How did you react to these turning points in Twin Peaks?

[LostInTheMovies]

I first watched the series and film on DVD in 2008 and have been fascinated with it ever since. I can't think of any other story - film, television, you name it - that takes the viewer on such an emotional roller coaster. I'm really curious to know how other people reacted to it, particularly people who watched it when it was first aired on television in 1990-91 (I was only 6-7 at the time). I've read a lot of archived articles and columns from the time but on this thread I'm more interested in anecdotal, personal memories. What did these events mean to you? What reactions did you observe around you (either watching it in groups or talking to people later) - were they similar to your own? I may eventually try to collect these into a post or something (if enough people offer feedback) but for now I'm just fascinated to hear memories/reactions. Spoilers below, obviously.

Here are the points I'm most interested in (with different aspects of the same episode divided into subpoints):

1. The pilot
2. The appearance of Bob in episode 1
3. The Red Room dream in episode 2
4a. The season finale - the fact that Laura's killer was not revealed
4b. The season finale - Cooper being shot
5. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer - did you read it before watching season 2? Did it point you in a certain direction?
6a. The season 2 premiere - the very long opening with the waiter
6b. The season 2 premiere - the appearance of the giant (which certainly takes the vaguely supernatural air of the show in a new direction)
6c. The season 2 premiere - the violent flashback to Laura's murder, with Bob making his first sustained appearance
7. Bob crawling over the couch in episode 9
8a. The killer's reveal in episode 14 - the fact that it was Leland
8b. The killer's reveal in episode 14 - the fact that it was also Bob
8c. The killer's reveal in episode 14 - Maddy's murder (maybe the most disturbing thing I've seen in a TV show or even movie)
9. The way the discovery & capture of Leland/Bob is handled in episode 16
10. Leland's wake in episode 17, with the comic subplots emerging and the writers trying to move past the mystery
11. The realization that the Cooper-Audrey storyline was not going to play out
12. The stretch of episodes 17-23 (you know the ones)
13. Where you felt the show picking up again
14. The finale (and I know it was a 2-parter in '90 but I'm particularly keen to hear how the Lynch half played)
15. Fire Walk With Me

And of course, any other points you want to mention!

I might share my own as well, though in some cases it's hard for me to remember given that I quickly watched the series again and analyzed it from an already-familiar perspective. Even though it was only a few years ago. Hope your memories are better than mine!

UPDATE: Here is the compilation of these responses on my blog: http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/201 ... peaks.html

[chalfont]

I was 15-16 when it was first aired, so if it's hard for you to remember 6 years back, you can only imagine how it is for the rest of us... But I liked the post, so I'll give a few of them a try:

1. The pilot:
I remember the show was advertised on TV in the days and maybe weeks before it started and was looking forward to it. Think even I discussed it with friends and family that we need to watch this. (as if we had any choice, really - we only had 1 TV-channel ) It was aired here on Fridays or Saturdays. Still, I can't really remember my initial reaction to the pilot other than everyone really liked it. I remember my neighbours had taped it on VHS, so we watched it a few times.

4a. The season finale - the fact that Laura's killer was not revealed:
Don't think I expected that the killer would be revealed.

4b. The season finale - Cooper being shot:
Oh no!!!!

5. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer - did you read it before watching season 2? Did it point you in a certain direction?:
No, I read it a couple of years after the show.

6a. The season 2 premiere - the very long opening with the waiter:
Remember that one well. Seemed liked it lasted the entire episode!!!! Was really frustrating!!!!!

6c. The season 2 premiere - the violent flashback to Laura's murder, with Bob making his first sustained appearance:
Very scary!!!!

7. Bob crawling over the couch in episode 9:
The most frightening moment in TV history. Need to say more??

8a. The killer's reveal in episode 14 - the fact that it was Leland:
Somehow, I think I knew a couple of weeks before....

[LostInTheMovies]

I was 15-16 when it was first aired, so if it's hard for you to remember 6 years back, you can only imagine how it is for the rest of us... But I liked the post, so I'll give a few of them a try:

1. The pilot:
I remember the show was advertised on TV in the days and maybe weeks before it started and was looking forward to it. Think even I discussed it with friends and family that we need to watch this. (as if we had any choice, really - we only had 1 TV-channel ) It was aired here on Fridays or Saturdays. Still, I can't really remember my initial reaction to the pilot other than everyone really liked it. I remember my neighbours had taped it on VHS, so we watched it a few times.

4a. The season finale - the fact that Laura's killer was not revealed:
Don't think I expected that the killer would be revealed.

4b. The season finale - Cooper being shot:
Oh no!!!!

5. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer - did you read it before watching season 2? Did it point you in a certain direction?:
No, I read it a couple of years after the show.

6a. The season 2 premiere - the very long opening with the waiter:
Remember that one well. Seemed liked it lasted the entire episode!!!! Was really frustrating!!!!!

6c. The season 2 premiere - the violent flashback to Laura's murder, with Bob making his first sustained appearance:
Very scary!!!!

7. Bob crawling over the couch in episode 9:
The most frightening moment in TV history. Need to say more??

8a. The killer's reveal in episode 14 - the fact that it was Leland:
Somehow, I think I knew a couple of weeks before....

What country did you watch it in?

[chalfont]

Norway

[Audrey Horne]

Fun! And completely candid response from back then...

Teenager who watched too much adult tv as a child. 1990.

Pilot. Cool, I want to watch this, I love Agatha Christie and whodunits! I'm not going to be home but hey, I will record it on VHS and then watch it. Thank god I did. Saw Blue Velvet when I was twelve, and was already a film criticism nerd, and grew up with HBO playing The Elephant Man a lot. Thought Dune was boring and not Star Wars. So I knew who Lynch was. But never watched Hill Street Blues but could hum its theme song. Anyway, watched the pilot by myself... Holy moly! Really into the wacky receptionist, Agent Cooper, James and Donna and those bikers! Love the young sister of Donna. Who did it?! Where's that woman in the ads with Cooper where they are drinking coffee? Surely the parents won't be in this thing much past this episode... That would be too depressing.

Bob in pilot. Creepy, but didn't give it much thought. I know enough to know that is a big red herring.

Red room. Okay, this show is great. Again, thank god I recorded and kept these. Already watched the pilot and second episode at least five times, have made friends watch them. Have a notebook with notes. This episode is amazing, there's a whore house?! Cooper throwing rocks?! The spooky rich girl is doing another dance?! Ha, Lucy sticking her tongue out at the new FBI jerk! Love her the most. ...wait, what the hell is this dream?! Episode over, mind blown! This show just jumped to another level. Rewatch the dream again and again. Tons of notes in my pad. Hurry up next week!

Finale. I love this show! On Donahue, the other guy who's not Lynch says it's coming back next Fall, yay! Laura's not dead right? The cousin is... I saw Vertigo, I know! By now, after Audrey muscled Batis and cried while watching Leland, and smoked in the closet I am fully on the Audrey Horne and Agent Cooper best characters ever on tv train. The killer is so obviously a "good guy" ...the Sheriff or Donna. Maybe the father. Guys quit complaining about not finding out who the killer is, the show has so much more going for it!! Okay, Nadine and Leo are dead, right? Those characters have outlasted their usefulness. Ha, love Catherine telling the sweet but dumb waitress to shut up she has a thing in her mouth. Those two will be fine. Go, Catherine, you're fantastic! Ohhhhh, my god, Audrey! How are you going to get out of this one?! Ahhhh, yes, she left a note for Cooper... Wait, no Cooper, noooo! Okay, no way he's dead. No way. Truman or Donna shot him. I'm fine with not knowing and spending months thinking what is going to happen. This is the best show ever!

[LostInTheMovies]

Norway

Have you been able to watch The Missing Pieces yet? I'm sure there's one you have enjoyed/will enjoy quite a bit.

[LostInTheMovies]

Fun! And completely candid response from back then...

Teenager who watched too much adult tv as a child. 1990.

Pilot. Cool, I want to watch this, I love Agatha Christie and whodunits! I'm not going to be home but hey, I will record it on VHS and then watch it. Thank god I did. Saw Blue Velvet when I was twelve, and was already a film criticism nerd, and grew up with HBO playing The Elephant Man a lot. Thought Dune was boring and not Star Wars. So I knew who Lynch was. But never watched Hill Street Blues but could hum its theme song. Anyway, watched the pilot by myself... Holy moly! Really into the wacky receptionist, Agent Cooper, James and Donna and those bikers! Love the young sister of Donna. Who did it?! Where's that woman in the ads with Cooper where they are drinking coffee? Surely the parents won't be in this thing much past this episode... That would be too depressing.

Bob in pilot. Creepy, but didn't give it much thought. I know enough to know that is a big red herring.

Red room. Okay, this show is great. Again, thank god I recorded and kept these. Already watched the pilot and second episode at least five times, have made friends watch them. Have a notebook with notes. This episode is amazing, there's a whore house?! Cooper throwing rocks?! The spooky rich girl is doing another dance?! Ha, Lucy sticking her tongue out at the new FBI jerk! Love her the most. ...wait, what the hell is this dream?! Episode over, mind blown! This show just jumped to another level. Rewatch the dream again and again. Tons of notes in my pad. Hurry up next week!

