Episode 20 - Dead, Wrapped in Plastic

We're going back to David Lynch's Twin Peaks, boys and girls, so let's rock!

Originally aired on October 23, 2009, ep. 20 is in many ways the most interesting show we've had so far, which is, of course, due to the richness of our subject matter. Just how do you go from the shot of a dead girl with bluish lips wrapped in plastic to an FBI agent stuck in a netherworld marked by heavy red curtains and highly bizarre forms of communication - while discussing donuts, coffee and Tibetan philosophy - is beyond me. The Twin Peaks project is by no means perfect but at its best it is so much more than entertainment or art: when it gets going, Twin Peaks becomes a living entity of its own.

The question of who killed Laura Palmer is, of course, secondary to all the characters that inhabit Twin Peaks with their outworldly quirkiness and surrealism. By the beginning of the second season of the show it becomes clear that the whole affair is more than a simple murder case, and whatever a Gordon Cole's "blue rose" case is supposed to be, it is this aspect of the mystery that we are drawn to. After all, how many shows can introduce a ghostly giant that delivers cryptic clues - while the main character of the show is bleeding profusely - and maintain their air of coolness?

Another important trait of Twin Peaks is that it is heavily layered. In addition to playing with the genre of a mystery show as well as most of the existing TV tropes at its time, not excluding a meta soap opera show, the series incorporates a long list of symbols from different literary, philosophical or religious backgrounds, and fits them in one brilliant puzzle. My favorite is the white horse that appears in the Palmers' living room not long before another murder takes place.

It is a common complaint that Twin Peaks doesn't have a real ending. In the last minute of the show we see the hero, FBI agent Dale Cooper, become possessed by the villanous spirit known as BOB, which means that a lot of evil is about to be unleashed upon the town of Twin Peaks (and beyond). The film never resolves this open ending of the show either, which is why it was hated so much upon its release in 1992, and was even booed at Cannes! The interesting thing is that the film does provide an ending or at least an explanation of the show and the fates of the key characters; it is just that it is not straightforward enough to shoot down all guessing but at the end of the day, do you think that David Lynch would want it any other way?

These and other discussions take a large chunk of our episode but it doesn't mean we've forgotten about the music. Angelo Badalamenti hijacks this episode either through his original score for the series and the film or through the music for Julee Cruise's haunting songs. We also have to mention Bohren & Der Club of Gore which have been carrying the Badalamenti legacy for the last 15 years, never missing a single tone.

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Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST (1992)

What can be said here that hasn't been said before? Well, even though Angelo Badalamenti's score to David Lynch's Twin Peaks prequel sounds like your standard midnight jazz at first listen, there is nothing on this planet that achieves a similar emotional impact, not even on the other two Twin Peaks soundtracks. The well-known melancholic synth of "Twin Peaks Theme" and "Falling" is enriched here with thick layers of noir jazz, industrial elements, and even beat poetry, gradually growing into a mutant sound that is paranoid and evil just as much as it is seductive and infinitely sad. People have called the music here "horror jazz" and I can only concur on this term.

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Sycamore Trees

For me, this scene is the most beautiful TV moment ever and the essence of Twin Peaks. Written by Angelo Badalamenti with lyrics by David Lynch and sung by Jimmy Scott, the track "Sycamore Trees" is the definition of nameless melancholia, which on the other hand, is my definition for late October through the entire November. Of course, melancholia is rarely the topic of good horror stories but in real life, it can be much more devastating and, ultimately, beautiful.

Note: The lyrics to "Sycamore Trees" are actually from David Lynch's dream project called "Ronny Rocket", a script he wrote after Eraserhead. Here is the script text:

GIRL:
I got idea, man... you take me for a walk (she moves closer to the guy) under the sycamore trees (closer) the dark trees that blow, baby. In the dark trees I'll see you and you'll see me...I 'll see you in the branches that blow in the breeze... I'll see you under the trees.

Episode 6: The Endless Dream of Morpheus

Of course it was going to happen at some point: an episode devoted to dreams and The Sandman. For this occasion, we invited director Sasa Stanisic as a guest to give us a picture of why this series of graphic novels is so successful not just as entertainment but as an art work with a multitude of layers within layers. His answer in summary, it's because of how well the author Neil Gaiman establishes the novel's world where ancient myths and popular culture intersect. Our answer is a bit less constructed: it's because Morpheus looks a lot like Robert Smith from the Cure (even though he really copies the physical appearance of the author himself). Plus, it doesn't hurt that the stories are so touchy: take one element out of each Sandman tale, and it all falls apart into a stream of piled up emotions... which, of course, adds to the drama of narration.

We also discussed some aspects of dreaming as well as the horror of waking up into infinity, a concept that gives fuel to one of the scariest non-horror films of the last 10 years, Richard Linklater's Waking Life. Freddy Krueger was also mentioned briefly, and of course, mostly in the context of the blood geyser sequence everyone is talking about...

Now the playlist for The Endless Dream... As you will notice, the song selection for this episode is divided in two radically different halves, the first devoted to "totally uncool" golden oldies that are not only quoted in Neil Gaiman's masterpiece, but also happen to be among my favorite single songs of all time; and the second soaking in a much darker sound full of "hits" such as Einsturzende Neubauten's "Armenia." More importantly, starting from this episode the show is fully recorded and available for your listening experience by clicking HERE...

Finally, it would be a terrible shame to omit the classic homage to the Candy Colored Clown: Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet! Sweet dreams...

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They're Made Out of Meat

While not quite macabre, They're Made Our of Meat is a great sci-fi short that works remarkably well for a study of David Lynch's Twin Peaks. Directed by Stephen O'Regan and based on a short story by Terry Bisson, the film oozes atmosphere from that first shot of the diner until the sudden disappearance (teleportation?) of the bemused aliens. Tom Noonan is brilliant as always and Ben Bailey is hilarious in his disgust for the human species that is "made out of MEAT." Check it out and keep in mind - eating the human kind of meat is called "cannibalism" and is not advised to people who live in countries where it is illegal.