I fell madly in love with Twin Peaks a while ago now, I hold it very dear to my heart as you do.  Well, that is, I hold season 1 (especially) and the first half of season 2 very dear to my heart.  I had watched and rewatched season 1 obsessively but it took me a while to watch season 2 as it's not available in the UK and I didn't realise that for a while and eventually bought it off Amazon.  What the hell happened after the Laura Palmer case was solved?  My guess is they simply didn't know where to go because for reasons that defy logic the TV network revealed the identity of the killer before the half-mark of season 2, taking away the core and central heart of the series, granted the revelation episode is an absolute Lynchian tour-de-force.  It pissed me off to no end to see Andy and the intolerable Dick try and find out if an orphan is the devil or not (!?!?!?!?!?!?!?), and to see Audrey, one of the best characters  of the series and a personal favourite, engage in an unbelievably dull and unconvincing romance with the face-slappingly bland Billy Zane.  In fact, the whole tone and mood of the series changes in the latter half of season 2, replacing the mystery, melancholy, sadness, and dark humour that made it so compelling and beautiful in the first place, with endless comic relief, quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness, a cheap glossy look and virtually no direction.  The original narrative was brilliant and had so much gravity, it was perfect, and the characters impacted off one another beautifully in a seamless flow.  The eerie quietness and reflectiveness was replaced with visual busyness and an overrall soapy feel.  The biggest insult to me was what they did with the characters, stripping so many of them of their dignity.  I mean, Dr. Jacoby was, for me at least, one of the most compelling characters of the first season; sympathetic and fascinating.  The scene at the cemetary where he explains to Cooper that Laura gave him purpose in his life is beautiful and touching.  Okay, he didn't feature prominently at all in the first half of season 2, to my disappointment, but...wait, all the characters seem to suddenly forget about Laura.  God.  Laura.  Her tragic story was the heart of the series and then it suddenly vanished.  It went from being genuine art, to being a circus.

The only reason I finished it was because of two storylines, the heart-wrenching one involving Harry Truman and Josie, and of course the Windom Earle one, which was great fun.  But even then those struggled to break through the visual gaudiness and stupid writing surrounding them.  And of course, the final episode directed by Lynch is a tour-de-force, not as great as anything from earlier on, but still wonderful; frightening, striking, and clever and moving in the way it tied the story of the Black Lodge to the original mystery.  But alas, just when it looked like it might pick upCANCELLED.  Oh well.  My Twin Peaks lasts up until the killer is caught.  Most of all though, it's forever become a part of my heart and imagination, so it will never end for me...I'm sure many of you feel the same way...

Yeah, it is a real shame what happened during season 2. Even the best storylines (Windom Earle and Harry/Josie, as you said) still aren't up to anything from series 1. Sometimes, I kind of get annoyed at Lynch for producing such an unbelievable finale, because otherwise I could just stop watching after Leland dies. It does pick up a few episodes before that finale to be fair. Even then though, I can never really get too interested in the pursuit of Windom Earle, he's such a clown. I know he murders people but the way he does it diminishes the impact for me. You know, putting someone in a huge chess piece! After they finished the series, I guess they realised how Laura Palmer was really the core of the Twin Peaks, which must have motivated Lynch's decision to make the film centre around her.

I feel your pain.

But am I the only one that thinks it actually goes south in the Leland death episode?  It's okay, but once they enter the Roadhouse, it's the biggest letdown of a mystery we'd been following for over half a year.  Yeah, we got the great reveal of the killer two episode earlier -but we're cheated of all the clues and levels that Cooper has gone on to be neatly resolved in an instant -"my father killed me."  The whole tone is wrong.

I think it's perfect all the way from pilot to the Audrey/Cooper meeting with the phone call informing they've found Maddy's body.

From there on out, it's all a mess of not knowing what to do and nothing paying off (Windom calls on Audrey,Donna and Shelly -with playing cards, oh no wait! It's chess!)  Too much gobbety guck of dugpas and codes and symbols that is really just spinning its wheels.  Donna in a plot we know the answer to hundred of episodes before she confronts Ben  (and wasn't this the type of theme Peaks was parodying in the first place?  only without any interesting take on it).

I do like the Audrey/Denise/Cooper scene a lot though.  Leo's attack on Shelly is suitably creepy; Dead Dog Farm had potential; the penguin joke is great, although I can't get around the fact that it's Annie he's telling it to. 

The finale is stellar though.

But whenever Peaks is mentioned, the latter stuff in almost never mentioned because the average viewer had checked out -so it's always Cooper and the bottle throw; Audrey and the cherry; Nadine and her drapes; and a dancing dwarf and a plastic-wrapped homecoming queen that lives on.

I actually really agree with you on the way they solved it.  I felt the psychic circle thing was rushed and I hated the way they focused on character like Dick while Coop and the rest were trying to figure out who did it and Leland was on the loose.  Basically revealing the killer so early was the biggest mistake made with the series...

It's my understanding that Lynch and Frost originally intended for the Laura Palmer mystery to last for the entire run of the show-even if it had been on ten years (oh, if only!). That's why the show has that deliberate "One Episode = One Day" pace. When they solved the mystery they were bowing to pressure from a network anxious to move on, and then as you say they didn't know where to go anymore. It's a shame.

