By now, you should know of my intense obsession with David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. This 1992 theatrical follow-up to the 1990-91 series has become my all-time favorite Lynch film. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen it, I’d be dead. Recently, I was delighted to discover HBOMax has the film available for streaming. My enthusiasm, however, quickly waned after reading their synopsis for this cult classic. I have now found my new “peak” to die on.
INCORRECT SYNOPSIS FOR TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
To understand why disappointment set in, let’s look at the film. The town that FBI Agents Desmond and Stanley visit is Deer Meadow, Washington. The town’s name even appears on the screen.
The name “Deer Meadow” also appears on the Sheriff’s Office. You can’t miss seeing it.
The synopsis posted on HBOMax reads:
“In the folksy town of Deerfield [sic], Wash., FBI Agent Desmond (Chris Isaak) inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the similarly cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Lara [sic] Palmer (Sheryl Lee) hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.”
Deerfield, Wash.? Lara Palmer? Huh?
The description surprised me so much that I tweeted about in on May 27, 2020.
Fellow Bookhouse Boy, @Twin_Petes responded, “The same description I’ve seen elsewhere! #TimeandTimeAgain.”
Wait! Pete said this incorrect description was used in other places. How is that even possible?
APPLETV SYNOPSIS FOR TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
An interesting side detour … while calling up the film on AppleTV on June 30, 2020, I discovered a completely different short synopsis.
The text is different from the web and Xbox interface (the “Deerfield, Wash.; Lara” description):
“Agent Cooper comes to Twin Peaks, Washington following two unresolved murders and the disappearance of two follow agents.”
Someone will be in for a surprise when she or he finds the story of the last seven days of Laura Palmer instead. Weird. Cooper’s there but if you blink, you may miss him. I don’t even know where to start to get this updated.
INCORRECT SYNOPSIS ORIGIN
At first, I thought the incorrect synopsis was published around the time the Twin Peaks – The Entire Mystery was released on Blu-ray in 2014. I checked the press release – nope, not there. Moreover, why would they include something so incorrect like a misspelling for Laura Palmer?
I searched “twin peaks fire walk with my synopsis” on Google Search and also found the same incorrect description.
I also gave “feedback” about the error, which you can do too.
UPDATE – AUGUST 19, 2020
When I looked to see if the synopsis had been corrected on August 19, 2020, it appears Google Search removed the “Feedback” link under the synopsis.
So I used the “Share Feedback” link at the bottom of the page to send yet another plea for them to update the two misspellings.
UPDATE – AUGUST 20, 2020
Strangely, the “Feedback” link is now back under the synopsis
So I sent them direct feedback like I have nearly every week since June 2020.
SEARCHING CONTINUES
Using the phrase “Deerfield, Wash.,” I searched Google and found a defunct link to MovieReviews.com.
Using the outstanding Wayback Machine, I located one of the earliest instances of the incorrect synopsis on the web, dated October 31, 2015.
I performed additional key word searches using specific date ranges. Nothing appeared in 2015, which makes sense since MovieReviews.com is no longer active.
I found, however, two links from 2016 – one to a movie theatre in Pennsylvania from March 28 and one for Moviefone.com on October 17.
According to Wikipedia, Moviefone was relaunched in May 2014 with a “new look, an expansion into TV content, and a comprehensive search tool that allows users to find theaters, channels, and streaming services offering movies and television shows.” One would think their description would be correct, but I suspected they were pulling this information from somewhere else.
MORE INCORRECT SYNOPSIS FOR TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME APPEAR
Kodak Reel Film has a landing page for the movie, complete with an image of Special Agent Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak). But it has the wrong town name.
Fandago.com, another popular movie site, not only contains the incorrect synopsis but it also lists February 5, 1993 as the release date of the film.
The film was released in the United States on August 28, 1992, and the VHS release date was January 6, 1993. I have no idea why they use February.
