Twin Peaks Unwrapped - A Very Ronnie Rocket Holiday Special (w/ John Thorne)

(left: Tobias Olearczuk, right: Fro Design Company)

Although Twin Peaks Unwrapped closed its curtains this spring, the podcast did tease upcoming specials in the future. Here's the first one, and I'm happy to play a part - having covered so many of the films and other projects that Lynch actually made, they're setting their sights on one that he never got to. The screenplay Ronnie Rocket is the bizarre (even for Lynch) tale of the Frankenstein-like project to remake a hospitalized man as an electrified, only quasi-verbal teenager; meanwhile, in an apparently separate storyline that starts at the same place, a detective journeys to the heart of a dark city to battle an evil foe. We note the many connections to Twin Peaks and to Lynch's later films given the dualities (there aren't only two stories within the script, but two different versions of the script authored years apart). And we ask if we - and Lynch - are better off because Ronnie Rocket never got produced...

This discussion is embedded within a larger Christmas special format, MC'd as always by Scott Ryan (whom I just interviewed about his upcoming Fire Walk With Me book on my Twin Peaks Conversations podcast). Meanwhile, Unwrapped hosts Ben and Bryon have recruited a stable of "Unseen Players" to actually perform many passages - the closest we may ever get to seeing (or rather hearing) Ronnie Rocket for real.

update - Part 2 is available as of December 27:

TWIN PEAKS CONVERSATIONS #1 w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped authors Ben Durant & Bryon Koszycka (YouTube & extended PATREON)

My Twin Peaks Conversations series kicks off with the hosts - or rather, now, the authors - of Twin Peaks Unwrapped. Ben and Bryon introduced their podcast in 2015 and kept it going much longer than they expected, finally ending its 250+ episode run this year. In the midst of this process, they wrote a book using their audio discussions as a springboard but ultimately extending far beyond the material they'd already recorded. Building on the oral history tradition established by Brad Dukes (with Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks) and John Thorne (with The Essential Wrapped in Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks) - whom I also spoke with in 2014 and 2016 - and formatting their book as an episode guide, Ben and Bryon complemented excerpts from their extensive cast/crew interviews with their own easygoing banter on various subjects, picks for favorite quotes and scenes, and codas from a variety of Peaks fans (including yours truly). In this conversation, we dig into their process behind the book and podcast, discussing their favorite discoveries among other subjects:

PART 1 on YouTube

(Embedded videos are having difficulty right now - you can jump here for this one.)

And that's just the first half hour or so; for $5/month patrons, there's nearly an hour of extended discussion on topics as broad as Lynch's possible Twin Peaks follow-up, The Maxx comic books and series, "sense memory" of podcasts, the nineties television (beyond Peaks) which shaped Ben and Bryon, and even my own origin story as a cinephile.

And listen to...

PART 2 on Patreon

This will be my approach every month from now on, sharing more than half of these podcasts exclusively with my top tier on Patreon as a successor to the Lost in Twin Peaks podcast. And this conversation is actually a bonus, so expect another before September's up...

Purchase the book Twin Peaks Unwrapped & Listen to their podcast

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - Ultimate Lynch Madness (w/ Mya McBriar, Josh Minton, and John Thorne)

If you haven't listened to the previous four "Madness" podcasts yet, stop reading and check them out now because this episode was determined by those outcomes.

All good things must come to an end. This is true not only of the fun "Madness" exercise of the past two years, where the hosts of Twin Peaks Unwrapped have invited myself and other guests to rank various Peaks and Lynch works in a March Madness-style bracket until only one title remained, but also of Twin Peaks Unwrapped itself. Although Ben and Bryon intended to conclude the show in 2020, the pandemic disrupted their plans. For the past few months they've been working their way through the final community rewatches of season two episodes and will belatedly wrap it all up this month. This will be my last appearance as a guest although not the last time we talk in podcast form (stay tuned).

