Watching the first two episodes of The Killing this week, I couldn’t help but be reminded of one of my all time favorite shows: Twin Peaks. I’m not the only one making the comparison. After all, both shows are about the murder of a young high school girl and the ensuing investigation. I think most viewers of Twin Peaks picked up on the similarities, but they do go a little deeper than just surface story.
Both shows are set in the arborial Northwest. Just as the setting played a huge part in Twin Peaks, particularly the woods, it seems like it will in The Killing as well. The foggy, dark atmosphere featured in the first episodes was definitely a nod to the Washington setting, and was reminiscent of the dark forest scenes in Twin Peaks. I was really just waiting for a closeup of an angry looking owl, or a cabin with log lady to show up. Alas, not yet.
There are also some parallels between Rosie Larsen and Twin Peaks’s famous corpse, Laura Palmer. I was definitely reminded of Laura during the scenes featuring Jasper, Rosie’s douche-tastic quasi-boyfriend. He was quite reminiscent of Bobby Briggs, Laura’s douche-tastic quasi-boyfriend. I have no idea where The Killing is headed, but it definitely seems like Rosie had a bit of a double life. It seems like there is some connection between her and a powerful local politician (just like Laura Palmer and Ben Horne). Even the painfully emotional reactions to Rosie’s death were comparable to those in Twin Peaks.
Heck, even the low, droaning, ominous music reminded me of Twin Peaks.
Granted, this is definitely a different show. Through the first couple episodes there is no quirk. Any viewer of Twin Peaks knows that quirk practically oozed out of the screen in nearly every scene. No one has eaten any cherry pie, there has been no dancing in diners, and none of these cops have yet to talk into a tape recorder. The supernatural touch that was found in David Lynch’s drama doesn’t appear to be headed to The Killing, and for that I am thankful. The last thing we need is a show trying to rip of Twin Peaks. In fact, didn’t we get that last summer with Happy Town? That didn’t go so well.
The really interesting thing is that The Killing is an adaptation of a Danish series. I’m curious if the original had the same touches that remind me of Twin Peaks. I even wonder if some of the similarities are intentional, an homage of sorts. In any case, I don’t think the similarities are blatant, and I can only hope that The Killing lives up to the legacy that Twin Peaks has set.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Apr 07, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
I (gasp) never watched Twin Peaks. Honestly, too, it is never been one of those shows that I’ve said, “I’m going to watch it one of these days.” What was so grand about it?
. . . . .
Ivey:
For me, it’s the quirk that is Twin Peaks as well as the line delivery. In many ways, the actors toss out words and phrases akin to H. Jon Benjamin. And that’s attractive to me.
I agree. I think the quirkiness and surrealism is what made Twin Peaks so great. I don’t think anyone else aside from Kyle Machlachlan could have pulled off Special Agent Dale Cooper’s character like he did. He just has these funny mannerisms.
Oh, and I hope “The Killing” doesn’t make the same mistake that Twin Peaks did, which is to go on too long. A show like this faces a serious dilemma (much like Twin Peaks): It can’t go on too long because viewers will simply get bored with the murder/mystery aspect and stop watching. However, if the murder gets solved too quickly and the makers of “The Killing” don’t have a plan to continue the show (much like Twin Peaks didn’t) then people will simply stop watching, figuring tha tthe show’s over because its main premise has been resolved. It will be interesting to see what they do once the murder is solved.
I did a flashback for it.
https://cliqueclack.com/tv/2008/12/17/cliqueclack-flashback-twin-peaks/
I just love every quirky thing about it. The bizarre cast of characters. The twists and turns of the mystery, the subtle injection of supernatural elements (or is it all just symbolism?), and the incredible amount of personal interpretation that one can put into the show. There are no easy answers when it comes to the show’s mythology — it’s really up to the viewer to piece it together.
It was just…I don’t know it’s hard to put your finger on any one thing. It was way ahead of it’s time for one thing. Back then it was completely unlike anything else on TV.
It was just a weird, wonderful, intriguing little show that died way before its time.
. . . . .
Bob:
If there are any “blatant similarities” to Twin Peaks, they are camouflaged most excellently.
I, too, noticed a lot of the nods offered at Lynch’s wunderkind series, but they seem to be just that – nods, not ripoffs. And I’m with you: I trust the creators of The Killing to keep it just that way.
Mysterious murders in atmospheric towns with political connections are story lines that have been done many times before. If we start seeing possessed murders, backwards talking midgets, and women with firewood ‘babies’, then you can really start comparing the two shows.
I have just been rewatching the first season of Veronica Mars and have been looking for a semi replacement. Hope The Killing is good, and that I get it On Demand.
David Lynch’s Twin Peaks is to TV what surrealism is to painting. You think you’re watching one thing, but you also know there’s something else there, veiled, almost intelligible, but not quite. It remains just beyond the grasp of rational thought. Brilliant.
“The Killing” is pretty much “Twin Peaks” but without the weirdness. “The Killing” has eveything from the fact that the victim is a teenage girl who led a double life and has a quasi-boyfriend and a psychopath for a father, to the fact that she had a jealous BFF, and that a prominent man in the community is somehow involved (much like the Benjamin Horne character), and oh yes, there’s even a secret lodge (like in “Twin Peaks”). I’m just waiting for one of the characters to dream about a dwarf wearing a red suit and talking backwards and introducing Rosie Larsen’s cousing who looks almost exactly like Rosie Larsen.
My guess is that the father did it.