Finale. I love this show! On Donahue, the other guy who's not Lynch says it's coming back next Fall, yay! Laura's not dead right? The cousin is... I saw Vertigo, I know! By now, after Audrey muscled Batis and cried while watching Leland, and smoked in the closet I am fully on the Audrey Horne and Agent Cooper best characters ever on tv train. The killer is so obviously a "good guy" ...the Sheriff or Donna. Maybe the father. Guys quit complaining about not finding out who the killer is, the show has so much more going for it!! Okay, Nadine and Leo are dead, right? Those characters have outlasted their usefulness. Ha, love Catherine telling the sweet but dumb waitress to shut up she has a thing in her mouth. Those two will be fine. Go, Catherine, you're fantastic! Ohhhhh, my god, Audrey! How are you going to get out of this one?! Ahhhh, yes, she left a note for Cooper... Wait, no Cooper, noooo! Okay, no way he's dead. No way. Truman or Donna shot him. I'm fine with not knowing and spending months thinking what is going to happen. This is the best show ever!

Love it! Hope you return with recollections of the second season.

"Okay, Nadine and Leo are dead, right? Those characters have outlasted their usefulness."

Oh boy...

[Audrey Horne]

Diary. People said it came out before the second season premiere. For some reason, I bought it after the second episode, so maybe I waited a week or two. Strange since I was obsessed. So for me it was after we already had a lot of Bob and the Giant. Read it for clues. I didn't care about Laura as a person, only as a plot device. Still thought man this girl has a lot of time on her hands to do all these things, how does she micromanage. I can barely do my math homework. Okay, the killer is Ben, Leland. I don't think it's Donna anymore. Hmmm, Ben seems kinda obvious but I guess it ties into the stars of the show with Audrey and Cooper, so that could work going forward. Leland? That would be creepy.

Second season premiere. Best summer ever. Late September. Got me the Rolling Stone! Kyle is dating Donna Hayward? Lame. Madchen portion cool, great photo! Donna, zzzzzz. Audrey pic!! Of course she's a virgin. Thanks Rolling Stone, great article! Newsweek just told us Bob did it?! Bob, that's not even a main character! Time magazine!! Four new photos from the second season! Cooper on the floor with blood, he'll be okay. Audrey in the OEJ outfit, is she hiding behind a tree escaping in the woods, awesome! Josie and Ben with wine glasses... Oh, this is going to be good. A Giant? Kyle hosting SNL. Best skit ever! Lynch going apeshit on Kyle for nonchalantly spoiling that Shelly the waitress killed Laura Palmer. MTV music awards... Sherilyn and Otkean!! Emmys yay! Wait, Fenn is sick and not there, boo! Wait, Kyle lost, boo! Whattttt, Twin Peaks lost? boooooo!

Actual premiere. Um, after school job, I'm not feeling well I have to stay home tonight... Suckers! Okay, okay, okay long credits get to Cooper, and get to Audrey! Hey I remember this little old guy from The Searchers, fun! Okay, okay enough, enough... I can't take it anymore! Finally, that giant. Cool, more clues... I will write them down later but let's get to One Eyed Jacks, please!

Second season premiere. There seemed to be a lot of long scenes in the middle at the hospital, and not as strong as the pilot, but hey it's a tv show and it's going to be a full season, no problem. Ouch, that Donna scene with James. Is Maddy finally going to reveal she is Laura? I love Pete. Yes, Albert is back! No Catherine, she's the shows best actor! Yes, finally back to OEJs. Glorious brilliant Audrey... Uh oh, she's in trouble. Awkward Hayward dinner, poor Leland. Audrey praying to Cooper... These two are magic together. Ronnette waking up, what the hell is this? Good lord, that is horrifying. So that Bob thing really did do it. But who is he? Leland, Ben or Truman. I think Donna was out of it for me by then.

[Audrey Horne]

Bob crawling. Crying, crying hard. Had to work Saturday night at family restaurant. Got home by 10:30 to discover my mother had changed the channel and my precious VHS tape was no recording nbc's Carol Burnett and Friends! Frantically change channels to hear Truman tell Cooper, "Audrey Horne is missing." Noooooooooo! The television gods are cruel. Still plenty of stuff though to come... Audrey with Batis, hell yes! Leo in coma, sexy scene with Booby and Shelly in the car, nice. What the hell is this? James, Donna and Maddy (the holy trinity of lameness) singing? Um, okay.... Wait, wait, wait... God, that is scary as hell. Okay, this Bob guy really is getting to me. More scary dream from Cooper, more Bob, owls, phone call... audrey in the red drapes! Yes, yes, yes... Oh no. ( surely Cooper knows where she is now, right? And the killer is Ben or Leland.)

