Twin Peaks



"Through the darkness of future past, The magician longs to see. ''One chants out between two worlds... Fire, walk with me."

An early-nineties television series created by David Lynch (responsible for such films as Blue Velvet and Eraserhead) and Mark Frost (co-writer of the Fantastic Four film). It paved the way for shows like Northern Exposure, which stole its Northwest locale and some limited quirkiness. The series also heavily influenced a surprising number of video games, most obviously Deadly Premonition and Puzzle Agent. It had a little bit of everything (see Soap Opera and Mix and Match). Ostensibly a hybrid Crime-Time Soap / Detective Drama, it quickly took off for parts unknown with a pervasive supernatural element that turned it partly into an Occult Detective story that smacked of slightly off-kilter Magic Realism.

The series starts off with the discovery of a murdered teenage girl, Laura Palmer. This event in turn leads to the eccentric Special Agent Dale Cooper visiting the town as part of his hunt for a serial killer. Although the murder investigation wraps up partway through season two, a new foe from Cooper's past keeps the plot moving until the notorious "How's Annie?" Cliff Hanger ending of season two (and in fact the series). The 1992 movie Fire Walk With Me mostly wraps things up. The show features a rather large and colorful cast with about as many subplots as there are characters, and the story contains quite a few examples of Red Herring Twist and Powers That Be.

In October 2014, David Lynch announced that Twin Peaks will be returning to TV in 2016 on Showtime. (In late 2015, the premiere was pushed back to 2017.) At the time of this writing it is planned as a nine-episode limited series, written by Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost and directly entirely by Lynch.


 * Mix and Match:
 * Cosmic Horror Story
 * Crime-Time Soap
 * Detective Drama
 * Dramedy
 * Paranormal Investigation
 * Soap Opera (A deconstruction)
 * Surreal Horror

"Philip Gerard / The Man From Another Place: "Bob, I want all my... Garmonbozia (pain and suffering).""
 * Agent Mulder: Co-trope namer, and original Trope Namer Agent Cooper.
 * Agent Scully: Albert.
 * Alone with the Psycho: 's final scene.
 * An Axe to Grind: Leo Johnson and Bobby and.
 * Another Dimension: Two of them -- the White Lodge and the Black Lodge. You don't want to go to the second one.
 * Anything That Moves: Laura Palmer.
 * Arch Enemy: Windom Earle.
 * Arc Words: "Fire walk with me."
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "Ladies and gentlemen, Laura Palmer is dead. is dead. Ronette Pulaski and  are both in comas.  is dead."
 * Ascended Extra: Ascended Actor, anyway. Sheryl Lee was originally cast to play Laura's corpse and limited flashbacks, but Lynch liked her so much he created the character of Maddy for her, feeding into BOB's modus operandi as revealed by the movie.
 * Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Hinted to happen to Laura at the end of The Movie.
 * As Long as There Is Evil: Invoked by Albert when trying to explain the existence of BOB.
 * Badass: Quite a few, but especially Cooper, Truman, and especially Deputy Hawk.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: Windom Earle.
 * Berserk Button: From The Movie, Leland is strangely adamant that his daughter Laura "WASH HER HANDS!" before dinner.
 * Big Bad: BOB.
 * Big Bad Wannabe: Windom Earle.
 * Bi the Way: In the companion book The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, Laura mentions having slept with both Josie Packard and her pimp/madame Blackie O'Reilly.
 * Black Comedy: Windom Earle is a funny guy, even if he is a complete psychopath. It also helps that most of the humor is at Leo's expense.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: The Black Lodge, who are strict about their own world's rules but clearly have just a slightly different set of values than everyone else.
 * Bolivian Army Ending
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Some of Agent Cooper's investigation methods are unique to say the least. Surprisingly this is tolerated and even factored into serious case work by the officers of the Twin Peak's sheriff's department, who have probably never seen an FBI agent before and don't know any better.
 * Call a Rabbit a Smeerp: From the subtitles at the end of Fire Walk With Me:

"Cole: "Coop! You remind me today of a small Mexican chihuahua!""
 * Campbell Country: Twin Peaks itself and its surroundings, of course.
 * Captain's Log: Agent Cooper's tape recorder messages for Diane.
 * Catch Phrase: "Harry, you're all right."
 * See Must Have Caffeine for another.
 * The Chessmaster: Windom Earle is a rather literal example of this trope. He a game of chess played against Cooper, and even at one point dresses a victim as a giant chess piece before.
 * Cliff Hanger
 * Cliffhanger Copout: Episode Two in the first season of ends with Agent Cooper having a dream from which he learns the identity of who killed Laura Palmer. Cooper immediately wakes up from the dream to call up Sheriff Truman to tell him that he knows who the murderer is but teases that the answer could "wait 'till morning." Come the next episode, taking place that following morning, Cooper recaps all the events from the dream that ended with Laura Palmer whispering the name of her killer in his ear. Then, once he's asked who the killer is, Cooper nonchalantly responds
 * Cloudcuckooland: Twin Peaks itself.
 * The FBI, judging by the cross section of agents we see listed on the Characters page.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Agent Cooper, who talks to a tape recorder while hanging upside-down by his boots in his room. His superior, Gordon Cole, was obviously an influence....

""Wait for the tea! The fish aren't running!""
 * On the Twin Peaks side, Margaret (the Log Lady), the source for at least one of the page quotes and the following:

"TMFAP: She's my cousin. But doesn't she look almost exactly like Laura Palmer? Cooper: But she is Laura Palmer. Are you Laura Palmer? Not-Laura: I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back. TMFAP: She's filled with secrets."
 * To a lesser extent, Audrey, especially in the earlier episodes.
 * Color Motif: Red usually turns up suggesting danger and sexuality, most obviously in the curtains of One Eyed Jacks and the Black Lodge.
 * Companion Cube: Margaret's log, which arguably.
 * Consulting Mister Puppet: The Log Lady.
 * Crazy People Play Chess: Windom Earle. When he's not killing people and stuffing their corpses, he enjoys a good chess game.
 * Creator Cameo: Cooper's superior, Special Agent Gordon Cole, is played by David Lynch, loudly.
 * Creepy Child: Mrs. Chalfont's grandson is creepy in the TV series.
 * Criminal Mind Games
 * Cringe Comedy
 * Cryptic Conversation: Cooper's encounters with the Grotesque Gallery.

""God, I feel like singing! Come on, everybody, and just get happy!""
 * The Cuckoolander Was Right: Played straight with the Log Lady and several other characters. Averted by Cooper in that everyone takes his far-out theories seriously anyway (except for Albert, the only person who actually does have good reason to believe him).
 * Damsel in Distress: Many, but above all Laura.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: The inhabitants of the Black Lodge could not by any stretch of the imagination be called good (they eat pain and suffering, after all) but they do help Cooper with his investigation on numerous occasions.
 * David Bowie: Agent Jeffries.
 * Deadly Prank: One gets the impression Windom Earle would get along quite well with the likes of Kefka and the Joker.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Albert.
 * Decoy Protagonist: Agents Stanley and Desmond (Keifer Sutherland and Chris Isaak) in Fire Walk With Me.
 * Demonic Possession: and . In all likelihood, Agent Jeffries as well.
 * And to a smallish degree, . Or at least something's in there.
 * Demoted to Extra: Johnny Horne, Audrey's brother, appears in a few early episodes before disappearing until a late Season 2 cameo.
 * Depraved Bisexual: Josie Packard and Blackie O'Reilly are confirmed as this in The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, and there is heavy hinting for Blackie in the show as well.
 * Dirty Cop: Deputy Cliff and possibly Sheriff Cable in Fire Walk With Me.
 * The Ditz: Lucy and Andy.
 * Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Nadine, after returning from the hospital (after ).
 * Donut Mess with a Cop: [[media:copslovedonuts.jpg|"A policeman's dream!"]]
 * Doomed by Canon: Laura Palmer is the main character of the prequel film.
 * Double Standard Rape (Divine on Mortal): BOB's fellow Lodge creatures don't seem to care that he's been raping and murdering young women left and right. Just that he won't front them any of the suffering he takes from his victims.
 * Downer Ending: As there is no third season to provide closure, we're left to assume that.
 * Dragon Lady: Josie.
 * Dreaming the Truth
 * Dream Sequence
 * Driving Question: The Laura Palmer case.
 * Drugs Are Bad: A heavily implied (but not quite Anvilicious) aesop. While drugs are indeed a major part of Laura's downfall, her drug use doesn't exactly lead to her problems so much as result from them.
 * Dr. Jerk: Albert.
 * Dying as Yourself:.
 * Dysfunction Junction: Laura was the prom queen and overall darling of the town.
 * Eccentric Townsfolk
 * Enemy Within:.
 * Even the Rats Won't Touch It: The food at the local hospital looks (and smells) downright disgusting.
 * Everything's Better with Bob: Except BOB is a source of evil.
 * Evil Tastes Good: If you didn't already find creamed corn disturbing, you will now.
 * Exclusively Evil: BOB, though a debatable case of Blue and Orange Morality might excuse that.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Leland Palmer's hair turns white in the first episode of the second season, at which point he ceases to be paralyzed by grief.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Leland Palmer's hair turns white in the first episode of the second season, at which point he ceases to be paralyzed by grief.

