Twin Peaks, Season 2

The 2nd and final season of "Twin Peaks" (1990) suffered a few disastrous setbacks that led to declining ratings and eventual cancellation. Show creators David Lynch and Mark Frost were under pressure from ABC to resolve the mystery of Laura Palmer and reveal her murderer. Why, I'm still not sure, as there were no problems with ratings through the first season and into the second. I guess the TV executives, in their great and wondrous wisdom, really do know best. I mean, they've never killed a good and well-loved show that was doing perfectly fine and didn't need any tinkering. No, never. Additionally, the show suffered from a lack of David Lynch's influence in the middle of the season, as he was involved with promoting his new film Wild at Heart (1990).

Only a handful of episodes into the second season, Lynch was forced to tip his hand and reveal Laura Palmer's murderer. Luckily, Laura Palmer was simply a McGuffin all along, a literary device used to draw the audience into the story with a compelling mystery. Meanwhile, the real story, the story of quirky Twin Peaks and the evil it might contain, unfolds under the audience's nose. Unfortunately, the concept of the McGuffin was lost on American audiences, and ratings sharply declined after the killer was revealed, even though the show was still going strong, with a plethora of intriguing and interweaving storylines still up in the air.

With Lynch's attention focused on Wild at Heart and the central mystery more or less solved, the show did tend to run a little thin at times. The writers stretched themselves too far, creating sideline plots that went too far afield, that involved too many people outside of Twin Peaks, and that were frankly boring and utterly pointless. But when efforts were concentrated on the viable storylines, the writing was as sharp and the tension as high as ever.

In "Twin Peaks" season 2, the revelation of Laura Palmer's killer is only the beginning. That information opens a doorway onto a much deeper and more insidious puzzle, involving the ancient Ghostwoods surrounding the town, and a creeping evil that threatens to consume all those who dwell in Twin Peaks. That evil takes form in Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh), Agent Cooper's (Kyle MacLachlan) one-time partner who became increasingly obsessed with the Black Lodge, the mythical source of the evil outside of Twin Peaks. Earle and Cooper enter into a metaphorical chess game, the lives and souls of Twin Peaks townsfolk the prize. The tension mounts as Earle comes closer and closer to discovering the Black Lodge and snatching away Cooper's new found love Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham) as a soul sacrifice. The battle builds to a terrifying climax with the series finale, set mostly inside the twisted, surreal, and bizarre world of the Black Lodge. Lynch's unique use of color (reminiscent of Dario Argento's Suspiria), lighting, bizarre sound design and intentionally wooden acting bring the Black Lodge's deeply cryptic and deeply disturbing symbolism to life.

While Kyle MacLachlan's Agent Cooper was the standout performance of Season 1, the second season sees a more diffuse range of acting talent. Perhaps leading the ensemble pack here is Richard Beymer's Benjamin Horne, whose transformation from corrupt corporate giant through bat-shit crazy to environmentally-conscious man of truth is mesmerizing, if a bit clichéd. Another stand-out for me is Ian Buchanan as refined, meticulous, and philandering department store salesman Richard "Dick" Tremayne, whose personality oscillates between gloriously shallow and melodramatically concerned.

All in all, "Twin Peaks" is one of the most compelling, intricate, and beautifully-filmed shows of all-time and I would recommend it in a heartbeat. Be warned: although the series finale is amazing, it also leaves us hanging on the fates of several key characters, including Agent Cooper, Annie Blackburn, and several others caught in a bank vault explosion. For those needing a sense of completion out of a show, I guess this is not the one to pick.

Storyline & plot: 7/10
Cinematography & effects: 9/10
Music & mood: 8/10
Performances: 8/10

The Reverend says: 8/10