He’s supposedly playing a different, but related, character: Jean-Michel Renault. How that will pan out right now is still anyone’s guess.
I would urge you to do it the other way around. Yes, it is certainly faster to watch the movie rather than 30+ hours of TV, but the movie will not make much sense to you at all if you haven’t seen the TV show, and frankly its not nearly as engaging either.
Yeah, I would watch Season 1 of the show at least, then the movie, then the new series.
…Oh, and that video above before the new series, to catch up on how the series ended. Kinda important.
I would watch the 1st season, then the second season up to episode 7 (the reveal of the killer), then skip to the final episode 22, and finally the movie.
The pilot, the final episode, and the movie are the most important elements, as they were the ones most relevant to the new series because they were directed by David Lynch.
This series was hugely influential on my life. It came out when I was living on my own for the first time, completely broke and alone, trying to manage my way through law school by working 2 jobs five days a week (at at time when tuition was only about $3500/year) renting a dingy basement studio miles away from the subway public transit to work or school. No computer, no furniture other than a futon, a table I made in high school and a Sony Trinitron CRT.
I remember watching the pilot while eating one of those crappy little packages of crackers and cheez whiz with a plastic spreader for supper and getting extremely emotional when Laura’s family discovered her death, and at policeman Andy’s open emotion which was obviously somewhat for humorous effect, but was also deeply affecting to me. The show provided escapism and something to look forward to every week, and I’d arrange my schedule around it since I’d have no way to otherwise see it if I missed it. Loved the music. Loved Cooper. Thought Bob was legit creepy and terrifying, and the scene where he is revealed in the mirror when Laura’s killer is revealed is one of the creepiest and most memorable scenes in TV history to me.
I greatly prefer the Lynch episodes, and dislike how indulgent and silly it got in the 2nd season, when every character was given a weird power or quirk – watch the pilot again and see how grounded it actually was to see how off the rails it eventually became, even though Lynch obviously intended to introduce supernatural elements. But the whole series has so many fond memories for me, and I was happy to recently get it on bluray (along with the extra 90 minutes that were cut from the movie).
I know the new series (which I haven’t yet watched) will be largely inaccessible for anyone other than fans of Lynch and/or his contributions to the original show, and his work lately doesn’t even attempt to be as coherent as it was in the early 90s, but I still view 18 hours directed entirely by him, reflecting his own unedited vision, 26 years after the end of the show, to be an incredible gift that I intend to savour.
Does anyone understand the release schedule for this? I’m watching on Amazon with a Showtime subscription. I gather it might be different if you have Showtime on cable?
I’m up to episode 3 and I’m with the Ringer critics on this: fan-fucking-tastic.
It’s television as modern art, seriously. It’s pure, undistilled David Lynch.
I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m totally engrossed nonetheless.
I was on board…until episode 3. Then it just (in my opinion) turned into a self indulgent mess. Every actor (even those from the original run) comes across as awkward stunt casting (that extended scene with Michael Cera was painfully bad), and every scene with Cooper seems written purely to confuse out of some form of spite that Lynch is taking out on the audience.
The first two seasons of Twin Peaks was weird (often beautifully so), but it had a semi-coherent narrative. I’ll stick with it to see where it goes for a while, but if it continues down the same path as the last two episodes, I will consider my time with this new season to be a complete waste.
Yeah, this doesn’t feel like the original Twin Peaks at all. In a way, that’s a shame. That would be a great show to watch. This is very different, but I’m still enjoying it as a new work by David Lynch with some crossover with his work from the 90s.
I’ve been liking the show quite a bit even though I’d agree with what you guys are saying. He’s definitely doing his own thing and I loved this scene in episode 4 where he poked fun at the melodrama from the old show. Thought it was pretty funny (it was supposed to be funny, right?).I hope we get more scenes like that.
I’m glad we are seeing less of the Black Lodge now. It’s interesting since it’s so damn weird, and where else are you going to see stuff like this, but I think they lingered too long there. I also totally forgot what the giant said to remember in the first episode. Lingering on uninteresting scenes is my other issue. I don’t mind him taking it slow and wallowing in the atmosphere a bit, but watching a guy spray painting shovels doesn’t work for me. Even the scene with the guy watching the box felt like it went on too long.
Looking forward to episode 5 and I’m hoping this all goes to a satisfying conclusion.
Whoah. Super interesting edit showing Cooper visiting the glass box observation room (ep. 2) sync’d with Sam/Tracey’s experience in the room together (ep. 1). Seems so precise to me that it’s got to be intentional scripting/editing.
Spoilery YouTube
Cool find! Based on the cut back to the cube room establishing that Cooper appeared while the watcher was distracted I definitely find it hard to believe it was just a coincidence. Interesting that the loud pounding on the door coincides with the coeds being murdered.
Completely different show than the original run, but really digging it so far.
Holy crap, episode 3 is pure Eraserhead. I’ve counted about a dozen direct references if not more.
Yeah, I noticed a ton of references to Eraserhead too.
My main feeling is that they had 12 episodes written, and then Lynch got into his fight with Showtime over the amount of money they were allocating per episode, the result of which was that apparently they gave him more money in exchange for him agreeing to personally direct 18 episodes. But they just decided to stretch what they’d already written, so this is all going slower than it should be.
It’s also packing a lot of Lost Highway in there… Lynch can’t not be Lynch.
I can see fans of Twin Peaks being put off by this while the Lynch aficionados are in hog heaven. We’ll happily watch him do anything.
But one thing we can all agree on… there’s no greater opening-credits music sting in all of television history than those two words appearing with those two notes, the low and the high. Just add pine trees and a waterfall. It was amazing when it first aired and now it’s amazing +25 bonus points for nostalgia.
It’s got a rough poorly made quality to it that I would find unwatchable, if it didn’t have either the casting it has, or the Lynch backing. But watching it, I find myself appreciating that it’s not the generic formulaic polished stuff I otherwise watch.
I don’t know how much longer they can drag this current Cooper thing out. I’m not complaining, it’s rather good. But when will it end?
How long can he stand around open mouthed, having to be dragged by people who can’t grasp that he’s half retarded? His primary speech being to repeat what other people say, or to gape mindlessly.
(fake)
Its just David Lynch showing Terence Malick who the real boss is. You want your Tree of Life eh?
Episode 8, wtf, so awesome.
So I’m not sure wtf it had to do with Twin Peaks, but taken as the mutant cockroachfrog offspring of Eraserhead and Blue Velvet, that last episode was both better and Lynch-ier than most of the thin gruel we’ve been asked to swallow so far.
(I’m looking at you, Dougie.)