Information AboutTwin Peaks |
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Emmy Award -nominated, Peabody and Golden Globe -winning television Serial Drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost , which first aired in the United States on April 8 , 1990 and ended on June 10 , 1991 . The show is set in the fictional town of Twin Peaks in northeastern Washington state; the primary filming took place in northwestern Washington. The central plotline tells the story of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan ) and his investigation of the murder of a popular local teenage schoolgirl and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee ), whose body was found on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic. Although the series was created by Lynch and Frost, the majority of episodes are credited to different writers and directors. The show was co-produced by Aaron Spelling 's production company, Spelling Entertainment , and ran for 30 episodes over two seasons. ''Twin Peaks'' initially aired in the '', released in 1992. The series also later influenced several television series in different ways, including '' Northern Exposure '', '' Picket Fences '', '' Wild Palms '', '' American Gothic '', '' The X-Files '', '' Carnivàle '', '' Lost '', '' Desperate Housewives '', '' Wolf Lake '', '' Eerie, Indiana '', '' 24 '', '' Heroes '' and '' Night And Day ''. Many of these series have been referred to as "the next ''Twin Peaks''," either before their run, or after popular success, and examine the human condition and the underworld of a seemingly-perfect suburban setting. Due to its success in the mid-to-late '90s, Bravo re-aired ''Twin Peaks'' in the U.S. from 2003-2004. Also, NBC Universal 's Horror -themed cable channel Chiller , which launched on March 1 , 2007 is currently airing the series. ''Twin Peaks'' was ranked on '' TV Guide ''' magazine's "Top 25 Cult Shows " at #20http://forums.tannerworld.com/showthread.php?t=4001, and one of the "Top 50 Television Programmes of All Time" by the same guide at #45.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/26/entertainment/main507388.shtml CASTING ''Twin Peaks'' features members of the loose ensemble of Lynch's favorite character actors, including Jack Nance , Kyle MacLachlan , Grace Zabriskie , and Everett McGill . It is also notable for the casting of several veteran actors who had long been absent from the screen, including 1950s movie stars Piper Laurie and Russ Tamblyn , and former '' Mod Squad '' star Peggy Lipton . MUSIC :''see main article Music Of Twin Peaks Composer Angelo Badalamenti , a frequent contributor to Lynch projects, scored the series and provides the Leitmotif "Laura's Theme," the famous title theme, and other evocative pieces to the Soundtrack . A handful of the motifs were borrowed from the Julee Cruise album '' Floating Into The Night '', which was written in large part by Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch , and was released in 1989. This album also serves as the soundtrack to another Lynch project, " Industrial Symphony No. 1 ," a live Cruise performance also featuring Michael J. Anderson (the " Man From Another Place "). The song "Falling" (''sans'' vocals) became the theme to the show, and the songs "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart," "The Nightingale," "The World Spins," and "Into the Night" (found in their full versions on the album) were used as Cruise's roadhouse performances during the show's run. RESPONSE Premise ''Twin Peaks'' started life as an offbeat project for David Lynch and Mark Frost . They filmed the pilot with an agreement with ABC that they would shoot an additional "ending" to it so that it could be sold directly to video in Europe as a feature if the TV show was not picked up. During the first season, it was the search for Laura Palmer's killer that served as the engine for the plot, and caught the public's imagination, although the creators admitted this was largely a Macguffin — each episode was really about the interactions between the townsfolk. The unique (and often bizarre) personalities of each citizen formed a web of minutae which ran contrary to the quaint appearance of the town. Adding to the surreal atmosphere was the recurrence of Dale Cooper's Lovecraftian dreams, in which the FBI agent is given clues to Laura's murder in a Supernatural realm that may or may not be of his imagination. The first season contained only eight episodes (including the two-hour pilot episode), and was considered technically and artistically revolutionary for television at the time, and geared toward reaching the standards of Film . It has been said that ''Twin Peaks'' began the trend of accomplished Cinematography now commonplace in today's television dramas. Lynch and Frost maintained tight control over the first season, handpicking all of the directors, with some that Lynch had known from his days at the American Film Institute (''e.g.'', Caleb Deschanel and Tim Hunter ) or referrals from those he knew personally. Its ambitious style, Paranormal undertones, and engaging murder mystery made ''Twin Peaks'' a surprising hit. Its quirky characters, particularly Kyle MacLachlan's Special Agent Dale Cooper , were