Twin Peaks (TV Series) The Last Evening (1990) User Reviews

More questions than answers

[Tweekums · 10/10 · 7 May 2012]

With the first series of Twin Peaks coming to its conclusion some viewers may have expected some answers to the various goings on in the town. It looks as though that might be about to happen when Agent Cooper manages to trick Jacque Renault into crossing the border; his arrest doesn't according to planned and he ends up in hospital; he isn't too ill to talk though and explains how Laura came to have part of the chip in her stomach and how the bird scratched her... however he also claims not to know what happened afterwards and Cooper is inclined to believe him. Meanwhile Leo Johnson is getting his revenge on his wife and her lover Bobby Briggs. He has left Shelly in the mill having told her it will burn down in under an hour; he then proceeds home with the intention of killing Bobby. What he hadn't counted on was somebody luring Catherine Martell to the scene. This is of course just a taster of what is going on; we also have Donna and James searching Dr Jacoby's house, Hank intimidating Josie Packard and possibly more than one death...we'll have to wait for the next season to discover who makes it and who doesn't.

This may not have resolved the various mysteries but it was still a fine conclusion to the first series and has me looking forward to the next. The plot advanced nicely then provided a great cliff hanger ending where several key characters could be dead in a variety of locations. It is hard to pick out individual scenes amongst so many fine moments but for me the stand out moment was when Deputy Andy Brennan shoots Jacques Renault; it was great to see him be the hero!

46 minutes of cliffhangers

[framptonhollis · 9/10 · 1 October 2017]

The only episode directed by Mark Frost, the show's co-creator, is a nonstop thrill ride of glorious, fast paced action. It does not focus so much on the absurd, humorous, or even mysterious aspects of Twin Peaks as it does on its aspects of character, crime, plot, and edge of your seat tension. It is so exciting and entertaining that it eventually has you craving more, especially because, by the end of the episode, nearly every character's fate is left on a brutal cliffhanger. While some of the show's most memorable and essential elements are left out of this episode almost entirely, it I still still one of the best if not just for the sheer amount of intensity and action in this episode, and how well it manages to suspensefully close the show's first season, practically begging to be continued (and, luckily, the show did continue, and thus many of the greatest works in Lynch's career sprung from the darkness of his twisted mind, and Frost was able to proceed his inputs as a talented television writer, helping get the audience be all the more engaged in the crime- drama-thriller aspects of the show as opposed to its purely quirky and surrealist elements).

Crams as many cliffhangers as humanly possible into 45 minutes.

[TouchTheGarlicProduction · 10/10 · 20 March 2017]

Mark Frost has said that he stuffed the Twin Peaks first season finale with as many cliffhangers as he could, both as a send-up of the nighttime soaps that Twin Peaks parodies/emulates, and as a ploy to get renewed for a second season. Thanks to all the setup in the episodes prior, he manages to make nearly every single scene in this episode a climax, a cliffhanger, or both. It is the epitome of a finale episode. Incidentally, it's also the only episode that Frost directed himself.

One thing that surprised me upon re-watching this episode, however, is the amount of closure it provides. While the fates of the characters are left in the balance, the episode actually closes out many of their character arcs. Andy finally mans up, Nadine deals with the loss of her drape runners, and much more. In fact, the episode perhaps does too good of a job with some of them, as season 2 doesn't really know exactly what to do about them. Andy and Nadine are both prime examples of this too.

In summary, episode 8 (or 7 as some say) closes out a short, strong season with a jam- packed cliffhanger-riddled punch, and stands the test of time as one of the series' best.

Season 1: Short & punchy and unafraid of being odd and difficult because it is engaging at the same time

[bob the moo · 21 April 2010]

It was the original airing on BBC2 when I first and last saw this show so I decided to watch it again now that it has all been released in associated with its 20th anniversary. I remember loving the show at a time when I don't remember having a lot of shows that I watched each week and at a time when, unlike now, the UK had 4 television channels to pick from and nowhere near the amount of American programming as it now does. Even now Twin Peaks' oddity and content would make it stand out and this impact was even more so in the UK's television world in 1990 – a time when TV was seen as significantly down the ladder from being in films, whereas now Hollywood actors and directors working in television is practically the norm. It definitely had an impact on me at the time and I was curious to see how it played with me now that both it and I were twenty years older than the first time round.

