In 1991, Twin Peaks was abruptly canceled, and hearts — and probably more than a few television sets — were shattered. But over 25 years after ABC pulled the plug on the beloved cult murder mystery, director David Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost are drawing Peaks Freaks back into their surrealist small town fever dream. Twin Peaks is getting a third season on May 21 via Showtime. And while details about life in the Pacific Northwest lumber town are expectedly murky, not everything is… well, as it seems. This is what we’ve gleaned about the fervidly anticipated reboot so far.
The most iconic locations have undergone small changes, but stayed mostly the same.
What the latest Twin Peaks trailer lacks in plot revelations, it more than makes up for in location porn. We’d suggest taking the 30-second set tour more than once to take note of how much the Black Lodge, the Fat Trout Trailer Park, Laura Palmer’s house, the Sheriff’s Department, and the Double R Diner have changed — and stayed the same — since the 90s. The diner, for example, is now emblazoned with a sign reading RR 2 Go! The Palmer house that was sold in 2014 for $500K is seen by someone lurking on the sidewalk, though not quite close enough to determine who’s inside. And the Bang Bang Bar is still open for business — you can see its sign reflected in a puddle of water.
Twin Peaks isn’t just set in Twin Peaks.
Twin Peaks the town is set in the same fictional part of Washington — IRL, Snoqualmie and North Bend — as it was in the 90s original. But the reboot isn’t limited to Seattle, nor even the West Coast. “It takes place all over the country”, Nevins recently told Entertainment Weekly. “Twin Peaks is an important locus, but it’s not the only locus.” Cherry pie teaser billboards for the Showtime series were certainly spotted many miles from The Evergreen State. Fans reported seeing them on the I-95 in Philadelphia, a city that has both terrified and inspired Lynch throughout his career, as well as in the director’s birthplace of Missoula, Montana.
It’s basically Lynch’s longest-ever movie.
In January, President and CEO of Showtime, David Nevins, announced that the Twin Peaks revival will debut with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, May 21 at 9/8c. Immediately following this double-bill, episodes three and four will be available to stream through Showtime’s online streaming platform and On Demand service. Lynch has explained that he sees the project as a marathon movie split into 18 parts.
David Lynch is directing every episode.
Just six months after the Twin Peaks revival was first announced, Lynch announced that he was leaving the project because “not enough money was offered to do the script the way I felt it needed to be done.” The cast quickly launched a viral campaign to “save” the show’s reboot, in the form of a two-minute compilation of clips explaining how Lynch’s departure will affect the revival series (Sherilyn Fenn, aka Audrey Horne, accurately claimed that “Twin Peaks without David Lynch is like eyes without brows.”) A month later, Lynch announced that he was back on board to direct all 18 episodes. He only directed six episodes of the original show.
The storyline is (naturally) shrouded in secrecy.
The plot will not shy away from the 25-year-old cliffhanger, according to a teaser trailer that you should probably avoid if you haven’t seen the original episodes. Another teaser reveals that Laura Palmer’s murder is still very much part of the story. Other than that, everything is typically mysterious. Apparently even the actors were only allowed to read the parts of the script directly concerning their characters.
The cast is a mix of old friends and (quite famous) new faces.
Last year Showtime revealed the Twin Peaks revival’s truly insane cast list, a motley crew of over 200 returning actors and new recruits. Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, Phoebe Augustine, Sherilyn Fenn, and Jan D’Arcy are all staging comebacks, as is the late Catherine E. Coulson as the forever iconic Log Lady (presumably her scenes were filmed prior to 2015.) They’ll be joined by Michael Cera, Naomi Watts, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Amanda Seyfried, Jim Belushi, Tim Roth, Ashley Judd, and Laura Dern. And the musicians are just as exciting as the actors. Julee Cruise will return as the iconic siren of the series, with Sky Ferreira, Eddie Vedder, Sharon Van Etten, and Chromatics’ Ruth Radelet all slated to make appearances. Even Nine Inch Nails’ Robin Finck and Trent Reznor have signed on. David Bowie was also set to make a cameo as the long lost FBI agent Phillip Jeffries before he passed away last January.
Angelo Badalamenti will be returning for the reboot.
