Lost in the Movies: twin peaks the return
Showing posts with label twin peaks the return. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twin peaks the return. Show all posts

Summer 2026 Project Update: Journey Through Twin Peaks "Americana" chapter & Lost in Twin Peaks Season 2 Premiere episode complete


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):

Spring 2026 Project Update: Mirrors of Kane complete, Journey Through Twin Peaks "Americana" chapter underway (+ new Patreon welcome video)


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):

April 2025 Patreon round-up: EXCLUSIVE - Breaking Bad season 2 viewing diary (second part) + Advanced narration audio (& bonus still image) for Journey Through Twin Peaks


A couple months ago, I shared the first half of this Breaking Bad season's viewing diary (the previous season was covered for the public many years ago). I intended to wait until June to finish the season but other plans fell through and I decided that last month's patron pick podcast (on Penda's Fen) was enough of an interruption. The time had come to conclude Walter White's journey through season two. As much as I enjoyed the first seven episodes, I was even more bowled over by the last six, from the introduction of one of TV's most memorable supporting characters (eventually a lead in his own spin-off) to the grand, novelistic season finale teased from the premiere's first moments. Above all, the fleshing out of Walt's immensely compromised ethos alongside his flinty focus (and the way these two qualities interact) impressed me deeply. I was also struck by the structure the show develops while pursuing its multifaceted storytelling strategy. There was certainly a lot to discuss in these overviews and in the process I stretched my two-paragraph-per-episode format to its limits. I'm not sure yet when I'll watch the next season - not to mention the two after that - but I hope to resume the series later this year. For now, I want to focus on Journey Through Twin Peaks and other video projects, which this month yielded a couple advances: the audio recording of my narration for the upcoming 37 as well as an image which will be used in that chapter (an "in memoriam" mosaic of actors who passed away before The Return). I also conducted my usual bimonthly patron poll to determine next months' podcast topic for the top tier - a close contention resulting in the first runoff poll in six months.

What are the April rewards?

TWIN PEAKS CONVERSATIONS bonus podcast w/ John Thorne: the "lost episode" (YouTube & extended PATREON)


In the spring of 2023, as I was wrapping up my regular monthly Twin Peaks Conversations schedule, I recorded a "bonus" that I planned to use later, maybe as the last episode in this podcast, with my most recurring guest: John Thorne, publisher of Wrapped in Plastic in the nineties and zeroes and later a blogger, podcaster, editor of a new Twin Peaks magazine, and eventually author of several books. In our previous Twin Peaks Conversations we first touched base on Halloween 2021 (coincidentally, three years to the day before this latest episode) as he was writing a new book about Twin Peaks' third season and then we spoke again after he published that book as Ominous Whoosh in 2022. This discussion was supposed to be something of an epilogue in that trilogy, reflecting on the passage of years since Twin Peaks: The Return in light of a David Lynch retrospective John attended in Dallas. And while the two-part episode (a half hour on YouTube, another hour-plus for the $5/month tier on Patreon) does serve that purpose, it was also unknowingly a gateway into a whole new project for John. In the year and a half since we recorded this chat, he's written and published a book on Mulholland Drive called Devious Dreams, and Lynch's 2001 film is already a focus in the Patreon part of this episode, hinting at the book to come. This past winter, I thought I'd lost this whole recording but fortunately I was able to restore it months ago and now I can present this "lost episode" not just as a worthwhile piece in its own right but also a teaser for the next Twin Peaks Conversations episode, scheduled for December, in which John and I will discuss the book Devious Dreams in great detail.

PART 1 on YouTube


Listen to...


Like my December conversation with Rob King and my April/May conversation with Cameron Cloutier and Josh Eisenstadt, this is a bonus episode of the Twin Peaks Conversations podcast, which ended its monthly run halfway through 2023. Bonuses will continue at least as long as I'm working on the three big Twin Peaks projects (Journey Through Twin Peaks videos, the written character series, and the second season of the Lost in Twin Peaks podcast) over the next few years.



