My Twin Peaks Marathon Re-watch: From 1989 to 2017 in Five Days

DAY ONE

Pilot – Season 1 – Season 2 Episodes 1-7

I wanted to do this re-watch for a long time. I hadn’t watched a thing since September in preparation for this—5 whole months already since the season finale! I wanted to wait until I had a week off so the experience could be completely immersive. I made a five-day schedule just to fit everything in, and planned to just plough through it.

My friend in the US did the marathon with me, but because of time differences, we did end up on slightly different schedules.

There’s something about the Pilot that takes me right back to being 14 years old. No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old. It still seems fresh and new in every way. Seeing Coop drive into Twin Peaks, full of hope and energy, is bittersweet with the knowledge of Season 3 at hand.

TWIN PEAKS — The beginning of the investigation.

In fact, the whole of Season 1 is just so beautifully done. The cinematography is stunning, the script is inspired. It still impresses me every time. Cooper’s joy at the little things in life, like a Snowshoe rabbit and sugary desserts, are a constant reminder of the sunny soul he was back then, despite everything he’d already been through.

I have a short attention span, so I fully expected to start losing focus at some point, but 8 episodes in, I was still enjoying every second.

I do hate when people slate Season 2. It is easy to forget how good the first few episodes are. They follow seamlessly from Season 1. I also always forget how early the subject of Windom Earle’s escape comes up.

At this stage, I was enjoying this marathon watch more than I expected to. I don’t tend to watch TV, and never binge-watch, so I thought it would get a little draining or I would start to zone out, seeing as I know these episodes so well, but it was actually just the opposite. I found myself noticing little things, and I forgot just how funny it really is. Cooper and Truman especially had some moments of comedy genius, like the stools at Ronette’s bedside, with Coop’s polite smiles of embarrassment at the comatose girl. Every moment with those two is a joy.

I ended the day at 1am with “Lonely Souls”. Such lovely bedtime viewing! I was way ahead of schedule at this point, and greatly looking forward to day two!

Total re-watch time today—12 3/4 hours.

DAY TWO

Season 2 Episodes 8-20

I had very interesting dreams that first night! They involved David Lynch’s hair.

Day two began with “Drive With A Dead Girl”. It’s one of my favourites, mainly because Ray Wise delivers an acting masterclass in every scene. Seeing Leland singing and weaving across the road, I was overcome with a huge wave of happiness. I was immersed in a marathon of some of the most wonderful scenes ever to grace a television. I’m working hard in online groups, writing articles about this show I love so much, and sharing it all with some of my best friends in the world. As fans go, I feel like one of the lucky ones.

leland&bob — Ray Wise, as Leland Palmer, was also filled with secrets.

I was struck by the perpetual mentions of unreality. ‘Is this real or some strange and twisted dream?’ The dream allusions have been constant throughout. Imagine if all the ‘dreamer’ theorists had come out of the woodwork years ago? They wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes.

Just like day one, I laughed more than I expected to. Watching all at once, the cleverness and the humour really does stand out.

In hindsight, there is so much that ties in to Season 3, even if it wasn’t originally intended that way. It’s especially tempting to read more into the Sarah scenes.

I was bracing myself a little once I knew I had Little Nicky and Civil War Ben coming up today. If ‘re-watch fatigue’ was going to settle in at all, it would be this particular afternoon. It’s a shame that all the dodgier storylines fire up in the same episode.

bobby&shelly — Who doesn’t love Shelly and Bobby?

Five hours into the day, and it was still going well. I’m not someone who tends to take notes while watching, but I already had 4 pages of article and post ideas by this stage.

There are undoubtedly a few little things to dislike about Season 2, but it really does get unfairly put down. I hate when new fans are advised not to bother with it. There really is so much to love. As I get closer to the end, it’s a relief to see things get pulled back, though. The Windom storyline picks up good traction as the end approaches, even if it does eventually fizzle out.

I finished at 1am again, with “The Path to the Black Lodge”. Nothing thrills me more than the chord that plays as the red curtains become visible in the black pool.

KENNETH WELSH;HEATHER GRAHAM — Preparing to enter the Black Lodge.

Total re-watch time today – 9 3/4 hours

DAY THREE

Season 2 Episodes 21-22, Fire Walk With Me, The Missing Pieces, Season 3 Parts 1-3

I started a little later today as I waited for my friend in the US to catch up. The fact that I’m obsessive means marathoning it is no big deal for me, but I accept that others have lives. I had to make myself go slower.

Also, another friend wanted to join us for the Fire Walk With Me re-watch that night, so this day I had to watch a little bit out of order. This afternoon was S2 21 and 22, and the Missing Pieces.

