Twin Peaks Fans...

...if you haven’t seen it yet, and want a REALLY deep dive and interpretation of the the entire thing (it’s 4 hours long), check this out.



I think he is dead on the money. A couple of things I had kind of sussed out over the years, but most of it made me shake my head that I could have been so stupid as to have missed such obvious cues. The key is, as he demonstrates with the scene with the lady in the red dress from FWWM, that all of the information is right up front. It’s not hidden in details or even really obscured. It’s putting it all together and finding connectivity in quantum physics, TM, television history, and meta fiction. There are a couple of things he points out that are just mind blowing, but also now -obvious-.

It took him two years to put the video together...it’s obsessive, academic, and utterly compelling. He does a hilarious David Lynch impression. And manages to bring Naruto into the conversation.

It’s quite a bit more than the usual fan theory crap...this is a very specific analysis that puts plenty of evidence up and leaves you unable to deny the conclusions.

Seen this making the rounds, makes me want to set aside the time to watch it.

I never thought I’d say it about a 4 hour long internet video. But it’s worth the time.

At first I was leery because I didn’t want it to all be explained away, but then once I got hooked into the video I realized that the value here is that we can stop talking about what we think everything means and start talking about what it actually does mean.
And the messages there are worth discussing with the light of knowledge cast on them.

Hopefully I don't need to have too fresh a memory of the new series to follow along. I really don't know if I can go through it again. (Overall I appreciated it but I wasn't entertained enough for repeat watches.) The older series and FWWM I know inside and out.

Does the video do a pretty good job of catching you back up on the scenes it references?

YES very much so- part of the reason it is 4 hours long is that there are copious clips. I have almost completely forgotten most of season 2, and this reminded me not only of why but also of any pertinent information.

"the value here is that we can stop talking about what we think everything means and start talking about what it actually does mean"

I haven't watched it, but if this is how the video frames itself, then color me highly dubious.

I'm definitely down to hear more insights into patterns, interpretations, etc, but anything with this slant just sounds to me like "James Joyce's Ulysses, explained in full. All 'correct' meanings extrapolated!" Also from some of the discussion on reddit, it sounds like he goes into "this character represents THIS, and this character represents THAT" which is the kind of HS English Lit paper exegesis that drives me up the wall with most Twin Peaks "theory."

But I'll check it out!

I was in exactly the same boat as you and I was VERY skeptical. But about 30 minutes in, I realized that it’s not a matter of right and wrong...this is just what it is. There actually is no ambiguity, I’m convinced. The meanings and signifiers are not vague, up in the air, hand wavy stuff. They are very concrete and grounded not only in the text but also in Lynch’s worldview, beliefs, and values.

There is one element that I think he is overselling a bit...it’s something that is absolutely true and present, but I feel like the whole “consumable TV violence” line, if you watch it, isn’t really the message. It’s the root cause of that which is what Lynch is expressing.

I don’t think all of this forecloses on personal interpretations, personal resonances...but Lynch is a very pointedly artful director and everything he does he does with absolute intent. It is never, as I said, vague and hand wavy. He means specific things, and he embeds those things in a coded system that I am now convinced can be deciphered.

One of the “oh shit” moments for me was how the woodsman isn’t saying “gotta light” at all. He’s saying “god of light” for a clear reason. And it’s completely watertight when you see it.

All the stuff like that is totally backed up by actual clips and direct quotes from Lynch.

Another one is the infamous convenience store scene...according to this analysis, that is actually one of the keys to everything. When he goes through what that really means and what it suggests for the entire show, I was stunned.

Also- not really a spoiler but this is a fun one that never occurred to me.

The sawmill...why is it such a big deal? Everything to do with a sawmill.

A place where they SAW LOGS...

Do you have to have seen the new series in order to watch this? I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I love me some hardcore analysis.

mads b. wrote: Do you have to have seen the new series in order to watch this? I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I love me some hardcore analysis.

Not unless you have any plans to watch it without spoilers. I gave up on the show midway second season of its initial run and only came back for the finale, never saw the movie or S3. Of course now I know why, ha ha. I’m actually more inclined to view the show again after watching this. About 90mins in so far, it’s really good and makes perfect sense to me both in the context of the show and Lynch as an auteur. Love that his arguments are logical and evidential and not just opinions slathered in tenuous circumstantial co-incidences.

Just finished a rewatch of Twin Peaks and I’ve gotta say the “explained” video is right on the money... if you view the show through a very specific currency, a specific hermeneutic trade that I can really only attribute to contemporary fan culture. I personally find it boring, reductive, and “explicative” in the face *so* many other threads in the series that it amounts to those badly curated walkthroughs that you listen to on your headphones as you stroll through an Impressionism exhibit. But it’s there, for folks who need that.

If anyone cares to watch critical content that shows a little more restraint and comfort with ambiguity, I’d highly recommend all of the Corn Pone Flicks series on the show. The vibes are much less annoying to me, personally, and the “all questions answered” tenet is just as consciously ironic as it should be.

For a sample of his approach, watch his series finale:



Rest of the series is here:

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVTbO0CF...pJj2eG&feature=share