tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post7307207147774221733..comments2024-01-21T11:18:54.087-05:00Comments on Lost in the Movies: Gone Fishin': A collection of commentary on Twin PeaksJoel Bockohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-65631125815812297642014-06-12T10:45:22.232-04:002014-06-12T10:45:22.232-04:00(continued)
"they would've really starte...(continued)<br /><br />"they would've really started to deal with this black lodge and going deeper into the mythos"<br /><br />YES! That was my thought exactly at the end of season 2, episode 9 when Leland is dead and the owl flies into the screen. I though, here we go, beyond Laura, but continuing that trajectory, deeper into what the mystery of what lies back in those woods. That would have been a great way to both move the show forward and honor what had hooked viewers in, in the first place.<br /><br />I discovered a blog post recently which perfectly sums up how the show misstepped in the very next episode (especially with the picture captions): http://entertainmentguidefilmtv.blogspot.com/2014/04/twin-peaks-days-20-26.html<br /><br />Thing is, Twin Peaks had to get darker in the second season, to remain both interesting and true to where it started. This alienated a lot of people, but when the writers tried to restore the wacky, lighter-hearted elements they went too far in the other direction and ended up adding insult to injury. It was the worst of both worlds: a show that had both pushed away viewers who found it entertaining at first, and viewers who were ready to stick with it through the darker passages ahead.<br /><br />At least Lynch restored the balance on the final episode.<br /><br />"The structure of TP itself made it very difficult to keep it going. I would've still loved the third season, naturally, but what Lynch did next was perfection to me. FWWM was once again changing gears but it took the whole concept and started again. If only there would've been sequels to it. That would've saved the world and mythos and made it so good. There was SO MUCH potential in this world. I like to think that stuff like Lost Highway, especially Mulholland Drive and even INLAND EMPIRE still contain traces of Twin Peaks."<br /><br />Agreed with all of this. Hope you're able to check out my post in a couple weeks, which offers a retrospective of Lynch's career, examining each film in turn. Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me were huge turning points, in my opinion.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-23544282909051470032014-06-12T10:45:15.865-04:002014-06-12T10:45:15.865-04:00"It came totally out of the blue. People here..."It came totally out of the blue. People here were loving the show."<br /><br />I've often wondered about how non-U.S. audiences responded to the show's cancellation. Must have been immensely frustrating that the decision was made due to foreign viewers who had gotten to see it first.<br /><br />Agreed the networks didn't help the show at all. One of the biggest decline in numbers comes after the premiere of the second season and it's worth noting that the premiere was aired Sunday night (same time as the pilot had been in the spring) but the following episode began the graveyard-shift Saturday night schedule.<br /><br />At the same time, it's interesting that critical and anecdotal viewer reaction soured after the season one premiere too. It would be an interesting time-travel experiment to see how the ratings would have been had season 2, episode 2 aired on a Sunday or weeknight instead of a Saturday. Would there still have been a precipitous dropoff? Viewer/critic reaction to episode 1 suggest there might have been.<br /><br />" It is clear that the pilot is very different animal as the show itself."<br /><br />Agreed. The pilot and finale of Twin Peaks almost seem like they're directed by different people - not only is the content different, the style is dramatically different too (by episode 2.22, Lynch's direction had become more baroque; his fondness for long takes and wide angles in the pilot is more subtle, something you could easily miss if you weren't looking for it). I like the direction he took the show in, personally (while I enjoy the pilot it's not really one of my favorite Peaks installments) but obviously many didn't. The pilot is a bit more in the spirit of, say, Blue Velvet, in which the surrealism seems more grounded in the real world and there's a certain formal restraint to the filmmaking.<br /><br />Agreed about the soaps aspect as well. The subplots worked in season 1 because they seemed to be tied together into some larger mystery, perhaps related to Laura herself. So drug deals, bordellos, shady business dealings, and family mysteries carried an extra punch.<br /><br />Very early in season 2 we see these threads starting to separate so that before long Shelly, Bobby, and Leo have nothing to do anymore with Cooper's investigation, Ed and (Super) Nadine are clearly off in their own world, and the Andy/Lucy/Dick Show might as well be a spin-off. I think THAT'S the real difference between season 1 and season 2. The core stuff, Laura's mystery and history, is actually even stronger in the second than first season. But the peripheral stuff really seems peripheral for the first time. The show was becoming more schizoid.<br /><br />(continued)<br />Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-54475054930789931512014-06-12T10:29:21.630-04:002014-06-12T10:29:21.630-04:00Re: kyussnz,
I agree with your first statement bu...Re: kyussnz,<br /><br />I agree with your first statement but keep in mind the second season is already halfway through when the killer is revealed. And after that point, Lynch had very little practical involvement with the show (until the series was coming to an end) and was only responsible for the bad storylines inasmuch as he wasn't minding the store. Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-83724334164381830302014-06-12T10:28:57.974-04:002014-06-12T10:28:57.974-04:00Re: lenlarga,
The only good part of Twin Peaks ex...Re: lenlarga,<br /><br />The only good part of Twin Peaks existing in 1990 rather than 2014 is that the smaller media marketplace and limited options meant that, for the brief time it was popular, it was everywhere (rather than just being limited to a small but steady niche). It burned fast but brightly and probably ended up being more influential than it would have otherwise. Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-68429239065418082012014-06-12T10:26:56.399-04:002014-06-12T10:26:56.399-04:00gavriloprinciple says (continued):
