Twin Peaks

Question 1

Give a brief background.

Answer 1

First broadcast 1990s in US, became cult classic. New series coming out in 2016. Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. Made The Times top 10 shows of all time.

Question 2

Describe and analyse the opening credits.

Answer 2

Boring
- nothing happens
- series of 5(?) shots over 2 1/2 minutes with slow fade
- slow, repetitive, sleepy music
Establishes setting
- sleepy and dull
- rural/remote
- separated with no preconceptions

Lacks any genre indication and doesn’t show any characters. The only hint to events we receive is a shot of the saw mill, although at the time of watching it doesn’t seem important despite it becoming a key location.

Question 3

List the conventional and unconventional aspects in the pilot episode (crime genre).

Answer 3

Conventional

• murder/body/enigma
• typical sheriff/hero character (Harry) established early on (clothing, demeanour)
• panicking mum
• music
• narrative (body found, police arrive, enigmas about murder established)

Unconventional

• nothing is shown before the credits
• very little dialogue
• random camera shots (spinning fan in Palmer household)
• weird close-ups
• Lucy (receptionist) acts strange and unprofessional
• Andy at the crime scene, acts like a citizen that had come across the body (horrified, can’t stomach it, crying) and has to be sent off
• music

Question 4

List the key characters and their soap opera type.

Answer 4

Sarah Palmer - distraught mother
Sheriff Harry Truman - hero archetype
Audrey Horne - rebel
Donna Hayward - good girl
Bobby Briggs - jock
James Hurley - bad boy (motorbike)
Special Agent Dale Cooper - FBI presence

Question 5

Discuss Dale Cooper’s character.

Answer 5

• took a long time to introduce (30 minutes) despite being the main character
• clear he’s in charge (suit, clever, well spoken, neat appearance)
• intense attention to detail (recorder and speaking to ‘Dianne’)
• enjoying the case, but almost enjoying it too much: a girl is dead
• focusses on random things (cherry pie, trees, coffee)

Question 6

Discuss contrasting scenes, how and why they are used. Give examples. (Pilot episode)

Answer 6

They can be used with a scene (during Bobby Briggs’ interrogation Cooper smiles despite the serious atmosphere) or between scenes (‘the Norwegians are leaving! is followed by a sombre crime scene). This confuses the audience and plays with their emotions.

• Stag head on the table during a serious scene about evidence for the case
• Bar room fight has the theme music (unusual choice) in the background as diegetic sound, creating a strange and inappropriate atmosphere

Question 7

Give two examples of postmodernism in the pilot.

Answer 7

• the “policeman’s dream” of piles of donuts on the table is an exaggerated stereotype, used to mock the crime genre. This becomes a running joke for the series
• James being taken to the jail cell. Bobby and Mike act animalistic, snarling and stalking James through the bars

Question 8

What enigmas are created at the end of the pilot episode?

Answer 8

• Who killed Laura Palmer? (the long running enigma through to halfway through series 2, revealed to be her father Leland)
• Why was Mrs Palmer screaming? (she had a vision of Bob)
• Who took the necklace that James and Donna buried? (Doctor Jacoby)

Question 9

Describe the closing credits.

Answer 9

Simply a picture of Laura as prom queen with the closing music and credits rolling over. This draws the audience back to the main enigma which can sometimes be forgotten due to the soap opera nature of the show.

Question 10

Describe the opening scene of episode 1.

Answer 10

Opens to Cooper handing upside down from the rafters talking to Dianne. At first the scene appears serious before panning over to Cooper, and then become even more ridiculous when he begins to discuss Marilyn Monroe at the end of the scene. This shows that the show has now been funded, and Lynch can be as weird as he wants.

Question 11

What is the first hint towards who killed Laura?

Answer 11

It cuts from a discussion about suspects to Leo Johnson suggesting he killed her, especially since he has a violent nature and intimidating appearance and demeanour.

Question 12

What strange additions were made in episode 1?