Not even thinking too much about the killer because I think we are not going to find that out until the end of the season. Friends make me go to the Rocky Horror Picture show on the night of the OEJs raid and all the commercials for that week show Cooper threatening Nancy. First memory of Rocky Horror show is only god, I can't wait to get home and watch this in the middle of the night!! Three in the morning jumping up and down when Truman, Cooper and Audrey escape! (Those three together are going to run shit on this show!). What, they ARE going to reveal the killer in two weeks? Okay. Oh and by the way, Catherine is totally that Japanese man, right? Ahhh, Cooper and Audrey reunited and it feels so good. Cooper and nemesis Ben Horne, perfect. Oh, Cooper's old partner is crazy and on the loose. Okay, Peaks we get the foreshadowing about the ex partner and Audrey. Gee, wonder who he will threaten? That should be good. Jean Renault, great villain too... Should get plenty of mileage out of him now that Leo is useless. Do we really need all these new characters? Harold, Dick (he's the worst), and back off Syd (Cooper is Audrey's). Well, surely they won't introduce more unnecessary players in this already perfect ensemble.

The reveal! Ohh, boy. This is it! And I'm watching alone. My cousin (Laura, natch) is calling me and also getting in on the last minute action. So this is the episode where Cooper is going to bring them all together and tells us and them how and who did it! Honestly, as long as it's not Audrey, I will be fine. And we can finally move on to other mysteries in this great town. Hmmm, this is really good, but we are running out of time if Cooper is going to solve this. Okay, it can't be Ben. Yes, Glorious Audrey twist the screws to your father and give Cooper that info! And Pete and Catherine reunited, and yes it does feel so good. Thank god, Catherine is back! Oh, Christ Donna and James, shut up! Oh wait this scene is really, really good. I love this Julee Cruise music. How is Cooper going to solve this? Sarah, are you dead?! Ugh, shut up Maddy you pointless character. Wait, Leland. Oh, my god, the mirror! Ahhhhhhh. No, no, no, Maddy, you are not a pointless character! Run! Run!!! Get out of there!! Speechless. What am I watching? Crying. Stunned silence. Can't wait for next week. Completely forgot Cooper didn't solve murder. This is too good. Next week Cooper tells Audrey to lock her door! Oh my god this is going to be good. Can't wait for the rest of this season.... Can only get better!

[chalfont]

Norway

Have you been able to watch The Missing Pieces yet? I'm sure there's one you have enjoyed/will enjoy quite a bit.

Yes, I did! Allthough I loved that scene more for how it portraited a nice moment in the Palmer family. Leland, and Ray Wise, is a wonderful person

[chalfont]

Remember the final episode. I was home alone (my childhood home was a house in the woods....) was too scared to watch it live at night.(I saw the opening credits, and there I saw Ray Wise was on on the list and that was it for me... ) Had to tape it and watch it the next morning. Actually, I think I was home alone for the pilot too...

[Audrey Horne]

Okay, nice follow up to the reveal of the murderer. Leland is nuts! Ray is crushing it! More new characters? No not now, guys. Now that Ben is not the killer, I can bask in the brilliance of the Horne Brothers. Okay this is a filler episode, but that Cooper, Audrey scene was pretty good... Where are her saddle shoes?! Maddy in plastic, genius. What two weeks for the next episode?! That is bullshit!

Thanks Entertainment Weekly for showing a picture of Leland freaking out in a interrogation room with blood on his head, and for saying the next episode will have wake! You suck.

Leland's last episode. Who's directing this? A little heavy handed guys. It's okay, it's okay. Get to the Audrey scene. What, there isn't one? Yes, Cooper is gathering people at the Roadhouse! Have all my notes on how the murder was done, Cooper is so smart! ....ummmmmm, almost a year for that? All those clues and brilliant writing for that?! Laura whispers the killer in his ear?! Cooper you are the worst detective ever! And thanks for coming Bobby, Hank, Leo, Ben, Major. You can go home now. Ray, beautiful work dying. You will be missed. Not sure about juxtaposing Dick, Andy and Lucy with it. Um, is that a computer generated owl in a junk yard? Please don't do that again, Twin Peaks. It doesn't suit you.

