Twin Peaks: I'll see you in Twenty Five Years

It is happening again

The story of Twin Peaks will continue.

          Even as a huge admirer of this show and all that came with it, I never really gave much thought to its possible return.Granted, back when Fire Walk With Me was released, I did have odd fantasies of the show continuing in movie form every couple of years with David Lynch returning to a favorite playground. Each movie exploring elements of the mysteries that filled the forests of the town.

         I imagined a possible follow up movie to be about Leland Palmer as a child and how BOB came to be a part of him,the things BOB did to him and through him. Once more going backwards in the story to reveal something new about the future.

        They could have shown us the story of Dale Cooper,Caroline and Windom Earle.

        They could have explored Phillip Jeffries experiences and how he came to go missing, and just where he was and went to afterwards.How he has seen both the Good and the Bad Dale Cooper in the Black Lodge.Maybe Judy was somehow connected to Josie?But we are not going to talk about that

         Sadly, the movie was not well received at the box office and even less so by many fans of the show.Personally, I love the movie. It's actually a wonder it ever got made in the first place being that it was not common for a film to be made from the ashes of a cancelled show.One that existed only for a pilot movie and 29 episodes, no less.

Then,25 Years passed.

        That's a lot of water over the falls.Life has been lived.Many events have come to pass. We will not be stepping back into the town of Twin Peaks as we knew it.Everything will look,feel,and sound different.

         In what form will this new mystery unfold?Will there even be a mystery? I LOVED the "Who killed...?" story-line. The idea that as a viewer you had to work with the characters to look for clues and connections to solve a murder that wouldn't be resolved after the last commercial break was thrilling television.
        Originally, they did not have a rushed desire to end the mystery and reveal the ultimate secret right away. According to stories, they actually hoped to have that particular story-line fade more and more into the background as we met more and more of the town and uncovered other mysteries and secrets.
        Though, this would not be the best choice in my viewers opinion (you run the risk of becoming parody,a self telling joke every time the murder is mentioned or some new "clue" is revealed that doesn’t go anywhere concrete.That 12:30 SNL skit featuring the favorite catchphrase character., that moment of Skully walking into the room seconds after Mulder's Snuffaluffagus has walked out the other door)
        Eventually, a murder needs to be solved when telling a story.Once solved,it's solution could open up another new mystery just as intriguing.But at some point,they need to get to the point.The original shows pacing was that each episode in the beginning averaged a single day in the town of Twin Peaks,and by the time of the reveal we rested on day 20/21 after the murder. This season only has 18 episodes with a two hour premiere and a two hour season finale.

       Will there even be a big town encompassing mystery ?(that this time Lynch and Mark Frost refuse to solve for the viewer)
       Will they twin the murder of Laura Palmer with a similar beloved young girl full of secrets?A murder that is someone linked directly to Laura(who has been dead for many years)? Will Sheryl Lee return as yet another town resident who just happens to look exactly like our Laura only to be murdered on the show a third time?Odds are that Leland,under the influence of BOB sewed his oats for many years and there are bastard BOB children all over the state.Maybe one of them will be Sheryl Lee's character coming to Twin Peaks to learn about her real father.And re resemblance to Laura Palmer ignites a fire chain of events.BOB would love to relive the murder of Laura,yet again.

        Will Twin Peaks be painted with the same palette of colors as the original?Or will HD make that difficult to pull off?

        Will it duplicate the single day in the life episodic nature of the original series? Or will time pass even slower? Since they don't have to write an episode to meet the needs of multiple commercial breaks, ending every fifteen minutes with a mini cliffhanger to get the viewer to return after these messages. Will David Lynch continue to pull off the Season Two opening scene every chance he can?

Will the tone be close to the original with its quirky squeaky clean with dark fillings donut flavor? Or,since this is on cable with no censor restrictions, will this show feel more like Fire Walk With Me?Oppressively dark,yet still delicious ,with coarse language and more graphic violence frosting?Or will they choose somewhere in the middle-close to the tone and pace of the original series with unrestrained moments of staring the darkness in the face.

           Will the town still feel trapped in its own time and place with limited references to modern sensibilities?