The first thing that caught me off guard was that the first season is only 8 episodes long (including the pilot) but yet it covers a lot of ground. I had remembered it as being longer than it was but I guess not. It took me the pilot to get back into it but soon I was with it and I more or less ripped through this season in one weekend and I found it engaging (if not quite compelling) and easy to watch. In some ways it should not work because, as is made clear by the characters viewing "Invitation to Love", the show is partly a sort of complicated character melodrama with lots of soapy moments or elaborate twist that would not feel out of place within the show within this show. However, unlike many shows of this ilk, Twin Peaks has this darkness to it that makes it more engaging, more touching and genuinely unnerving.

This is not to say that it always sits well together though because at times I found the overuse of music to be a little grating, while some episodes had a few too many soapy moments in close proximity to one another, making it a little harder to take. That it does work is quite something though because it does have this weird air to it that is typical Blue Velvet Lynch – good clean Americana on the surface but yet just below the surface are secrets, darkness, desire and betrayal; the irony of Cooper being the outsider to this community is that he may be the only truly "pure" character in the whole first season.

My impression of the show thinking about it from a distance remains that it is weird for its own sake, but watching season one again challenges this. OK it is undoubtedly odd in almost every regard but it is so in a way that works and it is necessary to have this constant to enable a story about demons where plot is driven forward by dreams and visions. And it is driven forward because I had forgotten how quickly season 1 moves; things that I thought came later came very early (the dwarf dream sequence, the introduction of Bob and Mike etc) and it feels like all the basic structure is in place. Each episode feels very full as well as there are a lot of characters and side-plots. Some are better than others but, whether or not they relate directly to the central murder, they do all contribute to the central theme of darkness below the surface and they do all engage well.

The thing that surprised me looking back was the performances. Many are very good but this is mainly in the context of the weird soap-opera-esquire world of this show, taken out of this context some are pretty poor and one can understand why many of these actors have remained in relative obscurity since. MacLachlan is great though. His wide-eyed innocence and steady pursuit of the case is engaging and he has some great comic timing (the llama moment being hilarious thanks to his deadpan). Ontkean's Turman works well alongside him in a simple enough role. Not too far beyond this point though a lot of the cast tend to be more of the "daytime TV" level, although like I say this does work. Amicc, Ashbrook, Frost, Marshall, Goaz and others certainly do OK but only in this context. Some are different though and Wise is probably the most impressive in his difficult role – which is better in season 1 when you are able to look back in retrospect. Likewise Boyle and Fenn are good while McGill is a real solid presence.

Season 1 of Twin Peaks is great, even looking back on it across 20 years of changes in television. It is short and punchy and unafraid of being odd and difficult because it is also engaging at the same time. The twisted darkness behind the otherwise soapy exterior works very well as the balance is mostly there, while there is a lot of humour and oddness to combine with genuine mystery and the creeps. I'll leave it a few weeks but I'm looking forward to season 2 a lot.

Cliffhangers galore

[lareval · 10/10 · 2 October 2021]

Best episode, tied with the unforgettable pilot. This season had episodes that went between the greatness and excellence and this eight installment is one of the latter. This is a roller coster of cliffhangers that will force you to continue with second series as soon as possible. Outstanding!

Episode 7

[lassegalsgaard · 10/10 · 25 April 2023]

For weeks, people had been tuning in to find the newest clue in the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer. For weeks, people had held out hope that their favorite characters wouldn't suddenly turn into a suspect on the ever-changing roster of who could have killed Laura Palmer. And for weeks, the seeds had been planted for the finale to finally deliver some of the answers that audiences had been dying to get, culminating in an explosive finale that would have everyone jumping for their remotes to play out the revelations and everything over and over again. And instead of giving the audiences that, Mark Frost and David Lynch decided to subverts the expectations and make everyone wait for six months before they would get the answers to all the new questions that this season finale had not set in motion, and there wasn't a shortage of those. This episode was written and directed by Frost, and I'm sure that he got more than a couple of complaints from the studio after not giving them the revelation they wanted. And in many ways, this decision also seemed to be the downfall of the show as will be discussed in the coming reviews for the second season. But this episode works as a brilliant finale to the first season, and maybe that's just me being optimistic because I'm able to put on the next episode right now, but the lack of revelations and the introduction to new mysteries keeps the flow going for just a little longer.

While this episode doesn't give an answer to who killed Laura Palmer, it still provides the culmination of many storylines that have been set up throughout the season. The Packard saw mill is now burned to the ground, Bobby has finally gotten some sort of "revenge" against James, and it seems like our guys are on the right track. These storylines have been expertly brought through the other episodes, setting up the necessary details and bringing it to a fine conclusion that wasn't appreciated much in its day because of the big thread still hanging, but is a classic.