Another factor is Lynch's MIA status once the Palmer storyline is wrapped up. I'm not sure if he was working on something else or if he simply lost interest once the mystery was solved, but his absence inarguably hurt the show tremendously.

In my estimation there are clearly two things going on during that time: One, you have a parade of directors of varying degrees of ability who seem to feel compelled to "out-Lynch" Lynch. The biggest example of this is the gawdawful Diane Keaton episode. It seems like no one is trying to reign in these directors from giving in to this urge.

Second, the writers (perhaps under network pressure) seem to make it their mission to "explain" Lynch's strangeness. One of the worst offenders is the episode where Cooper actually "solves" the murder and catches the killer. Now, I actually like this episode but I cringe at things shoehorned in just to manufacture some tenuous tie-in to one of Lynch's obscure non-sequiters. The "gum scene" makes we want to pull an Elvis with my TV.

I don't think it's any coincidence, either, that Season 2 starts to pick up at about the time Lynch returns as Gordon Cole. He may not have been writing or directing, but I think he was at least attempting some quality control.

Yeah, stupid network, messing with creativity.

A big insult for me lies in the episode in which the killer is caught.  The drama is interrupted by the stupid storyline with Dick who, if nothing else but smile like a dick, sets off the sprinklers.  And also, so many of the characters originally very interested in the Palmer case lose interest, namely Lucy, who tagged along and took a real interest in the investigation.

And even as the series picked up, it still wasn't anything near the league of season 1, the Miss Twin Peaks episode evidence of how the charming, soulful little town had been turned into a glossy, gaudy, busy place full of celebrity appearances and what not...

Remind me, which episode did Diane Keaton direct again?

Remind me, which episode did Diane Keaton direct again?

 

Now, to be fair there are some decent scenes in this episode. And the bad ones are mostly the fault of the writers. But Keaton's direction doesn't help matters any. She just tries WAY too hard to make her setups "interesting" (which they're not), as well as trying to do these long slow pans across various random objects because evidently that's "Lynchian". But on the plus side, we do get scenes where extras walk around in the background single-file in perfect unison for no aparrent reason...kill me. Kill me now.

I agree that the decline didn't start til after Leland died.

But I was never bored or disappointed by any of Season 2 the first time around. I especially love Harold and the Tremonds.

It felt to me that after the Laura mystery was resolved, the town of Twin Peaks was returning to 'as it had been' before Laura died, with BOB and the evil in the shadows, and fluffy sunny silly quirkiness pervading.

Ep. 14 and the finale, when Lynch comes back, he floods the narrative with the darkness and mystery of Season 1.

Cheerleader Nadine, Little Nicky, and Evelyn Marsh are not worth subsequent viewings. This is sad, but TP at its worst is still better than most other doodoo I have endured on television.

So you won't see me complain.

evidently that's "Lynchian".

Everything is Lynchian.

Little Nicky and Evelyn Marsh could definitely go.  But I think cheerleader Nadine kept the audience hoping that Big Ed and Norma would finally get together.  Besides, the looks on Big Ed's face when super Nadine lays a kiss on him are priceless.  A bit hokey maybe, but what's wrong with that? 

I kinda hated that the seedy underbelly (OEJ, drug trade) got cheesy and then disappeared.  Jean Renault just didn't seem that menacing to me.  And Ernie?  I guess I wish that Ben didn't have that breakdown and epiphany.

I agree that the decline didn't start til after Leland died. But I was never bored or disappointed by any of Season 2 the first time around. I especially love Harold and the Tremonds. It felt to me that after the Laura mystery was resolved, the town of Twin Peaks was returning to 'as it had been' before Laura died, with BOB and the evil in the shadows, and fluffy sunny silly quirkiness pervading. Ep. 14 and the finale, when Lynch comes back, he floods the narrative with the darkness and mystery of Season 1. Cheerleader Nadine, Little Nicky, and Evelyn Marsh are not worth subsequent viewings. This is sad, but TP at its worst is still better than most other doodoo I have endured on television. So you won't see me complain.

 Actually, yeah, on first viewing I didn't really notice a decline while watching season 2. I think mostly that is because on first viewing I also didn't appreciate the majesty of Series 1 as much as I did when rewatching it. It is true that my opinions are slightly coloured by the general opinions of board members here. What I mean by that is upon rewatching I was almost looking out for a decline in quality post-Leland's death.

Little Nicky and Evelyn Marsh could definitely go.  But I think cheerleader Nadine kept the audience hoping that Big Ed and Norma would finally get together.  Besides, the looks on Big Ed's face when super Nadine lays a kiss on him are priceless.  A bit hokey maybe, but what's wrong with that? 

I kinda hated that the seedy underbelly (OEJ, drug trade) got cheesy and then disappeared.  Jean Renault just didn't seem that menacing to me.  And Ernie?  I guess I wish that Ben didn't have that breakdown and epiphany.

  Actually, "cheerleader Nadine" didn't last long, as she was quickly replaced by the more resilient "wrestler Nadine" (with Kung Fu Grip!!!)...
 

  I guess I wish that Ben didn't have that breakdown and epiphany.

 I actually enjoyed his breakdown, but hated his epiphany!  I remember watching it on tv in college, and laughing my ass off at the whole Civil War thing.  Once he decided to go "straight", I found his character quite boring.  Which is a shame, because he was so hilarious throughout the series up until that point.