Prior to our Twin Peaks Conversations episodes, I spoke to John over three print interviews in 2014 (about Wrapped in Plastic, The Missing Pieces, and the announcement of The Return), again when he published his 2016 book, and then over four Patreon podcasts in 2019 (first, second, third, and fourth).

Listen to his podcast In Our House Now

Check out back issues of his more recent magazine The Blue Rose




Gadgets and Symbols in Twin Peaks (and our lives) • group discussion on objects & much more w/ the "Twin Peaks Grammar" Artists Love Twin Peaks podcast (+ guests Colin, Alison Ivy, Heather Jones, Tommy Jones, Steven Miller & Josh Minton)


Sometimes Anthony, the host of the "Twin Peaks Grammar" YouTube channel, provides an ornate, intense structure for our discussions and sometimes he takes a looser approach to see what bubbles up. This conversation heads in the latter direction - providing some visual reminders of various objects through three seasons and a film but letting the conversation flow where we want to go: not just toward analysis of tokens like the Owl Cave ring but also the process of tracking down props, the ways in which the show's iconography brings fans together, theories of who dreams this narrative, and how this may or may not relate to Carl Jung. Following quickly on the heels of the last group chat just a few weeks ago, this recording includes several of the same participants - Alison, Tommy, myself - along with some new or returning guests. Twin Peaks Blog author and location/prop hunter extraordinaire Steven offers insight into the real-life objects of the show and Dreamer's Diary podcast host Tommy is joined by his wife and co-host Heather. Colin returns to rep the Creamed Corn and the Universe podcast, where I've had several exchanges with him alongside appearances on this channel and my own podcast; likewise Josh and I have spoken across a couple different podcasts. Like last time, I joined late but on this occasion I stuck around until the end for some more deep dives down various rabbit holes with both Anthony and Tommy. (At which point I reference my montage integrating Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern in Blue Velvet and The Return, as well as the film/book A Dangerous Method - here's my review of that one.)


In addition to that video, Anthony also posted this episode in audio form on the Artists Love Twin Peaks feed.

Update 2026: The audio-only version is not currently available on Apple Podcasts, though it may be on other platforms.


September 2024 Patreon round-up: EXCLUSIVE - Films in Focus podcast #5: Safe + Advanced Script for Journey Through Twin Peaks narration


In July, my $5/month tier patrons chose a podcast subject which echoed the previous episode in May: two Jonathan Glazer films back-to-back. Now the bimonthly poll has chosen to bookend that directorial double feature with another auteurist pair. Following March's selection of Todd Haynes' latest film May December, the September episode rolls back three decades for Haynes' second film Safe (also starring Julianne Moore as a fragile housewife, albeit a more sympathetic character in this case). The portrait of Southern Californian woman collapsing under the weight of environmental illness, struggling to forge her own identity only to be sucked into a manipulative self-help cult, the movie was marketed inaccurately as some kind of sci-fi thriller, has been characterized unusually but not inaccurately as a horror movie, and resonates even more strongly in an age grappling with the aftermath of Covid-19 and the uneasy anticipation of a chemically induced apocalypse. From its first half delivered in Kubrickian wide shots of modernist interiors to its second half absorbed in loneliness- and desperation-inducing western exteriors, Safe provides a fascinating challenge to viewers. How much of this ailment is in Carol White's surroundings, and how much is in her own head? Along with this question, I explore the nineties film's relationship to the eighties it depicts, the influence of Douglas Sirk's fifties melodramas, the correspondences and differences with Jeanne Dielman, and several connections to Lynch works (although, surprisingly in retrospect, I don't mention Lost Highway which was shot the year Safe came out and also depicts a character's disintegration in two very distinct halves, one involving a modernist L.A. home while the other features a breakdown in the desert).

Meanwhile I shared with all patrons the script for my narration of an upcoming Journey Through Twin Peaks chapter. Tomorrow I'll discuss my shifting approach to this project (something I hinted at back in July, in this Patreon update I forgot to include in that month's cross-post, though I've gone back to add it now). For now, from the $1/month tier up, you can read a draft covering the post-Return period in all of its melancholically hopeful and disappointed flavor.

