6 Best Moments From Twin Peaks

5. The World Spins

While the series had many things that set it apart from most of the programming that aired on television at the time (awesome cinematography, a fantastic score, a pretty good cast, and, best of all, surrealism), there's no doubt that, at it's core, Twin Peaks was, and always will be, a melodrama, a soap opera. Big emotion was at the centre of the show's complex set of characters, and one of the best examples of this being done well can be seen as the series' greatest mystery was finally revealed to masses: Laura Palmer's murderer. Since I'm spoiling pretty much everything else worth seeing in the show, I may as well cut the drama and come out with it: it was her father. However, oddly enough, it's not this revelation that makes this scene so powerful. Regardless of what you may have thought of this twist reveal, it ultimately wasn't the scene's main selling point, at least not to me. You see, that portion is bookended with a performance by singer Julee Cruise, which the Log Lady (don't ask), Cooper, and sheriff Truman, along with a whole assortment of the town's teenage youth (James Hurley, Donna Hayward, Bobby Briggs, and the like). Initially, Cruise, who, I suppose, plays herself (it's never made clear who she is) is singing "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart". Everything's pretty upbeat. Everybody's just taking a breather after all the drama that had come before. Of course, we know things aren't quite right. The Log Lady said she wanted to show the impeccable crime-fighting duo that is Coop and Truman something important. But hey, you can't help but feel laid back. Then, things get serious. It's as though time has stopped, and the music has come to a halt. Instead, it is replaced by an ominous score, quickly followed by the arrival of the Giant (more on him later), who alerts Cooper, the only one who seems to be aware of the being's presence, that it is "happening again". Soon, we are shown a scene involving Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) and Maddy (also played by Sheryl Lee), Laura's father and cousin respectively, in which the latter is beaten to death by the former, revealing that the Leland was the murderer the whole time...under the possession of a demonic force named BOB (while not up there with the likes of Pazuzu, his name is, in many ways, both awesome and ridiculous). That was already a really f---ed up scene in it's own right, as we have now come to realize that Laura was murdered, AND RAPED, by her own dad (like, geez), but then the camera cuts back to Cooper and the gang as the Giant disappears, and the music continues playing. However, Cruise is now singing "The World Spins", which is certainly far less cheerful than her previous performance. Suddenly, everyone, with the exception of Coop, is overcome by sadness. We don't quite know why, but we just assume that the characters sense something's up. That's what makes the scene work so well, I think: the emotional resonance.