           What of all that music in the air? The fact that our ears will be graced with more of Angelo Badalamenti's and Lynch's scoring is probably my most favorite aspect of this shows return.Old favorite themes are sure to return(they would be foolish not too) but will they be variations ,influenced by both musicians years of performing?

           The creators say that the movie Fire Walk With Me is very important to understanding the new series.FWWM is quite different in tone and presentation from the television series.Often in the TV shows story-lines the writers liked to twin elements within the show.....so will this Twin Peaks be a twin of the first series,not entirely the same, close in spirit, but not intended to be the SAME Twin Peaks we knew from before, like the movie?

           One chants out,BETWEEN TWO WORLDS?Might we be meant to take this literally.Not Red Room to one reality,but Red Room to many realities?Times and places, even? Can one step into the Black Lodge at one place but if you step out at a different side you are stepping out into an alternate timeline. Like crossing a room,Step into the Lodge from outside....cross the room.....step out on the other side into an other timeline.

           Will we see a whole new alternative TP? Only threads connecting the two. In this one Big Ed shot out Nadine’s right eye vs her left? We know that time travel is possible within this world. David Bowie's Phillip Jeffries character jumped in time and place.Major Briggs seems to have experienced this phenomenon (do doo,do doo doo). Could a Bad Dale have been jumping back and forth in time and altering history over the past 25 years?Creating a whole new Twin Peaks that never saw certain sufferings.Did Agent Cooper fuck with Twin Peaks original timeline by trying to change history using the Black Lodges powers? In FWWM ,Cooper tries to save the living Laura Palmer in her dream in her timelines past while he himself is a Dale from the future(albeit by only a few weeks post Laura’s death) ....or so we think....one thought is he says "dont take the ring" as if that would be a bad thing.However, if I understand it right, the ring belongs to MIKE and since he give it to Laura in the train car moments before her murder,then that means she is wed to him("with this ring,I thee wed"). Mike now owns all the Garmonbozia her pain and suffering gives.Which is why later we see Mike and The Arm say to BOB " we want all our Garmonbozia" that BOB has collected from Laura and Leland,but which now rightfully belongs to them due to the ring.Even though BOB did all the dirty work to create it.So,could that have been the Bad Dale under the control of BOB,trying to get back what was his? Ive often seen BOB’s use of inserting the letter into his victims ring finger as his form of the wedding ring.

            Can you imagine the rage of losing that reward after all those years and years you put into cultivating the pain.Making a father repeatedly rape his daughter for years and then make said man kill his own daughter violently. Torturing that young girls mind to the point of death.

            Did Cooper/BOB try and change other pieces of history. The "Secret History of Twin Peaks" changes well known established events in it's documents ( though this is still suspect as the book gives the sense that there may be an unreliable narrator who has altered the Archivists original documents despite his knowledge).Such things have been altered as Big Ed and Nadine's relationship. Norma Jenning's mother is now dead in a timeline where before she was actually seen IN the diner on the show for several episodes?

           I sincerely think BOB/Cooper has been fucking up the townsfolk in a rage. He lost all that Garmonbozia so he wants to create even more stronger suffering this time by really impacting as many lives negatively as possible.

          Or maybe BOB,in effort to be good at being bad, just wants to fuck with the lives the living Good Dale has met in his time in TP.Enjoying the pain of making a good-hearted man betray and hurt his friends and do the nastiest of evils.Revenge for getting him removed from Leland. Imagine Cooper destroying Sheriff Truman?

          Cooper,as a host, would create a different approach to BOB's form of fun.Different body,different rules:BOB is now inside an FBI agent,and all that comes with that.Flash the badge and get people to start talking,telling their secrets, or open doors willingly.

         Would BOB/Cooper do something that gets him removed from the FBI? Or was the Blue Rose case enough to keep Cooper as part of the FBI team and in Twin Peaks after the Laura Palmer resolution just so Gordon Cole could learn more of the secrets of the woods?