This was a great way to go out, revisiting our early decisions (all of the guests from previous episodes were supposed to participate, although only four of us could make it) and figuring out which work we wanted to ultimately represent the Lynch canon at its apex: Lost Highway, the season one "Red Room" episode, the season two finale, or the season three finale. I found myself going back and forth so what both we as a group and I individually chose was as much a surprise to me as to the listeners (or viewers, since Unwrapped published the video on YouTube - you can also listen to it here or elsewhere).

The episode was recorded in April and shared in May, but this is the first Thursday I've had open to share it and coincidentally it's the thirtieth anniversary of the episode that ended the original Twin Peaks. Whether or not episode 29 takes the cake (or the cherry pie) I'll leave for you to find out, but if you're a patron - and even if you're not (yet) - keep an eye on my Patreon today...this conversation won't be the only one to highlight that unforgettable finale.

Moving near the edge at night... • discussing the killer's reveal episode w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped (+ John Thorne & Josh Minton)

A year after my last visit to the Twin Peaks Unwrapped community rewatch series (for the first season finale), I'm back to mark another milestone: the killer's reveal in episode 14. I've discussed this arc with hosts Ben and Bryon before, but this time we hone in on the particular episode, joined by fellow guests John Thorne and Josh Minton - who have recently launched their own freeform Twin Peaks podcast, In Our House Now. The discussion is divided into two parts, interspersed with Schäffer the Darklord's re-enactments of the original teleplay (with some intriguing differences from the broadcast version). Topics include Lynch's bold aesthetic transgressions of TV style, whether or not Leland (not Bob) has a motive to kill his niece, the missing "Ben killed Maddy" footage, critics who avoided and confronted the reveal's troubling nature, the appropriateness of "dead Laura" merchandise, and how all of us responded to the shocking climactic moment on our first viewing. It was a great conversation on an iconic moment of television that just celebrated its 30th anniversary.

References: the "Laura Palmer Funko Pop doll" Twitter thread by findom earle (@coherentstates) • excerpts in my Gone Fishin' media round-up: scroll down to December 21, 1990 for the "Incest for the Millions" essay & September 6, 1992 for Jeff Simon's Fire Walk With Me review • my "Dream Souls" video essay on David Lynch & Mary Sweeney • my Patreon coverage of episode 14 (now available for all tiers of patrons)

PART 1

PART 2

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - Season 3 Madness (w/ Josh Minton)

Last year, I joined Ben, Bryon, and rotating guests on the Twin Peaks Unwrapped podcast to undertake a ridiculous (and ridiculously enjoyable) attempt to "rank" David Lynch films, as well as the episodes of Twin Peaks seasons one and two, using a "March Madness" style bracket system (see below). Now they are tackling season three, and the results may surprise you; as I put it on Twitter, "I voted correctly...but did everyone else??" This time Peaks commentator Josh Minton - who has written extensively about the Showtime season in his book Skeleton Key to Twin Peaks - is on the panel, often providing the decisive vote after much discussion. You can watch the whole Zoom call above (apologies for my distant gaze, I couldn't find the eyeline on my phone's screen and didn't realize I was visible when I wasn't talking...) or listen to the audio version from iTunes or pretty much anywhere else you download podcasts.

Thanks to the pandemic, the Unwrapped schedule for 2020 has been thrown into disarray. They originally intended to conclude their half-decade run at the end of the year, following months of community rewatches, "Madness" rankings, and other frequent episodes but now they've committed to extend themselves into 2021, the rewatch episodes are delayed (I've already recorded a killer's reveal discussion which is still several steps back in the backlog), and after initially offering a new contest every calendar season, the "Madness" is now finally reaching its last entry. Well, almost its last entry; the final four will get their own face-off with a massive line-up of all the former participants making the call. That should be fun! The contestants, based on previous victors, will be Lost Highway, episode two, episode fourteen, and....well, you'll have to listen to the above conversation to find out.

