Ron Seifried | On 07, Oct 2014

Where are the eclectic, unorthodox and downright bizarre townsfolk of Twin Peaks, Washington today? Twenty four years after David Lynch and Mark Frost took television audiences on a ride through paranormal, sexual and illicit doings in a small lumber mill town, a nine episode mini-series on Showtime will return to where the best, damn cup of coffee is served. And all nine episodes will be directed by Lynch himself.

 

Prophetic log lady and silent drapes aside, the early 2016 premiere will take place at roughly the same time as the infamous dream sequence of a slow jazz dancing dwarf in the third episode. Arguably, Twin Peaks is the inspiration of the modern “golden age of television,”  including True Detective, Breaking Bad and possibly hundreds more.

 

Twin Peaks premiered on April 8, 1990 on ABC-TV, with an opening scene of a murdered homecoming queen wrapped in plastic, with the memorable words, “she’s dead.” The pilot episode and the very brief series run on multiple time slots, followed the investigation of the death of Laura Palmer, led by over-caffeinated FBI investigator Dale Cooper and the Twin Peaks local inhabitants that simultaneously parodied and celebrated the thriller/sci-fi/horror/comedy/soap opera mashup and created a new genre that to this day does not have a defining name.

 

But where are they now? We can only speculate until the series premiere just 15-18 months away. Warning, if you haven’t watched the show, I strongly suggest binge watching all 30 episodes and the prequel/epilogue feature film Twin Peaks:Fire Walk with Me. Otherwise this speculation/recap list will make as much sense as a giant telling you “The owls are not what they seem.”

 

*Disclaimer: as of this writing, the Twin Peaks revival has not been cast and no official word if parts of controversial season two after Laura’s killer were revealed will be removed from the mythology.

 

 

FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan)

When we last left Agent Cooper, he was about to brush his teeth at the Great Northern Hotel. Upon entering the bathroom, he catches a most curious reflection in the mirror; the killer Bob,  “cause” of most of the paranormal mayhem in Twin Peaks. This follows events in the Black Lodge, where Cooper and his new girlfriend Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham) encounter Windom Earle (Miguel Ferreara), Cooper’s one time mentor who is bent on revenge and acquire an evil power emanating from the wooded location. In the red-curtain dream room, the giant, dwarf, Laura Palmer’s ghost and several decoy’s explain to Cooper coded prophecies and a few properties that defy time and space. After Cooper agrees to give his life for Annie, Earle kills him, only to have time reversed by Killer Bob, thereby “saving” Cooper and killing Earle.

 

 

 

 

 

Laura Palmer / Maddy Ferguson (Sheryl Lee)

Is the homecoming queen or her lookalike cousin Maddy really dead, or will Cooper meet up one or the other in some alternate universe? In the final episode of season 2, Laura’s “vision” tells Cooper in the trance-like red room “I’ll see you in 25 years.” The theme of duality plays a strong part in Lynch’s work, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

 

 

 

 

The Man from Another Place (Michael J. Anderson)

The reverse-talking, enigmatic, red-suited, dancing dwarf needs to return, if for nothing else for some garmonbozia. There are many questions surrounding the red room in the Black Lodge, and one in particular was always fascinating. Is The Man from Another Place really the One-Armed Man’s missing arm?

 

 

 

 

Killer Bob (Frank Silva)

If the infamous Bob returns, he will be portrayed by another actor. Frank Silva passed away in 1995. But since the part was a demonic entity that inhabited unsuspecting people to commit atrocities, Bob most definitely will return in one form or the other.

 

 

 

 

Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean)

His lover Josie Packard dead, series straight-man, Sheriff Truman may now be mourning in retirement and left wondering what exactly is behind the strange occurrences in Twin Peaks.

 

 

 

 

Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn)

When last we saw the tongued-in-cheek, cherry stem twisting, femme fatale, she was chained to a bank vault just before exploding. But there was no body, so the lovely Audrey could return. Fenn has appeared in Twin Peaks homage episode of Psych a few years ago, so she is probably up to reprise her most famous role.

 

 

 

Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle/Moira Kelly)

Revealed at the conclusion of the series, Hayward may actually be the illegitimate daughter of Benjamin Horne, thereby making her Audrey’s half—sister. Despite Kelly’s portrayal in the feature film, odds are on fan-favorite Boyle reprising her role.

 

 

 

 

Shelley Johnson (Mädchen Amick)

In the finale, Bobby proposed to Shelley, but her abusive husband Leo may still be alive fending off that cage of tarantulas.

 

 

 

 

Leland Palmer (Ray Wise)

The “killer” of Laura, Maddy and Teresa Banks, he dies in season two, briefly returns as Mr. Palmer’s doppelgänger in the finale with the memorable line, “I did not kill anyone.” This is Twin Peaks, where everything can happen….even resurrecting the dead.

 

 

 

Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie)

The chain-smoking, hysterical, psychic mother of Laura was brilliantly portrayed by Zabriskie. It would be a crime not bring Mrs. Palmer back, perhaps as the new log lady wandering around town.

 

 

 

The Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson)

Then again, the real Log Lady is still with us, most recently appearing in an episode of Portlandia. If she does return, will it be with the same log?

 

 

 

Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson)

The ditzy receptionist at the sheriff’s office should return. If not, who will get the donuts?

 

 

 

Deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz)

Can anyone say Sheriff Brennan?

 

 

 

Nadine Hurley (Wendy Robie)

Cotton Balls! One-eye, silent-curtain obsessed wife of Big Ed. Let’s hope she made a fortune on her quiet drapes and is the local financial mogul.

 

 

 

Will David Duchovny return as the transvestite DEA?

  

There are plenty more original cast members that can still return, but we’ll save that list for another time. Some other famous and not-so-famous that appeared in the series and film, might also make some interesting cameos. Prior cast members with smaller parts included Chris Isaak, Kiefer Sutherland, David Bowie, David Duchovny, Heather Graham, Billy Zane, Molly Shannon and the creator himself, David Lynch.