What are the September rewards?

TWIN PEAKS CONVERSATIONS bonus podcast w/ Black Rose director Cameron Cloutier + Teresa With a T director Josh Eisenstadt (YouTube & extended PATREON)


Two years after his last guest appearance to promote the epic four-hour fan film Queen of Hearts, Cameron Cloutier is back on Twin Peaks Conversations with a new project that's just getting going (a fundraising campaign begins on May 14). Black Rose will combine a look behind the red curtains at One Eyed Jack's with a continuation of Annie Blackburn's story from the previous movie. We discuss this project and also spend time chatting with Cameron's collaborator Josh Eisenstadt who is considering a fan film of his own which would share sets, actors, and other resources with Cameron. Since Josh's concept is in flux at the time of this podcast, I didn't include any material about his specific movie*; instead, we discuss his history with Twin Peaks and its cast as a fan and friend - including his connection to Pamela Gidley who played Teresa Banks in Fire Walk With Me. Especially in the $5/month tier Patreon back half (actually nearly four times as long as the public YouTube portion) we dig into many different questions about the show, its creation, and its legacy, of which Josh has a wealth of knowledge. And Cameron sticks around after Josh has to go, talking Mulholland Drive, more details on his own upcoming production, and of course our favorite subject: will there be more Twin Peaks from David Lynch and/or Mark Frost?

PART 1 on YouTube


Listen to...


*Update 5/9

A week later, Josh ended up going forward with his project Teresa With a T, so I published the previously excised parts of our discussion on YouTube:



Like my December conversation with Rob King, this is a bonus episode of the Twin Peaks Conversations podcast, which ended its monthly run halfway through 2023. This won't be the last such episode.

Watch Queen of Hearts: A Twin Peaks Fan Film on the YouTube channel "Annie Blackburn"

Cameron's main YouTube channel is Obnoxious & Anonymous - subscribe for updates on the upcoming May 14 campaign for Black Rose & possibly Josh's film as well

You can follow Cameron on Bluesky & Twitter as Obnoxious & Anonymous or Queen of Hearts & Facebook in Twin Peaks Worldwide

The Four Placements of FIRE WALK WITH ME by Julius Kassendorf (The Solute)




Appreciating the Ending of Twin Peaks • group discussion w/ the "Twin Peaks Grammar" Artists Love Twin Peaks podcast (w/ guests Andrew Cook, Alison Ivy, Patrick Mahan, Courtenay Stallings & John Thorne)


Following up on his last group discussion three and a half months ago - in which four guests offered formal analysis of four David Lynch scenes - Anthony of the "Twin Peaks Grammar" YouTube channel has both narrowed our focus and expanded our range. I joined him as one of six guests this time, focusing on a single scene: the conclusion of Part 18 in The Return. I particularly honed in on sound, while others addressed other aspects of the filmmaking, and together we all explored the larger context of this passage (especially in comparison to Part 17's climax). This was my first time speaking with Talking Backwards podcast host Patrick, while Alison had participated in the previous group chat. I spoke to Courtenay about her book Laura's Ghost several years ago, and I've had many exchanges with John (before and after season three) and Andrew. Together we pondered what significance this scene has for both Cooper and Laura/Carrie, considered what Lynch and Mark Frost brought to its creation, remembered how we first encountered the visit to the Palmer (or rather Tremond) house in 2017 and wondered "...what year is this?"


In addition to that video, Anthony has also posted this episode in audio form on the Artists Love Twin Peaks feed.

Update 2026: The audio-only version is not currently available on Apple Podcasts, though it may be on other platforms.