         How would Cooper even report his findings of the Laura Palmer murder case to the FBI?How to speak of BOB?Would  BOB/Cooper write up a completely false report to hide anything that would lead to awareness of the other side?And could this report be found to be false, leading to legal troubles for Cooper? Could the new series be a court case that Cooper is on trial for and the series starts as his recollections of events that happened before this new series began.(allowing for Denise Bryson to make an appearance as a character witness/agent discussing how she observed events while in Twin Peaks.Maybe it could be Denise's observations that exposes Coopers lies).

         Cooper had already done some rule breaking things(while well intended) even before BOB got to him.

           Whatever they choose, I think it would be impossible for the show to simply pick up the story years later after the last episode.Continuing the threads we are most familiar with from before.There is only so many secrets Laura Palmer's death could reveal.It would be strange for these characters to STILL be talking about the same things after all these years.It would take a lot of exposition to get a viewer up to speed on what happened in those 25 years (though they could have Ben Horne waking from a coma from his head injury and after brother Jerry has filled him in on all the details Ben says " How long was I out?" )

            These characters have gone on living their lives while we were binging on different shows.Watching programs that were influenced by Twin Peaks who then added something more to the storytelling on the television landscape.Story-lines that we knew of back then could very well have been concluded years ago off screen without us ever hearing what happened.Characters would have moved out of town.Died.New characters will be introduced with their own backstory and secrets.We will have to meet them while once again meeting our old favorites for the first time in 25 years. When you see me again, it wont be me .

Meanwhile......

           What have our favorite characters been up to all these years? I've tried to avoid any potential spoilers from the little information that has been offered about the new show.While I've watched the teasers(Gordon Cole eating a donut on a loop!I bet Lynch plays that out for the entire consumption of the donut in the show),read the book, and looked at pictures in the magazines, I've resisted the urge to go down the google rabbit hole and uncover things that could spoil the surprises.I am shivering in antici.......SAY IT! ...PATION! of who will return to the show and what will we see and hear(new Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch soundtracks and songs....*droooooool*).Will the original cast be more than just a nostalgic cameo or will they be part of the bigger story? What IS the bigger story? HOW'S ANNIE?!?!?

Our Special Agent, Dale Cooper:

            What trouble has Dale Cooper been up to?Which Cooper will we meet again? The Good,but older Dale? Or the darker unreliable narrator BOB/Dale? Or,perhaps the shattered shell of a kind-hearted man who has somehow survived BOB’s influence and subsequent exit but still struggles with the darkness and horrors he has helped bring to life via his own hands,albeit under the influence(like a drug) of another being? Was he able to fight BOB off? Did Dale cast BOB out between now and then(two worlds)? and we are now dealing with this broken man?

Deputy Hawk probably sensed the evil spirit within Cooper and maybe was a helping hand in freeing Cooper before BOB could pull the ripcord on Coopers soul. I picture The Log Lady:She senses things, probably spitting her pitch gum out at Cooper every time he came into the diner for pie.

Sarah Palmer:

          Sarah Palmer has lost her daughter and her husband in the span of a few weeks. How does she cope?Can she? I think this is one of the biggest fails of the original run, when they jumped 3 days later to Leland’s funeral .We missed her reaction. We missed the towns reaction (Did they ever reveal to the public that Leland killed Laura?since it would be part of an ongoing Blue Rose/BOB investigation) She lost it when her daughter died. How did she deal with that grief and then her husbands death and THEN the potential revelation that he had been raping Laura for years AND then killed her violently. Lord knows what Leland was doing to Sarah for his own enjoyment under BOB’s influence over the years.The levels of emotional abuse and manipulation. And how much did Sarah know before? She was often drugged by Leland/BOB so BOB could play undisturbed. But did she sense or know something was off? How did Laura behave after that first time in the woods? Did Sarah notice in the beginning? What did Sarah think of Leland/BOB’s occasional cruelty to Laura , to herself? BOB had been in Leland for nearly forty years, so he was there when they met,maybe BOB was even present when Laura was conceived.Did BOB touch Laura as an infant? When Laura got to a older age,was there a change in Leland and Sarah's intimate relationship that might have made Sarah start to notice the darkness in her home? It would be no surprise if that Sarah became an alcoholic in the following years.Something which is implied in one of the few first images to emerge for the new series.Sarah in the booze aisle of a store with TWO bottles. Did Sarah's visions increase in intensity now that Leland/BOB no longer drugged her on a regular basis.Or did they fade away now that she was no longer so close to the source of such a unique power as BOB? Could she have been addicted to that fuzzy mental passive state?She was already heavy in to cigarette smoking, but that could have been an emotional stress crutch because of what was going on in her home.

