As promised, my main patron podcast quickly got back on schedule after weeks of delay for the July episode. However, the biggest August event on Patreon was the grand conclusion of my Lost in Twin Peaks podcast, with a nine-part Fire Walk With Me episode which stretched into September (the daily uploads are still wrapping up in the next couple days, but I'm including all nine entries here in this August round-up for clarity's sake - evening update: there are now twelve, not nine, parts planned). In a month I will begin publicly unveiling my entire Twin Peaks series breakdown, from the pilot through the season three finale, but this film will not be available on a public feed until the thirtieth anniversary of its Cannes premiere in May. So if you want to hear these hours of commentary, now is the time to become a $5/month patron - plus you'll be able to listen to extended conversations with other Peaks commentators every month going forward as this tier switches to a new format.
The main episode tackles another Nicholas Ray film after casting a Peaks spotlight on Rebel Without a Cause in January. In this case, Bigger Than Life's dark portrait of a "possessed" patriarch makes a fascinating companion piece with Fire Walk With Me in particular, which is why it was chosen for this month. The film's grim social portrait also suits other aspects of this podcast, like my political reflections section in which I delve into the disappointments and frustrations (if not yet full-on despair) facing the left and the country as a whole this summer...and that's without even getting into the Delta variant or Covid vaccine culture wars! The episode ends with a reading from Greil Marcus' The Shape of Things to Come, a gorgeous sketch of American exhaustion that seemed apropos, not least because it describes a single frame from the Fat Trout Trailer Park sequence in Fire Walk With Me - a location that is also part of my "Twin Peaks Reflections" this month.
My coverage of Fire Walk With Me was split into many parts because it was so long (dwarfing even my finale episode) but this also serves as a preview of how I'll be repackaging the previous episodes when the show goes public, presenting sections like "historical context" or "my archives" as standalones for listeners particularly interested in a deep dive. Here, the heart of the episode(s) are numbers seven and nine: called "Laura Palmer" and "The Mysteries," they dive deeply into the rich subject of her onscreen journey and what this means in the larger context of Twin Peaks, expanding on ideas I've previously touched upon in video essays and other media. (Initially, these two episodes were intended to be one and described as one in this passage, which I've now revised.) The entries consisting almost entirely of readings from work (my own or others') previously published or quoted on this site are free to all listeners.
Finally, for $1/month patrons, I've opened up my discussion of "episode 24" which I consider one of the series' more underrated, in which the world of Twin Peaks is saturated with a fresh springtime feeling before we are swept toward the dark finale and, ultimately, the film.
Podcast Line-Ups for...
Lost in the Movies #82
INTRO
TWIN PEAKS REFLECTIONS
Randy, Jones / Great Northern, Fat Trout / Windom's scheme + My Life, My Tapes
TWIN PEAKS CINEMA
Bigger Than Life
OPENING THE ARCHIVE
Bigger Than Life
POLITICAL REFLECTIONS
6 months into Biden era, next presidential election & electoralism, Nina Turner's loss & public comfort w/ the power structure, eviction moratorium & Cori Bush, bipartisan infrastructure bill & partisan reconciliation bill, Trump, Harris, Buttigieg, and 2024 candidates, Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal & media backlash, very busy August including Cuomo resignation, attack in Kabul
OUTRO
Introducing Lost in Twin Peaks #31 - Fire Walk With Me
Lost in Twin Peaks #31A: Fire Walk With Me, Part 1 - Production Context
THE OPENING OF THE FILM
DIRECTOR/WRITERS
EARLY IDEAS FOR TWIN PEAKS FILM
WHY A PREQUEL?