Answer 12

• Nadine “yep, she’s quite a character” (James, making a postmodernist comment)
• Log lady (when the series was syndicated to Bravo log lady intros were created for each episode, adding to the surreal nature)
• One armed man (Mike)

Question 13

How is music and sound used in an interesting way in episode 1?

Answer 13

• the end of Laura’s tape that Jacoby is listening to gets cut off, creating another enigma
• Audrey is dancing in the middle of the room to music used often in the show assumed to be non-diegetic until her father (Ben) comes in and turns it off suddenly making is diegetic sound
• the scene where Leo beats Shelly (a particularly violent and loud scene) is sandwiched between two quiet ones

Question 14

What enigmas does episode 1 create and answer?

Answer 14

Answer:

• Doctor Jacoby took the necklace
• Sarah was scared of a man at the end of the sofa

Create:

• how did Jacoby know where the necklace was?
• who is the man that Sarah saw?
• what was in Laura’s tape that Jacoby was listening to?

Question 15

Describe the opening scene of episode 2.

Answer 15

Introduces a new character, Ben Horne’s brother Jerry, who comes in ranting about brie baguettes from Paris. Ben creates a strange feeling by announcing that Jerry was back from Paris, something people don’t do, but gave the audience context.

Question 16

What intertextual references are used in the beginning of episode 2?

Answer 16

• The Shining (“all work and no play…”)
• Ben and Jerry (ice-cream). They were famed for being obsessed with food, and the first scene with the two brother in involves them getting excited over a baguette

Question 17

What three characters are named for and modelled after famous people?

Answer 17

Harry S. Truman - Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of America
James Hurley - James Dean character
Dale Bartholomew Cooper - D.B. Cooper, a wanted man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft. His composite sketch is similar to the design of Agent Cooper.

Question 18

What is the juxtaposing scene in episode 2, centred around relationships?

Answer 18

Ben and the girl from One Eyed Jacks was very seedy and felt wrong and dirty. [Before/After] the scene with James and Donna that was very pure and good.

Question 19

Discuss the stone throwing scene in episode 2.

Answer 19

The set was highly unrealistic: blackboard and map of Tibet, chairs laid out like a classroom, table covered in donuts (continuation of the policeman’s dream), in the middle of a forest seemingly nowhere significant.

Conventional aspects: following clues, ‘J’ from the diary, looking through the suspects.
Unconventional: throwing stones at a bottle, got the idea in a dream.

The purpose of this scene is to remind the audience of the characters and their relationship to Laura. It was twisted and exaggerated in a style clearly typical to this show (postmodernism).

Question 20

Describe the character Albert and his role in the postmodernism.

Answer 20

Albert is the arrogant forensics expert from the city who is rude to and annoys Harry. During the scene Cooper is stood there grinning as if he gets he’s on TV and sees the stereotype.

Question 21

Discuss the dream sequence at the end of episode 2.

Answer 21

The dream sequence was very surreal and strange, even for Twin Peaks. Speech was distorted and given subtitles, Cooper appeared aged, Laura was there, and so was a dwarf. At the end the dwarf began to dance to the [theme music? which carried through the credits?]

As such it became a water cooler moment with people who had seen the show, and perhaps not seen the show, talking about it. It was something not seen in TV drama before.

Question 22

What enigmas did episode 2 create and answer?

Answer 22

Answer:
???

Create:

• Was that Laura in Cooper’s dream?
• Why did Cooper look older?
• Who was the dancing man?
• Who is Bob? Did he kill her? (revealed to be: yes)
• Where is the room in Coopers dream?
• What was the shadow ?????/

Question 23

Discuss the funeral scene in episode 3.

Answer 23

Everyone was present, contributing to the narrative. It was a cliché peaceful funeral until Bobby caused a scene and attempted to fight James. Leland jumped onto the coffin causing the mechanism to break and continuously move up and down. The following scene is of Shelly in the diner talking about what happened and laughing with customers.

This was Lynch speaking through the characters: “you’re gonna have to go along with this, even if it sounds a bit weird” and “Twin Peaks is different”.

