# I'm almost through watching Twin Peaks for the first time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004 "2015-01-27T15:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/1 "2015-01-27T15:06:17Z")
I must say I’m disappointed it took me so long to watch it. I caught the news that it was coming back for a brief run next year so I wanted to catch up and see what it was all about and I’m amazed. It’s not perfect but it really makes you want keep watching. Hell, I’m 25 years late. Most of you already know this. So what are your favorite shows of all time? Care to discuss Twin Peaks? Keep in mind I haven’t made it to the end, only just found out who killed Laura Palmer. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/2 "2015-01-27T15:10:00Z")
Which is it to be, our favorite shows of all time - or Twin Peaks? I remember it well and want to watch it all over again. My favorite bits involved the Log Lady. I find the Log Lady fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/3 "2015-01-27T15:10:34Z")
> [@jrsone](#): > > Keep in mind I haven’t made it to the end, only just found out who killed Laura Palmer. You can stop watching now, it really goes downhill from here on out. One of my favorite shows ever, but I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again. Each time I rewatch it, I realize how terrible the acting is (at least with some of the kids, James IIRC especially), and the last time I watched it I just couldn’t make to the end of the series. I feel like if I watch it again it’ll ruin it for me. I’d rather just keep it as a fond memory and not lose the magic. I convinced a friend of mine to watch it (he’s 25) and he barely made it through it and complained the entire time. I had to explain to him that back in the 90’s, Twin Peaks was our/their The Wire and Breaking Bad and Dexter and Six Feet Under and Sopranos. It was THE show everyone talked about the next day. It might seem terrible now, but you have to remember how far TV has come in all those years. Nowadays a sitcom has more money tossed at it than that show. Twin peaks relied on it’s writing, not on it’s production value. What else was there? Northern Exposure and Dallas? ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/4 "2015-01-27T15:20:06Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Which is it to be, our favorite shows of all time - or Twin Peaks? > > I remember it well and want to watch it all over again. My favorite bits involved the Log Lady. I find the Log Lady fascinating. Either or. Twin Peaks has become one of my favorite shows of all time, and I’ve watched a lot of TV. I’m just curious about anything else I should watch. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/5 "2015-01-27T15:23:58Z")
The show was great. Just stay away from [the damn movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks:_Fire_Walk_with_Me)! I wish I could unwatch it. I’m sure if they hadn’t told him the show was canceled mid-season, Twin Peaks could have gone on for several more years of awesome. ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/6 "2015-01-27T15:27:14Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > You can stop watching now, it really goes downhill from here on out. > > One of my favorite shows ever, but I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again. Each time I rewatch it, I realize how terrible the acting is (at least with some of the kids, James IIRC especially), and the last time I watched it I just couldn’t make to the end of the series. I feel like if I watch it again it’ll ruin it for me. I’d rather just keep it as a fond memory and not lose the magic. > > I convinced a friend of mine to watch it (he’s 25) and he barely made it through it and complained the entire time. I had to explain to him that back in the 90’s, Twin Peaks was our/their The Wire and Breaking Bad and Dexter and Six Feet Under and Sopranos. It was THE show everyone talked about the next day. It might seem terrible now, but you have to remember how far TV has come in all those years. Nowadays a sitcom has more money tossed at it than that show. Twin peaks relied on it’s writing, not on it’s production value. What else was there? Northern Exposure and Dallas? Well I understand it is David Lynch and I knew about what to expect. I think it holds up pretty well. To me, Twin Peaks is a better fit for TV now more so than 1990. ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/7 "2015-01-27T15:28:20Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > The show was great. Just stay away from [the damn movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks:_Fire_Walk_with_Me)! I wish I could unwatch it. I’m sure if they hadn’t told him the show was canceled mid-season, Twin Peaks could have gone on for several more years of awesome. I’ve actually seen the movie years ago. I was just confused at what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/8 "2015-01-27T15:41:16Z")
Log Ladyis my favorite too. She’s like one of the ancient Sibyl oracles returned, with her cryptic but accurate (in retrospect) messages from another plane. So soft-spoken and unassuming, but with subtle hints of connectivity with something indefinitely powerful. She forms a feminine counterpart to the Giant’s oracular pronouncements; while he drops hints of specific actions afoot, she provides perspectives on the big picture. I either heard on the show or read somewhere that her log re-embodies the spirit of her late husband and picks up the intelligence that she relays. “The mystery of the woods… beyond the fire.” Don’t miss her brief [introductions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmIa7B3SXjI) to the archival episodes, an extra, not originally broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/9 "2015-01-27T17:19:54Z")
I agree with **Joey**. I watched it a second time, and couldn’t understand why I wasted the time to watch it the first time! Didn’t make it all the way through. Oh, yeah. Shelly Johnson. That was why. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/10 "2015-01-27T17:34:03Z")
