Twin Peaks: Difference between revisions

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{{quote box|[[File:TwinPeaks_sm_9793.jpg|frame]]}}

{{quote| ''Through the darkness of future past, <br />

the''The magician longs to see. <br />

''One chants out between two worlds...<br />

''[[Arc Words|fireFire, walk with me.]]'' }}

An early-nineties television series created by [[David Lynch]] (responsible for such films as ''[[Blue Velvet]]'' and ''[[Eraserhead]]'') and Mark Frost (co-writer of the [[Fantastic Four]] film). It paved the way for shows like ''[[Northern Exposure]]'', which stole its Northwest locale and some limited quirkiness. The series also heavily influenced a surprising number of video games, most obviously ''[[Deadly Premonition]]'' and ''[[Puzzle Agent]]''. It had a little bit of everything (see [[Soap Opera]] and [[Mix and Match]]). Ostensibly a hybrid [[Crime -Time Soap]] / [[Detective Drama]], it quickly took off for parts unknown with a pervasive supernatural element that turned it partly into an [[Occult Detective]] story that smacked of slightly off-kilter [[Magic Realism]].

The series starts off with the discovery of a murdered teenage girl, Laura Palmer. This event in turn leads to the eccentric Special Agent Dale Cooper visiting the town as part of his hunt for a serial killer. Although the murder investigation wraps up partway through season two, a new foe from Cooper's past keeps the plot moving until the notorious "How's Annie?" [[Cliff Hanger]] ending of season two (and in fact the series). The 1992 movie ''[[Fire Walk With Me]]'' mostly wraps things up. The show features a rather large and colourfulcolorful cast with about as many subplots as there are characters, and the story contains quite a few examples of [[Red Herring Twist]] and [[Powers That Be]].

** [[Cosmic Horror Story]]

** [[Crime -Time Soap]]

* [[Alone Withwith the Psycho]]: {{spoiler|Maddy}}'s final scene.

* [[Anything That Moves]]: Laura Palmer. {{spoiler|Considering her part-time job...}}

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: "Ladies and gentlemen, Laura Palmer is dead. {{spoiler|Jacques Renault}} is dead. Ronette Pulaski and {{spoiler|Leo Johnson}} are both in comas. {{spoiler|Waldo the bird}} is dead."

* [[AsAscend Longto Asa ThereHigher IsPlane Evilof Existence]]: InvokedHinted byto Albert when tryinghappen to explainLaura at the existenceend of BOB[[The Movie]].

* [[Badass]]: Quite a few, but especially Cooper, Truman, and ESPECIALLY''especially'' Deputy Hawk.

* [[Berserk Button]]: From the[[The Movie]], Leland is strangely adamant that his daughter Laura "WASH HER HANDS!" before dinner.

* [[Black Comedy]]: Windom Earle is a FUNNY''funny'' guy, even if he is a complete psychopath. It also helps that most of the humor is at Leo's expense.

* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: The Black Lodge, who are strict about their own world's rules but clearly have just a ''slightly'' different set of values than everyone else.

* [[CaptainsCaptain's Log]]: Agent Cooper's tape recorder messages for Diane.

* [[Cliffhanger Copout]]: Episode Two in the first season of ends with Agent Cooper having a dream from which he learns the identity of [[Mystery Arc|who killed Laura Palmer]]. Cooper immediately wakes up from the dream to call up Sheriff Truman to tell him that he knows who the murderer is but teases that the answer could "wait 'till morning." Come the next episode, taking place that following morning, Cooper recaps all the events from the dream that ended with Laura Palmer whispering the name of her killer in his ear. Then, once he's asked who the killer is, Cooper nonchalantly responds {{spoiler|"I don't remember."}}

{{quote| '''Cole''': "Coop! You remind me today of a small Mexican chihuahua!"}}

{{quote| "Wait for the tea! The fish aren't running!"}}

* [[Consulting Mister Puppet]]: (The Log Lady).

