Twin Peaks is, unquestionably, one of the most important television show--and one of the best. Created 1990 by master of the surreal, David Lynch, Twin Peaks was as serialized as television got--15 years before Lost--and as esoteric and mindtwisting as later shows. In retrospect, it's amazing to think that Twin Peaks was made 20 years ago and
But enough of that--this is a Psych episode we're talking about. Psych and Twin Peaks are fairly incompatible shows. While Twin Peaks was about subtlety, the unknown, and eerily ambiguity, Psych is one of the most obvious shows on television. The jokes are obvious, the crime solving is obvious, and there's hardly any thinking beyond what's on the screen and said in the dialogue. That said, Psych can pay homage to Twin Peaks, not by emulating the tone, but by throwing in a gazillion references, and that's what "Dual Spires" is all about.
I'm not exactly sure how people who don't know much about Twin Peaks would react to the episode, but being a big fan of the show, I thoroughly enjoyed the episode, so here's a list of references I jotted down (there are probably a lot more): Julee Cruise's "Failing" Santa Barbara-style, Bob, Log Lady, Father's hair, saw mill burned down, a theme similar to Angelo Badalamenti's amazing "Love Song," cinnamon pie, Lodge Blackman, crazy birds, letters under the nail, random people dancing, and of course the numerous guest stars.
The town of Dual Spires has various similarities to Twin Peaks, and there is even the classic shot of Laura Palmer dead, except it's actually Paula. The plot is the usual Psych fare and ends with Shawn discovering the real killers.
"Dual Spires" was a fun episode for me, but if I weren't a fan, I'm not sure I would really care. Sure I would get the idea that Twin Peaks is weird, but the rest of the episode is pretty standard.
Score: 8.7/10
