Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

[Snailhead]

The problem with super Nadine was that it was an interesting idea that became reduced to the same gag over and over and over again (She thinks she's 18 and she's got superhuman strength! lol!)

[John Justice Wheeler]

I picked the Little Nicky storyline mostly because of the terrible scene that ended it - Doc Hayward, Lucy, Dick and Andy in the conference room. Possibly the worst, most over the top and embarrassingly stupid scene of the entire series. Andy and Dick unconvincingly bawling their eyes out as if this was an episode of Hee Haw, not one of the greatest, creepiest and most innovative TV shows ever. The only thing I liked about this scene was the bloody fly Lucy whacks at the end of it. Otherwise...just wow.

I just watched this scene today and would have to agree with your assessment. The real problem for me with this is that it is the end of that plot because only here finally is it made clear that Nicky isn't Satan or a murderer or whatever and is instead a tragic figure of persistent solitude and loneliness. So then what happens? After a cathartic cry for Dick and Andy he's abandoned as a character and never mentioned again. Would like to think some black irony was intended there as at least that salvages it a little.

The Marsh storyline wasn't as bad to me this time as it has been in the past, I really liked the atmosphere of the sets and some of the scenes between Donna and Evelyn. But DAMN this storyline dragged on far too long. And I found Evelyn herself to be really unattractive - especially when she's blowing the smoke rings. Good lord. They couldn't have found someone actually, you know, sexy to play these scenes?

I agree with this too and have always found Annette McCarthy 's rather craggy severity really unappealing. But it's much, much more of an issue for me with the widow Milford plot. Lively is a more attractive actress physically but frankly she's simply nowhere near hot enough for her role so that turns all the scenes of heavy breathing and panting from the assembled male cast into absurdism of a slightly different sort than what one imagines was meant.

[David Locke]

I went with the Civil War stuff simply because it is so empty, devoid of content/conflict/interest, and just such a waste of time and talent. At least the other storylines are attempting to go somewhere, not just putting this great actor in a room acting like a 5 year old playing with his toys - for no good reason. I mean it leads to a change in Ben's personality afterward, which is very welcome/fairly well done -- but that doesn't justify the plot itself, which is absurdly vapid.

Certainly though isolated moments/scenes from other plotlines here are worse, namely the final scene of the Nicky stuff mentioned above (really unintentionally hilarious scene), and most of the Lana stuff which may be the second-worst plot here.

I actually don't mind the Marsh stuff, even as it's thoroughly mediocre it's never offensively bad; it's just lazy, pointless.

[Agent Earle]

Love this thread, as I like to debate the so-called bad stretch of TP endlessly It's actually more interesting to talk about this then about those parts and episodes of the show 99 % of us agree are pure gold - there's no fun in listening to your echo.

I voted for Nadine the Superwoman as I really can't stand that stuff and I can't believe how much time they frittered away on it (speaking of Nadine, I find her husband, Big Ed, one of the most criminally underused characters in the series - too bad they couldn't cook up some Bookhouse Boys missions to give him something other to do than be a bewildered part of a love triangle for 30 episodes; also feel his relation to James was mistakenly neglected).
Close contenders for the worst storyline would have to be Lana Milford the Femme Fatale (though I can't agree that the character's appearance was unattractive, the whole subplot was asinine and I still cannot fathom the writers thought it was a good idea to drag Cooper into it at some point - God, that "peace conference" he arranges! ), Little Nicky (I was actually considering of putting this in the No. One spot, but my affection for the hilarious manners of Ian Buchanan - the weasel scene has me rolling on the floor every darn time! - got the better of me), and Ben the Confederate General (another great character changed into a caricature and withered into insignificance).

The storylines others find worthless but I enjoy are the dreaded James-Evelyn fling (though I must agree the actress who played Evelyn did nothing for me, I like the, as others have pointed out, savory atmosphere of the yarn and I find it to be a much-needed serious interlude in the stretch of eps that's swarming with comedic, even farsical stuff I'm less fond of, especially in a show like TP), Andrew Packard-Thomas Eckhardt duel (see my comment about the seriousness in the preceding brackets), and Audrey-John Justice Wheeler romance (I didn't care for it at first, but it grew on my over the years, parallel to me becoming a moderate Billy Zane fan ).

[LostInTheMovies]

Are we supposed to think that she thinks she's safer there than with Harry? It makes zero sense to me.

Great point. The writers are often guilty of going "We have to get to point B!" and finding illogical ways to get there. Making Leland Ben's lawyer is always my go-to example for this.

[Agent Sam Stanley]

Are we supposed to think that she thinks she's safer there than with Harry? It makes zero sense to me.

Great point. The writers are often guilty of going "We have to get to point B!" and finding illogical ways to get there. Making Leland Ben's lawyer is always my go-to example for this.

I always thought Josie figured Harry wouldn't protect her or stay by her side once he realized all the things she'd done.
Catherine already knew everything about her and was far more practical, so Josie accepted all the humiliation in exchange for protection. In TSHoTP according to Cooper's dossier on her, she made a similar deal with Eckhardt: became his personal concubine for protection.

