After escaping Windom Earle, Major Briggs is found wandering out of the woods by Deputy Hawk in Episode 2.021. Like many scenes from Season 2 (Glastonbury Grove, Audrey Horne and John Justice Wheeler’s picnic, etc.), this brief interaction was shot at Franklin Canyon Park in Los Angeles, California. I visited this location on July 13, 2010 and returned on May 26, 2019.
WHERE DOES DEPUTY HAWK FIND MAJOR BRIGGS IN TWIN PEAKS?
The scene was shot around 2300 Franklin Canyon Drive, which is further south from where those aforementioned scenes were captured. It’s also located next to Owl Pipe as seen at the end of Episode 2.009.
This episode was written by Barry Pullman between February 5-22, 1991. Revised scenes were printed on different colored paper as indicated below.
- First Draft: February 5 ,1991
- Second Draft/Distribution to Dept. Heads: February 8,1991
- Revised/General Distribution: February 14, 1991 – Blue
- Revised: February 14, 1991 – Pink
- Revised: February 20, 1991 – Green
- Revised: February 21, 1991 – Yellow
- Revised: February 22, 1991 – Cherry
This scene takes place in the original script and during the broadcast at the end of Act Two, just after Nadine Hurley squeezes Mike Nelson’s hand.
MAJOR BRIGGS SCRAMBLES UP RIDGE
The scene appears pretty much as scripted by Pullman.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE
CUT TO:
START CLOSE ON dirtied shoes, footsteps stumbling up a ridge with great difficulty. Up a step, then another, then sliding down: the attempt to climb by a body that must struggle just to keep balance.
The scene begins with Major Briggs climbing out of a ditch. At the time I visited, I didn’t think to take a shot that matched this angle in 2010.
When I revisited the location in May 2019, I captured this similar shot from the small embankment looking up.
After getting out of the ditch, Briggs stumbles toward the road.
The spot between the two white carrots is the approximate location where Briggs walks. As you can tell, the area is now overgrown.
I love this shot of Major Briggs who is clearly drugged up as he stumbles out of the woods. Don Davis did such a fantastic job playing this part. The bottom image of the tree behind Briggs is from my visit in May 2019.
DEPUTY HAWK SEES MAJOR BRIGGS
The action continues as scripted.
12. INT. RANGER TRUCK
HAWK drives a country road. SHOT ROTATES away from him until we look out the windshield, where SUDDENLY.
Hawk is Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department vehicle down Franklin Canyon Drive. The area in the background is a little farther north of the spot where Major Briggs exits the woods.
A MAN steps out into the road, groping, arms extended skyward; he has no sense he’s stepping out in front of a vehicle. As Hawk CAREENS and SLAMS on the BRAKES, he watches the zombi-like face of Major Briggs passing by.
Hawk pulls over gets out of the jeep and walks over to Briggs, who clearly does not recognize him.
Hawk spots Briggs from his vehicle as he slowly approaches a bend in the road. The image above is from my visit in July 2010.
I placed an image from episode 2.021 over the location image to give you an idea of where Briggs walked.
Here is how the location looked on May 26, 2019. The wooden pole has since been replaced with a metal one.
Hawk slowly inches closer to Briggs. The image above is from my visit to Franklin Park on July 13, 2010.
Another image overlay from Episode 2021 with the location image.
By 2019, the area had significant overgrowth which makes it impossible to see beyond the trees.
Deputy Hawk stops his vehicle as Major Briggs walks onto the road. I had not mastered the art of taking screen accurate location photos in 2010 but the bottom image gives you an idea where the scene took place. It seems like the camera for the show was placed closer to the ravine Briggs originally climbed up.
Nine years later, I took a better shot of the location. The episode was most likely shot after February 22 which could account for why the trees are not as full in the broadcast episode.
The scene ends with Hawk approaching Major Briggs before taking him back to the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department. Briggs asks, “Which way to the castle?” This dialogue doesn’t appear in the script so it was most likely improvised on set.
INTWINPEAKS.COM – HAWK FINDS MAJOR BRIGGS
Special thanks once again to InTwinPeaks.com who helped me locate this spot. You can read about the location used for Owl Pipe in Episode 2.009 (#16) in this article.
