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Twin Peaks was an American television series created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The show is titled after the fictional town in northeastern Washington wherein it is set. It aired on the ABC network in the United States from April 8, 1990 until June 10, 1991. Some episodes were written/directed by Lynch and Frost, but most were directed by others who were invited by Lynch to guest-direct. The show was co-produced by Aaron Spelling's production company and ran for 29 episodes over two seasons.
OverviewTwin Peaks tells the story of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper and his assignment of finding the killer of a young, popular local girl, Laura Palmer among the town folk of Twin Peaks. The program portrays small-town America via an imaginary tight-knit community of unsophisticates. The pilot was filmed in the real-life town of Snoqualmie, Washington, not far from Seattle, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The gradual unraveling of the tale necessarily exposes each Twin Peaks inhabitant to unwelcome scrutiny from Agent Cooper and his men from the department. As with much of Lynch's other work (such as Blue Velvet), Twin Peaks explores the relationship between the veneer of respectability and the seedier side of life that lies beneath it. The program borrowed generously from American soap operas in its melodramatic presentation of its character's morally dubious activities. However, like all Lynch's previous and subsequent work, there exists a strong moral seriousness that informs the totality of the production. The series is particularly memorable for the performance by Kyle MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper, who had the most famous line from the series (which became a catch phrase): "This is a damn fine cup of coffee." The series made use of multiple Red Herring plot elements and spin offs into other media that was novel for American Television at the time. While the search for Laura Palmer's killer drove the first season, single episodes would detour with self-contained plots. Most fans agree, once the killer was revealed the series lost pace. SummaryThe body of Laura Palmer, homecoming Queen and a popular girl, is discovered wrapped in plastic on the shore of river by Pete Martell. The news is relayed to the town's residents who react in various ways. Meanwhile across the state line a second girl, Ronette Pulaski, is found walking in a catatonic state along rail road tracks. As the crime crosses state lines Special Agent Dale Cooper arrives to investigate. Cooper's initial examination of Laura's body reveals that this is part of a serial crime including the typed letter 'B' inserted under a fingernail. Cooper quickly establishes that Laura's character and relationships are not as they are first reported to him. Laura had been two-timing her boyfriend Bobby with the biker James Hurley, a situation known to Laura's best friend Donna Hayward. On the night before she died Laura had been with James and he had given her a necklace but she had then run off into the night. Cooper discovers Laura's diary which reveals that she was a regular cocaine user, something later confirmed by Bobby. Bobby had also been having an affair with Shelly Johnson the wife of the bruttish Leo Johnson who has dried blood on his clothes the day after Laura's murder. Cooper is staying at the Hotel owned by the Horne family. Audrey Horne develops a crush on Cooper and when he traces Laura's cocaine usage to a club called 'One Eyed Jacks' she infiltrates it for him. It is revealed that Laura had also been working as a prostitute sometimes based at the club. Cooper has a dream in which he visits the Black Lodge where he meets the Man from another Place and the trapped spirit of Laura Palmer who whispers into his ear the name of her killer. However when he awakes Cooper is not able to write down the dream in time. The information that Cooper has gained from psychic and observed means leads him to a number of suspects but he knows that finding Laura's secret diary holds the key. This diary is held by Harold Smith who was one of Laura's confidants. The secret diary reveals that from a young age Laura was enthralled with a character called Bob and that her usage of drugs and extreme sex are the means she has evolved to supress Bob. Maddie Ferguson who is Laura's cousin and her splitting image arrives to stay with Laura's parents. Both of them at times confuse Maddie with Laura. Maddie also becomes obsessed with finding Laura's killer and discovers that this is Leland Palmer, Laura's father. Leland kills Maddie but is captured by Dale Cooper who realises he has been possessed by the malevolent spirit of Bob. Leland smashes his own head against the wall of his cell and in his dying moment is restored. SoundtrackComposer Angelo Badalamenti, a frequent contributor to Lynch projects, scored the series and provides the leitmotif "Laura's Theme", the famous title theme and other evocative pieces to the soundtrack. Julee Cruise added ethereal vocals that complimented the otherworldliness that typified Twin Peaks during its run. Variant versionsThe pilot episode, first screened on TV in the US, was also released theatrically in Europe as a stand-alone story. The European version is 20 minutes longer than the TV pilot with a different ending added to bring closure to the story (see below the spoiler warning). After the TV series had ended, Lynch made a prequel movie, Fire Walk With Me, co-written with Robert Engels (a writer from the series). In September 2002, the first season (episodes 1-7) of Twin Peaks was released as a DVD box set. The box set was noted for being the first TV show to have its audio track redone in DTS. The set was heavily criticized for not including the key pilot episode, which could not be included due to the fact Lynch sold the rights to it to another company in order to facilitate its release theatrically. The pilot episode is included in the box set released in Europe, but as of late 2004 it is not yet known whether the televised version of the pilot (which ties in with the rest of the series) will ever be released to DVD in North America, or if the version released there will be the theatrical version. The second season has not yet been released on DVD in North America, possibly due to more ownership complications.
The European version wraps up the story by showing Mike, the one-armed man, shooting Bob who admits to the murder. Most of the supernatural aspects of the story are toned down or eliminated. Characters
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