I have always wondered how other fans view each of the characters in the Twin Peaks universe, whether they like them, loathe them, or meh! Just curious about how other fans views fall in line with my own.

And the reason for your love, hate, or don't care sentiments.

I'll start first.

Pete Martell - Love him.  One of the first characters we view in the TP universe.  A simple man with a heart of gold that wouldn't harm a fly.  Gets pleasure out of the most trivial everyday activities and has a wonderful sense of humor.  Would take a bullet for just about anyone in the town of Twin Peaks.  Puts up with Catherine's crap.  Develops a friendship with Audrey. Loves fishing and is a hard worker at the mill. God, I hope he survived the explosion at the Savings and Loan!  Prototypical good ole boy Lynchverse character.

I like Pete too, but I don't think he's as universally nice as you make him out to be.  He seems to have a dark side... like when he brough Ben Catherine's taped message in jail for example.  Also, when he was ticked off at the log lady he seemed pretty crazy.  So... Pete's a nice guy usually... but there is a dark half to that too.

Could the black lodge count as a person? Because I really dislike that one.
It is an albatross around the neck and casts its shadow over what once was a good show.

I like Pete too, but I don't think he's as universally nice as you make him out to be.  He seems to have a dark side... like when he brough Ben Catherine's taped message in jail for example.  Also, when he was ticked off at the log lady he seemed pretty crazy.  So... Pete's a nice guy usually... but there is a dark half to that too.

 I agree about him being mean to Ben which I pointed out in a post on the Episode 15 thread.  The confrontation with the Log Lady was played more for laughs - Pete declaring his love of video games "Grand.....Theft...Auto!!!!" If I lived in Twin Peaks, I wouldn't be concerned about Pete having a dark side.  Ben tried to kill his wife and the "Log Lady" stole his truck!

The Black Lodge is the best part of the show.

HATE: Josie. She cries and acts like a little baby all the time, but she's really manipulative and deceitful. She's the type of character that makes women look needy and irrational. I was never interested in her character or any story lines involving Josie. And it's never been explained to me why her spirit goes into the dresser drawer--- what is that about??

LOVE: Nadine. Just when TP starts to get too serious and estoric, here comes Nadine-- totally crazy and hilarious. And the best part is the whole town just goes along with it! They even let her enroll in high school again! She was a great source of comic relief and helps to give TP its wierdness/charm.

HATE: Josie. She cries and acts like a little baby all the time, but she's really manipulative and deceitful. She's the type of character that makes women look needy and irrational. I was never interested in her character or any story lines involving Josie. And it's never been explained to me why her spirit goes into the dresser drawer--- what is that about??

LOVE: Nadine. Just when TP starts to get too serious and estoric, here comes Nadine-- totally crazy and hilarious. And the best part is the whole town just goes along with it! They even let her enroll in high school again! She was a great source of comic relief and helps to give TP its wierdness/charm.

 I agree about Josie, disagree about Nadine

This is going to sound harsh, but I wish Nadine Hurley's suicide attempt in the season one finale had been successful.

This is going to sound harsh, but I wish Nadine Hurley's suicide attempt in the season one finale had been successful.

Who knows, maybe season two is Nadine's Owl Creek Bridge.

Pete declaring his love of video games "Grand.....Theft...Auto!!!!"

I'm almost afraid to ask if you're joking or not on this one -what with you young kids nowadays!

I'm pretty sure Pete is talking about Grand Theft Auto: the term, and he's not sitting aound the Pine Lodge racking up points on the video game.

lol  

Pete is a great character, but I'd say I "like" him. He was not consistently written, he allowed too much of that Josie nonsense to happen, it didn't make sense with how the relationship was depicted in season 1. Much of the time he was good, though. It was nice when he was brought into the plot by the chess game, but when that was discarded, so was he. In the end, for the TP I care about, which is the larger story, he isn't one of my favorite characters.

Pete is a great character, but I'd say I "like" him. He was not consistently written, he allowed too much of that Josie nonsense to happen, it didn't make sense with how the relationship was depicted in season 1. Much of the time he was good, though. It was nice when he was brought into the plot by the chess game, but when that was discarded, so was he. In the end, for the TP I care about, which is the larger story, he isn't one of my favorite characters.

 Fair enough.  I think he had such great lines and Jack Nance delivered them with such gusto and poured his heart and soul into the character.

So far, my own personal record of the characters mentioned in this thread-

Pete - LIKE

Josie - DISLIKE

Nadine- DISLIKE

LOL -I told you coolspring I was "afraid to ask."    So that's a relief!

I personally love all the characters in the first season -I love the writing, I love the story arcs, I love the actors.  Yes, even the gushy Donna/James stuff.  Actually, the weakest character for me was Maddie- I didn't really think she gelled until the episode before she died in season two.

Season two -especially the second half I disliked just about every choice made for the players- including Cooper, Audrey and Pete.  

Josie Packard - Dislike her.  We get the pleasure of hearing over and over again how beautiful she is (yet she doesn't even crack my top 5 hottest TP women, with her haircut not helping the cause at all).  I heard she was a big star back in Korea, yet I found Chen's acting skills marginal at best.  Her character was all about screwing everyone over, even people she supposedly loved like Truman.  Was glad BOB munched on her fear.  She was the exotic woman in trouble with no redeeming qualities that were supposed to be made up for by how hot she was.  Give me a break.

Originally "Josie Packard" was "Giovanna Packard" was going to be played by Isabella Rosellini and the Triad connection would have been mafia. Her commitments she was unable to join TP hence Joan Chen. Not sure if it would have made her character more compelling to have her Italian but it would have made the "irresistible" part for convincing (for me).

