Twin Peaks: Complete Season 1 [DVD] [1990]

What can we say about Twin Peaks? Well, to my mind, it is unquestionably the greatest television series to have come from the U.S. A deliciously subversive black-comic masterpiece steeped in misery, it is all at once mystical, surreal, hilarious, grim, romantic, and thought-provoking. Today, with the benefit of 18 years of hindsight, we can see the titanic influence the series has had upon subsequent television.

Twin Peaks revolves around the tragic story of Laura Palmer, the badly disturbed Homecoming Queen from small town Twin Peaks in Washington State. Suffice to say that owing to the discovery of her body, washed up on the shore of the lake, and wrappen in plastic, and the appearance of another girl (alive), the F.B.I is called in, and Kyle MacLachlan, as Special Agent Dale Cooper takes centre-stage as the main character. With the result that almost every major character in the idillic Twin Peaks who isn't a law-officer has some form of other life, secret, or personal trouble.

Characters in the series play very much on deliberate cliche, or the subversion of such -the black off-the-rack suit and oiled hair for Cooper, the typical earth-tones for the County Sherrif and many town members; the expensive shirts and ties for the businessmen etc. The writing plays on these, sometimes following 'type', sometimes inverting expectations in a cunning twist to keep the viewer thinking.

Direction is above reproach. Twin Peaks is sensibly paced, never rushing into anything, but slowly allowing the story to expand (rather than unraval) and introducing new twists at every turn. It is beautifully filmed, with glorious locations, both inside and out, carefully judged lighting and sound, with some of the best-written dialogue I've ever come across in a television show.

Likewise, the acting is superb. Kyle MacLachlan puts in the performance of his life as Cooper, and all the rest of the cast similarly pull out all the stops. The series marks a high-point in the careers of almost all who took part in it, and you can see why within a few seconds. The chemestry between all the actors is palpable, and they all clearly took great pride in their work. Before moving on however, I have to give a special tribute to Sherilyn Fenn, as Audrey Horne. The materially spoiled, but emotionally neglected eighteeen-year-old daughter of shady local businessman Benjamin Horne, Audrey: high-school-vixen, trouble-maker (but only to her father & his business dealings) and arguably Cooper's love interest, is one of the most interesting characters in the series. And Sherilyn works wonders on her. Her performance is seductive, yet vulnerable, and she gives a deeply sympathetic view of her lonely poor-little-rich-girl character with a desire to get away from Twin Peaks, and deperate crush on Cooper (who with considerable difficulty supresses his own attraction for her out of a gloriously misguided sense of propriety). A wonderful, stand-out performance, for which Sherilyn deserves far more credit than she has ever recieved.

The DVD set is excellent. The print has been cleaned up beautifully, and the picture is crystal-sharp. The audio similarly has been scrubbed to perfection, and remixed into surround for those who have surround rigs. The latter mix is subtle, and adds a certain haunting feel to the proceedings (as if they weren't already). The disks are nicely presented in their digi-pak (though the plastic cover on mine is a little tight, and catches the edge of the carboard), and are stuffed with extras, though some, such are the script-notes are a little tricky to access in the menu-system, which seems to have been set-up to be as surreal as some of the elements of the series. The fourth disk, with more extras, is well worth exploring too.

If you have the slightest interest in intelligent story-telling, beautifully shot and performed, you have to buy this. The box claims it to have been one of the most acclaimed events in television history. For once, the advertising blurb is quite correct. Twin Peaks was, and remains, an artistic masterpiece and an example to follow. An unlikely hit, and subsequently canned after the longer second season (finally coming to DVD after a 5-year wait) for a variety of unfortunate reasons, its place in history and the hearts of those who watch it, is secure.

The Show:

Twin Peaks has finally arrived on English DVD, and what a better time. Fresh after the release of Lynch's superb "Mulholland Drive" comes the TV series (which he co-created) that truly brought him into the public eye. The series deals with the murder of Laura Palmer, the homecoming queen in a small American town, and the effect it has on the entire community. Brought in to investigate is Special Agent Cooper, who is just as quirky as the quirky town folk. The series is utterly sublime and very hard to pin down, it is a mixture of drama, horror, thriller, late night soap opera, and your typical (surreal) Lynch film rolled into one series.