Again, this episode is a great example of the show's priceless ability to combine humor with the overall seriousness of a dire situation. Whether it's Catherine jabbing at Shelly for not being able to understand her due to the gag in her mouth, or Leo getting shot while a similar scene plays out on "Invitation to Love," this episode features some of the show's most humorous moments and further solidifies the show's great ability to mix genres and bend the rules of television like no other show could ever do, and still - to some degree - can't bend do it today.

Frost has spoken about the fact that he wanted to fill this episode with cliffhangers that would make people come back for the second season. While that is a big risk and could have easily distracted from what was going on, it actually works in this episode. This show is all about its mysteries, and setting up more mysteries - as well as some uncomfortable situations we'll see the fallout of soon - is in the show's wheelhouse, so it feels incredibly earned here. Again, this is coming from someone who can just watch the next episode, but hey - hindsight is 20/20!

Kyle MacLachlan has also been the show's strongest aspect, and with this episode, he definitely shows why he's being paid the big bucks. The show in which he interacts with Jacques leaves on a very disgusting note, and throughout the entire rest of the episode, you can skim that disgust in his face and voice every time he mentions Jacques or One-Eyed Jacks. This has always been a great actor, but there's a reason why his portrayal of Dale Cooper is timeless and it's because of the energy and detail he put into making the character an all-time great.

"Episode 7" certainly is an all-time great in itself, mostly because of how flawlessly it wraps up many storylines, while keeping its main mystery fresh. Frost's writing again enhances the strengths of the show, while also giving the audiences some of the most iconic moments of the show, including the episode's incredible and breathtaking ending.

Not Quite a Wrap

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 4 June 2017]

I guess these end-of-season episodes serve two purposes. Wrap some of the events up, but leave questions answered for the next season. Leo continues to go after Shelley. As a matter of fact, she ends up not unlike those serial maidens of the twenties, hanging from a rope, awaiting the effects of a timing device. There are so many ends to tie up that one should just read the synopsis. The mill finally comes into play. Cooper get a surprise. Laura's father has a surprise himself. Then there's Audrey becoming a hooker in her father's brothel. Jimmy has a near encounter with an ax and on and on. This episode may have tried to do too much. But it still is captivating.

She is still my wife!

[CursedChico · 10/10 · 2 November 2020]

She is still my wife!

We see people still love and fidelity to their spouse like pete. Went into fire to save the wife.

Other side, lots of intrigues. Trying to scam iceland people (probably it is scamming).

Lots of unexplained things. Lots of questions It was good finale.

James (i think he was james?) shot leo. He was trying to kill him, not trying to save bobby. But bobby tried to send james to prison. It was really interesting. It is like they united against mafia.

Donna's exboyfriend was not seen for a few episodes?

I thought that jacques were murderer but i now believe, leo is not also murderer. Real murderers shot cooper. Such a lovely, polite person.

I could not so much get it also that asian woman. She was with lots of people. She is real survivor.

Laura thought james was dumb but despite that, james revenged for her , shot leo.

Laura was a woman with unusual fantasies. noone can blame her. Probably she did not need money, she was doing for fun. She maybe wanted to taste being close to death to get pleasure , maybe died in this way. Or doctor became jealous and killed. Or, there is another guy, with J letter named and he was that secretperson, not leo.

For season review:

It was a nice season. There was a dead girl, we only saw her dead body 1-2 episodes, 1 episode in cooper's dream. 1-2 episodes in another role, cousin of laura. But all season is about laura :) even, ending theme is with her picture.

I did not guess all will be about laura. Probably even 2. episode. It is really interesting and it was not boring.

I really like the see 90s, the life style of a small USA town at that year and relationships.

And a interesting person like cooper. Whose I also like of acting.

Lots of questions unanswered, like why nadine killed her self or tried or how she understood she was been cheated.

I like the season. I gvave 9 points.

I will come maybe months later to watch season 2 because i watch series episode by episode. So now i will go on another series.

The killer is.....

[AvionPrince16 · 8/10 · 11 April 2022]

Damn the episosde was so good and let su doubt until the end. They have a lot mysteries trough all the episode and some suprises(pregnancy,Luara's dad seem to be the killer and they have Léo who may be completely innocent. The rythm go more and more faster and that was very different than the other epiosdes. When we see the Dad Killed the guy at the hospital we wonde ing a million things: why he did that? Did he killed Laura Palmer: i need to said that i was pretty surprised to see this was the killer and get a lot more interesting. The other girl find another job in a dance club. I enjoyed really the last episode and we wondering what will happened next. Nice ending and nice season 1.

