Twin Peaks - Season 1

For some reason, despite liking Mulholland Drive quite a bit, it's the only thing by David Lynch I've seen, though multiple factors have conspired to get me to see Twin Peaks in recent times. I blasted through the eight episode first season pretty quickly, and it might be the earliest example of good serialized television that I can point to. Lynch is known for doing supremely weird stuff, but he's not the only influence on the show's creative direction, and at least early on the weirdness is mostly limited to a disturbing dream sequence and a couple other brief bits, with the rest being relatively traditional, if slightly off-beat drama. It combines elements of mysteries and soap operas, as an unusual murder investigation is going on amid a collection of townspeople with a series of secret relationships so tangled they look like a spider web. It isn't long before the ring of crime surrounding the murder makes itself apparent and people start betraying each other, culminating in the extremely strong season finale which left me definitely wanting more.

One of the reasons the show works is that the cast is so good. There's something just a bit odd about all of the performances, and it's hard to say whether that's a deliberate a touch or at least partially an artifact of the early 90s way of doing things. Whatever the case, it helps the show. Kyle MacLachlan plays the sort of protagonist that could save almost any show, and the fact that he doesn't have to doesn't prevent him from still standing out. Dale Cooper is the FBI agent sent to investigate after a second incident after the initial murder makes the case a federal issue, and his unique personality makes every scene he's in a joy to watch. His genuine appreciation of good food and many characteristics of the small town atmosphere, his strange combination of standard procedure and spirituality in his work, every feature is unique and entertaining. And most of the people around him have similar things going for them. I've heard a lot about how things get weird in the second season, but even if the whole thing is garbage, the first is a shining example of good dramatic television.