Four Great Scenes to Enjoy • group discussion w/ the "Twin Peaks Grammar" Artists Love Twin Peaks podcast (w/ guests Colin, Andrew Cook & John Thorne)


A couple weeks ago, Anthony - the host of the "Twin Peaks Grammar" YouTube channel - suggested a "scene analysis idea". What if a group of commentators got together, each picking a different scene, and each focusing on a particular formal element (editing, cinematography, performance, and so on). The idea stuck with me after I listened and I encouraged Anthony to pursue the concept. And so he did, as a birthday present to himself, featuring not just both of us - for the fourth time after his guest appearance, mine, and another group discussion - but also Wrapped in Plastic publisher (and my own frequent guest) John Thorne, Creamed Corn and the Universe podcast host Colin (with whom I've previously discussed Sarah Palmer and Ronette's angel, in addition to his project more broadly), and film/TV commentator Andrew Cook (with whom I've previously discussed Eyes Wide Shut and Southland Tales).


With links to the discussion timecodes (the clips themselves can be watched here and here), John selected the Winkie's diner exchange and trip out back from Mulholland Drive, Andrew the Tremond's Meals on Wheels scene from the original series of Twin Peaks, myself the Mike in traffic/Teresa flashback sequence from the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and Anthony the nighttime Cooper/statue passage from Twin Peaks: The Return (Colin joined last-minute and took part in the commentary without picking a scene himself). Before each clip, we'd choose our focus and begin with observations on that before expanding to a broader back and forth. This was a great conversation, and hopefully a format that will be pursued in the future with other guests, scenes, and even concepts (I'd love to see this applied to non-Peaks work as well, even to scenes from films the guests aren't familiar with and are watching for the first time).

In addition to this YouTube video, Anthony has also posted this episode in audio form on the Artists Love Twin Peaks feed.

Update 2026: The audio-only version is not currently available on Apple Podcasts, though it may be on other platforms.


On a side note (mentioned at the end of the episode), this week I've been conducting a poll on Patreon for the $5/month tier to determine what film I'll cover for this month's reward. Based on suggestions from patrons, so far The Red Shoes is in the lead but others include Brick, City of Pirates, May December, Punch Drunk Love, Ruthless, and Trenque Lauquen. Make sure to jump in if you're interested, as the poll closes at noon on Friday.

belated December 2023 Patreon round-up: EXCLUSIVE - Twin Peaks Conversations podcast w/ Rob King, editor of David Lynch and the American West (including public teaser) + TWIN PEAKS Character Series advance & new introduction to patrons (w/ public status update/32 Days of Movies video revision)


David Lynch's work is often connected to specific locations like sunny suburbs, industrial cities, and the backlots and bungalows of Hollywood, as well as to genres like noir, horror, and melodrama. The broad Western landscape, and the Western genre, are less frequently associated with Lynch (aside from Lynch's short film The Cowboy and the Frenchman and his cameo as none other than John Ford in The Fabelmans). In his recent anthology of commissioned essays, David Lynch and the American West, Rob King gathers a number of perspectives particularly focused on how Lynch's works play with the history and mythology of the actual region. The terrain stretches from the parched deserts of the Southwest to the foggy forests of the Pacific Northwest, the timespan from ancient indigenous civilizations to the modern highways running across this landscape today. I spoke with King a couple months ago; technical difficulties unfortunately cut our discussion short and we were unable to resume, but for a half hour we dug into how he and other scholars approach this material. Because this is a shorter Twin Peaks Conversations episode than usual, most of it has been reserved for $5/month tier patrons. I published a brief teaser on YouTube, rather than the much longer public "first half" I normally share.

I'm also previewing another character entry for the $1/month tier - in this case, very interesting revisions to someone featured in the earlier series. And I've officially updated my tier structure, as explained in the following video:


+ read the public announcement:

For more details and other updates, check out the above public post, shared in mid-December. As mentioned in there, I've recently added some new pages to this site's directories so that now you can navigate patron rewards without having to scroll past public material. The directories are as follows:



What are the December rewards?

Who Summons Ronette's Guardian Angel? • discussion w/ Creamed Corn and the Universe podcast


Visit/download the episode on Apple Podcasts

A year after my last visit to the Creamed Corn and the Universe podcast, in which we discussed Sarah Palmer from childhood to old age, I'm back to focus on another character: in this case, one who only appears for a few seconds in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Nonetheless, I consider those few seconds perhaps the most important in the entire fifty-hour story, so I was thrilled that Colin invited me back for this particular episode. We set the stage by talking about Ronette and her relationship to Laura before exploring the nature of Ronette's prayer and what it may have to do with her angel's appearance (as well as why the angel looks the way it does). And we examine how the angel's presence ripples out into the original series which takes place after the prequel as well as into the third season and its confusing timelines and universes (one of which may or may not bring Ronette back into the story as "American Girl").

