Twin Peaks: Complete Season 1 [1990]

Amazon.co.uk Review

One of the most influential TV shows of the 1990s, the first series of Twin Peaks has lost none of its quirky and queasy power to get under your skin and haunt your dreams. Without its groundbreaking mix of convoluted plotting, complex character interactions, surreal fantasy sequences and a continuous story arc, we would probably not have had The X-Files, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under or even The League of Gentlemen. So brew up a pot of some "damn fine coffee", dig into some cherry pie, and lose yourself in David Lynch and Mark Frost's murder mystery-soap opera, which unfolds, in one character's words, "like a beautiful dream and terrible nightmare all at once".

Twin Peaks was a pop culture phenomenon, for this first series at least, until the increasingly bizarre twists and maddening teases so confounded audiences that they lost interest in just who killed Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). This series was also a career peak for most of its eclectic ensemble cast, including Kyle MacLachlan as straight-arrow FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, Michael Ontkean as local Sheriff Harry S Truman, Sherilyn Fenn as bad girl Audrey Horne, Peggy Lipton as waitress Norma Jennings and Catherine Coulson as the Log Lady.

On the DVD: Twin Peak, Series 1 comes as a four-disc set that contains the original pilot plus the first season's seven episodes (inexplicably, the pilot episode was omitted on the American Region 1 DVD release, but is reinstated here). Special features include episode introductions by the Log Lady, commentaries by assorted episode directors (but not Lynch), and features from the archives of the fanzine Wrapped in Plastic. The 4:3 picture has been digitally remastered, and is now accompanied by a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews:

Every moment is interesting, including the log lady.......2008-02-19

David Lynch is a genius. A mini series is a very difficult genre because each episode is rather long and must end with some unsolved suspense. Moreover altogether it is many hours on one single essential piece of suspense and it runs the risk of getting boring, of slowing down and of losing interest for the audience. What's more that genre is used quite a lot on American television with the soap operas. That miniseries also runs the risk of being compared today with the film, and of course it is. The film is short, dynamic and to the point all the time, perfectly concentrating on one single line of suspense. So what can David Lynch do to rejuvenate the genre, to regenerate the rules and inspiration of that genre? He does a lot and that's where he becomes a genius. First he embeds in his own miniseries short scene of a standard soap opera as the counterpoint of his own work. Then he multiplies allusions, visual or not, text or images or music, to many other series and authors. For one example the appearing of a black raven here and there is similar to the use of that animal in some of Stephen King's films or books. But these allusions are never comical, never derogatory. They are always there to provide the film with more depth, a cultural depth that I call a cultural ellipse. Those who see the ellipse get to that depth. Those who don't see it don't miss anything in the meaning of the film itself. But the best part of this series is the way the actors are directed. The scenes are systematically banal, standard, very trite even, especially the dialogue, and these scenes and these dialogues have been used many times in many TV series or films. But the actors are directed in such a way that the satire that could appear in these scenes is totally defused because the actors play them in an absolutely serious, truthful and even sincere way. Finally the various episodes are so inventive in surprises and even shocking revelations that we are really taken along in quite a dynamic way. So that watching the series after the film is quite interesting because of all the levels the film was obliged to push aside and that are developed here in full length, particularly all the elements showing the ugliness of life in this small community torn apart by rivalries and hatreds among the people, especially those who have some responsibility as for the future of the community itself. So get to it and enjoy it, especially if you like the succulent and over-ripe style that David Lynch uses so often.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

It's good, nothing more.......2008-01-23

I couldn't agree more with the other 2 reviewers who gave Twin Peaks (1st season) 3 stars, and I can't see how custommers didn't find their reviews helpful. Anyway, I have actually seen the second season AND the movie, so I guess I was a little more patient than them :)

About this season though, it's ok, it's good. It's funny at places, Agent Cooper (the main character) is fun to watch and there is a certain amount of suspense. I highly recommend watching this with someone else cause there'll always be something to commnent on. Most of the actors are good, and into character.