unorthodox for a supposed ' Crime Drama ,' as was Cooper's method of interpreting his dreams to solve the crime. Following the Cliffhanger finale of the first season, the show's popularity reached its zenith, and "Peaksmania" seeped into mainstream popular culture (such as '' Saturday Night Live '', in which Kyle MacLachlan hosted and performed a sketch that Parodied the show). ''Twin Peaks'' swept the Emmy Award s in 1990 with eight nominations, although it failed to win one. Declining ratings With the unpopular resolution of the show's main drawing point (Laura Palmer's murder) and with the storylines becoming more obscure and drawn out, public interest finally began to wane, and "Peaksmania" seemed over. This discontent, coupled with ABC changing its timeslot over a number of occasions, led to a huge drop in Ratings after being the most-watched television programming in the USA in 1990. On February 15 , 1991 , ABC announced that the show had been put on "indefinite hiatus," a move which usually leads to cancellation.Lavery, David. Introduction, ''Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to'' Twin Peaks. Wayne State UP, 1995. ISBN 0-8143-2506-8 This wasn't quite the end, though, as there was still a large enough fanbase for viewers to begin an organized letter-writing campaign, dubbed C.O.O.P (Citizens Opposed to the Offing of ''Peaks''). The campaign was successful, and ABC agreed to another six episodes to finish the season. In the final episodes, Agent Cooper was given a love interest, Annie Blackburn ( Heather Graham ), to replace the intended story arc with Audrey Horne. The series finale did not sufficiently boost interest, and the show was not renewed for a third season, leaving an unresolved cliffhanger ending that continues to be debated. David Lynch himself returned to direct the finale of the series, annoying a few of the actors and writers, as they had previously felt "abandoned" by him. The writers, for their part, didn't appreciate his changes to their scripts. Later, David Lynch, having been long unhappy with ABC's "meddling" during the second season, sold the whole show to Bravo for a small sum. Bravo began airing the show from scratch again, along with Lynch's addition of introductions to each episode by the Log Lady and her cryptic musings. PLOT SYNOPSIS ]] The series is set in 1989, with each episode — barring occasional exceptions — representing a single day in the chronology. On the morning of '' to be Deer Meadow). Cooper quickly establishes that Laura's character and relationships are not as they first appear, and that she's far from the wholesome homecoming queen that those closest to her believed her to be. It is revealed that Laura was two-timing her boyfriend Bobby Briggs with sullen biker James Hurley , a fact known to Laura's best friend Donna Hayward . Cooper also finds traces of cocaine in Laura's diary, indicating a drug habit she shared with Bobby. Meanwhile, Donna and James begin an investigation of their own into Laura's death, and find themselves embarking on a romantic relationship with each other. Laura's cousin Maddy Ferguson arrives to stay with Laura's parents prior to the funeral. Maddy, who resembles Laura closely, befriends Donna and James and helps them in their efforts to find the killer — even impersonating Laura at one point to fool Laura's psychologist, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby . During his investigation, Cooper stays at the Great Northern Hotel owned by the Horne family. The Hornes' sultry daughter Audrey develops a crush on Cooper that initially appears to be mutual. However, Cooper later rebuffs her advances, on the grounds that she is a high schooler, and that she is involved in the case he is working on. With Audrey's help, Cooper traces Laura's cocaine usage to a brothel called One-Eyed Jack's, which Audrey later infiltrates on Cooper's behalf. It is revealed that Laura had also been working as a prostitute there. .]] Cooper also experiences a bizarre dream, in which he sees a one-armed man called Mike, who chants a strange poem: "Through the darkness of future past / The magician longs to see / One chants out between two worlds / Fire walk with me." Mike tells Cooper about another man called BOB, and how they went "killing together." Bob also appears as a man with long gray hair, dressed in denim, who swears to Cooper, "I will kill again." As the dream continues, Mike shoots BOB. Cooper then finds himself twenty-five years later, sitting in a mysterious red-curtained room. It is here he meets the diminutive Man From Another Place , who intones clues to Cooper in the form of strange phrases, and then proceeds to dance to a jazzy beat. Also present is the spirit of Laura Palmer, who kisses Cooper and then whispers into his ear the name of her killer. When he awakes, Cooper is unable to recall the killer's name. Cooper and the local police force are then able to track down Mike, whose full name is Phillip Michael Gerard. Gerard appears to be nothing more than a shoe salesman, and claims to know nothing of the Bob that Cooper describes. However, it eventually becomes clear that Gerard is possessed by an " Inhabiting Spirit " (the true 'Mike'), who reveals to Cooper and his colleages the true