{{quote| '''TMFAP:''' She's my cousin. But doesn't she look almost exactly like Laura Palmer?<br />

'''Cooper:''' But she is Laura Palmer. Are you Laura Palmer?<br />

'''Not-Laura:''' I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back.<br />

'''TMFAP:''' She's filled with secrets. }}

* [[David Bowie]]: Agent Jeffries.

** And to a smallish degree, {{spoiler|Laura}}. Or at least [[Rape Asas Drama|something's in there.]]

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Johnny Horne, Audrey's brother, appears in a few early episodes before disappearing until a late seasonSeason 2 cameo.

* [[Donut Mess Withwith a Cop]]: {{[[media|:copslovedonuts.jpg| "A policeman's dream!"}}]]

* [[Doomed Byby Canon]]: [[Posthumous Character|Laura Palmer]] is the main character of [[The Movie|the prequel film]].

* [[Double Standard Rape (Divine Onon Mortal)]]: BOB's fellow Lodge creatures don't seem to care that he's been raping and murdering young women left and right. [[Blue and Orange Morality|Just that he won't front them any of the suffering he takes from his victims]].

* [[Dragon Lady]]: Josie.

* [[Drugs Are Bad]]: aA heavily implied (but not quite [[Anvilicious]]) aesop. While drugs are indeed a major part of Laura's downfall, her drug use doesn't exactly lead to her problems so much as result from them.

* [[Dying Asas Yourself]]: {{spoiler|Leland Palmer}}.

** {{spoiler|And hanging out with otherworldotherworldly demons.}}

* [[Enemy Within]]: {{spoiler|Leland}}.

{{quote| "God, I feel like singing! Come on, everybody, and just get happy!"}}

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: Being posessedpossessed by BobBOB. Being raped by BobBOB. Being trapped in the Black Lodge for twenty -five years that could either go back in time, forward in time, or completely nonlinearlynon-linearly, and [[Narnia Time|may not even equate to human world time.]]

* [[Fille Fatale]]: Audrey Horne.

** [[TheFive-Man HeroBand]]: Cooper

** [[The LancerHero]]: TrumanCooper.

** [[The Big Guy|The Big GuysLancer]]: Andy and HawkTruman.

** [[The SmartBig Guy|The Big Guys]]: AlbertAndy and Hawk.

** [[The ChickSmart Guy]]: LucyAlbert.

** "She's my cousin. But doesn't she look exactly like Laura Palmer?" (referring to Maddy).

* [[Gainax Ending]]: The ending for the "International Version" of the pilot episode. It ended up being heavily edited and recontextualizedre-contextualized for Cooper's dream at the end of the second episode.

* [[Grail in Thethe Garbage]]: The ring.

* [[Grotesque Gallery]]: Lodge inhabitants include The Man From Another Place (a dwarf, who is actually {{spoiler|a severed arm in, for lack of a better word, "human" form}}), The Giant (Aa ... giant, obviously), {{spoiler|a one-armed man}}, and Jimmy Scott (who suffered from [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Kallmann%27s_syndrome's syndrome|Kallmann Syndrome]]).

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Jean Renault gives Cooper one.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: {{spoiler|Ben Horne becomes a nice guy toward the end of seasonSeason 2. ( Seesee [[We Want Our Jerk Back]] )}}.

** {{spoiler|Leo Johnson is one of the few examples of a [[Complete Monster]] who manages to turn face. He is an redeemable, abusive control freak toward Shelly in Season 1, but suffers much of the same abuse at the hands of Windom Earle in Season 2. His [[Heel Face Turn]] begins when he is reluctant in assisting Windom Earle kill an innocent victim, then sets fellow captive, Major Garland Briggs free and asks him to keep Shelly safe. Bear in mind Leo previously tried to immolate Shelly at the end of Season 1.}}

{{quote| '''The director Todd Holland on Audrey's character:''' "She's one of my favorite characters because you thought she was such a big slut and she's probably the most moralistic person in Twin Peaks and that's all tremendous fun. The ones like her father feign morality and are incredibly treacherous, but they carry on a good business front."}}

* [[Hooker Withwith a Heart of Gold]]: {{spoiler|Laura}}. And {{spoiler|Audrey}} when she tries to get into the business for investigative purposes.

