If you’ve ever come into contact with a piece of media with a plot along the lines of happenings in a small town where things aren’t quite right, you have “Twin Peaks” to thank.
Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, “Twin Peaks” is a mystery-horror drama series that ran on ABC from 1990-91. The series operated on a single question: who killed Laura Palmer? Originating the “murder in a small town” archetype, “Twin Peaks” follows Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and his investigation into the town of Twin Peaks to solve the murder of Laura Palmer.
It’s an understatement to say that “Twin Peaks” changed television history forever. Before “Twin Peaks,” television existed in a box, literally and metaphorically; there were explicit expectations for what a TV show should be and how it should portray itself.
For example, television shows did not venture beyond one genre; a show was strictly a comedy, a soap opera, a mystery, etc. “Twin Peaks,” however, was as much a surrealist horror as it was a comedy-drama; it simply couldn’t be contained in a single genre.
Additionally, its surrealist-horror aspect was a first for mainstream television. Lynch incorporated his trademark surrealism from his films into “Twin Peaks,” making it one of, if not, the first surrealist television show.
TV had seen horror shows before, namely “The Twilight Zone,” but none of those shows had been as explicitly scary as “Twin Peaks.”
Lynch’s disturbing imagery and cinematography was groundbreaking for 90s television; it paved the way for horror as a genre, giving it a place in mainstream television.
Along with introducing new concepts to television, “Twin Peaks” also reworked many age-old tropes. Before its premiere, most detective shows on TV solved its mystery within a few episodes, if not in the same episode.
“Twin Peaks” was the first to carry its mystery for over half of its run, not being solved until the middle of the second season. It proved to networks that audiences wouldn’t be pushed away by complex narratives in favor of neat resolutions at the end of each episode.
Lynch re-envisioned the people solving these mysteries, completely changing the way the FBI were portrayed on television. Before, FBI agents were portrayed as nothing more than fancy cops, working on mundane cases and on the same level as everyday police.
“Twin Peaks” protagonist, Agent Cooper, was more than just a cop in a suit, he was a Sherlock Holmes-coded detective with an inclination for the supernatural. Lynch shoehorned the idea that the FBI were only for cases out of the ordinary, cases that required skills the average sheriff didn’t possess. This archetype was picked up by media such as “The X-Files” and “Silence of the Lambs,” cementing it into mainstream culture.
All of this begs the question: if “Twin Peaks” is so good and changed television history forever, why doesn’t anyone (excluding pretentious Lynch fans such as myself) talk about it?
The answer to that question lies resoundingly in “Twin Peaks’” disastrous second season.
During the second season’s production, several outside forces pressured Lynch and Frost to change their original narrative for the show. For example, despite the two never intending to actually reveal Laura Palmer’s killer, pressure from ABC executives forced them to resolve the mystery in the middle of the season.
Since the series’ central mystery was solved and audiences had no reason to keep watching, the show experienced a dip in viewership and a struggle in narrative direction in the episodes following.
In an attempt to keep audience attention, Lynch and Frost intended to focus on the show’s second biggest storyline: Agent Cooper and Audrey Horne’s relationship. This plan was quickly foiled by Lara Flynn Boyle, Kyle MacLachlan’s then girlfriend, who disapproved of the characters’ relationship.
According to Sherilyn Fenn, Audrey Horne’s actress, Boyle forced MacLachlan to refuse to do a relationship. This led to an awkward 180 in narrative direction; the characters’ carefully built-up tension was suddenly abandoned and writers were left scrambling to come up with alternate storylines.
To add insult to injury, ABC constantly changed around the show’s timeslot, initiating an even further decrease in viewership and ratings.
In early 1991, “Twin Peaks” was moved from its original timeslot for “six weeks out of eight,” a decision Frost says prevented the show from maintaining audience interest.
After season two’s fifteenth episode, ABC put “Twin Peaks” on an indefinite hiatus. Protests from viewers allowed the show to return for four weeks in March of 1991, but “Twin Peaks” was again put on hiatus after those four weeks. The season’s final two episodes aired back-to-back in June, and “Twin Peaks” was not renewed for a third season.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances that fell upon it at the end, I wholeheartedly believe that “Twin Peaks” is the best TV show ever created. I encourage everybody and anybody to sit down and watch this series, I promise it will change your life.