History Series / TwinPeaks

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* TheEighties: Although both the series and ''Fire Walk With Me'' were released during the 90s, and done in a style filled with visual reference to TheFifties, both are set during the tail end of the 1980s.

* PropheticDream: Cooper foresees [[spoiler:Laura Palmer's death]].
* PsychicPowers: Cooper has a PropheticDream when something significant is about to happen, a trait played up further in TheMovie. Also may explain his way of intuitively figuring things out in seconds when he is introduced in the series.

* AsHimself: All the bands that play at the Roadhouse, with the exception of [[spoiler: James Hurley]]. And then, in possibly one of the strangest instances of this ever, [[spoiler: Creator/MonicaBellucci in Cole's PropheticDream in Part 14]].

The story takes place in Twin Peaks, Washington, [[QuirkyTown a sleepy rural slice of Americana]] where everyone seems to know everyone. [[BunnyEarsLawyer Eccentric FBI agent]] Dale Cooper is called to the town after Laura Palmer - a high school senior and homecoming queen - is discovered dead and wrapped in plastic.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Some of Agent Cooper's investigation methods are ''unique'' to say the least. Surprisingly this is tolerated and even factored into serious case work by the officers of the Twin Peak's sheriff's department, who have probably never seen an FBI agent before and don't know any better.

* CastingGag: Lynch originally wanted Robert Forster to play Sheriff Harry Truman, but Forster was unavailable at the time due to other commitments, so the role went to Michael Ontkean instead. By the time of ''the Return'', Ontkean had retired from acting and therefore declined to return as Harry, so instead Forster was cast to play Harry's brother, Frank Truman.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

** While the original series had a limited setting in both its number of major characters and physical scope, ''The Return'' has a great deal of fun with its LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters and varied settings.

** MindScrewdriver: The continuation explains a great deal of what was going on with the supernatural elements in the first two seasons, but ''still'' manages to open up even more questions.

* DeathOfAChild: In The Return part 6, Richard Horne commits a hit and run on a little boy [[AdultFear in front of his mother]].

* AdultFear: Walking one's son across the street, only to see a reckless drug-addled driver smash into him and kill him while the parent is helpless to watch.

* AdultFear: The disappearance and murder of Laura Palmer, and the subsequent disintegration of her parents' lives.

As the series was a huge ratings draw for a time, it naturally influenced and inspired several others across all media. Aside from being the first live-action TV series to have feature film-quality production, it also paved the way for shows like ''Series/TheSopranos'' (which stole its dream sequences), ''{{Series/Carnivale}}'' (whose own showrunners/creators drew heavily on the mystical Manichaean themes and crypto-Masonic imagery that were Mark Frost's signatures in ''Twin Peaks'') and ''Series/TheXFiles'' (which also featured FBI agents investigating paranormal cases). It also has a notable influence on the animated series ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' in terms of setting and focus on both mysteries and supernatural elements. As far as video games influenced by ''Twin Peaks'' go, they range from the obvious like ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'', ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'', ''VideoGame/AlanWake'', and ''VideoGame/ThimbleweedPark'' to the less so like ''VideoGame/NelsonTethersPuzzleAgent'', ''VideoGame/LoneSurvivor'', ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 2'', ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', and even ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twin_peaks_revival_poster_laura_palmer.jpg]]

* RaisedCatholic: In ''The Secret History of Twin Peaks'', Major Briggs describes his parents as holding on to traditional Catholic beliefs and practices while living a creative, bohemian lifestyle. Later in life he subscribes to a tradition of Jesuit mysticism involving outward respect to spiritual tradition and an inward respect to more individualistic paths, which is why he [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure does not act offended that his son makes mocking gestures at an altar to Jesus]] in the series.

Cooper teams up with Harry S. Truman, the town's trusty (though skeptical) Sheriff, as they investigate the murder, which Cooper believes may be linked to a serial killer he has been tracking for years. It quickly becomes apparent that ''everyone'' in Twin Peaks [[SoapOpera has their own secrets to hide]], and Laura's shocking death may be the powderkeg to bring it all out into the open. Meanwhile, Cooper finds himself visited by [[MindScrew enigmatic dreams and visions]], which he believes may be the key to finding the true culprit.