* [[Hormone -Addled Teenager]]: Laura Palmer's peers. And she herself, but with a bit of extra baggage.

* [[Idiot Ball]]: Happens sometimes towards the end of the series with both Harry and Cooper. The greatest offender, however, is Major Briggs, {{spoiler|who after establishing that a murderous psychopath is hiding out in the forest isdecides to take a casual relaxing walk in the forest on the way home. Harry and Cooper thinks it's a great idea.}}

* [[I Just Shot Marvin in Thethe Face]]: In Episode 4, Andy drops his gun and it goes off by accident. In the next episode, a character gives a braggadocio-filled impression of how he'd handle being caught having an affair while waving a gun around with his finger on the trigger.

* [[Is This Thing On?]]: Played painfully straight with the town's mayor in the pilot and later on in the second season.

* [[Jerk Jock]]: Bobby Briggs and [[NamesName's the Same|Mike Nelson]].

* [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]]: Albert defines this. After an amazing speech in which Albert's heart of gold becomes apparent, he and Sheriff Truman -- formerly bitter enemies -- {{spoiler|become close friends and even hug one another}} in a later episode.

* [[Just Friends]]: Audrey and Cooper, to the ire of both [[Word of God|David Lynch]] and the [[Fan -Preferred Couple]] crowd.

{{quote| Audrey: But don't you like me?<br />

Cooper: I like you very much. You're beautiful, intelligent, desirable. Everything a man wants in his life. But what you need right now, more than anything, is a friend. Someone who will listen. }}

* [[The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday]]: The little trailer park trailer that isn't there today. And the Convenience store that apparently {{spoiler|the Lodge creatures once lived above.}}

* [[Malevolent Masked Man]]: The Chalfont/Tremond child.

* [[Master of Disguise]]: Windom Earle, master of the [[Wig, Dress, Accent|Wig Moustache Accent]].

* [[Mind Rape]]: ''literally.Literally''.

* [[Mirror Monster]]: BOB, perhaps the most iconic example of this in television history.

* [[Murderers Are Rapists]]

{{quote| "Agent Cooper ''loves'' coffee."}}

* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Both Laura and Leland experience these moments... though in the second case, it's for a pretty good reason. Ben as well, albeit in a much more Narm-filled fashion.

** Keep in mind, given what we find out in [[The Movie]], Cooper had already foreseen Laura's death and Gordon Cole likely informed him beforehand that he was working on a [[Trust Password|Blue Rose]] case. Which means the rules are, to put it mildly, just a little different.

* [[Odd Friendship]]: Well, most of the town's residents and the agents dispatched there are odd, to say the least, but the trope is best exemplified by {{spoiler|Albert and Truman}} later in seasonSeason 2.

* [[Old Cop, Young Cop]]: Windom Earle and Dale Cooper ''might'' have been this before Earle went insane.

* [[One -Scene Wonder]]: Loads of these in the movie. [[David Bowie]] shows up for all of a minute as Agent Jeffries (whose role in the shooting script was slightly larger), Harry Dean Stanton as a bizarre trailer park landlord, etc.

* [[Out Withwith a Bang]]: Mayor Doug Wilford, in the "wedding night" variant.

* [[Owl Be Damned]]: They are the eyes of BOB. Maybe. (Inin any case, they are not what they seem.).

