A round-up of fan responses to major turning points in Twin Peaks
(spoilers, obviously!)
Every month, I will be offering at least one post on Twin Peaks...up until Showtime re-airs the original series. Then I will post extensive coverage of each episode (mixing new reactions with my many older pieces) immediately after they air. Stay tuned.
A year ago, in an online forum, I asked Twin Peaks fans to share their memories of watching the show, either when it originally aired or years later on video. About a dozen users responded, in greater or lesser detail. Now I have collected and reorganized their memories here (attributing each to the username that posted it). You can read my own responses to these turning points in "My first reactions to Twin Peaks", shared a month ago, but the point of this collection is to display the amazing diversity of reactions (consider it a complement to my previous round-ups of media & alt.tv Usenet commentary). The replies have been edited to unfold point-by-point rather than person-by-person. I may add new entries if/as they come in, so if you'd like to add yours, visit the forum thread where it all began.
Each response ranges from a single word to several paragraphs. You can read them straight through, skip around to the most interesting turning points, or scroll through to follow your favorite participants.
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MY ORIGINAL POST on Dugpa's "World of Blue" forum
I first watched the series and film on DVD in 2008 and have been fascinated with it ever since. I can't think of any other story - film, television, you name it - that takes the viewer on such an emotional roller coaster. I'm really curious to know how other people reacted to it, particularly people who watched it when it was first aired on television in 1990-91 (I was only 6-7 at the time). I've read a lot of archived articles and columns from the time but on this thread I'm more interested in anecdotal, personal memories. What did these events mean to you? What reactions did you observe around you (either watching it in groups or talking to people later) - were they similar to your own?
Here are the responses I received: