"Twin Peaks": Why was the FBI investigating a murder?

Cafe Society
21

[QUOTE=Cliffy]
Wow, cbawlmer, wow. I’m with you on the explanation as given, although that doesn’t explain why the FBI was in on the Teresa Banks murder from the start. I seem to remember Gordon Cole giving some hand-waving explanation to Kiefer Sutherland and Chris Isaak in the movie, but it’s been a while since I saw it.
[/QUOTE]

Lil’s dance didn’t explain why exactly why the FBI was involved. We learn that the local authorities will be uncooperative, that drugs are involved and that one of the locals has an uncle in federal prison. Also that Theresa is a “blue rose” case but we never learn what that means.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I’ve played poker online with the woman who played Theresa Banks. If you’re telling her how great she is she’s a very nice person but if the conversation drifts into areas she doesn’t care for she’s kind of a bitch.

22

If you want to rent it, unfortunately the second season STILL isn’t out on DVD (in the USA at least) for some reason.

23

[QUOTE=don’t ask]
No, but I used to have nightmares that David Lynch made more TV shows
[/QUOTE]

I love On The Air.

24

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
I love On The Air.
[/QUOTE]
Hurry up.. hurry up.. hurry up.. hurry up..

25

[QUOTE=Poysyn]
As a slight hijack, I never watched Twin Peaks when it was on, I was too young to care when it was broadcast.

Is it worth renting to watch the whole thing, or no?
[/QUOTE]
It’s worth a shot. The first season was quite good. The second season began to flag, but began to get back its momentum (especially after the episode directed by Diane Keaton). Also, people tend to dislike the final episode because they thought it was a series finale, when it was actually a season finale.

26

I think that local authorities who don’t have the manpower or technology to handle a big crime may ask the FBI for help. But I do believe that the string of murders had something to do with it.

If you saw the prequel film “Fire Walk With Me”, you would also have found out that other FBI agents had been investigating the case, played by Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland IIRC. They mysteriously disappeared.

I would trying watching that film first and then watch the series and see if it makes any more sense. Moira Kelly plays the Lara Flynn Boyle character in the film.

27

[QUOTE=BobT]
If you saw the prequel film “Fire Walk With Me”, you would also have found out that other FBI agents had been investigating the case, played by Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland IIRC. They mysteriously disappeared.
[/quote]

Only Isaak (playing Special Agent Chester Desmond) disappears.

Oh, I could not disagree more. If you watch the film first and then the series, you’ve lost the central mystery of the first season and a half, specifically “Who Killed Laura Palmer?”

28

[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
The first season was quite good. The second season began to flag, but…
[/QUOTE]
I think the second season gets a bum rap.

So many people seemed to lose interest in Twin Peaks after the question “Who Killed Laura Palmer” was answered early in Season Two. For me, the mundane murder mystery was the least interesting thing about Twin Peaks, and I could never understand how people could relate to Lynch’s work on a “Who Shot J.R.?” level.

It’s like someone losing interest in Lost because the question of who’s gonna get down innit with Kate gets answered. “Really? That’s what was holding your attention?” :smiley:

For me, what was great about the show was that everything had layers and layers of esoteric meaning. What is often derided as “weird for weird’s sake,” is the heart of it.

Even The Most Beautiful Corpse In The World’s family name carries cryptic significance, for the mystics and weirdos out there.

The cryptic complexity of Twin Peaks is consistent from start to finish, and way more interesting than the simple “whodunnit” aspect. I think the whole occult side of it, and Lynch’s unique film vocabulary (there from the start) was developed with a great sense of pacing, and the people who found fault with Season Two did so because Lynch felt freed up to spend less time working to the expectations of what is “necessary” for network television (ie; that it make an idol out of banality.)

At least, that’s what my log told me to tell you – but you might think me wood.

29

I still think it would be an interesting perspective on the series though.

Of course, I really hated “Fire Walk With Me”, but loved the TV series. My grandmother, who was in her 80s at the time loved it too. We had long discussions about the themes and subplots.

