"Twin Peaks" was a fantastic show that was quite experimental for its time (1990-1991) that at it's worst was better than most everything else on TV. I wish the show could have survived longer, but with an awful second season time slot - Saturday at 10pm - it had no chance. The revelation of Laura Palmer's killer took the wind out of the sails somewhat just nine shows into the second season, but the true theme of Twin Peaks was about the evil in the woods that took the form of the killer and the seamy underbelly of what appeared to be everyday small-town life. The murder of Laura Palmer was just the surface of that. Three somewhat pointless episodes followed the one that revealed Laura's killer, but then the show bounced back with the Windham Earle storyline. Unfortunately many viewers had stopped watching the show by then. Perhaps the lasting legacy of "Twin Peaks" is that it made series with weird subplots, long story arcs, and oddball characters more acceptable to the networks. For example, I don't think that "The X-Files" could have made it to the air in 1993 had it not been for "Twin Peaks" preceding it and succeeding. After all, after a show where there is a dwarf that materializes on a bed, dances, and talks backwards, an alternate reality where clones are created and sent out to the world, and creamed corn as a symbol of suffering, the adventures of Scully and Mulder look as thematically tame as Dragnet. Highly recommended.
Review of Twin Peaks
