While researching Twin Peaks High School, I’ve discovered there were five film locations used in the series. The schools in Pilot Episode and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me were filmed in Washington state. Van Nuys High School served as the backdrop for Episodes 2010-2012 in season 2. This brings me to the bathroom scenes between Donna Hayward and Audrey Horne in Episode 1004. After taking a closer look at this scene, it appears to be a set that may have been repurposed for Episode 2003. Here’s my analysis that lead me to this conclusion.
To begin, let’s look at several scenes from Episode 1004. It begins with Donna standing in front of the sink while Audrey enters the room. Notice the red stripes on the wall. They were designed to replicate the stripes once found at Mt. Si High School from the Pilot Episode.
Audrey crosses to Donna while preparing to smoke a cigarette. Notice the pink tile and the white handles on the bathroom sink.
They have an exchange while looking at their reflections in the mirror.
Audrey eventually crosses the bathroom, leans against the stall doors and continues talking with Donna.
Conversation continues with reflections of Donna and Audrey.
I included this image just because Audrey is sporting her “I’m Audrey Horne and I get what I want” face. Love it!
Now let’s compare a bathroom used in Episode 2003. This is the scene where Special Agent Dale Cooper visits the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department bathroom in search of Mickey the One-Armed Man’s drug paraphernalia.
Cooper enters the double door bathroom. Notice the positioning of the stalls. Look to the left side of the image to see tile and a white handle on the bathroom sink.
Cooper checks every stall until he finds Mike’s needle.
After watching both scenes numerous times, it appears to me the bathroom from episode 1004 could have been repainted for episode 2003. Or it could have been the male equivalent depending on where this was shot (either a soundstage or a backlot area).
Either way, here are comparison images of little details from each scene that make me believe the bathrooms are, to paraphrase The Giant, “one and the same.”
Notice the curve and shape of the door handle. The wall tile that has a similar shape in each episode but is shown in different colors. The bathroom sinks appear to match along with the white sink handle. Finally, the floor is painted a similar color.
More examples are found in the comparison images above. The ceiling and lighting fixtures appear to be similar. The stall layouts also appear similar in both episodes.
Without actual location reference photos, it’s difficult to 100% confirm my analysis. Yet I have a strong belief that, even if they aren’t the same set, they were shot in or near the same area.
It appears the bathrooms were not shot at Van Nuys High School as I couldn’t find locations photos that matched.
To me, it’s exciting to see how creative the production designers were when designing the fictional world of Twin Peaks.
Related Articles:
- Twin Peaks High School – Pilot Episode and Series
- Twin Peaks High School – Fire Walk With Me
- Twin Peaks High School – Fast Times at Twin Peaks High
- Twin Peaks High School – Field
- Vacant Peaks – Twin Peaks High School
