Twin Peaks’ New Mode of Storytelling
ARTICLES PROPHETIC VISIONS, QUALITY SERIALS: TWIN PEAKS’ NEW MODE OF STORYTELLING MIKHAIL L. SKOPTSOV ABSTRACT Following the April 1990 debut of Twin Peaks on ABC, the TV’, while disguising instances of authorial manipulation evi- vision - a sequence of images that relates information of the dent within the texts as products of divine internal causality. narrative future or past – has become a staple of numerous As a result, all narrative events, no matter how coincidental or network, basic cable and premium cable serials, including inconsequential, become part of a grand design. Close exam- Buffy the Vampire Slayer(WB) , Battlestar Galactica (SyFy) and ination of Twin Peaks and Carnivàle will demonstrate how the Game of Thrones (HBO). This paper argues that Peaks in effect mode operates, why it is popular among modern storytellers had introduced a mode of storytelling called “visio-narrative,” and how it can elevate a show’s cultural status. which draws on ancient epic poetry by focusing on main char- acters that receive knowledge from enigmatic, god-like figures that control his world. Their visions disrupt linear storytelling, KEYWORDS allowing a series to embrace the formal aspects of the me- dium and create the impression that its disparate episodes Quality television; Carnivale; Twin Peaks; vision; coincidence, constitute a singular whole. This helps them qualify as ‘quality destiny. 39 SERIES VOLUME I, SPRING 2015: 39-50 DOI 10.6092/issn.2421-454X/5113 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TV SERIAL NARRATIVES ISSN 2421-454X ARTICLES > MIKHAIL L. SKOPTSOV PROPHETIC VISIONS, QUALITY SERIALS: TWIN PEAKS’ NEW MODE OF STORYTELLING By the standards of traditional detective fiction, which ne- herself and possibly The Log Lady, are visionaries as well.
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