Thursday 13 April 2017

POP! Television – Twin Peaks: Laura Palmer

Spoiler Alert: This review contains spoilers for Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me.

“I’ll see you again in 25 years.”

Poor Laura Palmer. Her murder kicks off the events of Twin Peaks, and in the process exposes the seedy underbelly of the seemingly idyllic little town.

In spite of her death, we still see quite a bit of Laura throughout the series, primarily in dreams and in the Red Room. But we never really see her alive until Fire Walk With Me, the prequel/sequel film released in 1992. It's a frustrating movie; watching in 2017, you can easily go and reference the series via streaming site or DVD. But I can see why it drove viewers up the wall in 1992. It has some great scenes, but was it really necessary? It raises just as many questions as it answers, and the tone is radically different to the wider series. Some of this was due to production problems and studio interference, but it still felt like a missed opportunity.

Nonetheless, it’s good to be getting Twin Peaks POPs. I imagine this figure will generate its share of controversy in the weeks to come, as it not only depicts a corpse but a nude one at that. It’s not exactly a throwback to McFarlane’s edgier days, but given the upset that the Breaking Bad toys caused a couple of years ago we can only assume that Funko has been wiser than to try and stock them at Toys R Us.   


When the control art was first released for these figures, I was quite unsure as to how Funko would pull off the construction of this figure; would everything be one solid piece and painted accordingly? Well, now that it’s in hand, it appears that they’ve taken a separate POP figure, and then used a softer plastic to mould the plastic wrapping. It’s an elegant solution, though I question its longevity – I can see it yellowing, hardening and cracking if it’s exposed to sunlight, but admittedly that’s just speculation on my part.  

And in what seems to be a first for Funko, Laura comes with two display options – there’s the stand which keeps her upright, but she also comes with a sheet of cardboard that depicts the rocky waterside she’s found on. This is a cool touch, and I hope we see Funko do more like it in the future.


I suspect Laura will be one of the best-selling POPs in the line. She’s one of the most unique figures Funko has yet released, and with the show about to return to the airwaves, interest in the series is the highest it’s been in years. It’s an unusual collectible, and it exemplifies Twin Peaks rather well – it will be eagerly seized on by fans and utterly baffle everyone else.  


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