Don’t badmouth _Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me_. It is my favorite film. The bad rap it’s gotten is extremely undeserved. Along with the book _The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer_, it’s the only thing (so far) that brings together and makes coherent the whole world of _Twin Peaks_. Also, it has proved very psychologically cathartic and even healing for women who have survived sexual abuse/incest and could never talk about it openly. For that alone I love it, but I also think for the most part it was very well directed and a fascinatingly told tale that distilled some of the best weird aspects of the show. I have watched it several times over the years and never get tired of it. It happened to be the first part of the saga I ever watched; I caught it in the theaters upon release in 1992, and only later on went back and took in the series. Maybe that’s one reason I appreciate it better than most? And why not? Doing things backward or upside down is fully in keeping with the saga’s aethestics anyway. _How can a heart that’s filled with love start to cry?_ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/11 "2015-01-27T17:46:09Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I agree with **Joey**. > > I watched it a second time, and couldn’t understand why I wasted the time to watch it the first time! Didn’t make it all the way through. > > Oh, yeah. Shelly Johnson. That was why. Don’t get me wrong, I love the show and it’ll always be one of my favorite shows, but re-watching it along with someone that was born after it came out, really made me realize how bad some of the acting was. Some of the terrible screaming from Laura’s mother, that [weird singing thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji_K99Ff5tE). In the right mind frame (high school/college) and back in the 90’s it was great, but as I’ve gotten older and watching it along with someone that’s been through The Wire and Pysch and Six Feet Under really made it feel cheesy and over acted. I could probably watch it again with someone else who really wanted to watch it again, I guess it was just watching it with someone who pointed out to me how bad some of those scenes really were. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/12 "2015-01-27T17:48:22Z")
I want to know, if the Owls Are Not What They Seem, what are they? This was never addressed! * * * There’s a local commercial for a casino here, and one line they use to describe the wonders of staying there is “…wrapped in luxury.” My wife always changes it to “…wrapped in plastic!” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/13 "2015-01-27T17:58:30Z")
It is so fucking weird and while I thought it was OK as years have gone by I don’t have fond memories of it. I also watched it long after it aired. And I was downright annoyed at the implication of something supernatural possessing child murderers. Nope. Much as we might like to believe that some humans are really just that depraved. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/14 "2015-01-27T18:25:38Z")
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is David Lynch’s masterpiece in my opinion. I tried reading the Diary of Laura Palmer but it was too disturbing for my taste. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/15 "2015-01-27T20:49:09Z")
the show is well worth watching. it is Lynchian so it has its twists and strangeness. i think the acting was good in that it holds you in the series. the butler didn’t do it ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/16 "2015-01-27T20:58:49Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > You can stop watching now, it really goes downhill from here on out. That’s what I came in here to say. I never did watch the last few episodes. Up until the killer is revealed, though, is mostly excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/17 "2015-01-27T21:12:10Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > the butler didn’t do it By carefully watching for clues and motivations of the suspects and using my near-Holmsian powers of deduction, I correctly picked out (before it was revealed of course!) who murdered Laura Palmer, but then when it was revealed that it was actually a supernatural entity named BOB that possessed the physical killer, and killed her for his own, unfathomable reasons that it was clear that my detective work was for naught, and it really could have been anyone. Including Agent Cooper! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/18 "2015-01-27T22:01:54Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It is so fucking weird and while I thought it was OK as years have gone by I don’t have fond memories of it. I also watched it long after it aired. And I was downright annoyed at the implication of something supernatural possessing child murderers. Nope. Much as we might like to believe that some humans are really just that depraved. That is, I believe, the point. Many people, emotionally, probably feel like “evil” is a true and tangible thing. Ideally, when shown what that would look like in real life, people will be forced to consciously reflect on the topic and come to the realization that the world just ain’t like that. Though I suspect that if Lynch had had and maintained full control of the show, while it was being made, that he would have made sure that it was never explicit that “magic” was the root cause of everything. He’d have left it an open question. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/19 "2015-01-27T22:50:15Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > The show was great. Just stay away from [the damn movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks:_Fire_Walk_with_Me)! I wish I could unwatch it. I’m sure if they hadn’t told him the show was canceled mid-season, Twin Peaks could have gone on for several more years of awesome. Yeah, not a fan of the movie at all, but loved the show in 1990 and a few years ago when we watched it again. However, revealing the murderer was a big mistake. Nothing after that was ever as good…except the finale, which was 100% pure awesome. I eagerly await season 3 next year. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004/20 "2015-01-27T23:59:26Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It is so fucking weird and while I thought it was OK as years have gone by I don’t have fond memories of it. I also watched it long after it aired. And I was downright annoyed at the implication of something supernatural possessing child murderers. Nope. Much as we might like to believe that some humans are really just that depraved. In their world, it wasn’t an implication, it was real. Several people saw BOB, including people from a different town that had similar murders. Some in real life (the one armed man) or as a vision (the supernatural part). But even if you don’t like the supernatural aspect of it, IIRC they did end up just deciding that BOB represents ‘evil’ and you can run with that. That nothing supernatural happened (WRT to BOB), all these men were evil and Lynch chose to represent their evilness with visions of Killer BOB. Now, the Black Lodge, that’s a whole other thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-almost-through-watching-twin-peaks-for-the-first-time/711004.md?page=2)