Twin Peaks is a series renowned for its ambiguous plot, supernatural themes and cult following.
The series, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, first launched in 1990 before it was cancelled due to poor ratings in 1991.
Twin Peaks has since been revived by Showtime to offer fans a new season that takes place 25 years after the original ended.
Here’s the problem for new and old viewers: the show makes no bloody sense.
Listen to The Binge host Laura Brodnik explain exactly what you need to understand about Twin Peaks.
Twin Peaks is ostensibly a murder-mystery. It begins with the mysterious death of local girl Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the small town of Twin Peaks.
The quest to find her killer is left in the capable hands of FBI special agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). Cooper soon realises that Twin Peaks is no regular small town.
The series quickly goes from basic murder-mystery to full-blown surrealist soap opera.
New characters are introduced, others are killed, everyone seems to be cheating on each other and dream sequences are dime-a-dozen.
What anybody who is starting the third series without visiting the first and second needs to know is that it’s okay to not understand what’s going on.
It may even be the point.
The Binge host Laura Brodnik gave listeners a recap of the original two seasons on the latest episode of The Binge podcast.
Laura reminded viewers that the new series was being played in an unusual format because of how it was first produced.
"I think what we have to remember with this is that it was shot as an 18-hour long movie. one massive long continuous story take," she said.
"Months later he (David Lynch) chopped it up into pieces so it would fit onto TV."
Laura explained how serialised TV formats generally follow a much more structured format.
"When they usually do serialised TV, they plan the stop and start points for each episode, so it flows on to each other and so that you hit a certain amount of story points in each episode to keep the viewer entertained," she said.
"So I don't think you can expect it to follow a linear story line. David Lynch is not here to reel you in by giving you new information at certain spots."
Still confused? Scroll up and listen to the podcast where Laura explains the series.
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Top Comments
Why would anyone try to watch the third series of a TV show as notoriously surreal and complex as Twin Peaks without watching the first and second? This isn't Neighbours, where you can just slip in and out and not really miss anything vital.
You cannot watch the new series without watching the original or the movie Fire Walk With Me. It's is surreal and it is weird, but there is a thread of story there and one needs to know what happened 25 years ago to get anything out of what is happening now in the show. Plus, the characters have their own little quirks that, if you haven't seen them in the past, will completely pass you by.
There is a mythology behind the Black Lodge. If you pay attention, you can start to put things together.
I think you may be a little biased on this subject... LAURA PALMER!!!! ;)
I am very biased.
I am also beside myself watching the new series. ITS SO GOOD.
I started re-watching the original series a little while ago, but didn't finish. Might have to go back and finish, then start on the new ones. You've convinced me!
They get a bit bogged down in the second series, but it's worth getting through them for the last few episodes.