{{quote| "Audrey, you're a high school girl. I'm an agent of the FBI."}}

* [[Rape Asas Backstory]]: A common explanation of {{spoiler|Leland's}} backstory is that he was sexually assaulted by Bob Robertson, possibly as a means of demonic possession (or thus creating said demonic force). And that's not even bringing up how it affected {{spoiler|Laura.}}

* [[Rape Asas Drama]]

* [[Rasputinian Death]]: {{spoiler|Leo Johnson. He survives being shot twice, two axe battles with Bobby Briggs (one of them being right after awakening from a coma from said gunshot), survives being out in the woods with no water, gets electrocuted by Windom Earle on a number of occasions, then finally it is implied Leo finally met his fate by a venomous spider.}}

* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: BOB only murders {{spoiler|women who resemble Laura Palmer}}. Kind of helps that his second and first victim were played by the same actor before David Lynch had even thought to establish this as a plot point.

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: Laura Palmer's death.

** Also {{spoiler|Leland Palmer's death}}.

* [[Redemption in Thethe Rain]]: {{spoiler|Leland Palmer's death}}. Sort of.

* [[Serial Killer]]: BOB.

* [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]]: Cooper tries to do this in [[The Movie]]. [[You Can't Fight Fate|It fails]].

* [[Sex Is Evil and I Am Horny]]: BOB. Laura herself angsts over having this attitude in ''The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer''.

{{quote| Gwen: God, how you must hate us white people after all we've done to you.<br />

Hawk: Some of my best friends are white people. }}

{{quote| "God, I love this music. Isn't it too dreamy?"}}

** This happens on a radio (which is immediately changed) in seasonSeason 2 episode 2. Actually, this happens a lot on ''Twin Peaks''.

** In another season two episode, some melancholy flute music plays over an establishing shot of the abandoned house Windom Earle is occupying, which turns out to be... Windom Earle himself playing the flute. It sounds kind of silly, but it's in fact a pretty eerie moment since {{spoiler|he's doing it while waiting for Leo Johnson to come to so he can torture him.}}

* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]]: BOB -- all caps.

* [[Spider Sense]]: In [[The Movie]] Cooper reveals to Albert that he's foreseen Laura's death before it actually happens (possibly by meeting his future self in the Black Lodge), putting Albert's skepticism in an entirely different context on a second rewatchre-watch of the series.

* [[Spooky Painting]]: Laura enters one in the movie.

** Considering the fact that it mirrors some events of the show, it may be a case of [[Self Deprecating Humor]].

{{quote| "I've got good news. That gum you like is going to come back in style."}}

* [[Temporal Paradox]]: Agent Cooper examines the live security cameras in the FBI office and catches sight of himself on screen as Agent Jeffries walks in the room (which had already happened just a few seconds ago). It's later claimed that Agent Jeffries ''was never there in the first place.''. This is hinted to be similar to [[Mind Screw|the way time works in the Black Lodge]] when Cooper tries to contact Laura through her dreams.

* [[Things That Go Bump in Thethe Night]]

** {{spoiler|But did he really come back??? }}

** Not to be mistaken for [[TranssexualTranssexualism]], though:

{{quote| "Now, could we talk about something more important? Exactly how old is that girl?"<br />

"Denise, I would assume you're no longer interested in girls."<br />

"Coop, I may be wearing a dress, but I still put my panties on one leg at a time, if you know what I mean."<br />

"Not really." }}

* [[The Watson]]: Sheriff Harry S. Truman. In the first episode after the pilot, he even mentions feeling "a bit like Dr. Watson."

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Cooper tells Laura not to take the ring. She takes it. {{spoiler|So much for her.}}

* [[Word of Dante]]: It's important to apply this rather than [[Word of God]] when summarizing the series. A rather fitting trope when you consider the White and Black Lodge might as well be the in-series equivalent of Dante's Paradise and Inferno... which would make Twin Peaks itself [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|Purgatory]]...

* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]: Cooper, trapped in a place without time, tries to keep Laura from getting killed. [[What an Idiot!|She doesn't listen.]]

* [[Youth Is Wasted Onon the Dumb]]: mostMost of the younger characters in Twin Peaks are downright ''stupid.'' .

[[Category:TwinDavid PeaksLynch]]

[[Category:TropeLive-Action TV of the 1990s]]