Even the great Turner Classic Movies includes the synopsis with errors on their site. Come on!?
FINDING A CLUE
After digging deep enough on the world wide web, I found an article from the Rochester City Newspaper.
They credit “Tribune Media Service” for the synopsis. Ah, a clue!
Another credit to “Tribune Media Services” was found on Tucson Weekly‘s website. A pattern was forming. Is the synopsis from a syndicated service that companies used?
TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Known today as Tribune Content Agency, the Tribune Media Services was a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing based in Chicago, Illinois (this will be important in a moment).
Joseph Medill Patterson founded the Chicago Tribune Syndicate in 1918 which helped place content, such as comic strips, into as many newspapers as possible. By 1968, this syndicate offered “about 150 features to approximately 1,400 client newspapers.”
In 2000, Tribune Publishing acquired the Times Mirror Company, with the Los Angeles Times Syndicate being merged into Tribune Media Services.
On June 12, 2014, Tribune Media Services was merged into Gracenote, which was later sold to Nielsen Holdings in 2016. This explains why the Datebook on SFChroncile.com credits Gracenote for this incorrect synopsis.
So someone for Tribune Media Services wrote the synopsis for Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me and it spread through the network like a virus. Reminds me of those pesky episode titles for Seasons 1 and 2 that originated in Germany. But that’s another story for another time.
WHY DEERFIELD?
How could the original author get the name of the “folksy town” wrong? Remember how Tribune Media Services was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
The village of Deerfield is a north shore suburb located about 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. If the author lived in or around Chicago, she or he could have easily incorrectly transposed the name from “Deer Meadow” to “Deerfield.”
There is no town of Deerfield in the state of Washington.
As for misspelling Laura Palmer’s name, who knows how that wasn’t caught. Though I didn’t notice the misspelling of her name until I was working on this article.
The Enzian in Orlando, Florida caught the misspelling of her name during a 25th Anniversary screening. But they missed correcting “Deerfield, Wash.”
FOLLOW UP TO HBOMAX
I wrote to HBOMax Customer Support advising them of the error about “Deer Meadow.” Shockingly, they responded … twice.
I’ve checked every day since June 4, 2020 to see if the description has changed. It hasn’t and I don’t expect it will anytime soon.
If they pulled this description from a syndicated service and Google search uses it, they won’t see a reason to change it.
CORRECT TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH MY SYNOPSIS
If anything, I wish everyone would use the description from the Criterion Channel. That’s the version of the film they are showing on HBOMax anyway.
“In the town of Twin Peaks, everybody has their secrets, but no one more than Laura Palmer. In this prequel to his groundbreaking 1990s television series, David Lynch resurrects the teenager found wrapped in plastic at the beginning of the show, following her through the last week of her life and teasing out the enigmas that surround her murder. Homecoming queen by day and drug-addicted thrill seeker by night, Laura leads a double life that pulls her deeper and deeper into horror as she pieces together the identity of the assailant who has been terrorizing her for years. Nightmarish in its vision of an innocent torn apart by unfathomable forces, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME is nevertheless one of Lynch’s most humane films, aching with compassion for its tortured heroine, a character as enthralling in life as she was in death.”
Hi Steven,
That was absolutely fantastic, really enjoyed your evident love of FWWM.
I have mixed feelings for the movie, love every opportunity to revisit Twin Peaks but found Laura’s decline a hard watch and train car scenes harrowing.
On the other hand I think Chris Isaak was a brilliant addition to the cast and I was very sorry he didn’t feature in the Return.
Hoping that should we get season 4 that Chet lives on in the alternate reality perhaps as Gordon’s right hand man….here’s hoping!
@Mark – Thank you for the kind words. I completely understand how you feel. The film has intense and raw emotions, especially the last half. Sheryl Lee and Ray Wise’s performances are exceptional. I, too, love Chris Isaak! The first 30 minutes of the film are perfect. He’s also wonderful to see in concert.