Where He's From: Twin Peaks (Spoilers below).
Why He's Evil: He murdered quite a few people - most notably his own daughter.
Why He's Awesome: For a start, he was less of a cold-blooded killer and more of an unwilling host to the homicidal spirit Bob. Twin Peaks is so great because it starts of as a murder mystery and grows into a sitcom, a soap, a thriller and a horror movie all at once. Leland Palmer is an excellent symbol of all this. He's at times hilarious, awkward and terrifying, sometimes all at once. He's batshit crazy and is equally likely to burst into awkward song as he is to murder someone. He grows from a subject of pity to a feared entity, but at the end of his life, he just feels used up and ashamed. He's got a great arc, and you've got to love him.
Once you watch Fire Walk With Me and can see the whole span of his character, it's really impressive. The casts a wide shadow over proceedings. I love the Twin Peaks mythology, but he works equally well if you want to think that he's just a nutjob.
Best Moments: Jumping on his daughter's coffin, dancing, his heart-wrenching interrogation.
Honourable Mentions from Twin Peaks: Bob, the Man From Another Place, Ben Horne, Evil Cooper.
3 comments:
Yay! Finally - have been waiting for you to write this.
That gum you like is going to come back in style.
Other great Leland moments:
- "Leland says you're going back to Missoula MONTANA!"
- Weeping and desperately looking for someone to dance with him
- hair turning white overnight
- recalling BOB flicking matches at him when he was child and saying "Do you wanna play with FIRE little boy!?"
Post a Comment