As a teenager, I remember Twin Peaks becoming my weekly TV fix. Everyone at school was completely immersed in the journey to find out who killed Laura Palmer.
The image of her pale body, wrapped in clear plastic, and lips that have turned blue, are firmly etched in the minds of fans.
David Lynch explored his whodunit narrative in a style of eeriness that was unusual for a TV series in the 90s.
This era pre-dated the birth of Google, social media and binge-watching. It became a cult-hit nonetheless – that’s how much impact the show had.
The 2017 version of Twin Peaks takes place 25 years after FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) found his guy.
In the opening scene, Twin Peaks is swathed in mist. There’s a very menacing overtone – after all there is a legacy to be upheld.
Lynch, who directs all 18 episodes, flits between showcasing present-day Twin Peaks with its forested outskirts.
Two episodes in, I’m still trying to get my head around all the unfolding bizarreness, gruesome killings and how the random scenarios are connected.
What I have managed to deduce is that Dale Cooper is in an alternate reality. He is trapped in a room, draped in red curtains and populated by weird robotic characters.
Meanwhile, his malevolent doppelganger, who is a bit on the chubbier side and wears his hair long, roams the town, terrorising folk.
He also goes on a bit of a killing spree.
Meanwhile, there is a student who is hired for a science experiment. He has to sit on a couch in a room, looking through an encased glass cube, which is a portal into the city. He is visited by a very attractive young woman from the coffee shop.
She pops by with coffee in the hope of being invited in this heavily guarded room. Her tenacity bears fruit eventually, but it also spells her demise.
Then there is a woman gruesomely murdered in her flat. What’s worse is that she was decapitated but that body wasn’t hers.
Hawk (Michael Horse), who is now the deputy chief of police, gets a disturbing call from the Log Lady. She asks him to dig up all of Laura Palmer’s case files because there’s something he has missed.
Amid all these happenings, Lynch tries to establish a sense of normality with scenes that show the town folk chilling at the local pub, catching up with old friends.
undefinedThe series boasts familiar faces and new ones like Laura Dern, Naomi Watts and Michael Cera. Of the recognisable faces, I have to say Ray Wise (Leland Palmer) doesn’t look like he’s aged over the decades. He either takes amazing care of himself or he has the best plastic surgeon on hand.
Twin Peaks may be a bit different. But the script is imbued with plenty of humour, supernatural mystery, deadly deception and a minefield of secrets to ensure buffs from this golden era of TV will revel in the unfolding shenanigans of this dark fantasy horror.
* Twin Peaks airs on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) on Tuesdays at 9.30pm.