Subject: Re: TP: Frequently Answered Questions From: swsh@ellis.uchicago.edu (Janet M. Swisher) Date: 1990-11-21, 12:58 Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks,rec.arts.tv. TWIN PEAKS FREQUENTLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS Last update: 11/21/90 (Many of these concern what various people said. Many thanks to Bart J. Geraci, the man with the closed caption decoder.) WARNING: This article may contain references to any episode up to and including the most recent one shown in the U.S. 1. What's this "secret diary" that everybody keeps referring to? -- _The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer_ was written by Jennifer Lynch (David's daughter), and is published in the U.S by Pocket Books, and in the U.K. Penguin Books. It's supposed to be the text of the diary that was discovered in the second season of the show. 2. a) What language was the little boy with the creamed corn speaking? -- French b) What did he say? -- J'ai une ame solitaire: I have a solitary soul. (This is according to the closed captions, so we don't want to know what your friend who had three years of French thought it was.) c) Didn't he look an awful lot like David Lynch? -- Yes, that's because he's Austin Jack Lynch, David Lynch's son. (For handy reference, look at Gordon Cole (Cooper's boss): he's played by David Lynch.) 3. What was that ditty Leland was singing, and what does it mean? -- The full lyrics of the song are: Mairzy doats and dozy doats and little lambzy divy. A kiddly divy, too, wooden shoe? Now if the words sounds queer, and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivy, Sing: Mares eat oats and does eats oats and little lambs eat ivy. A kid'll eat ivy, too, wouldn't you? If necessary, go look up "mare," "doe" and "kid" in the dictionary. 4. Wasn't the Giant also on Star Trek: The Next Generation? -- Yes, he is Carel Struycken, who played Mr. Homm. No, he did not play Lurch on the Adams Family (although it has been reported that he will play Lurch in an upcoming AF movie). 5. Who was standing outside the window while Josie was seducing Harry? -- The majority of posters believe it was the Mysterious Asian Gentleman, also known as "Jonathan", Josie's "cousin" from Hong Kong. Those who have suggested other people are pushing it. 6. What were the three predictions that the giant made to Cooper? -- a man in a smiling bag the owls are not what they seem without chemicals, he points The giant also said something about "Leo locked in a hungry horse," and that there was a clue at Leo's house. However, these were not the "predictions" which will be fulfilled before Cooper gets his ring back. The former refers to the fact that Leo was in jail in Hungry Horse, Montana when Theresa Banks was killed, and the latter refers to the Circle Brand boots that were found with the cocaine at Leo's house. 7. What did the person say who answered the phone when Andy called "Gwen and Larry", where he thought Lucy was staying? -- "Adams abortion clinic" 8. What did Harold say to Laura and Maddy as he scratched his face with the garden fork? -- "Are you looking for secrets? Is that what all this is about? Well, maybe I can help you. Do you know what the ultimate secret is? You want to know? Laura did. The secret of knowing who killed you." 9. Has anybody mentioned the possible connection between: * BOB and J. R. "Bob" Dobbs of the Church of the Subgenius? * All the donuts they eat on Twin Peaks, and JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech? What he literally said was "I am a jelly donut." * Agent Dale Cooper and D.B. Cooper, the guy who hijacked a plane and then parachuted over Washington State with a whole bunch of money and was never found? * Ben and Jerry Horne and Ben and Jerry's brand ice cream (in one scene the brothers Horne are even shown eating ice cream)? * Sarah's vision of a white horse and Mr. Ed? * " " " " " " " Laura' pony, Troy? * " " " " " " " Death, which "rides a pale horse"? * " " " " " " " heroin, also known as "white horse" (maybe Leland/BOB shot her up with heroin)? -- Yes for all of the above. 10. What was the poem that "Mike" recited in Cooper's dream, and later at the police station? -- "Through the darkness of future past the magician longs to see one chants out between two worlds 'Fire walk with me.'" 11. How were the funny voices in the dream sequence done? -- Before shooting the scene, the actors were recorded reading their lines. The recording was then played to them backwards, and they memorized how to imitate it. Each shot in the scene was acted in reverse order, with the actors saying their "backwards" lines. The film was then reversed so that the actions came out in the right order, and the words came out double-reversed. Unfortunately, the words weren't very intelligible, so subtitles were added. 12. Who was that long-haired guy in the background when Cooper brought Audrey to the Bookhouse from One Eyed Jack's? It looked like BOB! -- Nope. It was Joey Paulson, who's a friend of James and is one of the Bookhouse Boys (he was also the one who took Donna to meet James in the woods, early in the series). Further evidence that it was Joey in that scene is that Joey gets a credit at the end of the episode (BOB does not). 13. What year is the show set in? -- References in the first season placed it in 1989. However, _The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer_ places the action in 1990. Sources on the production team (i.e., Scott Frost) indicate that it's been sort of miraculously moved up to 1990. Apparently, the producers and directors have trouble keeping track of what day it's supposed to be in Twin Peaks, never mind what year. 14. Maddy notices a burning smell just before she's attacked by Leland/BOB. Didn't Jacoby say he smelled burned oil in the hospital when Jacques was killed? Does this mean that Leland was BOB when he killed Jacques? -- No. Later, under hypnosis, Jacoby corrected himself and said that he smelled the burned smell just before he was attacked at the gazebo, but not at the hospital. However, this does leave open the possibility that Jacoby was attacked by BOB. 15. a) Where is Twin Peaks supposed to be? -- It's in the State of Washington, but where exactly is not clear. In Cooper's initial monolog to Diane as he's driving into town, he states that it's five miles south of the Canadian border and twelve miles west of the state line. That would seem to place it in the northeast corner of the state. However the surrounding geography is like that of the Cascade Mountains in western WA. References to cities such as Seattle and Tacoma, but not Spokane, also seem to place it in western WA. The show's creators seem to have smooshed the state so that it all fits west of the Cascades. b) How big a town is Twin Peaks? -- Again, that's not exactly clear. The population sign that's shown at station breaks and on the Twin Peaks sound track indicates 51,201. However cues in the show seem to indicate that it's much much smaller than that. For instance, it doesn't have a resident circuit court judge, which any town of 51K+ in the U.S. would; it has a sheriff's department but no police department. On the other hand, it does have its own hospital, a fancy department store, and a large hotel. It seems the creators haven't worried too much about being consistent on this point. 16. Has anybody noticed that the Twin Peaks soundtrack gives special thanks to, among other people, Bob (no last name)? -- Yes. -- Janet SwisherInternet: swsh@midway.uchicago.edu University of ChicagoPhone: (312) 702-7608 Academic and Public ComputingP-mail: 1155 E. 60th St. Chicago IL 60637, USA "This whole world's wild at heart and weird on top." -- Lula