Real Twin Peaks 2024 – Watching Filming of Twin Peaks The Return

Fans who saw the filming of Twin Peaks The Return gathered together on February 24 at No Boat Brewing Company in Snoqualmie, Washington to share their memories. This free panel was part of the Real Twin Peaks 2024 event. For an hour and 20 minutes, stories flowed like beer from a keg about the scenes shot throughout Snoqualmie Valley in September and October 2015. There were laughs, tears, cool behind-the-scenes photos and a shared love of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show.

NO BOAT BREWING COMPANY IN SNOQUALMIE, WASHINGTON

No Boat Brewing Company taproom and brewery, located at 35214 SE Center St #2nd in Snoqualmie, Washington, was founded in 2016 by David, Gary, and Mary Skiba. Located inside a massive warehouse, No Boat’s location is both a destination brewery for folks hiking nearby mountain trails, and a place where locals share ales and lagers. With strong local ties in Snoqualmie Valley, and utilizing David’s background as a winemaker in both California and Washington, No Boat strives to provide a unique and quality experience through locale, community, and most of all, beer.

RANCHO ROSA: FANS REMINISCE ABOUT WATCHING FILMING OF THE RETURN IN WASHINGTON

The free panel was held at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 24.

Here is an hour and 20-minute video of the entire panel discussion. It’s a fascinating conversation!

I arrived shortly before 6:00 p.m. and was greeted with a giant chalkboard graphic directing attendees to the back of the brewery.

Panel members included (back row) Vinnie Guidera, Christin Carlano, Melissa Jilk, Brittyn Lindsey, Phoenix, Ethan Harper, Eric Sillanpää, Karl Reinsch, Erin Craver, Mark Zandi. (Front row) Anita Dunning-Rehn, Mary Hütter. (Not pictured) Josh Eisenstadt

While I had some minor technical challenges getting the presentation to appear on the screen, panel members did brief introductions. In September and October 2015, many had traveled from all across the United States – from Philadelphia to Portland – to see filming that was shrouded in mystery. Several panel members crashed at Mary Hütter’s house as they tried discerning where scenes would be captured next.

Later in the discussion, we learned that there were two crews – one group who tracked sites during the day and another who were considered the night crew.

ARRIVING IN THE REAL TWIN PEAKS

Many heartfelt memories were shared about things they saw, from watching David Lynch direct a scene to seeing the neon “RR” added to Twede’s Cafe. Anita Dunning-Rehn told a story about her arrival into town.

“I arrived early in the day and Mary [Hütter] picked me up from the airport,” explained Anita. “I immediately wanted to go straight downtown to North Bend and the Double R sign was already installed. As the evening progressed, we had heard rumors … they were going to film that night [at Twede’s Cafe]. I get emotional talking about it … because [filming] started and I was with the people I love standing in Twin Peaks listening to David Lynch directing Dana Ashbrook in a scene. I was speechless.”

Most fans who traveled to Washington state at the time didn’t know each other, yet everyone arrived around the same time.

“I think a lot of us who traveled, it was so immediate that we all arrived at pretty much the same time, within 24 hours of each other,” said Vinnie Guidera.

For Christin Carlano, seeing Harry Dean Stanton at the New Fat Trailer Park was a highlight.

“I got to see the coolest, coolest thing, Harry Dean Stanton at the trailer park,” reminisced Christin. “That was big fun and hear him sing! That was amazing. I’m really glad I got to see that. But I was one of the only people who didn’t get to see David Lynch at any point.”

DAVID LYNCH LOVES THE CREW AND DETAILS

One of the last things filmed at Twede’s Cafe in North Bend was a scene of Cooper / Richard’s car passing the Double R Diner at night in Part 18.

Anita shared that the crew sprayed down the road outside Twede’s Cafe with water to get a certain look for the scene.

Panel members discussed the importance of keeping the mystery alive during production. They made sure not to post any photos on social media while filming was happening in the Valley. Several panel members recall David Lynch asking them not to post photos (to which they listened to his direction). Production staff, crew and actors were not allowed to take photos on set either. Many phone cameras were covered with tape to ensure secrecy around the production.

Ethan Harper wanted to experience Twin Peaks like everyone else, despite seeing filming done in North Bend.

“One of the first things I saw when I arrived [in North Bend] at 10:00 p.m. was that scene with Bobby,” Ethan explained. “We didn’t want to spoil it as we wanted to experience it when it comes out like everyone else does. But the first thing I saw was Bobby as a Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Deputy which was kind of a spoiler, but it tracked as in fan fiction, it seemed Bobby could become a deputy. I could roll with that but nothing else was a spoiler the rest of the five days I was in town. It was difficult to spoil anything as so much was shot out of sequence and it was just the most weird stuff.”