Disappointing finale

[EddyTheMartian007 · 6/10 · 19 June 2021]

Pretty disappointing finale that barely feels like a season finale. As an episode on its own it is quite eventful but many moments honestly felt contrived with characters arriving in with perfect timing.

Dr. Jacoby leaves incriminating evidence (the necklace) in a pretty easy to find place

Maddy dressed as Laura is filmed and stays in the same location so that Jacoby can be lucky enough to find her, and the attacker comes at the perfect moment so there are no witnesses.

Dale Cooper undercover was pretty fun. He's definitely my favorite character by far in the show. I love how interested he is in Twin Peaks and how he enjoys all the little things, and the whole dream aspect is very interesting. But he's also pretty lucky, dream side apart, the fact that Jacques just spills everything and trusts this complete stranger because of a good story. I mean it's not unbelievable but you'd think he'd verify first? Anyways Kyle MacLachlan is definitely one of the best actors on the show, though the show doesn't have that many great actors, which is to be expected from a TV Show of this era.

I also like James Hurley, and I thought his relationship with Donna Hayward was quite good. Uncovering the secrets from Laura and how it changes and affects their relationship is pretty well done and intriguing. It's nice to see he's also getting consequences and questioned for all the stuff he's been doing, though I didn't expect he's leave so much cocaine hanging around.

Comparatively I've found Audrey Horne to be the most annoying character on the show, though she is not a bad character, but I dislike how much focus she's given. That being said I like the direction her character is going in, getting too deep into trouble. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

I loved how Andy's gun training actually payed off. It was a nice fun surprise I enjoyed. His kiss with Lucy was so funny, and I loved the reveal that she was pregnant. At least there's one answer in this finale for why certain characters were acting weirdly.

Eye patch girl's suicide was so weird. It's not really sad as it should be, it's almost a bit comical. Honestly her storyline is just the silliest thing, kinda enjoyable at times but I could do without it. I guess she was part of the soap opera influence on this show, which I understand, but I still feel like she seems mostly pointless so far. Most of the interesting part of her character is just her relationship with Big Ed.

I really like the entire storyline with Hank, Jocelyn, Catherine, and Ben Horne. It's all very twisted with multiple agendas for each characters, and though it's hard to follow at times, it's probably the most intriguing and complex part of the show, supernatural elements aside. That being said, another thing that annoyed me with the convenient timing was Hank saving Bobby by shooting Leo at the right time through a window. By the way, Leo was probably one of the worst characters. He was such a one note villain character and the actor was one of the worst on the show. And then again of course Catherine comes right in time to save Shelly from the ridiculous timed bomb villain trap Leo set up.

Peter and Catherine coming back together came so out of nowhere but honestly it felt pretty believable. Sad ending with Peter going to try to save his wife in a place she isn't. Catherine can be quite unlikable but she's definitely one of the better characters, and I think she's one of the better acted too.

Probably the biggest issue with this episode, unless I'm missing something, is Leland going to the hospital to kill the suspect and knowing who the suspect is. Plus the fact that this important suspect for a murder case is just left without supervision, and Leland can just freely walk in to kill him. (Edit: Wow this was actually explained, but the second part about there being nobody guarding him still holds up).

The last thing I will mention is the final scene. Probably one of the most annoying and cheap cliff hangers in a prestigious show like this. Seriously you're going to fake out kill your protagonist? Arguably worse is that he's literally shot 3 times, so it's kind of hard to believe he actually survives. But of course he will. Aside from that this also brings up more questions like how an armed man is able to get into the hotel freely.

(Spoilers for Season 2 premiere: Turns out that he had a bullet proof vest, which is even more of a cheap cop out for a cliffhanger, but he was still shot once and is bleeding out, yet he was awake for a while and his friends came in time to go to get help. Come on, this is sloppy and lazy. Plus he still mostly acts the same after he was shot, so this was literally pointless and solely for shock. I hope we don't see more writing like this in the rest of the series. Also many of the cliff hangers didn't even lead to anything, most people who seemed like they died survived, and were also just cop outs for shock value. Despite that, I thought that premiere was the best episode so far though, so it doesn't bother me too much.)

