Mark Frost confirms "Complete Mystery" set...

[GeekBoyEric74]

...In this weekend's Chicago Tribune article, which I will post for all of you here:

Return to 'Twin Peaks

By Web Behrens
Special to the Tribune
Published April 22, 2007


Diane. The strangest thing has happened.

"After a very busy night going undercover at One-Eyed Jacks in pursuit of one of the men we suspect for the murder of Laura Palmer, I've awoken in a hospital bed. Somewhat-hazy memories have begun to float back to my conscious mind: Before retiring for the night, I had ordered a glass of warm milk from the Great Northern's ever-reliable room service; yet upon answering the knock at my door, I did not discover that soothing beverage and its promise of a sweet, dream-filled slumberland. Instead I discovered a masked assailant with a gun. Three shots rang out and everything went black; I still don't have a clear sense of how long I was gone.





"I don't think I have to tell you, Diane, that the coffee here at the hospital can't compare to the cup Norma pours at the Double R. But not even this weakly caffeinated cafeteria disappointment can explain my inability to make any sense of the time frame: Sheriff Truman tells me I've only been out for a few hours, but it feels like five years!"

That odd sense of returning from a timeless void probably isn't unique to Special Agent Dale Cooper, the fictional FBI hero from "Twin Peaks," the seminal TV show that elevated the medium's potential. Armed with ace detecting skills, powerful intuition and his trusty micro-cassette recorder (which he used to file audio memos to his unseen assistant, Diane), the upstanding, delightfully quirky Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan) became one of the most beloved characters on a show that briefly enthralled a nation when it debuted in March 1990. When three shots were fired into Coop's midsection at the end of that first bracing season, millions were left buzzing for an entire summer. In addition to our special agent, about half the cast were left dangling in some sort of peril.

But the four long months those characters (and their fans) waited for resolution is nothing compared to the DVD limbo they've endured. That initial seven-episode season of "Twin Peaks" appeared on disc in December 2001; ever since, fans have been waiting for the digital release of that second, final season. This month, they get their wish. "There were a lot of cliffhangers at the end of Season One. That was actually part of my strategy to try to get us picked up for the second season," admits co-creator Mark Frost with a chuckle. "[But] I didn't anticipate there'd be a five-year gap between people seeing that and picking up the DVDs for the second season."


Revelatory show

It might be hard for a "Peaks" virgin in 2007 to imagine how revelatory the show felt. The brainchild of writer Frost (who'd previously worked on "Hill Street Blues") and film director David Lynch (who'd impressed art-house moviegoers and Oscar voters with 1986's "Blue Velvet"), it quickly ignited in the nation's consciousness from the opening minutes, when one character found by water's edge the corpse of homecoming queen Laura, wrapped in plastic. Too avant garde to last in 1990, the show flamed out one year later.

Still, its legacy lingers. With its slow, studied depictions of a cozy burg in Washington state and its offbeat denizens' inner lives, the alternate-reality soaper influenced other whimsical ensemble dramas such as "Northern Exposure" and "Picket Fences." But there also was an unsettling, otherworldly element to "Peaks" that paved the way for "The X-Files" and "Lost" to develop their own complex mythologies. Finally, it embraced a cinematic visual language and employed stage and silver-screen actors in defiance of typical TV convention of the time -- years before "The Sopranos" and others.

"It was so zeitgeist-y," says Damon Lindelof, co-creator of "Lost," one of the show's direct descendants. He fondly recalls watching every episode with his father, who kept a binder of detailed notes and clues. "Everyone was talking about Cooper and the Log Lady and apple pie," Lindelof says. "Everything was so fresh . . . The vibe David Lynch and Mark Frost created was new and exciting."


Renegade storytelling

Though "Twin Peaks" had quickly warned less-adventurous viewers away with its renegade storytelling, the show committed more fully to its singular path in Season Two, which took its time in revealing Laura's killer. Viewers had to realize, sooner or later, that the murder mystery was just one huge MacGuffin, an excuse to build an atmospheric playground. It managed to be hilarious and horrific, uplifting and dark, absurd and spot-on, often all at once.

"Instead of just saying, 'Oh, [so-and-so] killed Laura Palmer' -- which is the way 'Dynasty' or 'Dallas' or 'Falcon Crest' would approach the mystery -- 'Twin Peaks' went into this other realm. That certainly, in a positive way, inspires a fair degree of our storytelling [on 'Lost']," Lindelof says.

Contrary to popular opinion, the determinedly weird material didn't come from Lynch's brain alone. The sense of foreboding evil is also a hallmark of Frost's page-turning first novel, "The List of Seven." That sort of outre storytelling, combined with slow pacing, caused ratings to drop, and ABC sealed the deal with suicidal scheduling choices. Too avant garde for 1990, the show didn't have the benefit of Tivo and the Internet, which can fuel a rabid fan base into a much greater fire.