Mary shared stories about speaking with the crew. Many crew members had previously worked with David Lynch. He asked them to return for the season 3 production, despite many of them moving on to other careers.

“They were just a family and they were really nice,” said Mary. “We got to know two production assistants really well as I think part of their job was managing us [laughs].”

Watching David Lynch paint blood on the ground for the intersection scene in Part 6 was another highlight for several panel members. Lynch loves details and making sure the scene accurately reflected the vision in his head.

Some fans, like Charlie (@Piney_Realm) moved to North Bend because of the filming taking place for Twin Peaks. Mary said he went to “all’ of the filming and is found in the background of a Double R Diner scene holding an umbrella on a street corner.

BRITTYN’S LONG CAMERA LENS

When at the New Fat Trout Trailer Park, folks watched filming from a distance. The crew didn’t ask them to leave, but those watching did have to move around for several scenes to ensure they weren’t in background shots.

Thanks to Brittyn’s long lens camera, she captured some images of David Lynch and Mark Frost at the trailer park, long before anyone knew Mark was reprising his role as Cyril Pons.

There were also some great shots of Harry Dean Stanton.

WRITING THINGS DOWN

Mark Zandi spent most of the time at the film locations writing down all of the details. While at Mt. Si Motel (where scenes for The Dutchman’s Lodge were shot), Mark noticed Irish-born actor Malachy Sreenan walking backward for most of the day. As it turns out, Malachy played the Bosomy Woman and he was rehearsing walking backward as that is the way his scene was shot. It was then played forward in Part 15. Writing down these details helped Mark remember little stories from production.

Mark also recalled seeing a shot outside the Double R Diner with someone carrying a long red pipe. Lynch has been known to add long red pipes in the background of his films, such as Wild at Heart and Mulholland Dr., as a nod to Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle. If a red pipe shot was captured at the Double R Diner, it was lost on the cutting room floor.

PALMER HOUSE IN EVERETT, WASHINGTON

Melissa Jilk shared stories from the Palmer House in Everett, Washington. She recalled it was a chilly night when she watched Sheryl Lee scream multiple times outside the home on 33rd Street. While there were takes of Sheryl screaming at the top of her lungs, Melissa recalled seeing silent screams also being filmed. She thought those silent takes were ever more disturbing.

WELCOME TO TWIN PEAKS SIGN

The “Welcome To Twin Peaks” sign being filmed by a second unit was also an exciting day. Fans were anxiously awaiting when the sign would be filmed after seeing traffic cones placed along Reinig Road in Snoqualmie. Finally, a crew showed up to capture a brief view of the sign used in the third season.

“Standing out [at the sign spot] and seeing the Welcome sign, it was so emotional,” said Anita. “We were back in the bushes down the street but it was incredible. It was a weird filming and when season three aired, we could tell why. The sign really wasn’t featured like it was in the original show.”

Mary said the second unit team were concerned about the crowd.

“It was just some second unit guys and they were like, ‘You’re not supposed to be here,'” continued Mary. “We told them that we were not going to get in their way, we’ll stand to the side. They countered with, “Yeah but you’re going to get us in trouble.’ We ended up staying and I saw the sign then totally cried.”

ONE LOCATION THAT NEVER HAPPENED

Vinnie shared one location that never made it to Twin Peaks but he thought it was going to be used. Rio Bravo in North Bend wass under construction during the time he was in town. Since the crew was moving quickly at other locations, he thought the soon-to-be Mexican restaurant was part of the production. Vinnie took many photos as work continued on the location. Yet, it was just a coincidence.

Upon his recent visit to Snoqualmie Valley for the Real Twin Peaks event, he finally tried their food and gave it five stars. One day, the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum will no doubt love to have his photos of a location that never happened.

THANK YOU!

There were so many incredible stories shared by panel members – the video is 1 hour and 20 minutes and people probably could have kept going.

Years later, I’m kicking myself that I didn’t make the trek in fall 2015 to see the filming. Thank you to my fellow Bookhouse Boys and Gals for sharing their experiences during this panel. It felt like I was almost there.

Thank you to No Boat Brewing Company for hosting the panel and to the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce and North Bend Downtown Foundation for including such an interesting panel as part of the incredible Real Twin Peaks 2024 event.