j'ai une ame solitaire - my habit of david lynch

Saint David of Lynch

Twin Peaks. Currently re-watching the entire series straight through with my new roommate, who has never seen them.


David Lynch has his own line of coffee and writes books on transcendental meditation. He makes some damn fine quinoa and started a foundation for kids with ADHD. He builds furniture, was formally trained as a painter, and has cut some really good music albums. He recently married a 26 year old (he's 65.) Oh, and he happens to be the finest film and television director that ever lived, is all.

Wrapped in plastic.

Watching through the series that singlehandedly revitalized the field of TV drama, I'm again struck by how excellent the first season is...and how terrible the second becomes. Twin Peaks sets up the lovely and divided Laura Palmer as the MacGuffin (fancy cinephile talk for the object of desire pursued throughout the plot) in the first few frames...as a dead body. The mystery surrounding her former double life and subsequent death drives the show  The solution to Laura's mystery happens early in the second season, which takes all the steam out of the plot and subplots...characters begin to play out unnatural scenarios that feel at best, desperate, and at worst...cheap. David Lynch only directed a few of the episodes himself, and left during the second season to film Wild at Heart. That explains it. Wild at Heart was worth it.


That's the only bad news. The good news is that Twin Peaks is one of the most unique, memorable and fascinating series ever to grace your home viewing box. The quirky, lovable characters, mesmerizingly eerie scenes, and symbolic plot devices twist and bend your mind at every turn. The whole thing feels very stream of consciousness...one of the things I love about Lynch films is his ability to embrace happy accidents and improvising. A flickering lamp on set is translated into a powerful symbol once the cameras are rolling. A set dresser accidentally caught in frame TWICE becomes an integral part of the plot of the show. Twin Peaks is chock full of these amazing little moments that you would never see in any other television show. It's like a puzzle you never want to be finished.