"I've got good news. That gum you like is going to come back in style"
ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 19th April 1990
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 1 Episode 3
WRITTEN BY: Mark Frost & David Lynch
The twisted mind of David Lynch has been confusing people on cinema screens for years, and when he tried his hand at television, the result was no less surreal. Zen is the definitive episode of Twin Peaks and contains the show's most iconic scene.
The dream sequence, where Cooper is in a red room with Laura Palmer and a midget, is one of the most amazing and absurd things ever put to the small screen. It's a hypnotizing, unforgettable scene that leaves the viewer transfixed. This was the first completely "out there" moment of the series, and it made viewers wonder just what kind of show they were watching. It captured the audience's imagination and people analysed and dissected every line looking for hidden meaning. If people weren't hooked on the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer before, they certainly were after it.
There's another standout scene in Zen that less people remember. It's the part where Cooper is throwing rocks at a bucket as Lucy reads out names of suspects, as part of a technique he apparently picked up in Tibet. We knew right then and there that Cooper was not a by-the-book detective and was willing to use less conventional methods in his investigation. With that in mind why should we be surprised that he takes a dream so seriously?
Both these scenes demonstrate the eccentric and quirky nature of the show assuring Twin Peaks a place in pop culture history for life (once The Simpsons has parodied you, you know you've made it). Other shows were inspired by it (e.g. Lost) but there has still been nothing quite like it ever since and there never will be.
No comments:
Post a Comment