"The director Todd Holland on Audrey's character: "She's one of my favorite characters because you thought she was such a big slut and she's probably the most moralistic person in Twin Peaks and that's all tremendous fun. The ones like her father feign morality and are incredibly treacherous, but they carry on a good business front.""
 * Eyepatch of Power: Nadine. Good old casually-600-pound-pressing Nadine.
 * Failure Is the Only Option: Averted due to Executive Meddling.
 * The Fair Folk: The residents of the Black Lodge. Okay, so they're not really "fairies", but they still fit the bill.
 * Faking the Dead:.
 * Fatal Family Photo: A security guard at the Twin Peaks bank discovers that his wife has just given birth to a boy
 * Fat Bastard: Jacque Renault.
 * Fate Worse Than Death: Being possessed by BOB. Being raped by BOB. Being trapped in the Black Lodge for twenty-five years that could either go back in time, forward in time, or completely non-linearly, and may not even equate to human world time.
 * Fille Fatale: Audrey Horne.
 * Five-Man Band
 * The Hero: Cooper.
 * The Lancer: Truman.
 * The Big Guys: Andy and Hawk.
 * The Smart Guy: Albert.
 * The Chick: Lucy.
 * Foreshadowing
 * "She's my cousin. But doesn't she look exactly like Laura Palmer?" (referring to Maddy).
 * Gainax Ending: The ending for the "International Version" of the pilot episode. It ended up being heavily edited and re-contextualized for Cooper's dream at the end of the second episode.
 * Government Agency of Fiction: The FBI in the Twin Peaks universe often deals heavily in supernatural cases. These more often than not tend to be just a little more dangerous than the usual kind of work.
 * Government Conspiracy: Dale Cooper is a strong believer in conspiracy theories. Given his own experience...
 * Grail in the Garbage: The ring.
 * Grotesque Gallery: Lodge inhabitants include The Man From Another Place (a dwarf, who is actually ), The Giant (a ... giant, obviously),, and Jimmy Scott (who suffered from Kallmann Syndrome).
 * Hannibal Lecture: Jean Renault gives Cooper one.
 * Heel Face Turn:.
 * Hidden Heart of Gold:
 * Audrey Horne. At first sight she seems to be a spoiled troublemaker who aspires to be a femme fatale (often successfully), but with time it is revealed that she's actually an lonely innocent with good intentions.
 * Audrey Horne. At first sight she seems to be a spoiled troublemaker who aspires to be a femme fatale (often successfully), but with time it is revealed that she's actually an lonely innocent with good intentions.