"It is co...gavriloprinciple says (continued):<br /><br />"It is common to blame the show's demise for the reveal of Laura's killer. But I think there's more to that. It is true they never intended to do that but then again, what the hell would've they done if the killer was to remain unknown? The whole story and characters revolve around Laura and she's the only thing to keep it all together. There actually was no other story than the hidden mystery of these red rooms, demons, owls and whatnots. The soap aspects were nice and drew in more viewers but seriously, without the mysteryhorror who would've watched endless romances and betrayals among James, Donna and the rest? Lynch is all about mystery, he needs mysteries. In essence, I think the show itself was made in a way that there was no other possibility than make the reveal and run with it. Just think how cool it would've been if Lynch would've been there and they would've really started to deal with this black lodge and going deeper into the mythos. Oh and to have Audrey and Cooper getting deeper and Windom Earle getting between them. Instead we get total halt and ferrets and half assed storylines with the characters that seem to lead nowhere. <br /><br />There was huge problems with the storylines, they just kept introducing new characters and didn't use the potential of the original cast at all. Once the glue that was Laura's mystery was gone there was nothing to hold the characters together and also none of the new storylines had their roots in the origins of the show. In the end the show wasn't character-driven, it was mystery-driven. <br /><br />So there you have it. The structure of TP itself made it very difficult to keep it going. I would've still loved the third season, naturally, but what Lynch did next was perfection to me. FWWM was once again changing gears but it took the whole concept and started again. If only there would've been sequels to it. That would've saved the world and mythos and made it so good. There was SO MUCH potential in this world. I like to think that stuff like Lost Highway, especially Mulholland Drive and even INLAND EMPIRE still contain traces of Twin Peaks. <br /><br />As I've said before, here in Finland they aired the first 15 episodes in one row in spring and the rest in the autumn. So the cliffhanger we got was the big reveal of BOB's identity and the murder of . That was perfect."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-51614689272231582362014-06-12T10:26:29.748-04:002014-06-12T10:26:29.748-04:00gavriloprinciple says:
"I've been diehar...gavriloprinciple says:<br /><br />"I've been diehard fan since the show originally aired here in Finland 1991. I still remember the show when the they said that the next weeks episode will be the last one. It came totally out of the blue. People here were loving the show. <br /><br />But all in all I can now understand the myriad of reasons why the show was cancelled. One thing was clearly that network executives weren't in love with this strange show and they pushed that big reveal and after they got what they wanted they started to suffle with the broadcasting, changing days and towards the end just messing the whole schedule up. Just check the original air dates from wiki and prepare to be amazed. Of course big part of that was declining rates and the first gulf war. <br /><br />That's the business side of things but there were lot to blame in the show itself. Mind you, I love everything in the show, more or less. But it was Lynch show which naturally means making it up as we go. That's how he works and usually he manages to do the magic. Perhaps if he would've been more invested with the show at those critical times, well, we'll never know. It is clear that the pilot is very different animal as the show itself. At that point the magic and supernatural were far from the main stage. The whole magic aspect that grew to be main thing started really when Lynch was doing that international version of the pilot and just happened to invent the whole red room out of the blue. The first season is still carrying the same torch that the pilot but with this added supernatural vibe (which is very different from the mild psychic activity of the pilot). <br /><br />Then when the second season starts, Lynch is clearly on top of his world and going all "lynchian" on the show. The 2nd season pilot is totally switching the gears to the supernatural horror and the hidden scifi currents start to emerge. That's one aspect that never got really fleshed out but they were clearly thinking and evolving it in FWWM. I'd say that after they somewhat dropped the ball, only to get it rolling again towards the end."<br /><br />(continued)<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-81790692931206910162014-06-12T10:25:08.309-04:002014-06-12T10:25:08.309-04:00kyussnz says:
"the whole tone and story alte...kyussnz says:<br /><br />"the whole tone and story alters after the Killer is revealed. <br /><br />basically upon a recent review (my 1st viewing since 1991) you can tell that when Lynch got a budget to contiune the story on, and he concocted a whole bunch of crap , totally flakey story lines, all obviously just made up on the spot. <br /><br />Weirdness does not immediately equal art <br /><br />so to me, the 1st half of the series scores 9* for brilliant originality, the 2nd scores 4* for cynical/ string it out/ lameness, so i give it 7* overall."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-67539711045756306402014-06-12T10:24:25.378-04:002014-06-12T10:24:25.378-04:00(Administrator note: I'm going to cross-post c...<i>(Administrator note: I'm going to cross-post comments from an IMDb thread addressing my "Question in a World of Blue")</i><br /><br />lenlarga says:<br /><br />"Really, the TV series was way ahead of its time. Everything else that happened to Twin Peaks flowed from that- the network messing with the schedule, fans not getting/understanding/feeling weirded out by what was going on etc."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com