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I had a long break from work over summer and decided it was the opportunity to rewatch all of Twin Peaks so Season 1 and Season 2 and Fire Walk With Me and then The Return (Season 3). I had been wanting to do this ever since first watching Season 3 in 2017 as I felt I was missing vital clues to gaining an understanding of its complex layers and beyond its visuals. I was not in a hurry so did not binge or rush it and so it took ages – and it was a nice time. Best of all (and so recommended) I also, at the same time’ started reading some of the books and using online resources for all sorts of Twin Peaks deep dives exploring the ‘meta’ of the Twin Peaks Universe as I travelled through it. I ended up rewatching all of the Twin Peaks ‘canon’. So I feel rewarded for my labor as I appreciate Twin Peaks so much more now than when I first watched it. It is a single piece of art created over three decades and truly is a masterpiece and a place you really can spend a lot of time at. I am going back soon.
Here is my guide for both watching and reading if you are planning a visit…
Mrs Tremond’s Picture – Golden Apples of the Sun Mixtape
Mrs Tremond’s Picture is a soundscape exploration of Twin Peaks and adjacent musical ideas curated for THe Golden Apples of the Sun Radio Show and also available as a HD Mixcloud mixtape. Listen to it over at the Golden Apples of the Sun Blog here
Twin Peaks Canon
What is Twin Peaks ‘Canon’ is a great place to start. Its generally accepted as a key concept by all fans and provides a default sequence to guide watching. Works considered canon are all part of the official Twin Peaks continuity. This means there are certain things to probably not watch or at least watch understanding that they are not canon. The following is canon (as defined in the Twin Peaks wiki) and is also my recommended watching order.
Twin Peaks Season 1 and Season 2
Start with Season 1 and then go straight to Season 2. Easy.
NOTES on Season 1 and Season 2
Should you watch Log Lady Introductions?
There are two versions of Season 1 and Season 2. The version usually available for streaming does not include the log lady intros. The Gold DVD Box set includes them. They are also all available on YouTube.
In Twin Peaks Margaret Lanterman is the character played by Catherine Coulson better known as the Log Lady. The Log Lady introductions were filmed by Lynch for the syndicated re-airing of the entire series on Bravo in 1993. By this time Lynch (and Frost) felt sure there would never be a third season and Twin Peaks was pretty well ‘over’. For Lynch the Log Lady intros were a final opportunity to provide his own insights and ideas about each episode. The intros are a wonderful gift that adds to the viewing of each episode. Most of the time the Log Lady offers general wisdom or philosophical musings. But for some episodes, the intro is precise, timely, and specifically important to a theme in the episode. The introductions add mystery and can perhaps help to set the mind of the viewer going in. They feel seamless, as though they had always been there. In each short, the Log Lady, sitting in her cabin and holding the log, speaks to the camera, usually touching obliquely on the plot or theme of the accompanying episode. The log lady intros also celebrate Catherine Coulson who makes a beautifully poignant final appearance in Season 3. More info and the actual script for each of the log lady intros can be found at the Twin Peaks wiki here
Should you watch the International Pilot?
The Pilot is the first episode so absolutely should be watched. It introduces the characters and the key mystery of the death of Laura Palmer. All the streaming versions contain the American edition pilot and this is the pilot to watch. But make sure to check as the international edition pilot will just cause confusion. It was filmed with 20 extra minutes of footage allowing them to release it as a television movie and specifically as a movie release for Europe in case the series was not picked up by the networks. The international version was a contractual obligation for Lynch but what resulted in Season 1 and Season 2 goes far beyond the pilot. It can be watched but definitely only watch it only AFTER Season 1 and Season 2. Avoid confusion that makes all the episodes less enjoyable if watched first.
I Have Heard Season 2 Loses Its Way Should I Skip It?
