David Lynch fans everywhere are in a frenzy as TWIN PEAKS comes back to the small screen. After a twenty-five year hiatus, SHOWTIME will bring us back to the land of weirdness, lumber and “damn fine coffee.” Beginning on May 21st, eighteen new episodes edited out of a continuous multi-page script of questionable length will bring back whatever madness leapt out of the minds of Lynch and co-writer Mark Frost. Yet there’s one huge question that no one seems to be asking. What is the new series actually about?
The original series began the morning after the brutal murder of homecoming queen LAURA PALMER. The first season threw us into the mysteries of a small town as they mourned the loss of their beloved teenaged socialite. The more we learned about the troubled double life that Laura lived, the more we understood her pain and the townspeople’s pain of their loss. The more we learned about the town itself and the mysteries surrounding her murder, the less we actually knew. By the time season two began, the killer had been revealed as her father, LELAND PALMER possesed by the entity known as BOB. Laura was murdered in a fit of rage after she used a talisman to prevent the entity from possessing her in place of her father. Perhaps Bob has returned only to murder another young victim after another failed possession? It may even be possible that Bob has successfully possessed the intended victim and that this person has been murdering several others, drawing the FBI back into town and re-opening the case.
After the resolution of Laura Palmer’s murder, the show shifted to another plot. WINDOM EARLE, AGENT DALE COOPER’S former FBI partner, is now under the influence of Bob and causing all kinds of trouble for our hero and the residents of Twin Peaks alike. Earle eventually leads Cooper on what appears to be a wild goose chase in an attempt to lure him into the BLACK LODGE, a somewhat spiritual realm connected to all evil that occurs in the town. Earle attempts to kill Cooper and harness the power of the lodge but is stopped and killed by Bob. Bob then possesses Agent Cooper, leaving the real Cooper behind in the lodge and leaving fans with what would turn out to be a twenty-five year cliff-hanger. So what has happened during the twenty-five year hiatus? Was Cooper able to shake off Bob’s influence and leave the lodge? Has Cooper been possessed by Bob all these years? If so, what has he done and who has he killed? Was he caught and put into an asylum or a prison? Maybe after all these years the Bureau figures these things out about Cooper and he flees to Twin Peaks, setting the events for what will be season three.
Then there’s the question of AGENT PHILLIP JEFFRIES and AGENT CHESTER DESMOND, the two characters played by DAVID BOWIE and CHRIS ISAAK in the Twin Peaks prequel, FIRE WALK WITH ME. Phillip Jeffries was a legendary agent of the Bureau that had gone missing years before the murder of Laura Palmer. He re-appears briefly during a somewhat hallucinatory scene early in the movie. Agent Desmond was sent to a neighboring town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of TERESA BANKS. During the investigation Desmond mysteriously disappears while seeking out the very talisman that Laura Palmer later uses to ward off Bob. Fire Walk With Me was originally to be followed by a sequel that was supposed to not only resolve the cliff-hanger at the end of the series but the disappearance of the two agents as well. I wonder how these two characters will factor into the new show being that Chris Isaak is not listed as a cast member and David Bowie is unfortunately no longer with us.
Which of these theories will turn out to be true, if any? Whatever the case may be, we will find out in just a few weeks. What do you think the new series will be about? We would like to hear your theories as well.
-RICH MAIER
@SanityKaos
Tags: David Lynch, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
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