Postby LostInTheMovies » Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:06 am
Some more opinions, though I don't think they're necessarily unorthodox/controversial - some don't seem to be widely shared.
- I LOVE the Harold Smith storyline. This to me is the heart of early season 2, yet I've heard many dismiss it as irrelevant filler. Go figure. I think Donna has never been better, and I love that it hones in on the personality of Laura and the effect she left on the show which is what the whole series should be about imo. (When she's the backdrop, even characters like Audrey - who wasn't close to her - come into sharper relief in relationship to her legacy.) Really, without that and the supernatural flashes - which are only really in ep. 10 - there wouldn't be much for me in ep. 10-12. The subplots, while not nearly as bad as they would get, feel a bit lackluster and forced; it's apparent that the writers are trying to "free" the characters from the Laura storyline but, unlike the mill story in S1, these plots usually lack tension/suspense/mystery or (in the case of Josie) they have it but lack any clarity or destination (the mill plot is obviously very convoluted too, but it's clear enough to follow who is allied with who at a given moment, and there's a clear goal in play: the burning of the mill; plus of course there's the general sense it might have something to do with the forces that killed Laura). And Harold's Theme is my favorite motif in the show. You can just sink into it. It instantly summons up a warm, melancholy feeling of sinking into a mystery: looking around the town's landscape on a rainy, misty day and wondering what secrets hover behind each door. It's romantic - maybe Romantic - in the broadest sense of the word.
- Episode 4 - 7 is my favorite stretch of the show, even though Lynch is MIA, the supernatural is quickly short-circuited, and the pace is much faster than typical Twin Peaks. For me, the funeral episode is NOT really the beginning of this stretch; it still holds on to the standstill, slowly-sinking-in feel of the pilot (which works perfectly well for its purpose). I really love ep. 4, which many consider a throwaway, and while I recognize all the flaws David Locke describes in ep. 7 - and definitely consider it the weakest of the final four - it works for me as a capper to this great buildup. This is the part of Twin Peaks that works contrary to what I USIALLY like about Twin Peaks: its willingness to go for broke on a single moment, the strangeness that makes you want to linger, the emphasis on mood over plot. Episodes 4 - 7 are all about narrative drive at a brisk pace, and it's VERY TV in the best sense: I can really envision myself watching it each week and feeling satisfied while also eager to tune in next week.
- Episode 28 is my least favorite episode. It's the only one that's a struggle to watch because even weak sauce like ep. 19 & 21 are fascinating for just how far over the cliff they go, plus there is a relaxed vibe to them since the writers/directors know they aren't going anywhere important. Miss Twin Peaks tries and - to me at least - fails to get our juices flowing, though it at least puts all the pieces in place for the finale and has some very cool moments (Windom w/ white face paint, for example).
