Every turn-of-the-season (this one is publishing at the exact minute of the vernal equinox), I'm offering readers of this website an update on my four major unfinished projects: the Journey Through Twin Peaks video series (begun in 2014), the written TWIN PEAKS Character Series (begun in 2016), the Lost in Twin Peaks podcast (begun in 2018), and the Mirrors of Kane video series (begun in 2016 but based on an essay written in 2011). In December, I stopped offering exclusive podcasts and reviews on Patreon so that I could focus as much attention as possible as these long-term goals, and I'm pleased to announce that progress has been made. I've entirely concluded my work on the Mirrors of Kane series; new chapters will be published on YouTube and Vimeo on Citizen Kane's eighty-fifth anniversary, May 1. I'm also chipping away at a particularly complex Journey Through Twin Peaks chapter on Twin Peaks' connections to American history and iconography. This should be finished within a week or two.
After that, I will focus on completing the public presentation of Lost in Twin Peaks' second season, followed by the top nine entries (based on screentime) for the TWIN PEAKS Character Series. I hope to wait until after those two projects are complete to focus exclusively on Journey Through Twin Peaks, but depending how bogged down I get on Lost in Twin Peaks this summer I may pause that work to research, outline, and write the narration for remaining Journey chapters. We'll see how it goes.
Here is a status update with more details, as well as a reminder of what's been published or finished behind-the-scenes, for each project (more specific daily progress can be tracked on this constantly updated page):
Mirrors of Kane COMPLETED on February 2
Finished in 2026 and awaiting publication in May - September:
chapter 3 - "Bernstein", chapter 4 - "Leland", chapter 5 - "Susan", chapter 6 - "Raymond" & chapter 7 - "Ring Around the Rosebud"
I decided to prioritize this series first, even though it's not Twin Peaks-related and had less water under the bridge (just two short videos completed five years apart, until now). Nonetheless, I really wanted to see it through and I'm very glad I did. I'm particularly proud of the last chapter, which surveys Citizen Kane in a multitude of contexts including thematic similarities to favorite paintings and picture books, dualistic structural patterns in character and narrative, the often under-appreciated emotional resonance of the material, and the fascinating parallels that emerge when you fold the film in half upon itself - hence the "ring theory" reference in the concluding chapter's title. I spent most of January focused on this project and its completion helped to confirm that I'm on the right track with this new approach.
Already published: trailer & chapter 1 in 2016; chapter 2 in 2021
Lost in Twin Peaks
What remains: Episodes for Season 2 (#9 - 30)
For whatever reason, this project has proven to be my biggest, most draining challenge. In theory, it should be easy; virtually all of the material was recorded long ago (for a Patreon series) and I simply need to fine-tune and re-package it for public consumption. Nonetheless, that process seems to take forever, or at least it did years ago when I took this approach to the first and third seasons as well as the feature film. This time I have some advantages: I'm already done with the illustrated companions that will accompany each week of episodes, plus (as far as I can recall) the audio for season two was better and needs fewer adjustments than the other seasons, which were recorded earlier. Although I'm currently taking a bit of detour to get through a thorny patch of Journey Through Twin Peaks, once that's done I hope to make this podcast my sole focus for a while - if not all the way through. This focus should be possible by the end of March and, given my experience with the other two seasons, will probably last through much of the summer if not into the fall. Almost certainly this is what I'll be working on when I offer my next seasonal update.
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): #9A (Welcome to the Season 2 Premiere) aside from recent work updates, part of #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
There is a lot of water under this bridge, especially considering all the entries I've shared with patrons since pausing the public series in 2023. Still, the final entries will be the longest, and I plan to tackle them not entry-by-entry but category-by-category across entries, which I think will speed up the process. I'll probably be resuming work on this series around end of summer or beginning of fall, if not (hopefully) sooner.
Already published: #30 - 86, bonus entries, round-up prefaces & intro
Finished prior to 2026, but awaiting publication (until all TWIN PEAKS Character Series is complete): images, formatting & several sections for the top 9
+ previewed on Patreon: #30 - 10
Journey Through Twin Peaks
Currently working on: chapter 38 - "American Shadows"
What remains: chapters 39 - 46 of Part 6 - ALL ROADS LEAD TO HOME
(+ any concluding round-ups or written reflections)
Although I'm trying to save the bulk of this series until after everything else, I've been immersed in it lately. Since finishing Mirrors of Kane, this has been my main focus in February and March. I gathered a lot of material pertaining to everything from the natural disasters in Los Angeles and western Washington that bookended 2025 to every time a U.S. flag is featured in Twin Peaks (preparation is everything, but I ended up only using two; so it goes). This chapter, with its wide-ranging theme and approach to the dreams and shadows of Americana, feels particularly resonant to be working on right now...unfortunately. So far I've completed nine minutes of material which incorporates the aforementioned disasters, Lynch's death, the bizarre Lynch/Trump crossover of 2018, presidential references in Twin Peaks, anticipation of the #MeToo and Epstein scandals, American iconography in the old series, echoes of early sixties teen tragedy ballads, questions about the show's sincerity, and a passage from Greil Marcus' book The Shape of Things to Come.
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"
+ previewed on Patreon: scripts & a still image for chapters 37 & 38
& on Patreon this winter...
With the recent changes to Patreon, I updated my welcome video in January:
Since the last monthly round-up in December, I've been offering advances of upcoming work to both tiers in January, February, and March (all and top). Here are some highlights:
All-Patron ADVANCES