"Audrey: But don't you like me? Cooper: I like you very much. You're beautiful, intelligent, desirable. Everything a man wants in his life. But what you need right now, more than anything, is a friend. Someone who will listen."
 * Albert Rosenfield and his speech.
 * Hidden Villain
 * Hooker with a Heart of Gold: . And when she tries to get into the business for investigative purposes.
 * Hormone-Addled Teenager: Laura Palmer's peers. And she herself, but with a bit of extra baggage.
 * Horrifying the Horror: MIKE does this.
 * Humanoid Abomination: Whatever else the inhabitants of the Black Lodge are, they are all surely this -- even the more benevolent ones, such as the Giant.
 * Idiot Ball: Happens sometimes towards the end of the series with both Harry and Cooper. The greatest offender, however, is Major Briggs,
 * I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: In Episode 4, Andy drops his gun and it goes off by accident. In the next episode, a character gives a braggadocio-filled impression of how he'd handle being caught having an affair while waving a gun around with his finger on the trigger.
 * Interservice Rivalry: The Deer Meadow law enforcement don't like FBI sniffin' around their neck of the woods.
 * Invisible Backup Band: James' song he sings while playing guitar in the episode "Coma" has bass and percussion come out of nowhere halfway through.
 * Is This Thing On?: Played painfully straight with the town's mayor in the pilot and later on in the second season.
 * Japandering: This Georgia is damn fine coffee!
 * Jerk Jock: Bobby Briggs and Mike Nelson.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Albert defines this. After an amazing speech in which Albert's heart of gold becomes apparent, he and Sheriff Truman -- formerly bitter enemies -- in a later episode.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot
 * Jurisdiction Friction: Averted right off the bat in the pilot episode when Agent Cooper specifically asks Sheriff Truman if he is going to have any trouble with this.
 * Played straight with a different jurisdiction in the movie.
 * Just Friends: Audrey and Cooper, to the ire of both David Lynch and the Fan-Preferred Couple crowd.

""Agent Cooper loves coffee.""
 * Karmic Death: and presumably.
 * Killed Off for Real:, , and.
 * Latex Perfection:, disguised as.
 * Leitmotif: "Laura Palmer's Theme" and later (in the second season) "Audrey's Prayer" are repeatedly used as love themes. Some characters (Hank Jennings or Windom Earle for example) have their own themes as well.
 * The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: The little trailer park trailer that isn't there today. And the Convenience store that apparently
 * Loads and Loads of Characters
 * Love Makes You Crazy: Windom. Freaking. Earle.
 * Magic Realism
 * Malevolent Masked Man: The Chalfont/Tremond child.
 * The Man Behind the Man
 * Master of Disguise: Windom Earle, master of the Wig Moustache Accent.
 * Mind Rape: Literally.
 * Mind Screw
 * Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot
 * Mirror Monster: BOB, perhaps the most iconic example of this in television history.
 * Missing White Woman Syndrome
 * Mix and Match
 * Mood Whiplash: The series changes from serious crime drama to lighthearted comedy extremely frequently, especially at the beginning of the second season.
 * Murderers Are Rapists
 * Must Have Caffeine: "(That's some) Damn good coffee." is Agent Cooper's Catch Phrase.