Donna Hayward:

           Honestly, without her investigating Laura's murder as a form of guilt absolving what integral place  does she have in this story? Ben Horne as her father? So what?Standard soap opera drama there. I can see the character using that as one of many reasons run away and to get the hell out of dodge,Go far away for college. Best friend is violently murdered by her father a man you knew? You discover terrible things about your best friend Laura that you only were hinted to at before? You have an abusive ex boyfriend (Mike) and the guy you cheated on said ex with was also in love with your best friend? And he has wild ambitions of becoming a singer and its not "just you" who thinks this is a ridiculous idea?Another young girl you know gets murdered just like your friend Laura? Your meddling actions result in a agoraphobic gardener to kill himself after you betray his fragile trust? Then you find out your Mom shacked up with the town sleaze Ben Horne,and, oh, he's also your father? and just when did Mom get so Horne? While married to your Dad ? That’s more than enough reasons to want to get away from all of that grief that this town has to offer. Supposedly, neither of the actresses who portrayed her are returning.They replaced her once, it could happen again.But I have a strong feeling the character has left town,never to be heard from again ( well maybe via a letter to her sisters )

James Hurley:

          I bet he has a band. *shudder*. Probably works at Big Eds during the day and bar-tending the Road House at night.Still a Bookhouse Boy.Donna has most likely moved on leaving this lap dog to lick his wounds.But what would be his part in this story?What purpose does he now serve? And sure he was young , but what kind of a jackass, lets his girlfriend have an emotional breakdown in front of you and then lets that young girl just walk off into the dark woods alone at night??Driving off and abandoning her.Only to have her found murdered the next day.The town folk probably liked to whisper about that behind his back.

Sheriff Truman:

         Another broken soul.Ive read he is not coming back.Thoughts are he might have been recast.The character relationship of Cooper and Truman will be missed.Whose Albert Rosenfield going to "WOOF" at now? He may be recast...with his brother, who is mentioned in the book as being sheriff before Harry.So the new sheriff could still be a Truman of a different color. But what I hope is there is a story to support this.Harry Truman went through a traumatic loss with Josie dying in front of him. He also lost a bit of his town...as people he knew and protected turned out to be quite the dark opposite. Maybe this was too much. He saw Leland's death bed confession. He had cursory experiences with BOB and elements of the Red Room. Maybe this all became too much for his structured mind to process and he walked away.Admittedly,I'm really looking forward for an Albert vs a new Truman confrontation and Albert getting a completely different reaction when he tries to call the new guy a blithering hayseed. This Truman bites back. And what's his secret?

Will this new Truman, older brother, be as good as Harry? or the dark twin to Harry's light?

Major Briggs:

         What of Major Briggs?He is indicated to being the Archivist and creator of the Secret History of Twin Peaks.Even though the book halfway through starts to feel as it there was another hand in the making...or altering. Major Briggs has been implied as time traveling. gone for days back in a period outfit. Where has he been, what has he seen? What is his purpose in the new story and how does it connect to reasons for creating the document in the first place? Sweet Jebus...don’t let it be aliens. don’t let the spirits from the other place be aliens Major Briggs has been investigating. Don’t involve aliens at all. Let that be a red herring

Bobby Briggs:

           Is he still working for Ben Horne? Involved with Shelly?Going out for a pass and finding new shoes?