The wake. My friends the next day.... " it's all fluff!" Me... " shut up!" But seriously though, what happened? Remember the town in the pilot that grieved when the homecoming queen died? Well another pilar of the community died violently. Do they think they are attending a wake, funeral of a father that raped and murdered his child?! La la la good potato salad. Or where they informed no, no it was a supernatural spirit that jumped into his body? And in that case, it's still la la la good potato salad. Corkscrew!!!! Good lord, that is worse than the computer owl in the last episode. Not to worry, Audrey and Cooper will take us out of this mess. Or kinda. Cooper sets up the rest of the season for the Audrey/Cooper/Crazy Partner Plot and rebuffs Audrey. Basically see you for May end of the season Sweeps, Audrey. Time to give the other actors a plot for the off winter months. I've watched Cheers and Moonlighting, I know how the romantic leads work on this will they or won't they machine. Ah, and Cooper is out of the FBI... Perfect way to keep him in town. Okay, a couple of lackluster episodes but it will be fine. After all, they have to do a whole season this time.

Audrey, Cooper arc not happening. Never realized it until much, much, much too, late. They were prominent for Sept and November. Network sweeps time. Burn off James, Nadine, Norma and Ed in the tv lull months. Wait, Audrey's falling for Bobby? Aha, not so fast she's only doing that to get info to save Cooper. Glorious Audrey! She knows what she wants and isn't going to give it up for anyone other than Cooper. Hmmm, why is she helping her father, don't let them make up, that's no fun. Where are the saddle shoes, man! February sweeps mostly Josie? James?! Okay, okay that's done. Windom Earle playing with cards of production photos from a Twin Peaks?! That's just lazy now! Aha! Windom has selected Audrey as the target, and planted the masked of old First flame Audrey in Cooper's bed! Nice recall of when she put the OEJs mask on too. Finally we are back on track! Wait, Shelly and Donna also get notes from Earle? Um, okay but that seems like a lot of red herrings, we know he's going after Audrey because of Cooper, right? Huh, why are they introducing another fake out guy for Audrey? We already have the crazy ex partner plot. Is she falling for him? Fine, whatever... We need conflict. But it's seems it's been awhile since we've had a Coop,Audrey scene. And that guy in the cowboy suit is probably bad news anyway. ...what the hell? hiatus?! Josie in a doorknob?! This show better come back!

[LostInTheMovies]

Remember the final episode. I was home alone (my childhood home was a house in the woods....) was too scared to watch it live at night.(I saw the opening credits, and there I saw Ray Wise was on on the list and that was it for me... ) Had to tape it and watch it the next morning. Actually, I think I was home alone for the pilot too...

As another commentator just quoted Cooper, "Lock your doors!" He's in it for like 2 seconds but, yeah, those 2 seconds are really creepy - the grin and those pale blue contacts. I remember thinking, around ep. 15 when Frank Silva started getting overdirected (it took Lynch to really get him on target) that Leland had become scarier than Bob.

[LostInTheMovies]

Wow, I'm just loving these flashback recaps, AH! I'll wait till the last to leave further thoughts but keep 'em comin'...

[Audrey Horne]

The stretch. Hmmm, no one is watching this with me anymore. No one saw last night's episode? I'm only rewatching an episode maybe once or twice. Little Nicky? C'mon! Did you really just put another bad special effect is this show? Was that a thought bubble on Andy's head?! Huh, Lana is the most captivating woman in this world? Have you guys paid attention to the press over the past year? You know you have Fenn, Amick, Chen, Lee on this show, right? This Evelyn Marsh plot is really, really, really dumb... And I'm a stupid teenager. This white lodge, black lodge stuff is hokey. Knock it off. really, Jean Renault? You're going to let a waitress in and get taken in by her shapely leg? Remember when it was months since the last time we saw Mike Nelson? Well he's back, yet Audrey is only getting that one scene in Ben's office?! Yes, Thomas Eckhardt and Andrew Packard, this should be good. Oh, never mind. What ever happened to One Eyed Jacks? Josie shot Cooper because he came here? Dick Treymaine, you should be on another show, pal. What the hell ever happened to Sylvia Horne? Oh there's Johnny. Thank god Leo is out of that coma. This should get good. Never mind. It that another special effect with Cooper's First Audrey as a thought bubble? Wait is that Evelyn Marsh? Fuzzy VHS tape! Evelyn was Caroline?! Nadine and Mike are the highlight? Nadine kicking Hank's ass, fun! Peggy Lipton is the most patient person ever... Has she been allowed one decent plot line yet?! Even her bad review and mom from hell came as an almost tag on scene. Okay, okay now that Ben is back, Earle got the note to Audrey, and Cooper solved who shot him we can move on to the fun!