Twin Peaks

Isn’t it too dreamy? Who was this murder victim, Laura Palmer, anyway? Is there anybody at all in Twin Peaks who is innocent? And what do the Icelanders, the Douglas firs, the logs or the owls think? I could love Twin Peaks to death for how it constantly surprises, flinging me from one emotion to another, making tears of laughter roll down my cheeks at one moment, chilling me to the bone the next. I could adore it for the trio of genius creators comprising David Lynch, Mark Frost and Angelo Badalamenti. I could thank it for being one of the most atmospheric motion pictures to be seen (not only) on TV that I have the honor to have watched. However, I know one thing for sure. In real life, I wouldn’t visit that town for all the money in the world. Not even if I was accompanied by the most stylish FBI special agents ever to come out of Quantico, the awesome Dale Cooper and Albert, who raises non-assertive behavior to a completely different level. And even though the second half of the series suffers a drop in quality (with the exception of the last episodes), it is almost imperceptible. The drop I’m talking about is like this: a series of genius shifts almost imperceptibly into the class of “just" a darn good series that little can compare to. If anything. (15.09.2008)

If you have the honor of knowing the US cut of this pilot episode, then you have seen the best possible example of filmmaking and an emotionally captivating introduction to a town where nothing is as it seems. And of course a perfect introduction to the first season of this cult series of all cult series that is more delicious than a cherry pie eaten by Agent Dale Cooper. If you see the European cut of the pilot, where there is twenty minutes extra and investigations into the case of Laura Palmer’s murder reach a successful end, you also have an XXL portion of heavy-weight quality waiting for you. But now imagine this: you don’t realize that a different version that this exists and you automatically put on the next episode, hoping it will answer many questions and... and you’re shocked. What the? Why? Where? What a jerk, grrr - I’d like to kill that Lynch: he’s just taking the mickey, isn’t he? While watching the dream-sequence finale (where some fragments from the closed version) you suddenly realize that there’s something wrong, you take a look at the net and everything becomes clear. You calm down and become boundlessly enthusiastic again. Both versions deserve full marks, but I prefer the classic ninety-minute one because the solution of the case in the longer one is markedly rushed and they needlessly kill all loose ends from the preceding footage. It’s like having a chess board, but only using it to play draughts on. While the classic version launches a masterful game of chess that hasn’t been beaten by any other TV production to this day (at least to the middle of season two). (15.09.2008)