nature of BOB — BOB is a fellow inhabiting-spirit who has possessed someone in Twin Peaks "for over forty years." ( Kyle MacLachlan )]] Cooper is also visited by an apparition of a mysterious Giant , who provides him with further clues in the murder investigation. All of the information that Cooper has gained from psychic and empirical means, including the mysterious utterances of an eccentric local woman known as The Log Lady , leads him to a number of suspects; but when he discovers the existence of Laura's second, secret diary, he realizes that therein lies the key to solving the mystery. Harold Smith, a local man who was one of Laura's confidants, holds this diary. The secret diary reveals that from a very early age Laura was abused by a figure called "Bob," and that her use of drugs and sex are the means she has used to numb herself and escape from him. On the night before she is to leave town, Maddy is brutally murdered by Laura's father, Leland, who is revealed as the man who is possessed by BOB. Cooper and Truman apprehend him, and as they interrogate the crazed Leland, it becomes clear that Leland has little to no memory of his grotesque actions while under BOB's influence. After confessing to two murders, BOB forces Leland to smash his own head against the wall of his cell. As Cooper and Truman rush to his side, Leland's memories of what he has done return to him, and in his dying moment, Leland claims to see Laura. However, as Cooper and the others note, if BOB has truly left Leland's body, it means his spirit is now loose in the woods of Twin Peaks. With the murder investigation concluded, Cooper is then all set to leave Twin Peaks, when he is framed for drug trafficking by the criminal Jean Renault , and is temporarily suspended from the FBI. Renault holds Cooper responsible for the death of his brother Jacques , who was murdered by a grieving Leland Palmer when Jacques was under suspicion for Laura's murder. After Renault is killed in a shoot-out with police, and Cooper is cleared of the charges, his former FBI partner and mentor Windom Earle comes to Twin Peaks to play a deadly game of chess with Cooper, in which each piece of Cooper's that he takes means someone dies. As Cooper explains to Truman, during his early years with the FBI alongside Earle, Cooper had begun an affair with Earle's wife, Caroline, while she had been under his protection as a witness to a federal crime. Earle went mad and killed Caroline, tried to gut Cooper with a knife, and was subsequently committed to a mental institution. Now having escaped and come to Twin Peaks, Earle hides out in the woods so that he may go about plotting his revenge scheme. As this is going on, Cooper continues to try to track down the origins and whereabouts of BOB, and learns more about the mysteries of the dark woods surrounding Twin Peaks. It is here he learns of the existence of the White Lodge and the Black Lodge , two mystical extradimensional realms whose gateways reside somewhere in the woods, and which are occupied by spirits that appear in Cooper's dreams and visions (metaphorically referred to as owls — "The owls are not what they seem"). Cooper also falls in love with a new girl in town, Annie Blackburn . When Annie wins the Miss Twin Peaks contest, Windom Earle kidnaps her and takes her to the Black Lodge, which Cooper realises has been Earle's goal all along. The Black Lodge then is revealed to be the place where BOB, the Little Man From Another Place, and the Giant come from, and where the red-curtained room of Cooper's dream is located. Cooper follows Earle into the Lodge, and has a set of bizarre encounters with Doppelgangers of dead characters, including Caroline Earle and Leland Palmer. During Cooper's journey, Windom Earle is apparently killed when his soul is consumed by an enraged BOB after Earle tries to claim Cooper's own soul in trade for Annie's life. Cooper then tries to escape, but cannot find the exit in the non-linear path of the Black Lodge. He is also chased by his own smiling doppelganger as he tries to find a way out. The Cooper doppelganger catches him, as BOB laughs. Cooper returns to the woods, with Annie by his side, both found unconscious on the ground by Truman. Some time later, Cooper awakens in his room at the Great Northern Hotel, and is tended to by Truman and Doc Hayward. He then requests to brush his teeth in his bathroom. Locking the door behind him, Cooper then smiles uncharacteristically as he pours toothpaste into the sink. He then slams his head into the mirror, and when Cooper's bloody face turns toward the camera, he laughs — we see his reflection is that of BOB. Apparently the Cooper doppelganger has exited the Black Lodge, thus taking the real Cooper's place. The series then ends on this Cliffhanger . Following the cancellation of ''Twin Peaks'', series co-creator David Lynch created a feature film, '''', that detailed the last week of Laura Palmer's life, as well as subtly expanding on the events of Cooper's fate in the series finale — Cooper remaining trapped in the Black Lodge while his evil shadow self (doppelganger) is out there in the world under the control of BOB. ORIGINS as homecoming queen ( Sheryl Lee )]] |
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