Hi all, first post. Just watched the Boxed set for the first time ever with the wife and overall we really enjoyed it. For her, the supernatural element though didnt work as well as it did for me. She was looking or expecting a more straightforward murder mystery where the clues would be analyzed until eventually the killer was found through the usual forensics and detective work. Well, even though it *kind of* was, lets face it.... it was quite different than many people probably expected! I loved it, the wife didnt hate it or anything, she was just caught off-guard, especially at the end of the season #2 pilot where BOB is shown in Ronettes vision. The wife was like...."Oh, so BOB must have been the 3rd man"? "So, he killed her!". She just got a little lost with that.

My question is: Back when the show was running in '90 & '91, were there a good number of viewers that disliked the ultimate outcome or supernatural storyline? Or, was it pretty much widely accepted and "OK" with most viewers? A friend of mine commented that he felt it "cheapened" the show a little because all of that detective work and uncovering clues was quickly superceeded by "demons" or "spirits" which he felt were kind of an "easy out" for the shows writers/creaters.

Anyways, I look forward to chatting with ya'll on this great show that is/was totally NEW to me!

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

That god damn trailer's more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse!

Nah, not rambling at all!  Quite good, in fact.  Great points on using the supernatural as the motive, that part does seem a little contrived as in "we cant have Leland be doing this on his OWN, we have to make it so he isnt generating this violence from within himself...hence, BOB".  

For the most part though it worked for me and to a lesser extent, my wife.

I don't mind supernautral elements in TV programmes/films/books. After all, it is a work of fiction. Why expect fact from fiction? This isn't real life, nor is it a documentary. It's just a work of fiction, and anything can happen. Personally, I think it makes things more interesting.

Lot of writers use supernatural ideas, eg, Homer, Ovid, Shakespeare, Bram Stoker, Stephen King. Why shouldn't they?

Yup.

The failure of season 2, according to reports, was a combination of the loose ends that started before Who Killed Laura was resolved, the mediocre and goofy plots, and the increasing use of supernatural elements. For many, it all ended up looking like weird-for-weird's-sake, like the supernatural was just another formula the writers were resorting to as an act of desperation. That's still a popular opinion to have.  

What elevated it to enduring cult status was that - if formulaic at all- it was still less so than anything else on tv. Lots of people want their fiction to fit prescribed patterns, but to the rest of us the unexplainable is thrilling.

Good takes on it.  Actually, I like the interpretation possibilities.  Some of my friends think that BOB is just an imaginary "guy" to cover up the fact that noone wants to believe Leland could possibly do such horrendous acts.   I think BOB is a real entity, just not neccessarily from our plane of existence.

I think he's both. Or that he could be one and he could be another & the best thing is it will never be solved which one he truly is.

And yes, I like the interpretation possibilities too.  It's kinda like the *best thing* about Twin Peaks.

That god damn trailer's more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse!

Most of the "supernatural" stuff I remember from season 2 is in eps 8-16. There are tiny bursts here and there after that, and the finale is way out there, but I don't think the problem with the "bad" part of season 2 was too much supernatural stuff.

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

I could not imagine the series without the aspects of the supernatural, which intensified the unique quality of a program which was already relatively original. It was of the first televisions to seriously consider either the supernatural or the supernatural as metaphor, and even considering the areas in which the execution of that was not so successful, I believe that "Twin Peaks" was incredibly innovative and always a pleasure to watch with the supernatural elements.