One of the most exciting Twin Peaks teasers dropped so far confirmed that Badalamenti will be creating another haunting original score for Lynch’s small screen return. The composer’s experimental soundscapes are as inextricably connected to Twin Peaks as Lynch is: Peaks Freaks who have explicitly referenced him as inspiration range from alt-pop outfit Xiu Xiu to Belgian fashion god Raf Simons. Check out Badalamenti’s atmospheric remix of “Laura Palmer’s Theme” below, and while you wait for the rest of the soundtrack, check out a decidedly less ambient Twin Peaks playlist from fellow music fan MacLachlan.
Costume queen Nancy Steiner will be in charge of wardrobes.
Steiner knew she had some big shoes to fill when she signed on to take over costume duties from beloved Lynch collaborator Patricia Norris, who passed away in 2015. But costuming the 200+ speaking parts in Twin Peaks is only the latest entry on Steiner’s hefty, humbling, three-decade-long resumé. She has dressed everyone from David Bowie and Björk to Nirvana and No Doubt, as well as being responsible for the Lisbon sisters’ exquisite 70s frocks in The Virgin Suicides and Scarlett Johansson’s pink panties in Lost in Translation. “I think I was the right person for the job. It really is a whole new Twin Peaks” she teased last year of working with Lynch, though her contact naturally prevented her from elaborating further.
There’s a whole slew of Twin Peaks-related releases.
The return of the cult series will bring fans far more than 18 hours of entertainment. Co-creator Mark Frost has written a whole Secret History detailing the events that followed the season two ambiguous finale, while Kyle MacLaughlan’s Agent Cooper and a host of other original characters have narrated an audiobook based on that page-turner. Audiophiles can also get their hands on a reissue of the 1990 vinyl recording of Angelo Badalamenti’s iconic soundtrack — released, naturally, on coffee-colored wax, and packaged in a Sam Smith-designed sleeve referencing the tiled floor of the Black Lodge. You can even pop an ollie on a Laura Palmer or Log Lady skate deck.
Fire Walk With Me will probably factor into the new series.
The series’ divisive follow-up prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me — featuring Bowie’s cameo as the FBI agent Phillip Jeffries — will return to theaters to coincide with the drop of Badalamenti’s milk-swirled vinyl soundtrack. If you don’t manage to catch the controversial prequel in theaters, make sure to tune into Showtime’s stream of Fire Walk With Me before May 21. Both the cable network and Lynch himself are definitely hinting that the film is going to play a role in the Twin Peaks reboot. “The story of Laura Palmer’s last seven days is very, very important for this,” Lynch said during a cryptic panel at the TCAs earlier this year, dropping the biggest clue he’s revealed so far about the new storyline. Lynch will also supervise a new 4K restoration of Mulholland Drive, but this is likely just because it’s awesome.
That Secret History has spawned some fascinating fan theories.
The expansive Secret History from Lynch’s Twin Peaks co-creator is a secret dossier of backstories just for superfans. It’s also spoiler territory. Most revelations about the fate of the characters are set in the years immediately following season two, rather than 25 years on, but Redditors have compiled a fairly exhaustive list of possible reboot giveaways if that’s your jam. For an anecdote that won’t necessarily ruin any surprises, there’s also a touching story about how the beloved Log Lady discovered her mythical log.
Something’s happening with Agent Cooper.
As the May 21 air date gets closer, Showtime’s teaser trailers aren’t getting any less cryptic. Yesterday four new video puzzles appeared on the official Twin Peaks YouTube channel, each lasting 30 seconds and containing seemingly random combos of letters. They in fact read: “My log has something to tell you,” “Where we’re from the birds sing a pretty song and there’s always music in the air,” “What’s happening with Agent Cooper,” and… “What’s happening with Agent Cooper.” Apparently seeing the same clue twice doesn’t make it any less mystifying.
Lynch currently has no plans for a fourth season — but he never says no.
While he has suggested that season three would be the last, the prolific director knows his own mind. “Before I said I wasn’t revisiting it and I did,” Lynch said during a surprise appearance at a Showtime TCA press day in January. “You never say no. But right now there are no plans.”
Related link: Peaks Freaks: how the most devoted Twin Peaks fans are prepping for its return
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Text Hannah Ongley