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - 5th anniversary celebration

image by Robert Farkas

This week, the Twin Peaks Unwrapped podcast celebrates its fifth anniversary. When Ben and Bryon kicked off their endeavor in 2015, they used an introcast format with veteran Ben guiding novice Bryon through the series for the first time (and desperately trying to keep him from skipping too far ahead). Since then, they've expanded their approach to include segments on a variety of subjects, community rewatches of the original episodes, year-end round-ups, and even a book collecting old and new work alike. And of course, one of their specialties has been conversations with cast/crew and fellow fans - my own first appearance was very early, just after they'd spoken to Catherine Coulson (a humbling precedent) in what I believe was her last interview. Since then I've made numerous guest appearances, and now I've joined them again, just in the nick of time near the end of an hour-plus Zoom meet-up in which they discussed the series and laid out their own plans (the coronavirus disrupted their commitment to conclude the podcast in 2020). There were many guests beforehand, whom I'm looking forward to hearing myself. When I popped in, we talked about my Journey Through Twin Peaks videos (and behind-the-scenes character series work), our meet-up last fall, and the prospect of more Twin Peaks. I'm also psyched to join them soon for some key rewatches and (perhaps most of all) for another glorious/ridiculous "Twin Peaks madness" bracket game - this time for season three.

You can watch/listen here:

By the way, from now on rather than posting every Wednesday I will post on whatever day of the week my given entry aligns with. Monday, as was the case last fall, will be reserved for Mad Men viewing diaries (I'm just kicking off season four now); my latest video essay(s) will be shared on Tuesday; any random review will publish on Wednesday; and a podcast episode, including my monthly Patreon round-up, will be cross-posted on Thursday. I'll reserve Friday for anything else. Usually there will only be one, maybe two entries going up in a week - but there will always be at least one. And I'll schedule these for 8am most days but today I wasn't sure what time the Unwrapped video would go up, so this may be timed a little later.

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - Season 2 Madness (w/ Sam Iswitt)

A month and a half ago, the sprawling field of Democratic candidates - which has of course been winnowed down since (I'm writing this back in October, so forgive me my optimism) - gathered on a stage in Ohio. On that very night, an important debate was held and in this debate, crucial questions for our time were fervently contested. What is the best episode of the mid-season two slump? Are some of those episodes hidden gems? Is the Miss Twin Peaks contest a charming delight or one of the darkest moments before the Lynchian dawn?

Now the podcast episode recorded that evening is finally available! For months, I eagerly anticipated this "Madness" session (a follow-up to the Lynch film and season one contests where we chose the "best" entry through a bracket system). This was the discussion I was most excited to have in large part because I thought it would be great fun to compare and contrast those strange, how-did-this-happen? chapters of Twin Peaks' much maligned season two. But of course there are also genuinely spectacular moments to assess and analyze as well - some of the most powerful presentations in TV history. Joining myself and the Unwrapped hosts for this discussion is Twin Peaks Reddit moderator Sam Iswitt, whose rare, genuine love for the season's back half spiced things up. Though recorded earlier in the fall, the podcast was saved until now to help kick off the hosts' round-table rewatch of the second season: let this serve as a refresher and reminder for the episodes to come. So settle in for the long, winding road and then let us know - what are your rankings?

"Twin Peaks was awfully busy that night, wasn't it?": discussing the Season 1 finale w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped (+ Lindsay & Aidan of Bickering Peaks)

It's been a year and half since I last appeared on a Twin Peaks Unwrapped community rewatch episode (since they're planning to end the podcast at the end of next year, they'll be picking up the pace for season two). I think as far back as that recording, I requested the season one finale as my next endeavor. I knew that Mark Frost's solo venture - the only time a single person wrote and directed an entire piece of Twin Peaks - would provide much fodder for conversation, and it did. I was particularly delighted to share guest duties with the Bickering Peaks co-hosts, Aidan Hailes and Lindsay Stamhuis (whom I just discovered inspired the best BuzzFeed article of all time). Over the past couple years, they covered almost all of Mark Frost's film/TV work; having done a deep dive myself into his films, shows, and books this past year, I was really eager to discuss how his vision impacts this hour of television.

