I'm gonna!
In fact, I just finished rewatching the first episode. This will only be my third time around, and the second was well over ten years ago (the first was when it first aired), so my eyes will be fairly fresh. Or I thought they would be, anyway; it is startling how much I remember.
I have a feeling I won't have much new insight to bring to the show. I loved it so much the first time around--that first episode was like a miracle in 1990--that I will be viewing through a haze of helpless devotion. Nevertheless, I'm up for it if you are (Wes, I know you're with me).
And so to begin . . .
As I watched the opening credits, I was smacked by the memory of how utterly new and unexpected they were when I first saw them. The channel was ABC. The year was
1990. The first episode aired on April 8. I wasn't expecting much of anything when I tuned in. And from the first moment, I was lost.
Watching today, only a few things irked me: Dana Ashbrook is immediately awful (James Marshall's shortcoming are quickly evident, too, but it takes a little while longer for them to show up). There is some clunky dialogue (e.g., James, after kissing Donna: "I'm sorry [beat] . . . No, I'm not"; Doc Hayward to Donna, after picking her up at the police station and gently scolding her for sneaking out, "We've also got another problem facing us tonight--where is your sister's bicycle?"). The wacky music that accompanies Audrey's shenanigans as she sabotages the meeting with the Norwegians is annoyingly heavy-handed. Julee Cruise's "live" performance at the Roadhouse is overproduced and silly.
But all that is nit-picking. There is so much else that is odd and good and ominous. I won't bother mentioning the usual suspects but will note that I especially loved the first random shot of the traffic light changing colors and the occasional consciously noir dialogue (Agent Cooper's description of Twin Peaks as "a town where a yellow light means slow down, not speed up" and even his "Harry--you're all right" are examples).
One last comment: I will be watching the show this time around after living in a tiny, close-knit town for fifteen years. This is going to change how I respond to the portrayal of small-town life and the depiction of the relationships among the characters. I know a lot more about how these kinds of places work now. When I think the show gets something wrong, it is going to jar.
So far, so good, though.
