Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Little Nicky
23
15%
James/Evelyn Marsh Storyline
51
34%
Ben Horne Civil War
22
15%
Audrey and John Wheeler
14
9%
Nadine in High School
13
9%
Packard/Eckhardt Battle
4
3%
Josie as a maid
1
1%
Leo as a vegetable
0
No votes
Donna and her true father
2
1%
Donna and James season two
4
3%
Milford/Lana
11
7%
Other (Please specify in comments)
6
4%
 
Total votes: 151
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Jonah
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Gabriel wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:46 am I'd argue that even as recently as 1990, TV shows were still being made on the basis that they'd be viewed once on a weekly basis and only a hard core fan would be keeping them on a VHS or Betamax tape for constant rewatching.
This is a very good point. Storylines were more disposable and burned through much more quickly - much of the mid-season stretch of Twin Peaks may not be something that was meant to be maintained for posterity.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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JackwithOneEye
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by JackwithOneEye »

some of the master of disguise stuff, where Earle dresses up and pretends he was collague of Will Hayward's was bit a cringe.

Evelyn/James, i didnt mind it that much. another part of the tapestry of people looking to scam insurance companies for a payout. Even Shelly quiting the RR and staying home with Leo was an attempt to get some insurance checks.
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Jonah
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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JackwithOneEye wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 12:59 pm some of the master of disguise stuff, where Earle dresses up and pretends he was collague of Will Hayward's was bit a cringe.
That was probably his best disguise but totally unnecessary. That scene is really creepy and effective imo, but would have worked perfectly fine with him out of disguise. The rest of the disguises were awful. It's best to think of them as a tongue-in-cheek parody of Batman or Bond villains, even though I don't think that was actually the intention, at least not fully.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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I'd love for Windom Earle to invite me to his pajama party! :D
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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I was fine with him in the long johns and playing the flute even though I know some people hated that. If they'd just toned back or skipped the disguises a bit, the character worked for me, even when he was over the top. The disguises kind of killed it for me though. They were just too silly. The rest could be put down to his mania - I suppose even the disguises could be, but they were just too silly-looking.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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My favorite goofy Earle costume is when he’s spying on Coop (the one person in town who would actually recognize him), and his “disguise” is...a fishing outfit? Literally, his disguise is “Windom Earle in fishing gear.” The one time it would actually make sense to wear a disguise, and he half asses it. :lol:
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Jonah
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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That whole sequence of him watching them in the boat was so 80's/90's TV movie thriller though I really like it nonetheless lol.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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JackwithOneEye
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by JackwithOneEye »

I was 13 when it aired and thought the WIndom Earle villain stuff was the best thing ever.
years later when I re watch, I think, oh yeah, this is kinda cheesy.

daytime soaps are full of that stuff, Stefano on Days of Our Lives etc
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Agent Earle wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 11:04 am When one sees Ben Horne's Civil War shenanigans and then remembers this is the same man who plotted with Jean Renault to have Cooper eliminated, one feels like he could cry at how low they let this once formidable character sink...
I get that, but he also went through a series of traumatic experiences (not least of which was unwittingly trying to have sex with his own daughter, and then having his daughter learn that he was having a relationship with one of her classmates). Given that he was forced to reckon with his truly despicable sins becoming public, it’s understandable that he has a breakdown, and while the way it’s portrayed is undeniably silly (would that we could have had a more serious exploration continuing on from that lovely “family movies” scene), it’s far from the most embarrassing storyline in that era of the show. Beymer is game as always, chewing the scenery, and it’s fun for what it is, unlike Nadine and Lana and Nicky and Evelyn, which are just completely cringe-worthy from conception to execution. Honestly, I find the subsequent “good Ben” storyline much worse than the Civil War stuff, because it’s so damn boring (although it obviously informed Ben’s scenes in TR which I like, so I guess all’s well that ends well).
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Double J
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mtwentz
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

Post by mtwentz »

Mr. Reindeer wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 5:43 pm
Agent Earle wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 11:04 am When one sees Ben Horne's Civil War shenanigans and then remembers this is the same man who plotted with Jean Renault to have Cooper eliminated, one feels like he could cry at how low they let this once formidable character sink...
I get that, but he also went through a series of traumatic experiences (not least of which was unwittingly trying to have sex with his own daughter, and then having his daughter learn that he was having a relationship with one of her classmates). Given that he was forced to reckon with his truly despicable sins becoming public, it’s understandable that he has a breakdown, and while the way it’s portrayed is undeniably silly (would that we could have had a more serious exploration continuing on from that lovely “family movies” scene), it’s far from the most embarrassing storyline in that era of the show. Beymer is game as always, chewing the scenery, and it’s fun for what it is, unlike Nadine and Lana and Nicky and Evelyn, which are just completely cringe-worthy from conception to execution. Honestly, I find the subsequent “good Ben” storyline much worse than the Civil War stuff, because it’s so damn boring (although it obviously informed Ben’s scenes in TR which I like, so I guess all’s well that ends well).
I’m with Agent Earle in this one. To me the Ben Horne Civil War storyline lacks any suspense or real dramatic tension. And it’s attempt at humor falls as flat as Michael Cera doing a James Dean imitation .
F*&^ you Gene Kelly
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Just in case I wasn’t clear, I’m not saying the Civil War storyline was good. Just that I think other stuff was way worse, and it really surprises me that people hate it more than the truly embarrassing Nadine and Lana stuff.
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Jasper
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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mtwentz wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 6:57 pmI’m with Agent Earle in this one. To me the Ben Horne Civil War storyline lacks any suspense or real dramatic tension. And it’s attempt at humor falls as flat as Michael Cera doing a James Dean imitation .
It's a Marlon Brando in the Wild One impersonation. Maybe that will help you enjoy it more.
:lol:

I personally love the Wally Brando scene without qualification or apology.
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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Mr. Reindeer wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 7:10 pm Just in case I wasn’t clear, I’m not saying the Civil War storyline was good. Just that I think other stuff was way worse, and it really surprises me that people hate it more than the truly embarrassing Nadine and Lana stuff.
Well if it's any consolation, I don't think Ben's Civil War stuff is the worst (and I definitely agree with the points you make about it) - I hate Nadine, Lana, and Little Nicky rigamaroles way more (though I love Dick Tremayne!). But it's among the least interesting ones to me of the plethora of wonky story arcs that litter what's otherwise my second favourite part of the show (ie. the back half of S2; my favourite is the first half, should you wonder). The "abhorrent" storylines I don't have a problem with are anything with Donna, Audrey & John Justice Wheeler and (please, don't shoot me!) James & Evelyn - this latter always used to creep me out for some reason, and its atmospherics is quintessential TP for me. That's TP for ya: a most perfect harmony of seemingly incompatible whims, moods, and feelings! Now, if only I could get S3 to fit in there somewhere... :)
Last edited by Agent Earle on Sun May 30, 2021 6:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Least Favorite Storyline in Twin Peaks

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I’m OK with James and Evelyn. It’s not great, but it annoys me way less than the sophomoric “comedy” subplots. And I find parts of it way funnier (albeit unintentionally) than the plots that were meant to make us laugh. That weird car crash noise that seems to happen at the end of the Marshes’s driveway is way funnier than anything in the Nadine storyline. Ditto anything involving Malcolm Sloan wandering in and out of James’s room to deliver exposition.
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