Subject: A Dissenting Opinion....
From: anne@CYPRESS.CRAY.COM (Anne Chenette)
Date: 1990-10-03, 14:07
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks

References: <1990Oct2.193018.12783@velvet.com>

In article <1990Oct2.193018.12783@velvet.com> barb@velvet.com (Barbara Petersen) writes:
> >The word that came most strongly to mind was "pathetic".  A few of the good
> >points remain: many of the characters are still interesting; the direction is
> >still top-notch; there are still lots of "good lines".

I agree.  I didn't find this episode interesting at all.  The dry, unexplanably
weird little touches that I associate with Lynch's work were missing from this
show.  The existing weirdness sort of whomped one upside the head - no
subtleties whatsoever.  I also hated the music - too much "standard prime-time
drama" music and almost no "eerie Lynch/Cruise" music. If I hadn't known that
Lynch directed this episode, I would have guessed that it was done by someone
who didn't quite "get" the concept.

I didn't like the last episode from last season because too much was crammed
in; this spoiled the dreamy pace of the initial shows.  That dreamy pace has
not returned in the new season.

> >-- The continuity errors still irk.  How many siblings does Donna have this
> >   week?  Will the half-heart be on a chain or a leather thong this week?
> >   Which tape will we hear this time?  (Yet another?  Why, if Cooper had
> >   memorized Leo Johnson's police record, as we saw last season, didn't he
> >   already know that Leo was in jail on the night of Theresa Banks' murder?)

Was anyone else disconcerted by the difference in Harriet?  I thought
at first that she was being played by a different actress.  Then I
decided that it was just that the actress has had her braces removed
and her hair straightened.  Quite a change for a story that has
advanced only a few days...

> >-- The quirkiness and moodiness is no longer an integral part of the show; it's
> >   become forced.  It felt almost as if they produced an episode of a "normal"
> >   television show, then, as an afterthought, ran the whole thing through their
> >   patented "quirkiness and moodiness" post-processor.  Things like the opening
> >   scene with the room-service waiter, or the bit with Ben and Jerry dancing as
> >   Leland sings, bordered on the farcical (or the idiotic -- take your pick).

I agree 100%.  The thing I like best about Lynch's other works, including the
first 2 episodes of Twin Peaks, is that the quirkiness is both understated
and unexpected.  I also LOVE the way that Lynch's violence and evil is both
funny and attractive (in the sense that the "bad" characters are far more
interesting than the "good" characters).  I laughed the whole way through
the very first episode last season.  I did not find that kind of enjoyment
in this latest episode. In particular, I thought that the final
Laura/Bob/violence scene was overdone and mishandled.

> >Ultimately, I wonder if it's even *possible* for a week-after-week television
> >show format to be compatible with the sort of production that "Twin Peaks"
> >wanted (and wants) to be.  As a mini-series, it could have been a classic; as
> >it is, it continues to grow embarrassing.

I thought so, too, but I'll keep watching in hopes of a better episode
coming along...

Anne Chenette
  anne@cray.com
    or
      ..!uunet!cray!anne