Every turn-of-the-season (this one is publishing at the exact minute of the summer solstice), I'm offering readers of this website an update on my three major unfinished projects: the Journey Through Twin Peaks video series (begun in 2014), the written TWIN PEAKS Character Series (begun in 2016), and the Lost in Twin Peaks podcast (begun in 2018). Work on a fourth project, the Mirrors of Kane video series (begun in 2016 but based on an essay written in 2011), concluded this past winter and release is currently underway.
Since pausing my exclusive Patreon content in December, I've been focusing my personal online work time almost entirely on my long-term projects. There was, however, an interruption in June when I shared a round-up of the late critic Allan Fish's reviews for Wonders in the Dark. I'm also looking forward to a conversation on Twin Peaks and The Shining with Cameron Cloutier and John Thorne, hopefully in the near future. Other than responding to guest invitations like these, any public work I share in the coming year and a half or so should be limited to the publication of these four projects.
This past season (following my previous update on the first day of spring), I finished a chapter of Journey Through Twin Peaks that I'd begun during the winter. Then I moved onto Lost in Twin Peaks, completing one episode recently before shifting my approach to re-editing that podcast. More details on that, and each project, follow below - along with reminders of what's been published or finished behind-the-scenes (more specific daily progress can be tracked on this constantly updated page):
Mirrors of Kane COMPLETED on February 2
Finished in 2026, currently publishing, and completing publication in July - September:
chapter 3 - "Bernstein", chapter 4 - "Leland", chapter 5 - "Susan", chapter 6 - "Raymond" & chapter 7 - "Ring Around the Rosebud"
I wrote about the completion of this project in the previous update. The chapters on Susan, Raymond, and my wide-ranging conclusions (that last is one of my favorite video essays that I've created) are scheduled to be released on the first days of July, August, and September respectively.
Already published: trailer & chapter 1 in 2016; chapter 2 in 2021 + now, chapter 3 in May; chapter 4 in June
Lost in Twin Peaks
Completed this year: Season 2 Premiere (#9)
Currently working on: Current Events sections for Season 2 (#10 - 30)
What remains: all sections of Episodes for Season 2 (#10 - 30)
What will undoubtedly constitute the largest chunk of time - the repackaging of this Patreon series for public consumption - is now underway as my primary focus since mid-April. (An announcement was offered once I began.) Most of that time was spent covering a single TV episode, albeit one with the most complicated coverage in terms of length and technical difficulties. However, I was happy to re-discover that immediately after I originally recorded that episode in 2019, I shifted my recording device to a better one. So the subsequent episodes in season 2 should require much less work to fix up (on occasion with prior episodes, there have been several level adjustments per second to make the audio sound more consistent than it did originally). Meanwhile, rather than edit the other twenty-one episodes in isolation as I did with the season premiere, I'm going to approach working on most of them across episodes, one category/day a time - first, all the current events sections (which will go up on Wednesdays when the podcast is finally public); then the most complicated sections, for the Laura, non-Laura, and post-investigation Cooper-centric stories (Sundays from season 2 episode 10 onward, as well as all Mondays and Tuesdays); then the "in the weeds" trivial topic sections (Thursdays); then the mystery sections (Sundays through season 2 episode 9); and finally the bookends for each week of coverage, introducing the episode and then concluding by providing reflections from my Twin Peaks archives (Saturdays and Fridays, respectively). I've already begun selecting clips to play at the end of the current event sections up to season 2 episode 13. The only exception to this category-over-episode approach - aside from its current events section - will be the season 2 finale, which I will edit as one episode to wrap everything up.
If that sounds convoluted, don't worry: it makes sense to me! I think.
Anyway, I may switch back to the episode-by-episode working approach in August if that makes sense to ensure the episodes start rolling out regularly again on Halloween. I'll change that date if I have to (it can't be a goal set in stone) but it would be nice to finally start plugging these holes in what's publicly available for Lost in Twin Peaks.
Morning update: When publishing this a few hours ago, I forgot to add that in the past week or two since finishing Lost in Twin Peaks #9 I have been gathering random 1990 TV or other clips to play at the end of the current events episodes, based on audio files I acquired last year (fortunately, as in some cases the YouTube or Internet Archive source videos have already been deleted since then). So a bit of progress has been made in that direction as well.
Already published: episodes & illustrated companions for season 1, Fire Walk With Me/The Missing Pieces, bonus episodes & The Return + early versions of season 2 episodes that need revision before public release
Finished prior to 2026, but awaiting publication (until all Lost in Twin Peaks is complete): parts of #9A (Welcome to the Season 2 Premiere) & #9B (Who Killed Laura Palmer in the Season 2 Premiere)
+ previewed on Patreon: illustrated companions for all of season 2
The TWIN PEAKS Character Series
What remains: #9 - 1
At this point, the remaining entries (to be tackled not entry-by-entry but category-by-category across entries) probably won't be resumed until the fall - Lost in Twin Peaks is a major obstacle until at least then. If that step is still preventing me from getting to the characters in November, however, I may have to simplify my revisions and move on. I want to be working on this no later than the end of the year and ideally much sooner.
Already published: #30 - 86, bonus entries, round-up prefaces & intro
Finished prior to 2026, but awaiting publication (until all of the TWIN PEAKS Character Series is complete): images, formatting & several sections for the top 9
+ previewed on Patreon: #30 - 10
Journey Through Twin Peaks
Completed this year: chapter 38 - "American Shadows"
What remains: chapters 39 - 46 of Part 6 - ALL ROADS LEAD TO HOME
(+ technical revisions to chapter 38 & any concluding round-ups or written reflections)
Before settling into Lost in Twin Peaks mode in April, I wanted to finish the last of the introductory chapters to Journey Through Twin Peaks Part 6. Having already concluded the chapter about the years after The Return, what remained was a chapter on Americana - history, imagery, ideas - throughout the whole Twin Peaks cycle. Since the last update (when nine minutes had been completed), I was able to wrap up the remaining eleven minutes for one of the longest-ever Journey chapters. This material included the third season's depiction of a declining society through the lens of a once-idyllic (if always troubled) small town, an ambivalent portrayal of Native Americans' cultural legacy and continuing presence, the emphasis of Twin Peaks' American perspective, the new series' geographical expanse, international locations or references across all seasons, one last montage on The Return's dark vision of the country, and an announcement of my shift from a chronological to geographical/thematic approach for the remaining chapters. Those chapters will hopefully be undertaken only once Lost in Twin Peaks is wrapped up, although if I get to November and I'm still working on Lost I may jump ahead and start getting some Journey work done. As with many other things, it depends how well that podcast piece of the puzzle is moving along. If things go well, the videos will start publishing again in 2027.
Already published: Parts 1 - 4 (chapters 1 - 28) in 2014 - 15 & Part 5 (chapters 29 - 36) in 2020 - 21
Finished prior to 2026, but awaiting publication (until all Journey Through Twin Peaks is complete): all of chapter 37 - "Fading Signals" aside from some technical revisions
+ previewed on Patreon: scripts & a still image for chapters 37 & 38
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