This is going to sound harsh, but I wish Nadine Hurley's suicide attempt in the season one finale had been successful.

Who knows, maybe season two is Nadine's Owl Creek Bridge.

Booth, you make me love you more and more each day.

Top of my character Like list is of course Major Briggs. There's just something so fatherly about him that I find appealing. Even when he's disciplining Bobby for smoking at the dinner table, he's still chucking that fantastic Briggs wisdom at us.

Top of my character Dislike list...Donna f'ing Hayward. I partially blame Lara Flynn Boyle and partially blame whomever was writing her character. When you compare the FWWM Donna with the series Donna, it's like night and day, and I can't say it's entirely on the shoulders of the actresses either. Donna in the series was written to be wayyyyy too naive about Laura's activities; in FWWM it was made more apparent that Donna did indeed know some of what Laura was up to. As a result, Donna in the series comes across rather ridiculous and whiny. Lara's acting didn't help either...she could have easily played Donna has a more sympathetic character, but by the end of season 1, all she makes me want to do is chew my own face off every time Donna comes on screen. Bleh.

As far as the characters already mentioned in this thread...Pete I like. Nadine I'm neutral on. Josie I dislike. Though towards the end of the series, I get rather neutral with Pete. I liked him better earlier on in the series. Nadine was more enjoyable pre-suicide attempt. The high school shtick got old really quickly, but it gave us more Norma-Ed facetime so that made it relatively OK. Josie was just ridiculous most of the time, though I don't think having the character be Italian and played by Isabella Rossalini would have made it any better. I find her to be just as poor of an actress and ethnicity couldn't have saved the character if it tried.

Ben Horne - Like him.  Richard Beymer nails this role of the sleazy behind closed doors shady businessman.  His acting skills are top notch.  Horne was a hornball to say the least sleeping with Laura and countless others at One Eyed Jacks in addition to Catherine Martell.  Poor Sylvia.  He seemed to bring in the dough and wield a lot of power and was able to usually get himself out of a bind no matter what the cost.  Loved the cigar-chompin', above the law, holier than thou approach.  I sure hope he survived the assault by Doc Hayward and went back to being bad Ben and "took care" of John Justice Wheeler.

Donna Hayward – Don’t Like. I agree with KahlanMnel. Donna was both often written terribly, unrealistically and depicted by Lara Flynn Boyle and Moira Kelly. The role of Laura’s best friend warranted a fantastic character, however, I do not believe that this was frequently achieved. She was too often emotional or indifferent during the most inappropriate times, and consistently immature considering her age. I especially detested Donna’s attitude during episode 8 and the particular line “You’re my daddy” from episode 29, but these are only specific examples.

The Log Lady – Like. I continue to hypothesize of her possibly more than any other “minor” character. Her dialogue and actions were never written irregularly and Catherine E. Coulson was evidently committed to her portrayal of the “peculiar” character.

Audrey Horne - Absolutely love - this is a no brainer.  Classic beauty.  She is a naive, mischievous teenage girl whom most of her actions are actually done for the greater good of the citizens of Twin Peaks.  She just wants her daddy to love her.  I usually don't get into the romantic aspects of TV shows (being a guy and all), but damn did Cooper and her have sizzling chemistry.  Loved her dancing in the diner.  Loved her waiting in Cooper's bed.  Loved her prayer for Cooper from One Eyed Jacks.  Wish her character would have stayed more in line with Season One Audrey.  Her only knock was her hair in the Pilot.  The cream of the crop as far as women go in the TP universe.

eh, she's overrated! kidding, all the way.

I like all the characters from the first season -yes, even poor Josie and James. I think it's cast wonderfully and flawless.

Maclachlan, Fenn, Laurie, Beymer are the standouts for me -especially during the first season. They get fantastic scenes where they can play off of one another. Fenn, and it was probably due to her age, is the only one of the teen characters that can go head to head with one of the grownups and hold her own. *The second episode scene between Audrey and Ben is all one shot! And she hits all the right beats. And Piper Laurie is just a master. Leland is great, but he was never really front and center until the second season to me.

And I think the early stuff with Dana Ashbrook is really underrated.

I don't have a problem with James and Donna so much -it's just that there's not much for them to go to. It's always more interesting peeling the layers away at the "bad" kids (Bobby, Audrey) then the "good kids."

Like: Pete, Cooper, Albert.

Neutral: Harry, Big Ed, James.

Dislike: Josie, Nadine, Dick Tremane.

James Hurley - neutral. He captures the classic Twin Peaks look and is definitely a much needed part of the TP universe. Acts like James Dean, rides a motorcycle, yet has a sensitive side. He is a genuinely good person who overdramaticizes what happens to him and Donna. James Marshall from what I hear is a nice person, yet I did think his acting skills were suspect at times, especially in the James/Evelyn scenes. All style, no substance.

Like - Pete, Andy, Lucy, Ben & Audrey Horne, The Log Lady, Major Briggs, Gordon Cole and especially Bobby (LOVE them bad boys...)

Dislike - Mike the Snake, (why is he so different acting in the series than in FWWM?), Donna, Evelyn, Dick Tremaine, Josie

Neutral - James, Big Ed, Nadine, Shelly, Norma, Harry (he's an integral part of the series but I HATE watching him make out with Josie....he's sloppy and all over the place...)

I really liked Shelley and also Norma when she was in scenes with Shelley in particular.

Pineweasel what do you mean about Mike ('Snake') being different in FWWM? Isn't he only in one scene in FWWM? I'd say he's meant to be unlikeable but I liked the character and his portrayal, if not his later plot with Nadine!