A brief reaction to Twin Peaks thus far

Ok, so it is David Lynch, which means I shouldn't try to read in to every little thing. But I can't help it!

**Spoiler alert...but if you don't care, read on.

The title of the show alone evokes similarities from all his films; he loves incorporating the "doubles" concept, especially when it's good vs. evil, light vs. dark. There's the Double R Diner, where Shelly and Norma, both pretty blondes who have criminal husbands AND slightly more tame, caring affairs, work as waitresses. There's Laura Palmer's cousin Maddy, who is simply actress Sheryl Lee with darker, bigger hair and huge glasses. These are the more obvious sets of "twins" in the town of Twin Peaks; one could also draw parallels, twin-like and opposing characteristics between Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlin) and Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean), both from branches of law inforcement who each contribute their own talents and knowledge to solving the case of Laura Palmer's death.

Lynch also loves to incorporate his own problems with intersocial communication into his work; both Laura and Agent Cooper speak into tape recorders instead of on the phone or face to face with a physical person (Dr. Jakoby and Diane, respectively). The dwarf character (billed as "The Man From Another Place", played by Michael J. Anerson of HBO's Carnivale) who appears in Agent Cooper's dream speaks and moves backwards; Lynch then reversed the film and audio so that he moves awkwardly and is subtitled because his speech is nearly indecipherable.

It's interesting to me that the intro sequence in the pilot is significantly longer than the sequence for the rest of the series. The pilot intro involves far more graphic, violent imagery, with mill equipment being sharpened. One is almost inclined to draw parallels, if you read into it enough, between the pilot intro and the opening credit sequence in Dexter, a show that also centers around violent, underworld subject matter. But starting with the first hour-long episode of the series, creaters Lynch and Mark Frost opted to showcase more beautiful, serene images, with flowing rivers and waterfalls. These pictures of water could also be seen, in an afterthought, as quite disturbing, since Laura's body was found washed up on the river's shore. (Watch it here, I couldn't figure out how to embed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oDuGN6K3VQ)

I've been watching the show on DVD, and am currently on Episode 6 (if you count the pilot as episode 1). So far the Pilot and Episode 6 have been the best. I've heard I should expect a downhill spiral from here, filled with cliches and nonsense. I hope Lynch has the common decency to tie up loose ends, but then again, he generally hates his audience, so we'll just have to see.