I had an overwhelming desire to climb into the screen and stop Coop from going off to his Fate. Despite all the beautiful moments in Season 3, the Season 2 finale is still my favourite episode of all time. I could watch this and the Pilot on a loop for the rest of time.

Remember the good old days when we thought the Season 2 finale left the story wide open and was a massive cliffhanger? Oh, how innocent we were!

I think that watching the Missing Pieces at 3pm on a lazy January Wednesday may be the most content and peaceful I have ever felt. What a gift this is.

I was looking forward to binge-watching Season 3, but I found myself getting closer to it with a mixture of excitement and dread. Every scene is tied up with the exhausting emotional rollercoaster that was the summer.

I hadn’t re-watched each Part since the week they aired. It’s actually very freeing to watch without the stress of wondering what will come next. And it isn’t as jarring to watch this straight after Season 2 as I thought it would be. The Missing Pieces were a good bridge between the two.

I chose to watch Parts 1 and 2 together in film form. It really does flow beautifully. Getting to the end scene always brings me back to seeing the standing ovation at Cannes and Lynch’s proud little face, knowing he earned every second of it. Memories of last summer are flooding back.

mr.c — Season 3 gave us Mr. C, the villain we both wanted and needed.

But a little break in that for something a little bit different. I watched Fire Walk With Me with two friends overseas, one in Scotland, one in the US. I’ve never watched through an online chat before, and this film is highly emotional for all thee of us. I watched this film alone every night for a year in the early 90s. It means the world to me. It was an interesting experiment.

I didn’t intend to chat throughout, but we did, and it was so much fun. So great to hear everyone’s takes on each scene, and to be able to lighten the mood through the heavy parts. I watched it with two of my good friends at the UK Festival last year, but we couldn’t really talk through it. This was the least stressful re-watch I’ve ever had, and the first time ever that I didn’t cry. This was probably one of the most positive experiences I’ve ever had in this fandom, and I highly recommend it.

Finishing off day 3 with Season 3 Parts 3 to 6. Watching it all in a big row like this really shows how well-paced it is. By the time I was on Part 6 it still felt Dougie-Dale was brand new. The balance of good, pure characters, and heartless, dark evil comes through beautifully this way.

I started late, so I finished late, at 2am. Every night was filled with crazy dreams! Hardly surprising, really!

Total re-watch time today—9 1/4 hours.

DAY FOUR

Season 3 Parts 7 – 15

Powering through Season 3.

Again, I really felt that watching this season as an 18 hour film really would be the ideal way to watch it. Even watching them back-to-back like this enhances it greatly. It’s all in better context, new minor characters like Red and Beverley act as nice little breaks in the main story, and the big connections—Laura’s diary pages, Cooper’s room key—just feel far more impactful because they feel far less spaced out.

Brody-Twin-Peaks-1200 — “I’ll see you again in 25 years”

Part 8 seems less a standalone film in this context as well, and the start of Part 9, seeing the doppelgänger in bright daylight for the first time, definitely feels like a change of pace, and the pulling together of threads.

Also, there is far more music than I remembered throughout, and far more Angelo Badalamenti music.

Midnight on day 4 and I was still enjoying every little second of this. It inspired me to create a group post about the little throwback scenes and motifs, and it was interesting to discover just how many there were.

I could have easily finished this marathon on the 4th night, but I wanted time to absorb it all before the finale. Plus, as I got nearer to the end, I found myself wanting to make it last as long as possible.

Total re-watch time today—8 1/4 hours

DAY FIVE

Season 3 Parts 16-18

Only 3 Parts left. I was sad to get near to the end. Part of me just wanted to start all over again! I want an endless re-watch.

16 is an absolute pleasure, because I feel that it’s the last time I have a real idea of exactly what is happening.

I watched 17/18 with online friends again. We all felt we needed the emotional support at this stage. And hearing another person’s take on things, especially with these scenes, is a revelation. Knowing that we see things the same, or wildly differently, never ceases to fascinate me. It’s far less mentally and emotionally draining this way. I love that the answers feel perfectly visible, but just out of reach.

The team from *Blue Velvet* reunited 30 years later for the *Twin Peaks* climax.

I don’t know why it should be, but this ending is far easier to accept, having watched the whole thing through in such a completely immersive way. It is all far more in perspective.

So, I reached the end of my Twin Peaks Week, and I recommend it to all. Watching every second, chatting with other fans, working in online groups, writing articles, all fuelled by copious amounts of coffee, has been a dream come true. I can’t wait to do it again sometime.

Total re-watch time today—2 3/4 hours

Thanks to Carl Hershberger for being my re-watch partner, and to Alan Mills Jr for joining us for FWWM and the Season 2 finale.