The eight-episode first season of ''Twin Peaks'' was a surprise ratings success - to the point of denting the competing goliath that was ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' - and it was renewed for ''twenty-two'' more episodes. This ended up causing numerous problems, mainly because [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants the showrunners had never really expected or intended]] for the show to run ''that'' long; they were also forced by ABC to conclusively answer certain key mysteries ''in the middle of the season'', undercutting the narrative goals of the show. To justify [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything Cooper remaining in Twin Peaks]], an old foe from his past arrives in town to menace him in cryptic ways, and this storyline eventually dovetails with the Laura Palmer murder. The 1992 movie ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'' functions as [[TemporalParadox both a prequel]] ''and'' [[TemporalParadox a sequel]], though infamously does not resolve any of the plot lines left hanging in the series.

The story takes place in Twin Peaks, Washington, [[QuirkyTown a sleepy rural slice of Americana]] where everyone seems to know everyone. Eccentric FBI agent Dale Cooper is called to the town after Laura Palmer - a high school senior and homecoming queen - is discovered dead and wrapped in plastic.

Cooper teams up with Harry S. Truman, the town's trusty (though skeptical) Sheriff, as they investigate the murder, which Cooper believes may be linked to a serial killer he has been tracking for years. It quickly becomes apparent that ''everyone'' in Twin Peaks [[SoapOpera has their own secrets to hide]], and Laura's shocking death may be the powderkeg to bring it all out into the open. Meanwhile, Cooper finds himself visited by enigmatic dreams and visions, which he believes may be the key to finding the true culprit.

The eight-episode first season of ''Twin Peaks'' was a surprise ratings success - to the point of denting the competing goliath that was ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' - and it was renewed for ''twenty-two'' more episodes. This ended up causing numerous problems, mainly because [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants the showrunners had never really expected or intended]] for the show to run ''that'' long; they were also forced by ABC to conclusively answer certain key mysteries ''in the middle of the season'', leaving the show aimless. To justify [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything Cooper remaining in Twin Peaks]], an old foe from his past arrives in town to menace him in cryptic ways, and this storyline eventually dovetails with the Laura Palmer murder. The 1992 movie ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'' functions as [[TemporalParadox both a prequel]] ''and'' [[TemporalParadox a sequel]], though infamously does not resolve any of the plot lines left hanging in the series.

The show features a rather large and colorful cast with about as many subplots as there are characters, and the story contains quite a few examples of RedHerringTwist and PowersThatBe. Nothing can be taken at face value in this story, not even the basic premise.

The plot's focus shifts partway through Season Two, as the showrunners never really expected -- or [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants even intended]] -- for the show to run that long. To justify Cooper's [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything continued presence]], an old foe from his past arrives in town to menace him in cryptic ways. The two plot threads eventually dovetail into one other. The 1992 movie ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'' functions as [[TemporalParadox both a prequel]] ''and'' [[TemporalParadox a sequel]], though infamously does not resolve any of the plot lines left hanging in the series.

Cooper teams up with Harry S. Truman, the town's trusty-though-skeptical Sheriff, as they investigate the murder, which Cooper believes may be linked to a serial killer he has been tracking for years. It quickly becomes apparent that ''everyone'' in Twin Peaks [[SoapOpera have their own secrets to hide]], and Laura's shocking death may be the powderkeg to bring it all out into the open. Meanwhile, Cooper finds himself visited by enigmatic dreams and visions, which he believes may be the key to finding the true culprit.

Cooper teams up with Harry S. Truman, the town's trusty-though-skeptical Sheriff, as they investigate the murder, which Cooper believes may be linked to a serial killer he has been tracking for years. It quickly becomes apparent that ''everyone'' in Twin Peaks [[SoapOpera has their own secrets to hide]], and Laura's death may be the powderkeg to bring it all out into the open. Meanwhile, Cooper finds himself visited by enigmatic dreams and visions, which he believes may be the key to finding the true culprit.