Leo Johnson/Shelly Johnson:

           Last seen hanging out under some tarantulas. Sure he could have gotten away from that.But he was not fully recovered from his new shoes mental state. What would be his place in this town/story?Shelly would not take him back after everything. Could the two have divorced within the last 25 yrs,gone separate ways? Would Leo let her do that and live? Or if he disappeared in the woods,could she have the marriage annulled? have him declared dead? or is she forever held as his legal prisoner? Forever being expected to pay off his debts/truck/house payments/old criminal dealings from people who come to claim what Leo owed them?Shelly, Forever living in fear that one night Leo might return from the Woods and come give her another cleaning lesson?

Lucy and Andy :

        WHAT OF THEIR CHILD?!?!?!?!

Diane:

        Don’t reveal her. Don’t let us see her.Or even hear her.But still have Dale speak to her.

BOB/MIKE/THE ARM

-       Frank Silva, dead, , Mike Anderson- not asked to return . Philip Gerard?Supposedly returning .Since the Little Man From Another Place is implied as to be what became of Philips arm when cut off in the Lodge,what happened to it if its no longer part of the story?How could they communicate this absence.Its not like the members of the Lodge are forward in their telling tales. Did Gerard, in effort to change and control his host, take action against his own now living arm? and just what did Phillip make his own host body do? Could the Arm be replaced by another actor?

Annie Blackburn:

         How's Annie? Since Heather Graham is not in this series, despite expressing interest to return. How IS Annie? Is Annie ? Will she be written out under the "it's 25 years later", people move on and out of town line of thought. Did she die off screen? Murdered? Mental break down after her experiences?Could her mind handle this reality after having only just left the convent weeks before? Did she run scared from Cooper? Did BOB/Cooper hurt her again?

Ronette Polaski

       What of Ronette Pulaski?What became of her?She was mixed up in wild things like Laura.Did her near death experience/head trauma change her?

Is Invitation to Love still on the air? or will there be a whole new modern show that the townsfolk watch?

So many main actors have passed on, so their stories are no longer possible to continue without recasting.How do you replace BOB?

Pete and Catherine Martell:

        Picture the Packard Sawmill and its influence on the town. Pete Martell's character is now dead,supposedly protecting Audrey Horne with his body as the bomb went off.Catherine Martell's brother killed in the same explosion. Even Josie's character is dead. Catherine Martell has lost her only close relations. According to the book, she became a recluse. Sold off the mill to Ben Horne who closed it down (which must have had a dramatic effect on the town economy) Even if she had not became a recluse,without the mill and her dealings with Horne in selling the land, she has no more connection to the town. How did the Ghostwood estates effect the town? What kind of new townfolk with their own quirks did it add to the mix. What kind of effect did this cutting down of some of the woods have on the evil in the town?Fewer places to hide. Released spirits? Could this create some type of imbalance in the darkness that is in the woods?

Audrey Horne:

        When I first heard of the return of the show , I found myself thinking about how it might all start. And I immediately saw an image of Audrey Horne returning to Twin Peaks after being away for years.Driving into town,much like her Special Agent Cooper did oh so many years ago.She is talking to someone off screen on her phone.Dictating.Audrey is now a Special FBI Agent of her own.

There has been a death in the family(Johnny?her mother?Ben?) So she is returning for the funeral

I picture her car pulling up to the Great Northern.She opens her door and places her feet on the concrete.Wearing stylish ,but Audrey shoes.The camera reveals her then getting into a cherry red wheelchair.But does she really need it? or is this a secret to be revealed later?

In the course of her visit she finds herself assisting in investigating Cooper/BOB’s dirty work.....and maybe her father.....perhaps a murder happens while she is home.....a murder,duplicate in every detail to a murder she investigated last year in another state......one that also involves letters under the fingernail....

Speaking of the letter under the fingernail....

Teresa was 'with a T'

Laura had the letter 'R'

Ronette had the letter 'B'

and Maddie had the letter 'O'

           Where was the letter 'E' victim? Did Leland kill someone between Laura and Ronette....was this someone other than Jacque Renault? and they never bothered to look under his fingernail since they had no reason to? Or was there someone else? Could this be a body that was discovered some time after the whole first series before this new one and the found letter connects it back to Laura?

Ok, the crazy,drunk Icelanders seem to have stopped singing loudly and I think its time to go to sleep. More random thoughts on what may be to come later