Director David Lynch, perhaps the ultimate auteur, began shocking audiences in 1977 with Eraserhead, an absurdist slice-of-life thrumming with desolation and domestic horror. The film remains comical and disturbing—like peeking through a crack in the universe into some nightmarish industrial soap opera. Lynch himself might not suffer from existential nausea, but his work seems to heighten the effect. Now, 23 years after his TV series Twin Peaks ended, Lynch has released Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery on Blu-Ray. Mysteriousuniverse.org reported Lynch made the decision after years of besiegement by petitioning fans. While I can’t verify that, it sounds likely. The new(ish) offering includes the Twin Peaks pilot, both seasons of the TV series, the Fire Walk With Me movie, and what might be called the Lynchian Rosetta stone: The Missing Pieces—approximately 90 minutes of never-before-seen footage from the TV series.
A few complaints are in the air about the release being available only on Blu-Ray, but isn't this nearly always the case? Wait a few months, and Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery will have a "traditional" release. Then slip into a plaid shirt, zip on over to Walmart, and bask in the irony. You'll be among the happy (and happily still confused) many, gasping with dark joy devouring long-coveted secrets behind a "damned good cup of joe," Log Lady, obsessive pie-eating and—of course—the murder of Laura Palmer. And never forget: in heaven, everything is fine.
