Enough messing around: The objectively best PC gaming Prime Day deal is this boxed set of all three seasons of Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me for $45
Twin Peaks: From Z to A series box set | $69.99 $44.93 at Amazon (save $25)
You're doing yourself a disservice if you've never watched this prestige TV classic. Added bonus: You'll now know what all your favorite games, shows, and movies were ripping off.View Deal
Forget the other Prime Day gaming deals: PC gamers yearn for the filmography of David Lynch. Thankfully, Twin Peaks: From Z to A, a boxed set of all three seasons of the show plus the prequel film Fire Walk With Me, is 36% off, bringing it under the crucial "this seems like what a boxed set of something should cost" threshold of 50 bucks.
Beyond film and television, Twin Peaks has had a massive impact on gaming, particularly the works of Remedy, the Silent Hill series, and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening of all things. At least that's the logic my colleague, PC Gamer hardware writer Jess Kinghorn, used to add this to our spotlight deals queue. And when fate (or Jess) comes knocking, who is this Lynch-head to say no?
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Tangential relationship to PC gaming aside, this set really is quite a bargain—if I didn't already own the component works individually, I would be putting my money where my mouth is here. The original two-season run of Twin Peaks is a classic for a reason, but like many fans, I'm content to write off the middle half or so of S2 when Lynch left the show and it spun its wheels trying to find a new groove as a goofy soap opera.
My heart truly belongs to The Return, the 18-episode third season aired on Showtime in 2017. With Lynch's passing earlier this year, it now stands as his last major cinematic work, an ensemble tour de force that nailed the feeling of living in America today better than anything I've seen before or since—except maybe True Detective. The sterility and decay, the overwhelming feeling of wasted potential, the occasional pleasant surprise or shocking upset to make you think the old girl (America) might still have some fight left in her: It's all here, baby.
I'd be remiss if I failed to mention the 1992 movie prequel Fire Walk With Me, also included in this collection. It often gets less love because it's so thoroughly unpleasant to watch, recontextualizing all of the heroes and cozy charm of Twin Peaks from the perspective of a young woman who has been betrayed or let down by every single person in her life. It's superb, but I always feel grimy after watching.
And at $45 for the lot, well it's a deal no cinephile could pass up. From a pure gamer perspective, if you've never seen Twin Peaks before, you'll have a newfound appreciation for the amusement park bit in Max Payne 2. I'd say it'll give you a greater appreciation for Alan Wake 2, but really you'll just be going "Wait, they cribbed that from The Return too?"
For further Lynch viewing, the Criterion versions of Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway are a whopping 50% off, $20 and $25 for the regular and 4K blu rays, respectively. Tell 'em Ted sent ya, and it will still just be 50% off.