[David Locke]

I actually don't mind much of the oddities and less inspired parts of the whole Josie/Packards plot throughout mid-late S2. I feel like that whole story is one of the high points of the slump episodes, really. It's not always the greatest thing, but it's rarely if ever actually objectionably stupid. The silliest part of this plot is probably the oft-cited Josie-as-a-maid thing, just for the over-the-top nature of the whole idea and how, besides Pete being seemingly A-OK with this treatment for some reason, suddenly even Catherine almost starts to become boring -- she gets a little "too" evil/cruel, and thus less three-dimensional than before. Sort of like a more typical 80s soap villain. I mean, it's like the show was one step away from having Catherine put Josie in a cage at night and make her entertain guests with an accordion just like a trained monkey, or something. Just a bit cartoonish, that maid part.

However, I really do enjoy all the Josie/Packards stuff otherwise and find it usually one of the very brightest spots in this stretch of the show, especially when we get to Episode 23 with Josie's fate, "I'm al-iiiiiive!", and that silly breakfast-plate smiley face that always cracks me up (though IMO 23's the episode that gets us out of the slump, anyway, so maybe it doesn't count here). The actors are so good and endearing, especially Nance, that it's hard not to enjoy spending time with the Packards even during their least interesting period. Even ancillary characters like Jones make an intriguing impression here, and the plot that she leads into -- the mysterious black box -- is for me actually something of a minor series highlight, though I suppose it technically is confined to post-slump territory.

Perhaps another flaw though is just that the whole Packard/Josie plot is too convoluted, and too soap-ish, especially when we get that cliffhanger of Andrew appearing and intoning ominously how everything is going exactly to plan, etc. (Incidentally, that must be one of the weakest endings to a TP episode -- despite Ep 18 as a whole being IMO surprisingly good and even a bit underrated. And then you have episodes like 22, my least favorite of all, which goes nowhere interesting for 40 minutes before ending with that terrific shot of Caroline's death-mask on Coop's pillow, likely one of the best endings of the series).

[djerdap]

That whole Josie/Packard/Eckhardt plot is amusing because it is so needlessly convoluted. Not to mention a colossal waste of acting talent such as David Warner.

But Pete's indifference to Catherine's cartoonish harrassment of Josie is more problematic because it hurts a beloved character in a way that is completely antithetical to how this character was presented thus far, since there was a real warmness to the Pete/Josie relationship beforehand. Ditto Truman's (and unfortunately exacerbated by Ontkean's performance) silly, over-the-top drunken behaviour.

On the other hand, I am ambivalent to the Evelyn Marsh storyline because it includes characters I have either stopped caring about or have no reason to invest in. Other storylines which may be slightly more compelling on the surface, like the Packard plot, can also bring more baggage with them.

[LonelySoul]

I selected Other, so here's mine.

I don't care for the Catherine/Ben relationship stuff. I find it bland and kind of gross.

I really don't have a big issue with any other plot though.

[Snailhead]

After a bit of thought, I'll retract my vote - I should have selected 'other' , because none other than WINDOM EARLE is my vote for the worst. When he shows up that's probably my least favourite thing about the show actually.

[Cappy]

I think a lot of these storylines are also hurt by the fact that Laura's killer is revealed. Had they never revealed who the perpetrator was, I think James/Evelyn and Little Nicky might be a little better. All of the storylines pre-reveal had that added element of suspicion that it's participants might have been involved in Laura's death. Once her killer was revealed though, all of that air of intrigue and suspense was sucked out of all the various plot threads.

I'm not saying never revealing the killer would've saved Evelyn and Little Nicky, but it would've made them more interesting. Can you imagine Andy and Dick trying to connect Nicky to the night of Laura's death? Okay, maybe that's a bad example. But the lack of an overarching mystery really hurt a lot of storylines.

I think the Packard/Eckhardt stuff would've been a lot more fascinating if Truman and Cooper were nosing in it because they thought Josie killed Laura. The Bookhouse Boys finding Andrew Packard alive and living in a mysterious cabin would've had way more dramatic impact than Andrew revealing himself to be alive just by walking around a corner in his house.

[N. Needleman]

I can remember someone once saying the Nicky plotline should've been handled completely differently, about a traumatized child and how that related to Laura Palmer's own life story. That would've worked IMO, especially since Nicky was maybe the only child (other than Gersten) we saw in the show.

[asmahan]

When I first watched the show I was genuinely worried that Nicky was going to be BOB's new host. In retrospect, I cannot hate Little Nicky, especially considering he has barely any screen time.
JJW and Audrey however... it's just painful to watch, Zane's character is bland has he is annoying, the arch goes on endlessly and you can tell they have zero chemistry together. James and Evelyn had a few scenes that were alright, and perhaps in more competent hands this would have been decent.

[laughingpinecone]

I can remember someone once saying the Nicky plotline should've been handled completely differently, about a traumatized child and how that related to Laura Palmer's own life story. That would've worked IMO, especially since Nicky was maybe the only child (other than Gersten) we saw in the show.

I sincerely believe that none of the concepts of the bad plots are unsalvageable and that the issue is all in their execution / the tone they wanted to stick to regardless of what was actually happening on screen. That would work for me too for Little Nicky's storyline, cool idea. Can't go wrong with relating stuff to Laura!

[CuriousWoman]

When I first watched the show I was genuinely worried that Nicky was going to be BOB's new host.

Interesting idea. Lynch tried horror with children a few times (Eraserhead, Tremond grandson), but never with BOB's fierce and brutal aspects, I wonder how that could have turned out would he be inspired.