One of my fondest memories of her. Even though my grandmother was a devout, churchgoing woman from a family of poor, first-generation Eastern European immigrants and never got past the 8th grade, she loved “Twin Peaks” and couldn’t stop talking about it.

30

I agree with **Larry[/n] that hte murder mystery was a central organizing idea which hooked you into the show, but wasn’t meant to be the be-all and end-all.

That said, the 2d sseason is not as good, on average. Part of the explanation might be that it’s like three times as long. (Right?) And although there was lots of good bits in S1 that weren’t about (or directly about) who killed Laura, the murder investigation was always something they could go back to for dramatic points. The lack of an overarching story meant that at least some of S2 seemed directionless.

And while there’s not a single episode that doesn’t have wonderful material, that Tangled Up in Blue stuff with James was so fucking interminable. Ugh.

But I agree that by the last few episodes it got the old juice back. And I loved loved loved the final ep. It’s one of the shows where the finale was so perfect that I’m almost glad the show ended. (The others being Angel, Futurama, and Arrested Development, if anyone cares.)

Anyways, I’d defintiely recommend the show to anyone who might be interested, but it’s tough to get it all. The original two-hour pilot/first ep is not on the S1 DVD series released a few years ago. And while there’s a VHS version that claims to be the first episode, it’s actually the UK version of the pilot to which, due to contractual obligations, Lynch added and ending and a “solution” to the murder that don’t make much sense, and which is not consistent with the way the show developed in later episodes. (Although he did reuse a lot of the footage from the UK version’s ending in the series.) And of course, S2 isn’t available on DVD at all.

There was a VHS set of all of S1, including the proper version of the pilot. And I think there was also a VHS set of either S2 or the whole magilla. But they’ll be long out of print and eBay would be your best bet.

–Cliffy

31

[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
Also, people tend to dislike the final episode because they thought it was a series finale, when it was actually a season finale.
[/QUOTE]

:confused: Then what was the series finale?

32

[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
Then what was the series finale?
[/QUOTE]
I think he means it wasn’t intended to be the series finale.

33

[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
:confused: Then what was the series finale?
[/QUOTE]
There wasn’t one.

You have to understand the difference: A season finale is often a cliffhanger, setting up situations that will be resolved the next year. The classic example is “Who Killed JR?” on Dallas. Or the various ST:TNG season finales (e.g., when Picard was taken over by the Borg).

A series finale ties up loose ends and lets us say goodbye to the characters. The recent West Wing series finale is an example, as is the final episode of Arrested Development.

The basic difference is that for a season finale, the production team assumes the show will be renewed; while for a series finale, the production team assumes the show will be cancelled.

Sometimes they’re wrong: Sledge Hammer had what they thought would be a series finale by blowing up the city and all the stars. When the show was renewed, they had to fix it (by billing it Sledge Hammer: The Early Years. The opposite happens more often: Everyone on Alien Nation (and Galaxy Quest :slight_smile: ) thought it was going to be renewed, so they ended with a cliffhanger. When it was cancelled, the series ended in limbo (though they did some TV movies to tie it up).

Now, for Twin Peaks, they were assuming the show would be renewed, so they wrote a cliffhanger ending. The third season would have dealt with that issue, but the show was cancelled. It’s quite clear they didn’t expect the last scene to be the final word, and it would have been a nice jumping off point for plots.

Re: Second Season
I do think the show flagged after the mystery was revealed, but after a few weeks it began to find its way in new directions. I don’t think it reached the level of the early episodes, but it was still great television once you got past the slow stretch.

But Twin Peaks was going to be doomed by its own complexity. If you didn’t catch it from the start, it was hard to get into it, and as people grew tired of it and left, few new viewers tuned in.

34

[QUOTE=Cliffy]
The lack of an overarching story meant that at least some of S2 seemed directionless.
[/quote]

The Windom Earle storyline was the overarching storyline for the second part of S2, along with the Owl Cave mystery (with overlap between the two).

