Jess lanai

If you haven’t seen twin peaks and have any desire at all to give it a go then do not read this. It does spoil.

Also keep in mind this is still thinking writing. Which means I’m using it to process information in my own self.

It’ll be a record for how I developed my very own theory on what happened in twin peaks and what the show is really even actually about.

It’s most important to me that I develop my own theory that has nothing to do with anyone else’s theory nor being ‘correct’ if there is a correct interpretation.

I do think there is a correct interpretation.

Twin peaks accomplishes something I’ve always wanted to see in a show and someday I want to accomplish myself in writing fiction.

It tells a story backwards.

I’m quite obsessed with the fact that I can watch twin peaks all the through and have to watch it again to learn what happened.

So I’m having fantastic fun with it.

I rewatched the first three episodes of the first season of twin peaks.

These are just the things I noticed so far.

I’m hoping that as I write about the little things I noticed more of a theory will develop. So far I have zero theories. But I’d rather not have any theories. It makes it easier to notice real patterns instead of just looking for the patterns that confirm my theory.

Episode one

First of all I one hundred percent forgot that Donna had a boyfriend before her annoying obsession with James made half of every episode boring.

I also one hundred percent forgot that her boyfriend’s name was Mike. That name feels significant.

What I also noticed upon rewatching the first episode is that Laura’s mom Sarah tells us in the very first episode that Leland killed Laura.

When being questioned by the police she’s very odd. The first time I saw it I thought it was exaggeration of grief that just made it feel campy or soap operaesque.

But she has a moment where she’s zoning out and gives the impression she knows who killed her daughter or at least knows something. Then she reacts to a noise upstairs and asks who’s upstairs? The sheriff says your husband.

It’s quite pointed. The moment is noticeable even the first time it’s seen.

One of my favorite things about twin peaks that’s apparent even before it known that anything strange is happening, is that it is very good at communicating emotion. So many things feel pointed and important long before it can be realized why they are pointed and important.

Upon seeing the first episode again I started to also ask questions I hadn’t asked before.

Or I suppose I had asked before but I asked them in a different way.

The mill for example.

The first time I saw the show I asked ‘why is this stuff about the mill so boring and why does it matter?’

Now I’m trying to leave out the boring and just ask why does it matter.

I never paid any attention to the mill or Andrew Packard because it was mostly about Josie and the sheriff being in love and that was pretty boring.

I thought the sheriff was a total dumbass and Josie was just very whiny. And the combination of whiny and dumb is very hard to pay attention to.

But obviously there’s a lot of information in the plot of the mill. So I’ll have to force myself to pay attention.

But the most striking thing that was most shocking to see again with new mindset of having watched the entire show was Nadine.

She has many striking things. For one she has one eye. Like one eyed jacks, like Ruth’s head left over Briggs body. And like bill Hastings wife after cooper shot her.

Nadine was also shot in the eye. So obviously a lot going on with people being shot in the eye.

The other striking thing about Nadine is she is obsessed with silent drape runners.

Drapes are the same thing as curtains to me. And the silent part.

The whooshing sound is a huge theme in the last season.

So completely silent drape runners has a lot of answers in it. What those answers are I don’t know yet.

Then of course there was the flickering of the lights when Sarah Palmer’s body was being examined. Which before I didn’t remotely notice.

The letter under her finger nail also I think might have some significance to the ending. Especially with how graphic they were with lifting up the finger nail.

Next I got to see Audrey again. She was one of my favorite characters and the only one that didn’t have a boring love story. She was incredibly useful in her crush on Cooper. And it doesn’t get much better than a young Billy Zane. Good for Audrey.

Audrey’s story was one of the most frustrating and unanswered stories. So I’m paying extra attention to her. Because I feel confident what happened to her is answered in the first two seasons.

Next came the town meeting and I noticed that the log lady flickered the lights. It’s good to note because flickering lights I’m sure is indication that something specific is happening or being referenced. What that specific thing is I don’t have an idea yet.

I also forgot that Donna had sisters. Sisters is also a big theme in the show. Especially the estranged sisters Diane and Jane e. I’m still convinced Diane isn’t real, but I might be wrong on that.

Donna’s mom, whom before I never noticed, also has significance to me now. For one she’s in a wheel chair.

There’s something with handicap people in the show. There’s several of them.

From the last season it became clear that a lot is communicated through the songs played at the bang bang club.

The bang bang club is quite significant because not only are there red curtains, the gun on the sign has a lot of meaning. What that meaning is I don’t know.

But I’m going to be careful go pay attention to the songs being played. And particularly the lines in the song.

In the first episode the song is ‘nightingale’ and the clear lines are ‘are we falling,”

Episode two

The opening scene of the second episode is Cooper hanging upside down as part of his morning routine as he talks into his recorder to ‘Diane’.

The first time I saw this I just thought agent cooper was hilarious and a fantastic character.

But on my second watch I found a lot of significant references to main themes in the show.

Specifically the two questions he asks into his recorder.

What really went on between Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys and who really pulled the trigger on JFK.

Those questions reflect two main themes of the show.

Love triangles. Partners and brothers.

And being shot.

The second episode really showcases agent cooper and became the driving force for me to continue watching

I loved agent cooper.

A lot of the things he says make him very charming in an off beat sort of way. But I don’t think he’s just meant to be likable in the first episode. I think a lot of what agent cooper says show us what to associate with.

I look at agent cooper now as the guide. Telling us what to look at and what to notice.

Next we meet Leo. Leo, I really hate to admit this but it is true, has a very cool pony tail.

But the most significant thing that I noticed in episode two is that both Donna and Laura like James.

Both Donna and Laura have boyfriends. Their boyfriends are not only friends, they are working together to sell drugs. And their names are Mike and Bobby.

Mike and Bob.

Definitely never noticed that before.

I think both Mike and Bobby help tell the story of what happened between agent cooper and Windom Earle.

Because in fire walk with me Bobby kills a guy.

Then later in the season Mike ends up with Nadine for a spell.

So putting all that together will be very interesting.

Episode three will need its own post, because there was too much in episode three.