Now, seriously, go read that BuzzFeed article!

By the way, here are the photos from the event where I met Ben and Bryon, as discussed on the episode:

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - The TV pilot version of Mulholland Drive (w/ Mya McBriar and John Thorne)

What if Mulholland Drive had been an ABC series competing for viewers in the fall of 1999, rather than an uber-cinematic art film quickly acclaimed as the best movie of the 21st century? This and other questions animate my discussion with Ben and Bryon, hosts of the most prolific Twin Peaks podcast, Mya McBriar of Twin Peaks Fanatic, and John Thorne of Wrapped in Plastic and The Blue Rose Magazines, who brought knowledge of several different cuts to the table. Four years ago, we spoke about the finished film when it was incorporated into the Criterion Collection and now we've reunited for a round-table about the TV pilot version of the movie. Though I've long been aware of what was and wasn't in the rejected version David Lynch presented to the network, it was startling to actually watch this familiar footage in fuzzy VHS quality and a boxy aspect ratio - not to mention the subtle additions and subtractions scattered throughout this version of Mulholland Drive. And it made for a great conversation.

This is the first of three appearances I'll be making on Twin Peaks Unwrapped this fall, so keep an eye out for my contribution to a Season 1 Finale rewatch and another "Madness" session, this time eliminating and elevating the various episodes of the truly mad Season 2.

Twin Peaks Unwrapped - Season 1 Madness (w/ Francine the Lucid Dream and John Thorne)

This spring, just in time for the NCAA Finals, Twin Peaks Unwrapped hosted me on its own version of March Madness - in which we used a bracket system to choose David Lynch's best film. The exercise was as delightful as it was absurd, so I was eager to return to this template. This time we tackled TV episodes, sticking to the eight that make up the first season (the second will be a doozy, and I can't wait). Which two episodes will face off in the final match? Can another director sneak past David Lynch's work? Will the Log Lady's cabin or Audrey's cherry stem tip the scales in the episode 5 vs. 6 contest? Along the way, Ben, Bryon, and all of us guests discuss the merits and drawbacks of the various episodes, taking surprising deep dives into some of the more random entries and contemplating questions like why episode 2 feels like the real start of the series and how the pilot establishes Laura Palmer as an almost spiritual presence in its opening minutes.

Lynch Madness: choosing our favorite Lynch film on Twin Peaks Unwrapped (w/ Mya McBriar)

I joined the Twin Peaks Unwrapped podcast (along with Mya McBriar, of Twin Peaks Fanatic) for our first discussion in a year, and it was a doozy - not just a normal conversation, but a "March Madness"-style competition to determine our collective favorite Lynch films by setting two against each other in brackets and advancing until only one remained. You won't believe what happens next...

There are plans to use this format again for episodes, and I can't wait. It's of course ridiculous to set Lynch's film against each other this way, but by embracing that ridiculousness we had a blast and even managed to point out some interesting strengths, flaws, and surprises about the various works. How would you have voted in each step?

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Rewrapping Twin Peaks: discussing the pilot w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped (+ J.C. Hotchkiss & John Thorne)

As part of their ever-expanding approach to Twin Peaks, Ben and Bryon have decided to begin periodic episode discussions covering the first two seasons. I mentioned a few episodes I'd be interested in joining them for, and at the forefront of the pack was the pilot. Why? It isn't because it's my favorite (I'd rank most other Lynch episodes higher, personally) - it's because this is the point where, on the one hand, Twin Peaks could still be anything, and on the other hand, so much of what it would become hadn't materialized yet.

