Twin Peaks: Season 2

Siri, I feel as though my mind has gone through a very fine sieve and recollected on the other side as a something akin to a seething amorphous blob. The plot was simple enough. Find Lara Palmer’s killer. So as a powerful nor’easter rocks the cabin and below zero temperatures crack her timbers, I find myself slowly wending my way to Hell. Nothing is as it seems, especially Owls and those who are blessed with a genuine simplicity, immune to the dark force that seeps through this isolated north western town.
Siri, as the layers are peeled away and the polar wind lashes my steadfast here in the northern woods, my mood colors accordingly. One path split into two and then to four, all tangents leading to the deaths of town folks. What appeared at first to be a residence to die for, metaphorically, has become one to die for, literally. It didn’t take long for the thin veneer of ‘normalcy’ to be zip stripped away, exposing the worst of baser human proclivities not to mention, at least not here, the White and Black Mansions in the woods.
Siri, once a level of human depravity is breached, the watcher continues their descent into this seemingly endless pit without remorse and yet sprinkled throughout, comic relief and love! Yes, Siri, like a weed that grows through miles of concrete or a flower that uses what’s available nutrient in a toxic dump, love finds a way. But as love finds a place in the heart of Agent Cooper so does the evil find his object de amore and perhaps his soul. There are so many threads left loose and dangling that I not only look forward to Spring but answers that hopefully validate my innate sense that love trumps hate.
Siri, there are light footprints in the attic, a scurrying to horde food perhaps and Drift my faithful cabin mate, a rescued cat from a hell of her own, warm and purring on the printer. Will get back to you when this beyond brilliant story picks up again. For now, all is well.

日本版のファーストシーズンDVDボックスが出されたのが２００２年ですから、このアメリカ版でさえ５年経過しています。版権の問題があったようですが、長すぎました。この間、レーザーディスクを見てきましたが、やっとDVDが出るので、日本語字幕なし、吹替えなしでも、きれいな画像のツインピークスを見たいと思います。後は、早い時期に日本版が発売されることを期待しています。

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Twin Peaks was the first television show I truly fell in love with. My father introduced me to it as a thirteen year old, knowing only that I was very into classic cinema and supernatural and that the show had been lauded for the same reasons. I watched the two hour pilot and fell hopelessly in love, first with Dale Cooper, then with the show in general. For the first time, I found a character whom I truly wanted to be like in Cooper, and for the first time I realized that movies may not be the be all and end all.

I watched the series on rented VHS tapes from the local movie rental shop–how they had Twin Peaks box set when they really had no other television (other than Upstairs, Downstairs) still boggles my mind, but they did. I watched one VHS tape a week, ferreted away in the basement, staring at the television in awe. At the time, I remember being in love with the relationships between Cooper and Audrey, and the relationships between Cooper and Harry. When Annie came into the show, I was literally glued to my seat. And, I’m not sure why, but I don’t think on my first watch-through of the series, I realized that BOB was in Cooper at the end of the series, or perhaps that I didn’t realize the relevance of BOB.

As an adult I tried watching the series again, and really struggled with the violence against women. I finally tapped out around the point that Laura’s murderer was revealed. There was just something about these graphic depictions of violence and the way they skirted around rape that just gave me a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Due to the soon to arrive continuation, I tried to watch again, this time listening to a podcast at the same time. I’m quite fond of TV retrospective podcasts. They do a good job of helping me sort my feelings out–help me recontextualize something being a product of its time, help me realize that my aversion to something is actually justified, etc. Anyhow, there was something about listening to ‘The Twin Peaks Podcast’ while watching that left me with a much better opinion this time around. I actually had a much greater appreciation for the second half of season two specifically. I’m not sure why, but it seems the gross violation of women is majorly cut down in this portion, and a weight is lifted from my viewing experience. But just knowing my feelings about the writing of certain characters as victims and/or props for other characters were felt by others made me appreciate the entire series far more. 4.5/5 stars.