The box set includes the first season, which comprises of seven episodes of about 45 minutes spread over 3 discs. On disc one however, we are treated to the feature length original pilot (not the famed "European cut" which attempts to wrap up the entire story in a number of minutes) which is a bonus as it was not included on the American box set.

I cannot recommend the series enough, it is absolutely addictive and completely sublime in every way. For newcomers to the series you will get through it ridiculously quickly and be desperate for the second season, whereas older fans will love to revisit Twin Peaks on everyone's favourite format looking better than ever.

The Picture and Sound:

The picture quality is superb, full frame and completely clear. It has been digitally re-mastered and this shows. The only slight downfall is the pilot, which does not seem to be quite up to scratch with the other episodes, but overall there are no other complaints concerning picture. The sound is also great. It is a pity that we are not offered the DTS soundtrack available on the Region 1 release but it is no real loss.

The Extras:

I for one would have been perfectly content with the release of just the episodes, so for me it is an extra treat to have the extras available. For each episode (except the pilot) and audio commentary is available to listen to, they are all quite interesting and thankfully don't try and explain the more surreal moments of the show, but talk mainly of its production. Also accessible through the chapter menus are some script notes which are actually very interesting, featuring summaries of un filmed scenes, and deleted scenes. Check out the extras menu for each episode for an Easter egg as well!

If you put disc four into your player you will be treated with an entire disc (not very full!) of extras. To start with, there is a re-enacted (!?!) telephone interview with the co-creator of the show which runs about 15 minutes and details several questions about the casting and filming of the first season. Following this we have a nice short anecdotal "How to speak in the red room" with the actor who plays The Man From Another Place. This is a fun little piece and does exactly what it says on the tin. Following this there is a 20 minute series of interviews with many of the cast member which gives excellent insight into the show from many of the actors involved, but do not watch this until you have seen most of season 2 (unless you want a big plot spoiler to be given away). The next extra is an interview with the owner of the real diner that is the "RR" in the show, I found this of limiting interest, but it is worth a look. Finally we get a menu of "postcards from the cast" which is little bits of information and footage from each member of the cast. This is a nice little extra which I found really fun.

Overall:

A great show on a nice disc, the set is also presented really nicely. I highly recommend this to any Twin Peaks or David Lynch fan (of any degree), and I encourage newcomers to both to give it a try - this wasn't a cultural phenomenon for nothing!

As a devotee of dark, bleakly funny tv shows like Six Feet Under, it was only a matter of time before Twin Peaks caught my attention. I'd seen it feature on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Scary Moments and besides- any show which is worthy of being parodied by The Simpsons has got to be worth a look (I refer you to Chief Wiggum's backward-talking dream in Who Shot Mr Burns Part 2). Twin Peaks is a remarkable show, which, 15 years after its first transmission is still fresh, engrossing viewing.
The 4-disc set contains
- The 90 minute pilot episode
- All episodes from series 1, each lasting 45 minutes, Dolby Digital 5.1: English
- Dolby Surround: Commentary track from various people who worked on the show (though not Lynch, interestingly)
- A 1 hour selection of postcards from the cast
- Newly remastered high-definition transfers of the original programme
- Interactive Menus & Scene Access
- All episodes are digitally remastered, except for the Pilot (inexplicably)
- A short documentary which provides an introduction to David Lynch
- Optional Log Lady introductions to each episode
- Script Notes: Optional Guide to the 'Unseen Twin Peaks'
- Rare archival material from 'Wrapped in Plastic'- The Official Twin Peaks Magazine
- An interview conducted by phone between Mark Frost & 2 Twin Peaks Freaks
- Several short lessons by the Little Man from Another Place on how to talk backwards like he & Laura Palmer do in the Red Room
The series begins with the discovery of Laura Palmer's body, wrapped in plastic & washed up on the beach. Special Agent Dale Cooper (the excellent Kyle MacLachlan) is called to investigate the circumstances of the girl's death but he soon realises that the inhabitants of Twin Peaks have plenty of secrets of their own.
While it is the murder of Laura Palmer which propels the narrative forward, it is in many respects redundant. Twin Peaks is best appreciated in terms of the atmosphere it creates- its haunting images and music, laced with some blacker-than-black humour. Intriguing and enjoyable in equal measure, Twin Peaks is a show to watch over and over again.