TV Trash: 10 Reasons Why Twin Peaks Failed

I wouldn't click your trashy link if you paid me

https://lebeauleblog.com/2011/05/22/twin-peaks/

Part of what made Twin Peaks unique was the changing tone. Viewers never knew what to expect. The show melded influences as varied as horror, comedy, soap opera and police procedurals. Sometimes, it was hard to know whether or not a scene was intended to be taken seriously or played for laughs. And any time the viewer got too comfortable in the cozy rural setting, Lynch would would pull the rug out from under them with something creepy or downright horrifying.

The central mystery to Twin Peaks was of course “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” It was a hell of a hook. And the nation’s fascination with the mystery made the show into an overnight phenomenon for a little while. Lynch had no intention of solving the mystery until the end of the show. The idea was that over the course of the show, the Laura Palmer mystery would recede into the background while other stories about the citizens of Twin Peaks would creep into the forefront.

The problem with that plan was that viewers were so hooked on the Laura Palmer plot line that they got frustrated when it was not the focus of the show. Also, to be fair, most of the other plot lines were no where near as strong as the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer. The drama at the lumber mill was so full of double crosses you couldn’t keep straight who was betraying whom or why.

Then you had some dopey (presumably comedic) plot lines like waitress Shelly Johnson and her high school boyfriend Bobby taking care of Shelley’s brain damaged husband. Or middle aged Nadine waking from a coma with super strength and no memories of anything after high school. This story eventually lead to the painfully unfunny bit where she joined the high school wrestling team.