynch, a director then known mostly for quirky but stylish art films that had already earned him a cult following. This unusual pairing developed a project that felt fresh and, until then, unimaginable in the stale, formulaic world of network television, where most shows were unimaginative routine sitcoms or procedural dramas. It was a series that, at least temporarily, broke with US television conventions, offering a weird, unusual and intoxicating blend of genres, a new emphasis on style and unusual narrative techniques. The show proved to be exactly what audiences wanted and yearned for, quickly becoming an instant hit in the USA and around the world.
The plot begins in the small, quiet Washington State town of Twin Peaks, where logger Pete Martell (played by Jack Nance) discovers the naked corpse of Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee), a popular teenager and homecoming queen. Another local girl, Ronette Pulaski (played by Phoebe Augustin), an apparent victim of the same criminal, is found wandering in a semi‑catatonic state across the state line. This allows the FBI to claim jurisdiction and dispatch Special Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan) to lead the investigation with the help of the local police, headed by Sheriff Harry S. Truman (played by Michael Ontkean). Cooper finds that certain details connect the case to a previously unsolved murder in another part of the state, but he is also convinced the killer is local. He carefully begins to investigate seemingly innocuous and upstanding citizens, many of whom harbour dark secrets. Even the victim had dark secrets of her own, living a double life very different from her image as the perfect teenager. To crack the case, Cooper employs unusual investigative methods—including those based on his dreams and visions—and as the investigation proceeds, more clues suggest the killing was, at least in part, inspired by a mysterious and malevolent force that might have supernatural origins.
The basic concept of Twin Peaks is in many ways inspired by Blue Velvet, David Lynch’s 1986 thriller that represented the zenith of his career up to that point. In both, the protagonist is played by Kyle MacLachlan, and the setting is a seemingly picture‑perfect American logging town that hides dark secrets and psychopathic evil beneath its surface. Mark Frost, on the other hand, built on this concept by introducing a narrative structure seldom used on US broadcast television until then: instead of unconnected episodes, the series followed a continuous plot from beginning to end. The investigation of Laura Palmer’s murder also served as a backdrop for various romantic subplots, placing Twin Peaks in the realm of soap opera. Frost’s script also played with genres, blending murder mystery and soap opera with elements of supernatural horror and slapstick comedy.
Twin Peaks further excelled through a new emphasis on style, which included cinematography of a quality until then unimaginable for broadcast television, and an atmospheric yet diverse musical score by Angelo Badalamenti—including the theme song “Falling,” which became a major hit. Lynch made an excellent choice with a large and diverse cast. The most important member was MacLachlan, who plays an FBI agent whose eccentricity and almost boyish enthusiasm for banal everyday details make him the moral anchor of the series and a convenient point of identification for “normies” in the audience as they navigate the strange, quirky world of Twin Peaks. He easily overshadows Michael Ontkean, who actually plays the most “normal” character of all. The rest of the cast is very strong, especially when Frost’s script renders their characters eccentric, behaving oddly or in ways that make them suspects in the investigation. This includes Sherilyn Fenn as a teenage seductress, Lara Flynn Boyle as Laura Palmer’s best friend, Ray Wise as Laura’s grieving and half‑insane father, and Richard Beymer as a local tycoon. Sheryl Lee, a relatively unknown actress from Seattle initially hired only to play a corpse, later became one of the more interesting actresses of her generation.
Twin Peaks launched with a feature‑length pilot and seven more episodes, which became a huge hit thanks to its engrossing mystery and clever use of cliffhangers that kept audiences hooked for weeks. The first season, relatively short and with the creators fully focused on their vision, is generally regarded as better than the second, which exposed the limitations of broadcast television and its format. After a hiatus, it was difficult to maintain audience interest, with many complaining that the original mystery had become too muddled and needed resolution. The network forced Lynch and Frost to finally reveal the killer, but instead of ending the series on a high note, they chose to continue with more absurd and soapy plots, with both creators gradually losing control. That marked the beginning of the end: declining quality affected viewership and led to cancellation during the second season, with a finale featuring one of the most annoying and unsatisfying cliffhangers in television history.
Despite its unsatisfying ending, Twin Peaks was on the whole a piece of quality television and left a huge imprint on popular culture. It proved highly influential in the emerging realms of video games, film and, ultimately, television. Many television creators in the 1990s began experimenting with form and content, though only the arrival of cable television and streaming later allowed shows inspired by Twin Peaks to reach their full potential. Numerous other popular‑culture phenomena—from The X‑Files and Northern Exposure to The Sopranos, Stranger Things and Dark—owe a great debt to Twin Peaks. The show’s reputation was further enhanced by a critically acclaimed third season, a 2017 limited series that attempted to wrap up some of the loose ends.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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