Given its importance to my reading of Laura's arc in particular, the angel in the train car has come up in my climactic Journey Through Twin Peaks chapter as well as an extensive, in-depth podcast episode of my own - as well as some additional thoughts which don't really come up here, on how Cooper's big moment in the Lodge may echo Laura's in the train car (is Bob his version of the manifested angel?). For his part, Colin has already devoted an entire episode to Ronette herself with guest Cheryl Lee Latter, and he has plans for another on the angel Laura sees in the Red Room). Nonetheless, this exchange brought new ideas to light as Colin prompted me to wonder what it means for Agent Cooper's intervention to take Ronette's angel away - or at least to present a world in which that is a possibility.

Catching Big Fish in Twin Peaks • group discussion w/ the "Twin Peaks Grammar" Artists Love Twin Peaks podcast (w/ guests Colin, Alison Ivy, Josh Minton, John Thorne)


Four months after my last guest appearance on the YouTube channel "Twin Peaks Grammar", host Anthony invited me back - this time for a lively, three-hour group chat. Most of the participants I'd spoken with before (either on their shows or others) but never in this particular configuration, and the result was a wide-ranging consideration of topics including Cooper's experiences in the Red Room; the Fireman's role in this universe; the confused identities of Phillip Gerard, Mike, the Arm, and the Evolution of the Arm; and of course, that perpetual inquiry: "What year is it?" These questions are just a small sample (I'll list the full line-up below) but the answers, non-answers, and further questions were all fun to consider.


Musicians of the Road House (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #31)


The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. A new character study will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through mid-August before pausing again, although patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public. There will be spoilers.


Providing a passage between past and present, plot and periphery, "reality" and dream, the Musicians offer a chorus to express a confused community.

Jerry Horne (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #33)


The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. A new character study will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through mid-August before pausing again, although patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public. There will be spoilers.
indicates passages added or revised since 2017, if you want to skip directly to fresh material; this is a revision of an earlier piece written before the third season.

Jerry is defined by his appetites and enthusiasms, which is a good thing since his legal - and navigational - skills are more questionable.

Janey-E Jones (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #35)


The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. A new character study will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through mid-August before pausing again, although patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public. There will be spoilers.


Used to carrying the load for her family, Janey-E is tough on her husband until she slowly realizes that his presence now offers security and, more importantly, love.

Bradley and Rodney Mitchum (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #37)


The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. A new character study will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through mid-August before pausing again, although patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public. There will be spoilers.


The Mitchums are rescued from their dour aggression by cherry pie, a $30 million check, and a remote control slap to the face, allowing their hearts of gold to shine.

Mike Nelson (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #40)


The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. A new character study will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday although patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public. There will be spoilers.
indicates passages added or revised since 2017, if you want to skip directly to fresh material; this is a revision of an earlier piece written before the third season.

Mike is a follower - whether surly mimic of his best friend or grinning boy toy for a superwoman - but when he thinks he has the upper hand he can be quite assertive.

Bushnell Mullins (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #41)


The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. A new character study will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday although patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public. There will be spoilers.


Curious and protective, tough but fair, Bushnell is eventually proud to call himself Dougie's boss.

Detective Dave Macklay (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #43)


The TWIN PEAKS Character Series surveys one hundred ten characters from the series Twin Peaks (1990-91 on ABC and 2017 on Showtime as The Return), the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and The Missing Pieces (2014), a collection of deleted scenes from that film. A new character study will appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday although patrons will have immediate access to each entry a month before it goes public. There will be spoilers.


Concerned but seldom alarmed, Macklay carefully navigates a case unlike any he's encountered in his corner of the world.

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