Although its creators have long since moved on, the show continues to cast its spell. Frost confirms that a comprehensive DVD boxed set of the entire run, including the pilot, will be released "within a year." Thus, like any telegenic creature that captured the country's imagination and disappeared too soon, "Twin Peaks" endures.

Frost says with a grin, "We lived fast, died young and left a good-looking corpse." Just like Laura Palmer.

- - -

Character studies

Many fans felt "Twin Peaks" lost its way before it died, but we'll even endure broody biker-boy James on the run (the series' low point) if that's the price for these gems from Season Two:

Show tune-singing Leland. Teetering ever more precariously on the brink of insanity, Laura's grieving father suddenly begins belting sunny show tunes. Amid a stellar ensemble cast, actor Ray Wise rises to the top.

Cheerleader Nadine. Long before "Heroes" made super cheerleaders cool, "Twin Peaks" sent its super strong amnesiac housewife (Chicago actor Wendy Robie) back to school in the show's funniest post-Laura plotline.

Secret Asian man. Of the second season's many new characters, Tojamura, the taciturn Japanese businessman, is the most inspired. Why does he lurk around the Great Northern? The answer to the show's second-best mystery is a special treat in the new DVD.

-- Web Behrens

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ctc-arts@tribune.com

[Jerry Horne]

Right on! But, will they correct the problems plaging the newly released S2?

[dugpa]

Only if we make sure they know what the problems are.

-B

[Annie]

GeekBoyEric, thanks for the news!

Dugpa, are you saying a massive letter-writing or emailing campaign needs to be in the works?

[LeoFaraon]

~

[silenttwn]

4- The Pilot: Remaster it. Region 2 pilot is substandard.

The season one release containing the pilot was substandard?

Episode 27, at the very end, showing the hospital corridor.

This shot looks off because it was a shot pulled from the pilot. I am not sure what steps they took in the editing process to extract that shot from the pilot, but they could have very well just used a video source and not the original negative (so it's not the transfers fault, but the way they grabbed the shot from the pilot).

[LeoFaraon]

~

[tj o'pootertoot]

[quote="LeoFaraon"]
About the shot pullet from the pilot: it's funny, i don't remember that shot in the pilot, but when Dr. Jacoby gets hit in Episode 7, I remember the shot of his eyes, which dissolves to the roulette at OEJ, being "off" and video-like as well.
[/quote]

I was just rewatching S1 in prep for S2 and noticed this shot as well.
I think the "video" effect is simply the better resolution on DVD exposing the optical work they did way back when.

A similar example is in Star Trek II there is a shot where Kirk is having his retina scanned before displaying the Genesis Project data. I don't know how it looked on TV or film but on DVD the shot of Kirk is clearly a still shot that has been messed with, very much like the Jacoby shot.

Someone with more tech knowledge can correct me but my impression, on both counts, was that they are not transfer mistakes, just the wonder of DVD...

[Audrey Horne]

This is great news. But I'm actually interested in more info and insight from the creators viewing the show as a whole, a piece of art. I'd be interested in talk and discussion about the second season (in terms of story, as tv, as tv needing to aquire ratings -the Cooper/Audrey main thread discarded, the show turning into the type of show it was turning upside down to begin with.
Packaging-wise -I think it should look like the first season -and for me there are two iconic images for the series -the Laura Palmer homecoming photo/wrapped in plastic -and the Audrey/Cooper DoubleR diner promotional photos. (Cooper has his coffee and pie, Audrey's furtive glance at him, while he's gazing out the window pondering Laura's death- encompasses the whole series)

[silenttwn]

About the shot pullet from the pilot: it's funny, i don't remember that shot in the pilot,

If you're curious as to when it occurs, it's during the principal's announcement to the school concerning Laura Palmer's death. The shot has that long hallway and you can hear his voice over the intercom.

[Jerry Horne]

If the same company is releasing the complete mystery that released S2, surely and unfortunatley, they will use the same masters? Also, has anyone really confirmed that Lynch gave the S2 box the audio/video treatment? Maybe he removed Cooper's line from ep28? I must say, i always thought his line seemed dubbed on as an afterthought.

[John Neff]

Perhaps Frost would consider hiring me, as an Independent, to remix the whole bloody mess in 5.1, delivering both DD and DTS masters. I would certainly be willing....

...and I could even retain and enhance the original stereo mixes for the 'purists'.

[sloclub]

Perhaps Frost would consider hiring me, as an Independent, to remix the whole bloody mess in 5.1, delivering both DD and DTS masters. I would certainly be willing....

...and I could even retain and enhance the original stereo mixes for the 'purists'.

I second that, John.

[silenttwn]

Perhaps Frost would consider hiring me, as an Independent, to remix the whole bloody mess in 5.1, delivering both DD and DTS masters. I would certainly be willing....

...and I could even retain and enhance the original stereo mixes for the 'purists'.

Were you involved at all in the Season One remastering? The remastering on that set was a lot better.