Typically, the first season of most television shows is looked back upon as mediocre, when compared with following seasons. The first season of "Twin Peaks" set the bar pretty damn high and I didn't see how it could be topped. It wasn't. Don't misunderstand me and think that I found the second season unenjoyable - not so. However, the second season was very uneven and at times, quite lackluster, which disappointed me a bit after being left nonplussed by the preceding season.
The series quickly diminishes in intrigue and, as a result, interest, once Laura Palmer's killer is discovered and subsequently dealt with. This left over half of the season for two new themes. The first was the revenge scheme of Jean Renault (played by the chameleon-like Michael Parks). This tale was short-lived, and thankfully so. The second was the battle of wits between Kyle MacLachlan's Agent Dale Cooper and his former mentor, Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh). This storyline started to acquire more depth and complexity than its predecessor, but was prematurely ended due to the end of the series.
The loss of David Lynch as a primary writer and director certainly had its impact on the second season (he still kept his name involved). The series became more outlandish, making the exaggerated characters of Twin Peaks seem less credible/believable as time went on. That, and there was the working of Project Blue Book into the series, giving the show an X-Flies air. Thankfully, season two was buoyed by the gratuitous cameos that peppered its episodes (classic character actors like Miguel Ferrer, Royal Dano, Dan O'Herlihy, Frances Bay, Tony Jay and David Warner). The final episode certainly seemed as schizophrenic and rushed as the finales to Lynch's last two films, so I suppose it's only fitting on that account. Still, it seemed an undue and low-key end to such an amazing series.
No comments:
Post a Comment