No watch it all if you can – unless you are really time poor. Season 1 and 2 total 30 episodes. Its a lot to watch and it does get a bit painful and sort of lost in the middle of Season 2. The Twin Peaks ‘Survival Guide’ is a helpful little item created by the Twin Peaks fandom. There are seven episodes it is generally accepted can be skipped and you will be forgiven even by fans. The Survival Guide is generally accepted guidance for the ‘too much Twin Peaks’ discussion – just check out the debate on Reddit. But keep in mind if you are skipping you may not want to miss great plot lines like Nadine gets amnesia and goes back to high school, where she has bizarre super-strength (it’s … extremely bad); James runs away and falls in love with a woman who almost frames him for murder; Agent Cooper’s evil former partner, Windom Earle, shows up in several disguises. Also, Billy Zane joins the cast in some of the worst woollen sweaters ever broadcast on commercial television. KEY POINT: The last two episodes of Season 2 are essential watching. I watched them all. No regrets.
Fire Walk With Me
Fire Walk With Me should be watched between Season 2 and Season 3. Although it is a prequel to Season 1 if watched before the original series it would make very little sense.
Initially rubbished after its Cannes screening Fire Walk With Me has over the years come to be recognised as the true masterpiece that it is. As a film idea its amazing that David Lynch was so into the story that he made this sequel and equally amazing that Lynch/Frost got back together ’25 Years Later’ to create a Season 3 and that it was mind-blowing. For me the ‘darkness and light’ of Laura Palmer revealed through the acting performances of Sheryl Lee across the first two seasons and then the FWWM prequel film are one of the real highlights I did not appreciate until my rewatch. Lynch has often talked about how he has kept wanting to go back and deeper into the story of Laura Palmer and the character continues into Season 3. The other I really like about FWWM on rewatch is it has a dark vibe and you can see with hindsight how it flowed forward into Lost Highway and Mullholland Drive.
The Missing Pieces
The Missing Pieces contains deleted footage from Fire Walk With Me. There is a fan-made version of FWWM with the deleted scenes edited back in creating a longer film but most Twin Peaks fans recommend that the preferred watching is to watch the Missing Pieces as a stand-alone feature AFTER watching FWWM. I watched it this way and found it a great ‘bonus’ experience and for filling in some gaps and adding more info on some key scenes including ‘The Pink Room’. Best of all it made me crave even more Twin Peaks ahead of rewatching Season 3. The Missing Pieces is included with the Entire Mystery DVD box set but you can also watch it on YouTube.
There is a great ‘scene by scene’ guide to The Missing Pieces at the Twin Peaks wiki here
“The 90 minutes of footage chosen for inclusion here provide clues to the bigger mystery of Twin Peaks and build on themes that carry into The Return. But even the title is a play on its very existence within Twin Peaks’ cosmology. Did these scenes take place within the official canon? Or are they glimpses of an alternate timeline? Are the missing pieces the scenes themselves, or the fact that there is something actually missing in nearly every one of these scenes, like an unplanned thread of consistency, discovered decades later in the editing process, that brings everything together?” – Cody Shafer
Read more about the Missing Pieces in the Cody Shafer authored article In Plain Sight: How The Missing Pieces Fits into the Twin Peaks Puzzle
Season Three (The Return)
In summary Season 3 is the business. A full rewatch of all before Season 3 simply better prepares you for Season 3. Its all about Season 3.
No spoilers but Season 3 is as much about Dale Cooper as it is about Laura Palmer and takes the story forward in simply huge ways.
David Lynch to Ray Wise in a conversation long before Season Three got the green light: “Well, Ray, you know, the town is still there. And I suppose it’s possible that we could revisit it. Of course, [your character is] already dead… but we could maybe work around that.”
Sabrina S. Sutherland, the executive producer, has stated that Season 3 is its only official name. “The Return” and “A Limited Event Series” are both marketing terms developed by Showtime.