""Audrey, you're a high school girl. I'm an agent of the FBI.""
 * Ms. Fanservice: Audrey.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Both Laura and Leland experience these moments... though in the second case, it's for a pretty good reason. Ben as well, albeit in a much more Narm-filled fashion.
 * Narnia Time: Time in the Black Lodge is a somewhat more Mind Screw worthy take on the idea.
 * Never Found the Body:.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:.
 * No Dead Body Poops: The aversion is mentioned, but not depicted.
 * No Indoor Voice: REGIONAL BUREAU CHIEF GORDON COLE! PLAYED BY DAVID LYNCH HIMSELF, NO LESS! AND HE'S CALLING YOU FROM OOOORRRRR-EEEEEEEEE-GOOOOONNNNN!
 * Not Himself
 * Occult Detective: The natural result of Agent Cooper becoming aware of the town's less-than-normal qualities.
 * Of course, he started out using such investigative techniques as throwing rocks at a bottle while listening to the list of suspects to determine which leads to follow, which he learned from the Dalai Lama in a dream.
 * Keep in mind, given what we find out in The Movie, Cooper had already foreseen Laura's death and Gordon Cole likely informed him beforehand that he was working on a Blue Rose case. Which means the rules are, to put it mildly, just a little different.
 * Odd Friendship: Well, most of the town's residents and the agents dispatched there are odd, to say the least, but the trope is best exemplified by later in Season 2.
 * Old Cop, Young Cop: Windom Earle and Dale Cooper might have been this before Earle went insane.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Loads of these in the movie. David Bowie shows up for all of a minute as Agent Jeffries (whose role in the shooting script was slightly larger), Harry Dean Stanton as a bizarre trailer park landlord, etc.
 * Out with a Bang: Mayor Doug Wilford, in the "wedding night" variant.
 * Owl Be Damned: They are the eyes of BOB. Maybe (in any case, they are not what they seem).
 * Place Beyond Time: The Black Lodge, where.
 * Powers That Be
 * Power Walk: The first shot of Season 2, Episode 9.
 * Precocious Crush: The reason why Cooper can't return Audrey's feelings.

"Gwen: God, how you must hate us white people after all we've done to you. Hawk: Some of my best friends are white people."
 * Rape as Backstory: A common explanation of backstory is that he was sexually assaulted by Bob Robertson, possibly as a means of demonic possession (or thus creating said demonic force). And that's not even bringing up how it affected
 * The "Cooper's Diary" book suggests that Cooper was also sexually abused by BOB (he came into his room) as a child.
 * Rape as Drama
 * Rasputinian Death:
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: BOB only murders . Kind of helps that his second and first victim were played by the same actor before David Lynch had even thought to establish this as a plot point.
 * Recursive Acronym: Beware Of BOB.
 * Redemption Equals Death: Laura Palmer's death.
 * Also.
 * Redemption in the Rain: . Sort of.
 * Red Herring Twist
 * The Reveal
 * Scarily Competent Tracker: Cooper and Hawk.
 * Scenery Porn: Twin Peaks has some truly beautiful cinematography. The opening also gives you a good first look at some of the breathtaking nature scenery you're going to see in the show.
 * Serial Killer: BOB.
 * Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Cooper tries to do this in The Movie. It fails.
 * Sex Is Evil and I Am Horny: BOB. Laura herself angsts over having this attitude in The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer.
 * She Really Can Act: Sheryl Lee's work as Laura (specifically Laura and not Maddie) in the few brief flashbacks in the series was...a little underwhelming, although it did fit in with the spirit of the high-concept Soap Opera spoof. Then along comes Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and she proved she does have the acting chops.
 * Shout-Out: Many, most notably to the Gene Tierney film Laura during the first season.
 * Show Within a Show: Invitation to Love.
 * Complete with Stylistic Suck and Plot Parallel
 * Smug Snake: Ben and Jerry in the first season.
 * Some of My Best Friends Are X: Played for laughs:

""God, I love this music. Isn't it too dreamy?""
 * Sorry I Left the BGM On: The first episode has Audrey doing this, much to her father's dismay.
 * She does it again with the jukebox at the diner in the second episode.

""I've got good news. That gum you like is going to come back in style.""
 * This happens on a radio (which is immediately changed) in Season 2 episode 2. Actually, this happens a lot on Twin Peaks.
 * In another season two episode, some melancholy flute music plays over an establishing shot of the abandoned house Windom Earle is occupying, which turns out to be... Windom Earle himself playing the flute. It sounds kind of silly, but it's in fact a pretty eerie moment since
 * Spell My Name with an "S": BOB -- all caps.
 * Not to be confused with "BOB!".
 * Spider Sense: In The Movie Cooper reveals to Albert that he's foreseen Laura's death before it actually happens (possibly by meeting his future self in the Black Lodge), putting Albert's skepticism in an entirely different context on a second re-watch of the series.
 * Spooky Painting: Laura enters one in the movie.
 * Stunt Casting: This probably ranks first on the extensive list of "most egregious waste of David Bowie."
 * Stylistic Suck: From what little we see of it, Invitation to Love, the soap opera everyone in Twin Peaks apparently watches, is fairly ridiculous.
 * Considering the fact that it mirrors some events of the show, it may be a case of Self Deprecating Humor.
 * Surreal Horror
 * Switching to GEICO: In the surreal Black Lodge:

