Then and Now – Twin Peaks Pilot Day One 35th Anniversary

On February 21, 1989 in the small town of North Bend, Washington, cameras rolled for the first day of shooting “Northwest Passage.” The brainchild of David Lynch and Mark Frost, this 90-minute pilot would later be retitled as Twin Peaks. Over a year later, the show would become a cultural phenomenon around the world, spawning a feature film and an 18-part series in 2017 on Showtime. I wrote extensively about the scenes shot during day one in this article on Twin Peaks Blog. For the 35th Anniversary of this important day in history, I revisited those locations upon arriving in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington for Real Twin Peaks 2024.

TWIN PEAKS PILOT DAY ONE – ONELINE SCHEDULE

On February 21, 2019, the former Twin Peaks Archive Twitter account shared this Twin Peakss Oneline Schedule. The schedule was drafted on Sunday, February 19 with action to begin at the Mar-T Cafe in North Bend on Tuesday, February 21. The oneline schedule gives a high-level summary of scenes to be shot, locations, time of day, and script page references.

We see it was a cold day in the Pacific NorthwestIn in this behind-the-scenes photo from TheMauveZone.com. David Lynch is seen in the center of the shot while Director of Photography Ron Garcia is almost out of frame at the far left.

It was raining and overcast skies when i photographed the same spot. Only the faint outline of Mount Si is seen in the distance.

SHELLY JOHNSON FINISHES SHIFT

According to the schedule, the scene with Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick) and Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton)  inside the Double R Diner was shot first.

The counter was rebuilt for Twin Peaks season 3 so it doesn’t quite match up. This will be true of many interior scenes at the Double R Diner.

The original Mar-T Cafe had a lot of neon lights on the ceiling while the season 3 redo of the dinner didn;t add that much.

You can see just how much neon from the pilot episode didn’t make it to this set from season 3.

HERE’S A TUNE FOR YOU GALS

I wish Twede’s Cafe still carried the jukebox seen in the pilot episode. It’s been replaced by a Coca-Cola machine.

Another closer look as Bobby Briggs and Shelly Johnson leave.

NORMA
Not if I see you first.

NORMA CALLS ED

Twede’s Cafe was deliberately set on fire once which destroyed most of the kitchen. Today’s kitchen is a little bit smaller so it’s difficult to capture a similar shot to the pilot scene.

HEIDI ARRIVES AT DINER

Heidi’s (Andrea Hays) arrival is next. The scene start outside with her pulling up in a Volkswagen Beatle.

Heidi’s Volkswagen was not in the parking lot today but plenty of other cars were there.

A similar publicity shot is found on The Mauve Zone. I’m guessing this was taken earlier in the morning around or before sunrise at 7:04 a.m.

My plane didn’t land in Seattle until 12:00 Noon so I wasn’t able to be at Twede’s Cafe until later in the afternoon. Gosh, it’s so nice to see the neon “RR” sign back. What an amazing thing Twin Peaks fans did for this heavenly spot!

I wonder if this close up of the Double R sign was also shot during this time. It first appears in episode 1003, so my gut tells me it was. They could have easily zoomed in on the sign when shooting Heidi parking the car.

It is pretty amazing to have the neon sign a permanent part of Twede’s Cafe today. It looks fantastic!

BOBBY BRIGGS AND SHELLY JOHNSON GET IN CAR

Action moves outside to the scene where Bobby and Shelly get in his 1969 Plymouth Barracuda. According to Internet Car Movie Database, this model Barracuda was only made from 1967 to 1969, which the latter had rectangular marker lights. The script called for a Buick Electra ’88 convertible. They may have meant an Oldsmobile ’88 as seen in this video.

The former Sunset Garage building across the street has been repainted blue. But the area remains mostly unchanged.

2 NIGHTHAWKS SOBER UP

Speaking of missing action, there was a deleted scene included in the Atmospheric videos on the 2014 Blu-ray release. It could be the scene where “2 Nighthawks Sober Up.” Look carefully and you’ll spot Pat Cokewell, the owner of the Mar-T Cafe (known today as Twede’s Cafe), dressed in a Double R Diner uniform.

The widow is now filled with a number of fliers and images including a cut of out the Little Man From Another Place.

EMPTY PARKING LOT

Captured by the Second Unit Camera crew, the empty parking lot scene could be this establishing shot that was used in both episode 1.007 (just before Hank and Norma chat about his time in prison) and in episode 2.020 (included in the montage of empty places). Notice the “RR” sign appears to be missing and the “Mar” is not illuminated.

I captured this nighttime shot of Twede’s Cafe with an empty parking lot. I’m wondering if above shot from episode 1.007 was taken at a different time, perhaps with a second unit returned to North Bend to get additional footage once the series was greenlit. It would explain the missing neon “RR” sign.

INTERSECTION – EMPTY – LIGHT CHANGES

The Second Unit shot the empty intersection footage found just outside Twede’s Cafe – North Bend Way and Bendigo Boulevard. This Traffic Signal scene was first used in episode 1.003.

It was raining when I visited the intersection. There are way more traffic lights today than there were in 1989.

Footage of the traffic signal at dusk appears in Episode 2004. The Second Unit may have also shot this on the first day. Mount Si appears to be covered in snow similar to that behind-the-scene images at the very top of this article.

There is also a nighttime shot of the light changing which will be used in all three seasons of Twin Peaks. See more about traffic signals in this Setting the Stage article.

CAMERA MOVE

Sunset was around 5:43 p.m. which gave the crew extra time to capture more nighttime shots in North Bend before moving production to downtown Snoqualmie.

COOPER & TRUMAN TALK BEFORE MEETING

The first scene for both Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean) and Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) is a deleted scene that takes place near a gazebo. The scene would have taken place before the Town Hall meeting where Cooper addresses the townsfolk.

The tree behind Cooper and Truman really has grown. That’s the Northwest Railway Museum in the distance. One of Dale Cooper’s prospective properties in episode 2.012.

To the right of the gazebo is Smokey Joe’s bar which was Elk Point #9 Bar in Twin Peaks – Part 14.

BACK TO TWEDE’S CAFE

Today was the best way to celebrated a return to Snoqualmie Valley. I never thought I would be at Twede’s Cafe having damn, fine coffee and a slice of cherry pie on such a historic day. I’m grateful to the cast and dedicated crew who made something so special that it continues to connect with people 35 years after the camera stopped rolling.