It’s an exciting day at TwinPeaksBlog.com as another Bookhouse Boy is joining our writing staff. I met Jason McMahan virtually through our shared interest in identifying props used in David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show. Considering we’re both long-time fans of Twin Peaks, I was delighted to hear of his interest in exploring aspects of the series. He will be sharing his thoughts through a recurring series titled, “Darkness in Ghostwood: Twin Peaks Before the Black Lodge.” The first article in this series examines the Red Room in Episode 2022 (or number 29 from Season 2). Please give a warm welcome to Jason and enjoy this first article.
A BEGINNING
“I like to watch some films over and over again because of the mood and sense of place. And it’s just so much fun to go there. And that’s hopefully, you know, what Twin Peaks is.” -David Lynch, Behind the Scenes, September 14, 1990
When it comes to Twin Peaks, I’m not a completist, but an essentialist. What is deemed “essential” obviously a matter of opinion. The original story centering on the murder of Laura Palmer, which runs from the pilot until episode sixteen (Episode 2009), is what I consider the essence of Twin Peaks.
There have been three distinct narrative phases in Twin Peaks’ serial storytelling: the “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” arc, the “Pathway to the Black Lodge,” and, most recently, Twin Peaks: The Return. Each one of these phases concluded with an ambiguous ending (Where is BOB now?, How’s Annie? What year is this?). The second and third story arcs are dependent on the first. However, the original storyline, with its own inherent mythology, is arguably the most cohesive and most able to hold together as a standalone narrative.
It is common knowledge that the murder of Laura Palmer was never meant to be solved. The forced resolution of this mystery by ABC execs left the producers and writers scrambling to find something to fill the void.
According to Harley Peyton, the idea was to have Agent Cooper and Audrey Horne get together, but that was vetoed by Kyle MacLachlan.
“We had this big problem – when we revealed who killed Laura Palmer the show would be over!…We planned it (for Cooper and Audrey getting together), but unfortunately Kyle refused to do it. So we ended up with no second season!” (Essential Wrapped in Plastic,” pg. 161)
The writers also had difficulty figuring out what to do with the storylines of so many characters. In his commentary on episode twelve John Thorne writes, “The large cast of Twin Peaks is beginning to weigh down the production. Once the Laura Palmer story is resolved, some of the subplots will sag beyond repair.” (Essential Wrapped in Plastic,” pg. 118)
The same problem persists in David Lynch’s film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and continues to the present day in Twin Peaks: The Return. The characters were at their best in the beginning. All the plotlines that were later developed ultimately feel intrinsically unsatisfying.
Mark Frost eventually contributed the idea of The Black Lodge for season two, which was a concept from the writings of occultist Dion Fortune. (“Essential Wrapped in Plastic,” pg. 153)
For the rest of the ABC series, Twin Peaks would no longer center around finding a person, but finding a place. The Black Lodge narrative transformed Twin Peaks from a supernatural story into an extraterrestrial one. Even though the Black Lodge wasn’t there at the beginning, it becomes the lens through which the first story arc is understood. This later direction came to overshadow the original, paranormal mythology of Twin Peaks, a direction that isn’t as compelling.
RED ROOM RETCON: EPISODE 2022 (#29)
Episode 2022 (#29) is technically outside my jurisdiction, but it is an important place to start. This is the episode in which the Red Room and the Black Lodge become synonymous with one other.
As originally conceived, they were two, completely unrelated concepts. The first being an element from a dream and the second being a physical location. Episode 29 combines David Lynch’s Red Room of season one and Mark Frost’s Black Lodge of season two into the same place, transforming the formerly intangible into something real.
The main focus of the story in Episode 29 is the showdown between Agent Cooper and Windom Earle within the Black Lodge. The script, written by Mark Frost, Harley Peyton, and Robert Engels, has four different locations associated with or inside of the Black Lodge. The script describes the Black Lodge as being “dark space, limitless.”
MOTEL RECEPTION a shabby motel office, with a raging wind outside, slamming doors, shaking windows.
A BLACK CORRIDOR a dark, ominous version of The Great Northern hotel where everything is in black and white.
RED ROOM (no description given in the script)
THRONE ROOM a black and white doctor’s office. Plain. Non-threatening. Two steps lead up to a dentist’s chair on an elevated rostrum.
In the written script, only one scene occurs in the Red Room. Agent Cooper wakes up on the floor and his past experience in Pittsburgh is recreated with Annie replacing Caroline.
David Lynch, when he directed the episode, ignored the script and consolidated all of the different locations into the Red Room alone. This is how the Black Lodge and the Red Room became wedded together.
Two episodes earlier (Episode 2022 or #27) a closing shot, not described in the script, was added showing red curtains reflecting in the black oil of Glastonbury Grove as Angelo Badalamenti’s “Dance of the Dream Man” echoed in the background.
Episode 2022 (#29) was filmed on March 4, 1991. Since Episode 2020 (#27) has a final draft date of March 12, 1991, it must have been shot after Lynch altered the finale.
Episode 2020 (#27) was the last episode to air on television (April 19, 1991) before Twin Peaks had been officially canceled. Perhaps this little tag was added as a teaser for the final two episodes. Those episodes would eventually be broadcast almost two months later (June 10, 1991) and combined into a two hour “Monday Night Movie.”
RED DRAPES, HARRY
In the Laura Palmer story arc, the Red Room appears to Agent Cooper in a dream. He recounts the dream to Sheriff Truman and Lucy in the dining room of The Great Northern Hotel in Episode 1003 (#3).
While recounting his dream, Agent Cooper comes to the realization that the dream was merely a “code waiting to be broken” If he could “break the code” then he would “solve the crime.”
Why was the Red Room red? The reason becomes clear to him during an investigation of Jacques Renault’s apartment. He finds a photograph of Jacques’ cabin in the woods. It was adorned with red drapes (Episode 1005).
This discovery helps him establish a connection between Laura Palmer and Jacques Renault through an ad that she placed Flesh World magazine.
When studying the Laura Palmer story arc within its original context, it is necessary to untangle the Red Room from its association with the Black Lodge. The Lodges (White and Black) were not mentioned until the middle of the second season, yet this later story development becomes the lens through which the first story arc is understood.
The original storyline, without the Black Lodge overlay, is arguably more cohesive and more able to hold together as a standalone story than all the narrative directions that followed.