This episode honestly was my least favorite one. It feels like it's trying to tie too many things together quickly and they end up feeling forced, whilst also having certain things for shock value which will not hold up in the next season, most notably the final cliff hanger which I thought was just cheap. That being said the show is consistently pretty engaging, with fun quickly characters, a great tense atmosphere, intriguing ever evolving town of mystery and of course the main murder case. I love how this seemingly normal perfect town is slowly revealed to be rotten with several conspiracies and secrets beneath the surface. Cooper is a perfect protagonist for this show, and he made very fun to watch. Even though Laura Palmer is dead she's very interesting posthumously. Honestly I would probably dislike the dream aspect if it were used today but true to the creativity it's executed with, and the fact that this was so original at the time I will accept it for what it is, and I do like the style a lot. The show is well shot which is not something that can be said for almost all TV show of the era, and I like the music a lot even if it's overused at times. Yes this deserves some praise for its influence, but so far I do think it's over praised, and a lot of things haven't aged too well. On its own this episode is not that weak but it also being the finale really hurt season 1 for me. Though I want to make it clear that I find this show to be really good overall so far. Well, while also being lenient because of the time it was made and how influential it was because nowadays this show wouldn't be considered that good in my opinion. To me this is a weak finale but not bad by any means. The season as a whole does work effectively as a murder mystery, and is well made, though it has its flaws, and is a bit dated, but because of its influence I am being lenient. There are some dumb things though, like many of the things I mentioned this episode, or one of the more glaring ones in the previous episode, like a parrot remembering a full incriminating conversation and repeating it perfectly into the tape recorder before being shot. Yeah... that was a bit silly to say the least. But at the very least this is a fun, engaging, even tense TV show, with a unique style, and I do think it's worth the watch if you like it's style.

Episode Rating: (6.5/10) Season Rating: (7.5/10)

"The Last Evening"

[TheDonaldofDoom · 28 February 2018]

This is a finale that leaves your head spinning in the best possible way. So many things happen, some explained and some unexplained. It's a genius finale that leaves more questions than answers, but the answers that are there are satisfying enough to make that work.

Where to start? One-eyed Jack's, and Laura's past, is probably a good starting point. There's an explanation of what Waldo the bird was saying, as well as the confirmation of Laura's deviance. It's interesting because at the start of this show Laura was a beautiful girl who everyone loved and didn't have a bad bone in her body. But now dark secrets are being revealed about her past, including the tape, the last of which James and Donna find in the coconut. When James listen to how Laura talks about him, the look between him and Donna highlights how this tape breaks the last link in the chain, finally enabling him go let go of Laura. But poor Jacoby, losing consciousness metres away from who he thinks is Laura Palmer.

There's a lot of mystery attackers. First there's the masked man who attacks Jacoby. My bet is that, given that Leland, blinded by grief, kills Jacques because he thinks that Jacques killed Laura, he killed Jacoby as well, thinking at that point that he killed Laura. Leland is a fascinating character himself in this episode, so wallowing in his grief that he is incapable of rationality. It's chilling when he suffocated Jacques to death for something he didn't do. And who shoots Cooper at the end? That I can't guess. There's no shortage of cliffhangers in this episode, something Lynch later said was done to ensure demand for a renewal.

There's quirky cinematography. The episode begins on an interesting pan over a still image of of a sunset in Jacoby's place. And the shot of Jacques' mouth is the stuff of nightmares. If there's anything I wasn't keen on in this episode it's what Leo does to Shelly, tying her up next to a fuse and a ticking clock... it's something I'd expect an insane Bond villain to do, not someone like Leo.

Overall, this is one the strongest episodes of the season, with a fast pace and shocking cliffhangers.

1x08

[formotog · 7/10 · 5 September 2020]

It was a good finale, but man I would've been fuming if I'd had to wait a year to see what happened after that. In the grand scheme of things, we got a bunch more cliffhangers and questions and not many answers. The very last scene as well, I'd almost go as far as to say it was cheap. Nonetheless, we did get a lot of good moments. This Laura mystery did lend some answers, and while no murderer has been identified, Leo and Jacques were implicated and should definitely be locked up for good. Laura herself was probably manipulated a great deal. Cooper going undercover in the casino delivered a brilliant scene where the disgusting Jacques reveals what happened while he was with Laura, and it was some great acting by Kyle MacLachlan who had to gauge what obscenities he was hearing whilst maintaining his cover. Nadine's story has been pretty tragic all season, and though she didn't really have much plot relevance, it was still a sad story nonetheless. Catherine actually makes for quite a good villain, just as manipulative as Audrey and even more of a schemer. Speaking of, Audrey's scene when Ben walks in got a quite big laugh out of me. It's the kind of funny coincidence that works best in a series like this or Fargo for example. Hank isn't a great character so far in my eyes, especially for someone who was introduced late. However, him shooting Leo was some much needed justice for a despicable character. Overall it was a good end to a very promising first season, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this story

High 7