After some technical difficulties (in which potential guests were unfortunately lost), 25 Years Later editor J.C. Hotchkiss, Wrapped in Plastic publisher John Thorne, and I were able to join the hosts to talk about the legendary two-hour premiere that changed television exactly twenty-eight years ago this past weekend. There's a lot of deep digging into what was different about the script (scored, sound-designed re-enactments by various contributors), where the creators' heads might have been as they shot it, and whether or not one can know the killer based on the pilot, along with discussion about what's onscreen and how it works on its own.

This also marks the 150th episode of Twin Peaks Unwrapped, a wonderful and dedicated project begun by Ben and Bryon nearly three years ago (they've only taken one week off during that whole time). Here's to many more.

Lost in Twin Peaks #9 - Pay Dirt!: discussing my Patreon podcast w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped

A few months since my last appearance on Twin Peaks Unwrapped, Ben and Bryon invited me on to discuss my own recent work. Ben became a patron of Lost in the Movies in February, and wanted to share the podcast he's been enjoying (thanks Ben!). So we discuss my work (including the upcoming character series) in addition to tugging at the edges of season three. Is everyone talking too much about Judy now? Is the nature of the Lynch/Frost collaboration challenging to unravel? Is Laura Palmer just a pawn in the bigger game? Answers, or maybe just more questions, ahead...

BECOME A PATRON

Last Words? - discussing The Final Dossier w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped (+ another status update)

For the first time in two and half months - and perhaps the last time ever - I can provide fresh coverage of brand new Twin Peaks material. I bought The Final Dossier in the evening of October 31, braving Halloween traffic to pick up a copy ordered from a local bookstore. Late that night, ten minutes before midnight to be exact, I opened it up and began to read. When I finished it a mere two and half hours later - this was a stunningly quick read - I was wiser to this universe, and a year older (well, sort of; November 1 was my thirty-fourth birthday).

I found the book refreshing and shared some initial thoughts on Twitter, beginning with this tentative prediction: "I don't think we've seen the last of Twin Peaks." A week or two later, I recorded the following discussion with Twin Peaks Unwrapped, paired with an equally long conversation they held with John Thorne.



As for other plans...

Lost in Twin Peaks #8: discussing Fire Walk With Me & the end of season 3 w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped

This is the first entry in 5 Weeks of Fire Walk With Me. Next week I will discuss why the movie belongs in the Criterion Collection.

Although I initially planned to kick off my "5 Weeks of Fire Walk With Me" series with a review/response to the new Criterion Collection edition (look for that as next week's entry), it makes sense to begin with what I recorded first. A couple weeks ago, in anticipation of this upcoming release, I joined hosts Ben and Bryon of the Twin Peaks Unwrapped podcast for our first post-season three discussion. This is also the first official "Lost in Twin Peaks" segment since before the third season began (my appearances since then have been to discuss films or the ongoing series); hopefully there will be more to come this fall and winter.

We cover Fire Walk With Me from several angles, focusing on how the new season does or doesn't change our view of the material (particularly the ending of the film), why it would be a bad idea for David Lynch to release a recut of the movie including The Missing Pieces (as producer Sabrina Sutherland has said he would consider), and if the film functions as a standalone. My segment appears in the latter half of the episode; the rest is devoted to a fascinating discussion of the UK Twin Peaks Festival, sprinkled with snippets of Sutherland's Q&A. (And make sure you check out this episode's amazing cover art, which doesn't show up in the embed.) See you next week for more Fire Walk With Me.

Time and Time Again: discussing Part 16 and anticipating the finale w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped

With just a few days to go before Twin Peaks is, once again, a (relatively) closed book I joined Ben and Bryon to discuss Sunday's episode and what we're anticipating, hoping for, and completely unable to predict about the two-hour finale. Topics include Diane, Audrey, Cooper's ultimate fate, and whether or not to expect a Lynchian twist. My guest apperance occurs in the second hour; during the first, the hosts go over Part 16 in great detail (earlier this week they had another episode to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Fire Walk With Me, including interviews with John Thorne and screenwriter Robert Engels; nobody works harder than these guys at getting their Twin Peaks material out there).

