Twin Peaks

 As I watched the series of Twin Peaks, the part, or rather the person who intrigued me the most was the spirit of Bob. He was the character in the show who had the viewer most confused, and frightened. I searched for my three articles originally under the basis of Bob, and was able to further my understanding of the character, aw well as, the show in three different approaches: a scholarly article, and entertainment article, and a blog post. The similarities I found between the three was that all of the authors were very critical of the subject of Twin Peaks. They provided me of an objective analysis that created an understanding of their ideas, and occasionally their opinions on different topics concerning the show. All three articles allowed me to know that the author's all were extremely interested in the series. Twin Peaks was a revolutionary television series and it was reflected in all three of the articles I will write about.

Written by Scott Pollard, “Cooper, Details, and the Patriotic Mission of Twin Peaks”, is the scholarly article I chose to read. It focuses on key main points about Twin Peaks, rather than the series as a whole which occurred in both the entertainment article and blog post I read. These academic reviews, or journals can give an in depth assessment of any subject a person is researching. The authors are normally experts on what they are writing about, therefore the topics and ideas are more informative and accurate. A lot of the time, with some exceptions, vastly more research is put into scholarly articles, comparatively to entertainment pieces and especially blogs. They are written and changed over a long period of time before it is published to make sure that the information is valid and credible. This piece in particular focuses on the character Special Agent Cooper, his effect on the town of Twin Peaks, Leland Palmer and of course the frightening character of Bob. By focusing solely on these topics throughout the piece, Pollard is able to more fully explain what he believes to be true about the show. My first point about what sets this article aside from the other two is Scott Pollard's use of quotes throughout the piece. This shows that Pollard has researched his ideas thoroughly enough to use others writing's in order to further his point, as well as, describe his ideas in a different light. He is the only writer out to the three to use other sources in his review. For example he uses Georg Lukacs' idea of an epic universe to describe Dale Cooper's supernatural guidance that he receives from some of the inhabitants from the Black Lodge. The epic universe idea is that “everything is always/already a part of the same universal weave”, therefore the Giant and The Man From Another Place can guide Agent Cooper through his case because it is destined to happen. As a whole, this piece of writing takes a more astute approach to commenting and exploring the world of Twin Peaks. Rather than focusing on the overview of the series, Pollard makes insightful observations such as the presence of both a supernatural and an earthly evil. Yet, the most important to help turn Twin Peaks back into the utopian small town is the termination of Bob's spirit; this is Agent Cooper's biggest quest upon the show, rather than just finding Laura Palmer's killer. This type of article makes the reader think more thoroughly about the content in which the author is speaking about.

The next article I am going to write about is, “Don't call Twin Peaks a Cult Classic” by Martha Nochimson which was written for the Salon Website. This is an entertainment article which is usual written for the general public in order to find out quicker information about the topic of discussion. They are usually more easily read than a scholarly article, but research is still necessary for accurate information. What has set this piece apart form the other kinds of articles is that the author had spoken to David Lynch during the time the show had aired in 1990, as well as, many times afterward up until the publishing of this article in 2014. For an entertainment article, it is common for interviews to be conducted in order to better understand the area of discussion, unlike the scholarly article where research is more widely used. For instance, in this article it helps Nochimson give a more accurate depiction of Twin Peaks by getting to pick the brain of the creator David Lynch. She writes that the first time she interviewed him on the phone, Lynch spoke the entire time in the character of Gordon Cole. This is what made Nochimson realize the imagination of Lynch, which helps to show how it was possible for Twin Peaks to be so influential and revolutionary for television. What is revealed in this article is that ABC forced Lynch to expose Leland and Bob as the killer of Laura earlier than expected, which perhaps is the reason for the shows demise. Once the killer had been shown, viewers had less of a reason to keep up with the show, therefore creating plummeting ratings. Another difference between this article and the scholarly article, is the use of opinions. They are not as strong as in the blog post because of restrictions with editors, but they are present in order to guide the reader to think more about the topic. Nochimson sheds a very positive light on Twin Peaks and encourages others to be less critical of this series which defies the television norms.

The final article I am going to compare is a blog post by Joyce Millman and can be found on The City of Absurdity Website. The title of the post is “Twin Piques and Perplexes” and was written in 1990 after the original air date of season 2 episode 7, where Laura's killer is revealed. This piece was interesting because it was written before the resolution of the show and without the knowledge of much more than personal opinions and what fellow fans have spoken about the show to the author. Therefore, this makes the blog post mostly opinion based. For example, Millman, without knowing much about the character Bob and the dark lodge, believes that he is able to jump from person to person whenever he pleases. This ends up to be true and Millman, along with the other authors I have mentioned, are capable of making educational guesses on the happenings to the series. This type of review is also contrasts the other two types because Millman was able to use humor throughout the piece, such as when she refers to Leland as an “overacting father”. She is able to tell the reader how she truly feels about the show, with not many restrictions because it does not have to go to an editor and she is speaking her mind fully. Millman does not praise the show, but she makes a point to tell fans to not give up on Twin Peaks so it avoids being canceled.

All three types of articles have both pros and cons; it mostly depends what the reader is looking for. They all give insightful thoughts which helps for a better understanding of the topic.

Millman, Joyce. "Twin Piques and Perplexes." The City of Absurdity: David Lynch's Twin Peaks. The City of Absurdity, 18 Nov. 1990. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.

Nochimson, Martha. "Don’t Call “Twin Peaks” a “cult Classic”." Saloncom RSS. Salon, 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.

Pollard, Scott. “Cooper, details, and the patriotic mission of Twin Peaks”. Literature Film Quarterly 21.4 (1993) : 296-304. Print.