Twin Peaks: Season Two
Mark Frost and David Lynch
out through CBS DVD


Giants, midgets, owls that aren't what they seem, project bluebook, murder, sex, drugs, femmes fatale, UFOs, Killer Bob, talking backwards, the black lodge, cherry pie, Diane – remind me to tell you more about this later. Trying to make sense of David Lynch is like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube. Give up now.

Who remembers that David Duchovny starred in Twin Peaks as a transvestite FBI agent? NOT I. In any case - great pins, Mulder. This is but one of the many wonders to behold, now that the second season of David Lynch's surreal masterpiece is finally out on DVD.

I have the vaguest of memories of being forbade to watch Twin Peaks by my parents. But still the catchphrase "Wrapped in plastic" was bandied around our schoolyard circle of chums, like we knew what we were talking about. Such was the level of cultural saturation at the peak of Peaks mania.

Who remembers that Twin Peaks was funny? Hilarious funny. Still frightening in parts, it's more unsettling than terrifying. It has stood up to the test of time remarkably well. Despite the fact it was never satisfactorily resolved plot-wise, the joys of Twin Peaks are many. About 29 episodes many, actually.

Twin Peaks laid the bedrock for so much great television that we ingest today – Carnivale, the Sopranos, Lost – and before them, Northern Exposure, The X-Files and - seriously the most hilariously atrocious thing ever committed to tape - Oliver Stone's Wild Palms. (Quick aside – if you ever see this in a bargain bin, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY.)

Extras include interviews with the cast members 16 years on, and with several guest directors. Marvel at Lara Flynn-Boyle before she was a hideous, bobble-headed insect! Look out for cameos from Heather Graham, Billy Zane, David Duchovny and David Lynch! Guest director Diane Keaton! Think about how hard it would have been following this from week to week! Viva la DVD!

Rating: two full halves of a man in a donkey suit on the David Lynch scale of one, to a pygmy on a motorcycle.