The VHS set I have is the entire series minus the pilot. The pilot I had to tape off Bravo.

35

[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
Now, for Twin Peaks, they were assuming the show would be renewed, so they wrote a cliffhanger ending. The third season would have dealt with that issue, but the show was cancelled. It’s quite clear they didn’t expect the last scene to be the final word, and it would have been a nice jumping off point for plots.

<snip>

But Twin Peaks was going to be doomed by its own complexity. If you didn’t catch it from the start, it was hard to get into it, and as people grew tired of it and left, few new viewers tuned in.
[/QUOTE]

The way I read it at the time was Lynch saying, 'Cancel my show, will you? How’s this for a series ender? :mad: ’ Might not be true, but that’s the way I interpreted it.

I agree about being in from the beginning. I missed the first few episodes, so I didn’t watch the season until Summer re-runs. It was a brilliant show that I love to this day. I wish there had been one more seaon.

I think Lynch pissed off a lot of people by not tying up the Laura Palmer thing earlier. A Typical Hollywood Show would have done it in the first show of the second season. It didn’t happen in Twin Peaks until the second or third episode. (My DVDs and Season 2 VHS are like 1,200 miles away at the moment, so I don’t remember.) By going against convention, I think he may have turned some people away.

Now I want a damned fine cup of coffee and some cherry pie.

36

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
I think Lynch pissed off a lot of people by not tying up the Laura Palmer thing earlier. A Typical Hollywood Show would have done it in the first show of the second season. It didn’t happen in Twin Peaks until the second or third episode. (My DVDs and Season 2 VHS are like 1,200 miles away at the moment, so I don’t remember.)
[/QUOTE]

The murderer was revealed in episode 7 of S2 (so episode 15 including the pilot) and the story arc ended two episodes later.

37

[QUOTE=Otto]
The murderer was revealed in episode 7 of S2 (so episode 15 including the pilot) and the story arc ended two episodes later.
[/QUOTE]

Thanks. I knew it was late, but I didn’t reaise it was that late.

38

Well, in the overall scheme it wasn’t all that late. There were only 29 episodes and the murderer was revealed halfway through. The combination of the hype and the summer-long break between the short first season and the second made it seem a lot longer than it was.

If Lynch had gotten his way, the mystery would have lasted as long as the show did. ABC interfered and demanded that he include a resolution.

39

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
I think Lynch pissed off a lot of people by not tying up the Laura Palmer thing earlier.
[/quote]
I think that was ABC’s fault. For a couple of episodes before the resolution, they would promote them implying that the murder would be solved that week. You’d watch, and there was no resolution. That pissed off a lot of people and made it seem more dragged out than it was.

As for the finale – the cancellation was announced after the show was filmed. The logistics of making changes at that point were too daunting: they had quit for the season.

40

[QUOTE=Otto]
If Lynch had gotten his way, the mystery would have lasted as long as the show did. ABC interfered and demanded that he include a resolution.
[/QUOTE]
That’s what killed the show, in my mind. I had hoped that they would never resolve the murder of Laura Palmer, which would maintain a compelling overall gothic mood for the show as well as provide a good reason for Agent Cooper to stay in TP. I also loved the implication - early in season 1 - that Laura’s death may have been caused by some sort of demon spirit type thing and not a real person. When they eventually combined the ideas into a lame (and too icky for my taste) possession gimmick, it felt like a cop-out. I remember liking some moments of Season 2 (loved David Duchovny, hated Heather Graham), but overall I’m happy to pretend it ended at the season finale of S1.

I saw the movie once, but don’t remember a thing about it except for David Bowie. I seem to recall that he redeemed the story line somewhat, but by that time I had mostly stopped caring.

The few episodes of the TV show Lynch directed were uniformly brilliant, while the other directors were very hit-or-miss. I also noticed during On the Air that Lynch comes out of the gate with mind-blowing ideas, but the genius burns out quickly. I think he could really kick ass if he did a few 3 or 4 hour miniseries.