The magic of Twin Peaks: TV's weirdest legacy
- Text by Cian Traynor
- Illustrations by Nick Taylor
Twin Peaks isn’t just a TV show; it’s a place you visit. Every time the opening sequence begins, it has a way of drawing you into a spellbinding world that feels far-off yet familiar.
Back in 1990, what began as a two-hour pilot about the murder of a homecoming queen blossomed into something so unconventional that it redefined television.
Over the course of two seasons, filmmaker David Lynch and writer-producer Mark Frost managed to dig beneath the wholesome facade of small-town America through a mix of postmodern soap-opera and supernatural mystery.
Although that alchemy pioneered the ‘water-cooler effect’, where people couldn’t resist discussing clues and theories after each episode, it wasn’t enough to stop Twin Peaks from its eventual cancellation in 1991.
But the show’s quirky characters and cryptic iconography – damn fine coffee and cherry pie, the log lady and the prophetic giant – continued to inspire Twin Peaks-themed festivals and parties around the world regardless.
So when the show made a long-awaited comeback in 2017, as Twin Peaks: The Return, fans were giddy but cautious. Could the magic be replicated? Would its legacy be tarnished?
Frost and Lynch, it turns out, had little interest in entertaining nostalgia. Instead they produced 18 hours of experimental cinema that challenged viewers like never before. Along the way, it became clear that there would be loose ends. Lynch doesn’t do closure but Frost felt compelled to address unfinished business.
To that end, he wrote two novels to bookend the new series: The Secret History of Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier. They take the form of FBI documents which expand the show’s universe, reveal the fate of its most-loved characters and provide context for the biggest mysteries in The Return.
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