READING
The Essential Wrapped In Plastic – John Thorne
ESSENTIAL while watching Season 1 and 2 and Fire Walk With Me
Wrapped In Plastic magazine was a Twin Peaks fanzine that ran from 1992 until 2005 with their 75th release as the final edition. Original editor John Thorne, looking back, gathers some of the best essays and includes a detailed episode breakdown with notes and behind the scenes gossip for the pilot and all episodes of Season 1 and 2, it also covers Fire Walk With Me. I found this was an excellent episode by episode reading companion during my rewatch along with some blogs mentioned below)
The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer
ESSENTIAL “The man behind the mask is looking for the book with the pages torn out”
During the investigation by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper it is discovered that Laura Palmer kept two separate diaries, a wholesome version that she left out for her snooping parents to read, and a darker, more honest version that she hid away only for herself. The location and contents of the missing diary pages form part of a key plot thread so reading the book is an immersive companion exercise.
If you cannot find the book there is an Audible version which is also quite special as it is a haunting reading of the diary by Sheryl Lee reading as Laura herself. WARNING Its very dark and triggering.
I read the diary after Season 1 and 2 and before FWWM. The darkness of the diary was a good lead into FWWM. In Season 3 some of the missing pages are discovered. It another rewarding scene for fans provided by Lynch like many others in Season 3.
Ominous Whoosh: A Wandering Mind Returns to Twin Peaks – John Thorne
ESSENTIAL
“If you appreciate the power of art to change lives, then you should read John Thorne’s master class on Twin Peaks The Return. John doesn’t tell you what to think; he shows you how to watch closely and make up your own mind. John is one of the great watchers and thinkers of cinema in our modern age”. Goodreads
I first watched Season 3 in 2017 when it was one episode per week. In my 2024 rewatch I watched the episodes more closely together and became more immersed into it – But I did not do any reading or listening to blogs. It was after Episode 18 that I then read Ominous Whoosh and listened to a few podcasts and realized I would never work it all out, but this book was a huge enhancement. I think the two John Thorne Books were all I needed. I am returning to Season 3 and watching one episode at a time and then reading the episode summaries.
The Secret History of Twin Peaks
OPTIONAL but probably worth it – read at any time as its all history
No spoilers. This book was written by Mark Frost and published before Season 3. In it he delivers a lot of character backstory. It also creates some pathways from Season 1 and Season 2 to Season 3.
Twin Peaks The Final Dossier
OPTIONAL but probably worth it – read after Season 3
No spoilers. This book was also written by Mark Frost. It’s FBI Agent Tamara Preston’s final, post-events-of-The-Return report to her supervisor, Gordon Cole, and it takes the form of a series of files — 18 in total — most of which focus on individual residents of Twin Peaks.
PODCASTS
Twin Peaks podcasts? – there seem to be millions of them and I was disappointed so many times it actualy hurt and I stopped looking and listening. Thank God there were a few that stood out turned out to be ‘pure gold’. The best thing about the episode-by-episode podcasts is tey add to the episode. So you watch for an hour and then get say one or two hours of analysis straight after the show – you do not need to think too much as they do it for you.
Diana
My favorite. From Brighton UK. A little gang who get together and sound like they have a great time taking about each episode. They were perfect episode by episode companions for the rewatch. The content is funny but also deep at the same time. Tragically one of the presenters Mark recently died but its really nice even knowing that to hear the joy he shares in this podcast.
Available on Spotify
Blue Rose Task Force: A Twin Peaks Obsessive Podcast
Available on Spotify
Quite serious and great analysis that really gets you thinking about the big things and the little things. Along with Diana this was also a perfect episode by episode companion for the rewatch.
Twin Peaks The Return A Season Three Podcast
This is a great Australian podcast and also quite deep and wide-ranging. Great discussion and great guests. Aksi explores adjacent areas like sound design. There is an interesting backstory re some ugly backlash from ‘too loyal’ TP fans on the approach of some of the content.
BLOGS
Welcome To Twin Peaks – the original and still fresh
Twin Peaks Soundtrack Design – deep deep dives into the soundtracks
25 Years Later has some great in-depth analysis
Twin Peaks Blog – Superfan Steven Miller has some great content including props – we love props-talk and where are the props now?
Interview – The Gordon Cole of Twin Peaks Collectors: Bruce Phillips – he is the famous props collector
The Claude Mono Blog 