Now, on the other hand, while the original music is very appropriate and atmospheric, BELIEVE ME, you're gonna get sick of it! The same tracks keep on repeating themselves throughout the whole series over and over, and after a while I actually knew which theme would come next (I really did)! That was very annoying, and made some scenes look ... strangely familiar and borring.

What annoyied me most about Twin Peaks is that there is too much love story in there. Definetely felt like a cheap soap opera at places (though never watched one). I liked the main story and how it unfolded, but there are so many characters (and some of them have double or even triple roles) that sometimes you just lose it.

All in all I would like Twin Peaks to be just a self-sufficient movie (or two) because in my opinion the series gets boring after a while (especially the 2nd season). If I had to choose one episode that would definitely be the pilot which is very cool to watch, but the upcoming just didn't meet my expectations.

What's all the fuss about?.......2008-01-06

Now, I'm a MASSIVE telly-geek and for this reason I felt slightly ashamed that I had never watched Twin Peaks, so I borrowed it from a friend and I must say - it's ok. Fair enough, it was good enough to keep me watching practically start to finish but this was mostly from a desire to do as little as possible than any real addictive merit. I don't have anything bad to say about the programme, just that it never really amounts to anything. It is, in it's own way, very funny however. Kyle McLaughlans character is brilliant, very entertaining indeed. None of the other characters really did it for me though, they're all terribly run of the mill, dull and forgetful. The acting is pretty bad most of the time, the music is hysterical bordering on abysmal (although it may just be that it has become rather dated) and the plot unfolds in a very haphazard way, the end of each episode pretty much opens a new thread which is rarely talked about afterwards. Saying that though, I would watch season two if it was out but I'm not particularly bothered really. I'd recommend watching it if you get the chance, but I wouldn't bother buying it. I doubt I'd ever re-watch it.

It's OK, but there is much better stuff out there........2007-10-07

Based on the 30+ 5 star reviews that Twin Peaks has received on Amazon I thought id give it a go as I missed the original airing of the show back in the day. When it arrived in the post I thought id plan my weekend around digesting season 1 which you can comfortably do in about 7-8 hours.

To my disappointment it turned out to be nothing like what I had read from other peoples accounts. Twin Peaks is definately not cleverly written in my opinion as the story has no real depth to it. It revolves around two principles - The first being a detective trying to solve a murder case (kind of like a murder mystery/cluedo style approach) and the second is a story concerning the characters and their relationships to each other. There are no real twists or seat gripping moments - it just seems really weird from start to finish and no single episode made me want to carry on watching let alone remain awake.

When you compare Twin peaks to the likes of much older things like Back to the Future, Aliens and Star Wars it definately has not aged well in any sense of the word. You can tell it was definately filmed in the 80's as everything has a cringe worthy feel about it ranging from the decor, haircuts, picture quality, sets and dialogue.

The music is all synth based and makes me laugh at how dated it is, let alone the fact that the whole show uses only 2 short ambient tracks all along: The first is some creepy tune which seems to play on repeat throughout each episode regardless of the scenes' mood and the second is a jazz number which plays whenever Kyle come on screen. It just doesnt work and quite frankly got right on my nerves.

All in all I ended up watching all of season 1 in a single sitting as I was desperate to get it on ebay and out of my sight forever. There is no re-watchability to this show unless you are having a mid-life crisis and want to feel like you're back in the 80's for whatever reason. My verdict is that it's ok but it's nothing as good as the reviews say and there is much better content out there so I would rather have seen it left in the archives. Hope I haven't offended anyone but I just cannot see their viewpoints from watching this show!

THE BEST TELEVISION - EVER!.......2007-09-27

Sure, everyone has his/hers favorite TV shows, and preferences shift with seasonal mood, age and experiences. However, THIS IS TELEVISION AT HER BEST!

"Break the Code - Solve the Crime. You got that Lucy?"

Mysterious, intelligent, naive, bold and nostalgic for an American way of life gone - if it ever really existed; yet coveted in all our visions of Utopia.
Then again, there is always a serpent in every Eden. And David Lynch knows how to point it out masterfully!

Now, if only they decided to finally offer SEASON 2 with the same quality package!

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