Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Little Nicky
23
15%
James/Evelyn Marsh Storyline
51
34%
Ben Horne Civil War
22
15%
Audrey and John Wheeler
14
9%
Nadine in High School
13
9%
Packard/Eckhardt Battle
4
3%
Josie as a maid
1
1%
Leo as a vegetable
0
No votes
Donna and her true father
2
1%
Donna and James season two
4
3%
Milford/Lana
11
7%
Other (Please specify in comments)
6
4%
 
Total votes: 151
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Brad D
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by Brad D »

Lana and Dougie is the bottom for me, easy
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

LateReg wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 2:03 pm

First off, to be clear, mtwentz, I agree that the Donna-Ben daughter-father is a very conventional storyline. All I'm saying is that I feel that episode 29 results in an incredible payoff all around.

And Reindeer and Cappy, I don't disagree that Donna's Harold Smith dialogue is among her best work; conversely, as Reindeer and I have talked about, I actually think that the graveside scene caps off a lowpoint in a semi-lull in an otherwise excellent stretch of episodes, though I'm not sure if it's her fault or the dialogue or the combination of performance and music that results in such an over-the-top moment. Obviously, her "You're my daddy" might be read as over-the-top as well, but the total combination of music, performance, direction, etc. makes it come across more as a pure shot of unhinged emotion, whereas at the graveside it feels more like it's trying (and trying and trying) to achieve that sort of effect. I understand that opinions vary on that, but the interesting thing to look at is how "you're my daddy" is so short while the graveside dialogue is so drawn out. I don't know what looking at the length gets you, but it's interesting regardless.

But ultimately, I'm just responding to Reindeer's notion that Lara's line reading isn't terribly good, and I think what I really look at in the "you're my daddy" moment is the overall intensity of the scene, directed by Lynch himself. Given that the line reading has already at times produced genuine chills via its forceful emotion in me (a totally subjective thing), it's hard for me to see it as anything except great considering that Lynch himself directed the scene and likely got exactly what he was looking for out of Lara. At any rate, it just feels like one of those many moments in episode 29 in which Lynch forcefully righted the wrongs of previous plot and character trajectories, in this case giving Lara a unique chance to bust out of inconsequential plotlines and be viscerally felt and heard. It all feels just as real and intense to me as FWWM. (All that said, my writing about the scene is based on a couple of really great reactions to it, and I'm not sure if I feel it's THAT effective every time. Still, it's fun to put all this out there.)
Interesting point about the brevity of that one line. They say “brevity is the soul of wit.” Perhaps there’s something to be said for it in melodrama as well.

There’s a quote from Lynch (Rodley book, I think?) about how he basically felt stuck with the first half of the Episode 29 script because those storylines were a natural progression of what had gone before, whereas the Black Lodge stuff he could scrap wholesale and start from scratch. I forget the exact wording and I’m frankly too tired to look it up, but he comes across as not necessarily loving the scripted E29 material that takes place in the town (which he filmed pretty faithfully). It does feel like he really tried to make that material (which is very conventional on the page) much more “Lynchian” with the angles, performances and editing. The Nadine scene is maybe my personal favorite. He comes close to redeeming my personal least favorite EVER Peaks storyline in just a few minutes, with the crushing reality of the situation for each character finally coming the surface after all that sitcom bullshit of the past 20 episodes. But the Hayward house scene is great too. He definitely was going for heightened melodrama for sure, and the editing is interesting...everything is so weirdly paced, with a lot of very abrupt cuts (like the shot of Will screaming), making it all feel kind of disjointed in a way that undercuts and yet feeds into the melodrama aspect perfectly. Certainly Lara's line reading was exactly what he wanted and was part and parcel of that feel. It’s interesting, I just looked at it again, and you don’t even see her face at all during that line...her face is buried in Will’s chest and all we see is the back of her head. Hell, it could have been added in ADR (not saying I think it was, but it’s essentially purely a voice performance).
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Audrey Horne wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 10:43 am Can we add twenty-three more additions from The Return to the choices?
That was my thought, too. I have probably written a multitude of posts in my life about why little Nicky is worse than Evelyn and how Dougie/Lana sucks and Ben's civil war doesn't. But I don't think I have a clear answer to what is my least favourite storyline of The Return. A lot, I guess - mostly all those storylines that missed their point as they were dropped unfinished in the meantime!

First thought, though: Andy and Lucy. I hated what Lynch had turned them into, a caricature of what they used to be, and I could hardly watch it. Not that I could see any point in it, either.
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by Jonah »

I do think there are some storylines - or at the very least scenes - in The Return that are as bad as or even worse than stuff in the mid-season 2 stretch, maybe some of the Andy/Lucy stuff is too silly, the Wally Brando stuff, the slow-leaving lady in the room with Lynch (though I think I sort of liked that), the sweeping scene (again, sort of liked it), the arm-wrestling stuff, the gunshot at the Diner and the woman in the car outside, the Billy stuff, the roadhouse conversations, a lot of the stuff with the detectives, Chantal and Hutch (great actors, awful characters), even the whole sending a letter to the sheriff plot that seems at best antiquated and at worst just plain silly (there are phones - or just go to the station and call in, it's a small town), etc. There's probably more I'm not thinking of right now - and I do know some people love that stuff. I don't even necessarily dislike much of the stuff I've listed, just giving some examples of stuff that seemed similar in tone to mid-season 2.

I just think it's ironic a lot of this bad stuff and stupid humour appeared in The Return, given Lynch apparently hated Season 2. There did seem to be an awful lot of that kind of stuff considering that. I was surprised to see that kind of humour and silliness and stuff so prevalent in The Return. There's a lot of it in Mulholland Drive too (with the hitman and stuff - this felt similar to all of that). Makes you wonder how much of this silliness and humour in the mid Season 2 episodes may have come from Lynch/Frost - and Lynch in particular, given the MD similarities - even though we often think all that stuff happened because they'd both stepped away from the show for awhile (I know they weren't writing it but Lynch did suggest Josie in the drawer pull, which I liked but came around the same time, and there may have been further input, and presumably they were still overseeing things to some extent despite stepping away). And doesn't it seem a lot of this stuff gets a pass in a way the stuff from the original series doesn't simply because Lynch (and Frost) helmed all the new episodes?
Last edited by Jonah on Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by BOB1 »

Good point.

A lot of what you've listed aren't even storylines - theyr'e just scenes. Some of them I actually did like, say:
Jonah wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:05 pm the gunshot at the Diner and the woman in the car outside
others I didn't. But I'd have to think of what could be given the name 'storyline'. Andy/Lucy was my first thought. Next - the guy with the green glove. I wish he was never born.
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Jonah
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by Jonah »

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that scene where he fights the orb. That's one of the scenes a lot of people have gripes with. I thought the effects were awful and cheesy but I didn't necessarily hate it, though I can understand why some do. The guy with the bleeding cheek downstairs (while the actor himself is funny when repeating stuff) is quite off-putting and nauseating too.
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