PRE-PRODUCTION
READING THE PRODUCTION DIARY
POST-PRODUCTION
Lost in Twin Peaks #31B: Fire Walk With Me, Part 2 - Historical Context
FILM CONTEXT
(3 debuts, box office top 12)
CURRENT EVENTS
(#1 TV show, aftermath of Hurricane Andrew & George Bush's re-election campaign)
TIME COVER
(Woody Allen & Mia Farrow)
OTHER TIME ARTICLES
("family values"/culture war, Israeli sayeret forces, letters about the Olympics, Soviet privatization & more)
Lost in Twin Peaks #31C: Fire Walk With Me, Part 3 - Critical Reception
CRITICS & JOURNALISTS IN 1992
SCHOLARS & ESSAYISTS IN THE NINETIES
BLOGGERS & OTHER COMMENTATORS IN THE TEENS
Lost in Twin Peaks #31D: Fire Walk With Me, Part 4 - Fan Reactions
USENET QUOTES from 1991 - 93
DUGPA FAN COMMENTS from 2014
Lost in Twin Peaks #31E: Fire Walk With Me, Part 5 - My Reactions, Fans Today & the Feel of the Film
PERSONAL & FAN RECEPTION
THE FEEL OF THE FILM
Lost in Twin Peaks #31F: Fire Walk With Me, Part 6 - Structure, Subplots & the Periphery
THE STRUCTURE OF THE FILM
Lost in Twin Peaks #31F: Fire Walk With Me, Part 6 - Structure, Subplots & the Periphery
THE STRUCTURE OF THE FILM
SETTING UP THE REST OF THE COVERAGE
(backwards to the core of the story)
COFFEE, PIE & DONUTS
(+ other food & smoking)
CHARACTERS
(introductions, first interactions)
LOCATIONS
SCENES ORGANIZED BY SUBPLOT
Phillip Jeffries / Chet's disappearance / Cooper, Annie & the Lodge / Cocaine in Twin Peaks / "Bobby killed a guy" / Mike & Donna / James & Donna / Shelly & Bobby & Leo / Nadine's drape runners / Ed & Norma / Cooper & Audrey / Lucy’s pregnancy
SCENES IN THE TERESA BANKS CASE
Lost in Twin Peaks #31G: Fire Walk With Me, Part 7 - Laura Palmer
SCENES ORGANIZED BY LAURA STORY:
HAROLD & THE SECRET DIARY
RELATIONSHIP TO JACQUES
CHARITY
SPIRITUALITY
PROSTITUTION
RELATIONSHIP TO LEO
DRUGS (selling)
DRUGS (using)
RELATIONSHIP TO RONETTE
RELATIONSHIP TO DONNA
RELATIONSHIP TO JAMES
RELATIONSHIP TO BOBBY
THE PALMER FAMILY
HER MURDER
Lost in Twin Peaks #31H: Fire Walk With Me, Part 8 - The Mythology
THEOSOPHY CLIPS FROM JOURNEY THROUGH TWIN PEAKS
MYTHOLOGY IN FIRE WALK WITH ME including Teresa's ring, the Arm & the #6 pole, Tremonds/Chalfonts, tension between Bob & other spirits w/ garmonbozia, Chalfont trailer as crime scene & Chet's disappearance, Jeffries & 2 Coopers, Judy, above the convenience store, Jeffries on video, Let's rock & spirit/human relations, the Blue Rose, Bob in early Laura scenes, fire imagery, white face make-up, fear of trees, Tremonds approach Laura & who/what is Pierre, inside spirit mouths, Bob's presence, under the finger - dirt vs order, angel & door space in picture, the Arm as overt gesture, Owl Cave symbol changes ring significance - corn?, Cooper says don't take the ring, Cooper's hair in Red Room, numb arms & the ring, closed door during dream, Annie joining forces with spirits, Laura seeing a double image (like Cooper), black dog in traffic, how did Gerard get the ring, Gerard's message & stealing the corn, who feeds on garmonbozia vs other emotions, Gerard's familiarity, multiple meanings of ring, electricity/blue light & Bob in the window, white horse visions, Bob & the Arm in train car, identity of the Arm, Mike vs Gerard, Laura & Cooper joined in Red Room, Saturn lamp
Lost in Twin Peaks #31I: Fire Walk With Me, Part 9 - The Mysteries
WHO KILLED TERESA BANKS?
(prior knowledge, film's clues, big picture)
WHY WAS LAURA PALMER KILLED?
(life leading up to death, Laura's self-investigation, murder & surrounding incidents)
WHO IS LAURA PALMER?
WHO IS AGENT COOPER?
WHAT IS TWIN PEAKS?
Lost in Twin Peaks #31J: Fire Walk With Me, Part 10 - My First Archive
READINGS/CLIPS FROM MY PREVIOUS WORK, 2008 - 15
Lost in Twin Peaks #31K: Fire Walk With Me, Part 11 - My Second Archive
READINGS/CLIPS FROM MY PREVIOUS WORK, 2015 - 20
Lost in Twin Peaks #31K: Fire Walk With Me, Part 12 (Bonus) - Season 3 spoiler discussion
ARCHIVE OF FIRE WALK WITH ME/SEASON 3 CONNECTIONS
ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS
including discussion of Carl Rodd, Owl Cave ring, FWWM Cooper like Part 18 "Richard", nonchalant limo guard & limo driver, literally re-visiting the end of the film, Laura as a tulpa, Cooper/Mr. C compared to Bob/Leland, the motel courtyard, the Blue Rose, using Jeffries footage, living inside a dream, accident intersection, Annie's message, Judy, the bug & the Jumping Man, long aside on New Mexico girl being Sarah, turning Sarah into a spirit's host, listing all connections
ENDING THE LOST IN TWIN PEAKS PATREON SERIES
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