""Now, could we talk about something more important? Exactly how old is that girl?" "Denise, I would assume you're no longer interested in girls." "Coop, I may be wearing a dress, but I still put my panties on one leg at a time, if you know what I mean." "Not really.""
 * Temporal Paradox: Agent Cooper examines the live security cameras in the FBI office and catches sight of himself on screen as Agent Jeffries walks in the room (which had already happened just a few seconds ago). It's later claimed that Agent Jeffries was never there in the first place. This is hinted to be similar to the way time works in the Black Lodge when Cooper tries to contact Laura through her dreams.
 * Things That Go Bump in the Night
 * To Hell and Back: Cooper in the series finale. The Black Lodge may not be Hell itself, but neither is it pleasant.
 * Tom the Dark Lord: Killer BOB.
 * Touch of the Monster: Oh God.
 * Town with a Dark Secret: The corrupt businessman who pretty much runs Twin Peaks is secretly funding a brothel and casino beyond the border. The town darling is a prostitute and drug addict in her spare time. Did we mention that the town also contains hidden access to the home of some really weird creatures that speak almost only in riddles?
 * Transvestite: A young and studly David Duchovny as DEA Agent Dennis Denise Bryson.
 * Not to be mistaken for Transsexualism, though:
 * Not to be mistaken for Transsexualism, though:


 * Turn in Your Badge: Season 2, episode 10.
 * The Watson: Sheriff Harry S. Truman. In the first episode after the pilot, he even mentions feeling "a bit like Dr. Watson."
 * We Want Our Jerk Back: Several characters react to 's trauma-induced Heel Face Turn in this fashion.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Albert suggests this explanation for the events of the series that he would otherwise be unlikely to believe, thus playing heavily to the perspectives of the audience and perhaps acting as a parody of some of Lynch's fans and critics in an ironically symbolic manner. It's all sort of subverted in the last episode, though...
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Cooper tells Laura not to take the ring. She takes it.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: FBI Agent Dennis Denise Bryson.
 * Widget Series
 * Wig, Dress, Accent: Windom Earle uses several of these to get around Twin Peaks.
 * Wild Mass Guessing: Due to the extremely ambiguous nature of Word of God (we're talking about David Lynch here after all), much of what is accepted as canon online (especially on this page) is based on some of the more probable and believable examples of Wild Mass Guessing as to what's going on in the series. Even that isn't exactly saying much...
 * Wild Wilderness: The setting has a creepy lodge in the middle of the woods that may or may not be there and no one seems to notice it.
 * Word of Dante: It's important to apply this rather than Word of God when summarizing the series. A rather fitting trope when you consider the White and Black Lodge might as well be the in-series equivalent of Dante's Paradise and Inferno... which would make Twin Peaks itself Purgatory...
 * World of Ham
 * You Can't Fight Fate: Cooper, trapped in a place without time, tries to keep Laura from getting killed. She doesn't listen.
 * Your Soul Is Mine: falls victim to a type two-B. Or maybe her soul is just trapped inside the knob of a dresser drawer.
 * Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb: Most of the younger characters in Twin Peaks are downright stupid.

This show's production and television run provided examples of:

 * Kudzu Plot
 * The Resolution Will Not Be Televised: The movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Subverted in that it was . Well, sort of...
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: A female example involving Norma and her mother in the second season.
 * Wham! Episode: The final one, and several others along the way, including death at the hands of of Laura's killer.
 * What about the first season finale?
 * Mark Frost has talked about how he really wasn't sure the show would get a second season, so he packed every conceivable cliffhanger he could into the first season finale (to the point that it almost became a parody) in the hopes that someone would say, "Okay, I have to know what happens next."
 * Wrap It Up