The story takes place in Twin Peaks, Washington, [[QuirkyTown a sleepy rural piece of Americana]] where everyone seems to know everyone. Eccentric FBI agent Dale Cooper is called to the town after Laura Palmer - a high school senior and homecoming queen - is discovered dead and wrapped in plastic.

''Twin Peaks'' is a GenreBusting early-nineties television series created by Creator/DavidLynch and Mark Frost. Starting out as a hybrid CrimeTimeSoap[=/=]DetectiveDrama, it quickly took off for parts unknown with a pervasive supernatural element. The series revealed itself to be an OccultDetective story with very surreal elements, that smacked of off-kilter MagicRealism. Basically, it had a little bit of everything.

The series premiered on April 8, 1990 as a MidseasonReplacement on Creator/{{ABC}}. The plot kicks off with the discovery of a teen cadaver, "wrapped in plastic", one Laura Palmer. Eccentric FBI agent Dale Cooper responds to the matter in Twin Peaks, Washington, where he's teamed with the trusty-if-skeptical Sheriff Harry S. Truman. With the arrival of the Feds, further scandals start to bubble to the surface along with this supposedly unprecedented crime. Cooper, meanwhile, finds himself visited by enigmatic visions and dreams pointing to [[HumanoidAbomination the real]] [[TheyWalkAmongUs culprit]]. The show features a rather large and colourful cast with about as many subplots as there are characters, and the story contains quite a few examples of RedHerringTwist and PowersThatBe. Nothing can be taken at face value in this story, not even the basic premise.

* BrownNoteBeing: The Return has the Woodsmen, evil beings from the Black Lodge (a malicious AlternateDimension). Their creepy, distorted speech puts people to sleep. When they appear, everything turns black and white to signal how reality distorts around them.

* FiveManBand: The police department.
** TheHero: Cooper
** TheLancer: Truman
** TheBigGuy: Andy and Hawk
** TheSmartGuy: Albert
** TheChick: Lucy

* SocietyMarchesOn: The initial portrayal of Denise Bryson comes within a hair of portraying her ambiguously transgender identity for comedy. In ''The Return'', Gordon Cole alludes to the struggle to get her colleagues to accept and respect her, and her standing as a highly competent special agent is emphasized to a greater extent than her ambiguous gender identity.

As the series was a huge ratings draw for a time, it naturally influenced and inspired several others across all media. Aside from being the first live-action TV series to have feature film-quality production, it also paved the way for shows like ''Series/TheSopranos'' (which stole its dream sequences), ''{{Series/Carnivale}}'' (whose own showrunners/creators drew heavily on the mystical Manichaean themes and crypto-Masonic imagery that were Mark Frost's signatures in ''Twin Peaks'') and ''Series/TheXFiles''. It also has a notable influence on the animated series ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' in terms of setting and focus on both mysteries and supernatural elements. As far as video games influenced by ''Twin Peaks'' go, they range from the obvious like ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'', ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'', ''VideoGame/AlanWake'', and ''VideoGame/ThimbleweedPark'' to the less so like ''VideoGame/NelsonTethersPuzzleAgent'', ''VideoGame/LoneSurvivor'', ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 2'', ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', and even ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening''.

fire, walk with me."''

** [[KingArthur Glastonbury Grove]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:BOB in the original series]].
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Windom Earle]] and presumably [[spoiler:Leo Johnson]].
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Jacques Renault]], [[spoiler:Maddie Ferguson]], and [[spoiler:Leland Palmer]].
* LanternJawOfJustice: Agent Cooper
* LargeHam: ''Twin Peaks'' has at least a few of these, most notably BOB, Windom Earle, Nadine Hurley, and Gordon Cole.
** Bobby Briggs definitely has his moments as well.

* MalevolentMaskedMan: The Chalfont/Tremond child.
* TheManBehindTheMan

* MedicateTheMedium: A variant where the medication actually inhibits the talent.
* MindRape: ''Literally.''
* MindScrew: Anything involving the Black Lodge.
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot