Cancel all of your weekend plans – one of the most iconic television series of all time is available to binge-watch in full right now.
Back in 1990, audiences across the world were asking themselves the question ‘Who killed Laura Palmer?’ when David Lynch’s surreal murder-mystery Twin Peaks began.
Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Sherilyn Fenn, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sheryl Lee, and many more, Twin Peaks follows the investigation into the murder of local teen Laura Palmer (Lee) and the mystery that surrounds its unusual circumstances and other phenomena in the town.
The investigation is led by FBI special agent Dale Cooper (MacLachlan) who is pulled deeper and deeper into the town’s secrets, uncovering far more than he bargained for when he checked into The Great Northern Hotel.
Like much of Lynch’s work, Twin Peaks, created alongside Mark Frost, contains an eccentric cast of characters, supernatural themes, melodramatic storylines, and a surreal, uncanny atmosphere.
Its uniqueness is what led Twin Peaks to be such a smash hit at the time of its release and revered by fans 35 years later, and now, both seasons of the show as well as Twin Peaks: The Return can be streamed now on Mubi.
Seasons one and two, containing 30 episodes, ran from 1990 to 1991 and were followed by the prequel film Fire Walk with Me in 1992.
Sixteen years after its original run, Lynch and many of the original cast hit our screens again in Twin Peaks: The Return set 25 years after season two’s devastating finale.
Twin Peaks quickly gained a devoted following and is often listed among the greatest television series of all time, as well as one of the most terrifying, thanks to the themes it tackles.
Season one holds a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics’ consensus reading: ‘Twin Peaks plays with TV conventions to deliver a beguiling — and unsettling — blend of seemingly disparate genres, adding up to an offbeat drama with a distinctly unique appeal.’
The second season sits at 65%, while The Return has a huge 94% score.
Metro’s review of Twin Peaks, 35 years on
Deputy TV editor Tom Percival says: There have been plenty of great television shows over the years: The Sopranos, The Simpsons, Breaking Bad, and Geordie Shore (okay, maybe not that last one).
Still, when journalists are curating lists of the best TV shows of all time there’s one peculiar horror series that may seem a little out of place: Twin Peaks.
After all, the horror genre doesn’t get a lot of love from more esteemed critical circles. Yet this strange series – which premiered 35 years ago in 1990 – is unquestionably one of the best TV shows of all time and a technical marvel that pushed the boundaries of what people thought the small screen was capable of.
Nominally the show was a mystery drama of sorts but honestly, that description doesn’t do Twin Peaks justice. By design, it defied categorisation, blending supernatural and surreal elements with the theatrical tropes and cliches that defined so many beloved soaps.
In their review of the show, the Sydney Morning Herald said: ‘Twin Peaks has many of the elements of a soap opera: it is slow (although not vapid), has a complex plot, melodrama and a plethora of disasters. It’s the weirdness, the David Lynch trademark,k which is the lure.’
Buffalo News added: ‘Twin Peaks is refreshing, unsettling, funny and mystifying. If you are the very unusual TV viewer looking for something different, the first three hours should put you in the mood for more.’
Of The Return, Vox said: ‘It stopped feeling like a TV show to me, at some point, and started feeling like a gift.’
Rolling Stone added: ‘What we just witnessed was unmatched in the medium’s history,’ meanwhile, The Atlantic wrote: ‘Twin Peaks remains the nightmare fuel it always has been.’
The Guardian added to the glowing praise, saying: ‘The Twin Peaks revival is perfect. I’m in deep with it. It’s easily the best series of the year so far. And, although this might seem like heresy to long-time fans, I think it might actually be better than the original.’
Twin Peaks’ addition to Mubi comes at a poignant time following the death of its visionary creator, Lynch, earlier this year, aged 78.
The celebrated filmmaker, who was behind the likes of Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man, died on January 15.
His cause of death was confirmed as cardiac arrest due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The filmmaker visionary died after becoming housebound with emphysema following years of chain-smoking, and a death certificate released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed COPD was an underlying condition suffered by the auteur.
Twin Peaks seasons one and two and Twin Peaks: The Return are available to stream now on Mubi
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