It’s all about the Log Lady

Twin Peaks. David Lynch’s groundbreaking television show that fascinated and confounded audiences and critics alike with it’s unusual cast of characters and confusing plot. Part murder mystery and part primetime soap opera, Twin Peaks was the story of a small logging town dealing with the aftermath of the murder of popular High School student Laura Palmer. But it was so much more than that. Every person in town seemed to be keeping a secret, and keeping track of who was who and who had done what was down right confusing most of the time.

What’s great about having it in a box set is being able to sit down and watch the episodes without commercial interruption, to really be able to focus on what is happening. I can barely remember what the show looked like on TV when it came out in 1990, but I can say that the quality of the DVD is outstanding. The colors of the fall leaves, the bright red of the cherry pie that Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) loves to eat, everything seems super-saturated.

The ten discs of the box set are encased in a large plastic case that flips the DVDs like pages of a book. The one thing I did not like about it is that there was no booklet included listing the titles of the episodes on each disc, something that is in virtually every other DVD I own. Instead, there is a packet of 12 postcards, randomly selected from a set of 60. What the box set does include is the original pilot episode, both the U.S. and European versions (Europe’s version is 15 minutes longer). It’s also packed with special features:

* Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese
* Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Portuguese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
* All 29 Episodes plus the original pilot (both U.S. Network and International versions) on 10 discs
* Remastered picture from the original negative with 5.1 Sound, both personally approved by David Lynch
* Original broadcast 2.0 audio
* Deleted Scenes
* Exclusive feature length documentary: ‘Secrets from Another Place’
* A Slice of Lynch (featuring David Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan, and Mädchen Amick)
* Return to Twin Peaks
* Interactive Map of Twin Peaks
* The complete Log Lady introductions
* Saturday Night Live: Kyle MacLachlan’s monologue and the Twin Peaks comedy sketch
* Julee Cruise music video: “Falling”
* On-air promos, TV spots, production documents, rare photos

If you were a fan of Twin Peaks originally, or if, like me, you only saw a few episodes here and there and never really understood what was going on, you want to get this box set. It’s got an all-star cast (MacLachlan, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sherilynn Fenn, Ray Wise, Peggy Lipton, Piper Laurie and Madchen Amick, among others), Lynch’s brilliant directing, and a mystery that you will want to know the answer to. I’ve watched almost all of Season One, and I still have to get through most of Season Two before I find out who killed Laura Palmer. To see it for yourself, pick up a copy of Twin Peaks – The Definitive Gold Box Edition (The Complete Series) today!