Twin Peaks Interlude: discussing Parts 1-8 w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped

Last week, with a two-week break between episodes, I joined Twin Peaks Unwrapped for a discussion about Parts 1-8. We talk about the value of Dougie (and waiting for Coop), whether we are going to get stories or glimpses of the vast ensemble, and the power of part 8.



See you Sunday.

The Straight Story: a discussion w/ John Thorne and Twin Peaks Unwrapped

As they covered Twin Peaks, the hosts of Twin Peaks Unwrapped have also been watching all of David Lynch's films. This month they finally reached the last film on their list - one of Lynch's most unusual. The only screenplay to which he didn't contribute (it was written by his long-time romantic and creative partner Mary Sweeney), it tells the true story of a man who traveled from Iowa to Wisconsin on a lawnmower, hoping to visiting a brother who had fallen ill. The Straight Story is a Disney-produced rated-G film that nonetheless feels deeply Lynchian to me. When I was asked which movie I would like to talk about with Unwrapped, this was the one I chose. We're joined by John Thorne, publisher of the legendary Wrapped in Plastic magazine, and together we look at why the film is so effective, how it relates to Lynch's filmography (including Twin Peaks), and whether or not there are secrets hidden in even this most straightforward of his works.



For more, you can read my review of the film from my David Lynch retrospective in 2014, and the follow-up essay in which I discuss the evolution of all of his work, including this.

Lost in Twin Peaks #7: discussing the politics of David Lynch & Twin Peaks w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped

Not long after last fall's notorious election, I had the urge to discuss David Lynch and Twin Peaks in a political context. It took a while to get out there (thanks to Ben Durant for his diligence in streamlining a lengthy conversation, which I know wasn't easy), but here is the segment I recorded with Ben on the subject several months ago. The focus is less contemporary politics (despite the inspiration) or the sort of hot-take thinkpiece approach that will no doubt be ubiquitous soon, and more a broader look at how the show operates through various perspectives. Particular attention is paid to David Lynch's own ambiguous place in the political spectrum as he and his work evolve.

Topics include how small town communitarianism fares under "conservative" regimes, feminist perspectives on Twin Peaks, Jonathan Rosenbaum's review of Twin Peaks (contrasting Lynch with Luis Bunuel), Lynch's affection for Reagan in the eighties, attitudes toward class in The Elephant Man, the avant-garde in a left and right context, the National Review cover story celebrating Lynch's work as moral and all-American in 1990, and some interviews Lynch has participated in over the years. (And thanks to John Thorne for digging up that copy of Lynch's National Review cover, which I couldn't find anywhere online.)

This episode also contains a fantastic, really fun interview with Takanori Higuchi, star of the Japanese Georgia Coffee commercials that David Lynch directed in the early nineties.

Twin Peaks Unwrapped, featuring speculation about new Twin Peaks with me & John Thorne

from Entertainment Weekly

In mid-April Ben and Bryon welcomed me onto a different section of their podcast; rather than my usual "Lost in Twin Peaks" musings, I joined the hosts and legendary Wrapped in Plastic publisher John Thorne to discuss the upcoming series (now just two weeks away). This includes how much of the town and familiar characters we'll actually see, the possibility that the new episodes can be watched out of order (!), the abandoned Lynch/Frost project The Lemurians, and the upcoming Cannes screening (we wonder if this means some people see the first episodes before they air, but that question has since been answered affirmatively by a press screening scheduled for several days before the premiere). It's a short appearance, but this episode is worth listening to in its entirety: Ben and Bryon landed a great interview with John Neff, one of Lynch's most prolific musical/sound collaborators. He shares some fascinating, and sometimes hilarious, memories of their work together.