Question 24

What became of Coopers dream? (episode 3)

Answer 24

She whispered the killers name into Coopers ear but he forgot. “Break the code, solve the murder”. This is telling the audience how and what to think.

Question 25

Discuss the character of Maddy.

Answer 25

She was played by the same actress as the one who plays Laura. Leland had to confirm it was Maddy, acting like he was seeing a ghost. This reminds the audience it’s just a TV show.

Question 26

Discuss the implications of the shows show Invitation For Love.

Answer 26

It makes the audience question the sincerity of Twin Peaks as a show.

Question 27

Discuss Twin Peaks and genre.

Answer 27

Conventional:

• small town
• no children
• murder
• coffee and doughnuts (although exagerated)
• stereotyped characters
• location

Unconventional:

• too much coffee and doughnuts
• dream sequences
• non diegetic/diegetic music
• focusses on seemingly random objects (fan in pilot)

Crime: murder, typical suspects, FBI involvement, small sleepy town rocked by tragedy, important figure killed (prom queen)
Soap opera: over the top characters and acting, broad cast, focusses on the lives of each individual character as well as murder, web of relationships

Question 28

Discuss the BBC interview with Lynch and Frost.

Answer 28

• Lynch wanted more time to tell the story since it was rare in the 80’s to get the chance to do a show like this
• Frost based Cooper on Lynch (quirky, attention to detail)
• They push the boundaries and emotions, often to make the audience uncomfortable (letter under Laura’s nail, Sarah constantly screaming, Leland throwing himself on coffin)

Blue Velvet by David Lynch had Kyle McLachlan (Cooper) in it as the protagonist.

Question 29

Discuss Twin Peaks and representation.

Answer 29

Gender:

• Harry (good heart, clean cut)
• Ed (lumbering cowboy, masculine, keeps his emotions together)
• Cooper (intelligent, smart, put together)
• Protagonist (strong, clever, brave, caring)
• Donna (sweet, good, kind)
• Laura (prom queen, popular, pretty, later shown to be seedy: prostitute, takes drugs)
• Norma, Josie (strong, independent)

Ethnicity:
- predominantly Caucasian
- one Native American (Hawk)
- one Chinese (Josie, from Hong Kong)
Realistically you're unlikely to get much diversity in a town like Twin Peaks, so while lacking in ethnic diversity this is accurate.

Age:

• young (high schoolers)
• middle age (parents)
• elderly (Mayor and his brother)

Disability:

• Donna’s mum (wheelchair)
• Nadine (lost an eye, revealed to be shot in a hunting accident by Ed)
• one armed Mike (cut it off as repentance)
• Johnny Horne (suffers from a mental disorder that is unspecified but causes him to act like a child)

Question 30

Discuss Twin Peaks and narrative.

Answer 30

Propp:

• hero (Cooper [& Sheriff/Ed)
• villain (“the murderer” which keeps changing to add to enigmas)
• princess (reward at the end, perhaps justice. Laura could also be considered a princess figure)

On the surface there are typical character types but they tend to be more complex. They’re used as they’re recognisable and allows for plot focus. Lynch pushed and played with these character types.

Todorov:
Equilibrium –> murder –> who dunnit? –> justice

This isn’t clear cut and is left open ended: the murderer is revealed in season 2 but justice is never truly earned. The reveal is bittersweet as we see Leland lament over what he did to his daughter and eventually commit a brutal suicide before the characters discuss whether Bob is still an issue (justice not reached) or whether he was just a manifestation of Leland’s demons (justice reached, but at what cost?) There is also going to be a third series, suggesting that it isn’t really over.

Todorov’s structure is used as the quest can be made endless. It is also multi-stranded, using Todorov within all of the strands. Todorov is also highly useful in relationship based stories.

Audience position:
There are lots of red herrings and enigmas (lots unconfirmed and constantly changing). They are positioned to think like the characters, and are always aware of what Cooper thinks.

Barthes:
Enigmas! Already covered in other cards.

Levi-Strausse:
Binary opposites are used to create conflict within the plot. It is also used within editing (juxtaposing scenes) as well as with the characters and themes of the show.