A Twin Peaks Corollary

Twin Peaks is almost certainly my favorite show and besides that it's one of the most important ever produced, opening the way for prime-time strangeness (of a lesser degree) from shows like The X-Files and the recently finished Lost. I usually tackle my favorite shows on this site with my "Essential 5" series (basically an excuse to exercise my love of lists), and although I could come up with the five most important episodes of the series pretty easily, they wouldn't make any sense out of the context. The denseness of its mythology is staggering. Its practically the anti-Tarantino, drawing us to images within the work instead of to references out of it (not to say it doesn't do that too). So all I can do is recommend that the series should be watched from the beginning (the Pilot, leave the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me till after the series finale) and offer up some oddities and references that help understand the show.


Inspiration:

David Lynch himself claims that much of his work, including Twin Peaks, is directly inspired by the painter Francis Bacon (Lynch himself is a well known painter) and more obviously by the writing of Franz Kafka. Another touchstone was clearly film noir as many elements conjur up that genre, and all it implies. The film noir references peppered throughout the shows 30 episodes can sometimes be more than just mood or tone. I made a note every time I spotted a more obvious one (mild spoilers):

•    In season 1 episode 7 Mr. Horn says “This is such stuff as dreams are made of” a reference to Shakespeare obviously, but also to the last line of The Maltese Falcon
•    In a first season episode Mr. Neff is the name of the insurance salesman which is a reference to Double Indemnity (Also the many shots involving the shadows cast by blinds are indebted to this movie)
•    In season 2 episode 8 the reference to the killer as the “3rd man” references the Carol Reed film of the same name
•     Also in season 2 episode 8, Donna attempts to come across as a femme fatale type
•    The guest appearance of Jane Greer (Out of the Past) in season 2
•    Josie Packard’s character is constantly portrayed as the femme fatale of the show, using her charm and beauty to hide the damaged and dangerous persona beneath the surface.
•    James runs away and is caught up in a scheme to murder a husband ala “the Postman Always Rings Twice”
•    Laura Palmer’s name conjures up Otto Preminger’s “Laura”

Reputation:
Despite being hugely influential, the show does not get the accolades it deserves. Its reputation is often tied only to David Lynch, and his acolytes are the only ones who really revere it. I wrote a few days ago about not only the need for better television criticism but also for its status as an art. Essential to those causes is Twin Peaks, both as art itself and as a moment in time where television could be regarded as art. Many of the cast were recently involved in a Guardian article looking back at the show 20 years later. Although they are all still proud (rightly so) of the work they did, many express disappointment that the show doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Lara Flynn Boyle said, "At the Emmys every year they show clips of shows that are well remembered. They never show clips of Twin Peaks! I'm always going on at the producers about that. It was great TV that we created. Incredibly brave stuff. It's been copied but I don't think anybody's grabbed the legacy of it just yet."

"...a cup of coffee, black as a moonless night.":
On the influential blog 'Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule', Dennis Cozzalio recently posted 4 ads that were done for Japanese television using characters from the show. They're strange, poorly written little shorts that none-the-less manage to be pretty hilarious if you've seen the show (the fourth is poor quality, but it's the best I could find):