Wednesday 17 July 2013

Previously, on Twin Peaks...

Some things age gracefully, some age badly, but some don't seem to age at all. Perhaps because it was never really "of its time", Twin Peaks is still weird and wonderful to watch, just as it was all those years ago.

The public hysteria has gone, of course. If you watched it when it was first aired in the nineties, you'll remember the endless discussion, the interpretation and speculation, as we all tried to figure out what David Lynch and Mark Frost were up to. But, perhaps because the overall story was never really explained, the show retains that delicious sense of mystery and potential that made it so compelling.

The comedy still works, along with the deep sense of tragedy as a quiet community comes to term with a senseless murder. And that scene with Leland and Maddie remains one of the most disturbing things I've ever watched on television.

It's not perfect, of course. There are scenes that drag, and characters who grate, but it was ever thus. It's no more flawed now than it was back then.

Above all, Twin Peaks still kindles a wistful desire to experience that slower life, distanced from the troubles of the rat-race and reality… and to enjoy a slice of cherry pie and some damn fine coffee at the Double R Diner.