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Surprise Guest from FWWM Interview

Listen to this episode of The Red Room Podcast before your friend does. Scott Ryan interviews someone from Fire Walk With Me that has NEVER been interviewed before. No clues here. Just listen and enjoy. This interview is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Fire Walk With Me. Special Thanks to Dugpa and Steven Miller for doing the research. You won’t want to miss this podcast. Also be sure to pick up Scott Ryan’s book about Fire Walk With Me that interviews Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer) and cast and crew. Also subscribe to the latest issue of the Blue Rose magazine which covers Lost Highway or preorder Scott’s upcoming Lost Highway book.

Click Play to listen to the surprise interview or head out to iTunes and download.

Order Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared by Scott Ryan

Order the NEW issues of The Blue Rose magazine Issues 16/17

Listen to Emily Marinelli’s New Twin Peaks Podcast.

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Fire Walk With Me Discussion

Authors of Fire Walk With Me books are hard to find, but the latest Red Room Podcast has 2 of them. Lindsay Hallam (Devil’s Advocate: Fire Walk With Me) interviews Scott Ryan (Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared, The Blue Rose magazine) about why the film matters so much 30 years later. You can listen to the podcast or watch them talk on Youtube.

The Podcast Press Play below to listen or head out to iTunes and download.

The Youtube version

Order Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared by Scott Ryan

Order the NEW issues of The Blue Rose magazine Issues 16/17

Order Lindsay Hallam’s Fire Walk With Me book. Out Now.

Read Lindsay’s essay in The Women Of David Lynch.

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Fire Walk With Me Book Blog Part 2

In May 2022, my new book Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared will be released. Over the next few months, I will be giving readers a sneak peek at this 30th anniversary look at David Lynch’s film in the Twin Peaks franchise.

Over July 4th 2021, my wife and I left social media behind and took a trip to Snoqualmie, Washington to stay at the Salish Lodge & Spa. We booked a package that came with dinner and a message. (I never felt more like George Constanza in my life.) Five times from 2015-2019 we had visited the area where Twin Peaks had been filmed. Three for the now defunct Twin Peaks fan-run festival and twice on our own. But in 2020, as we all know, life changed. During that time of true lockdown, I was certain I would, not only never travel again, but never see those Snoqualmie Falls again. I told me wife if we somehow get out of COVID alive, we were going to treat ourselves to a stay at the Salish. (I have never felt more like Donna Meagle in my life, “Treat Yo-Self!”) I just wanted to see those falls one more time. And I got to.

A picture of the falls taken in the early morning on July 3, 2021. Photo by Scott Ryan.

In all the times we had gone to the area, we had never done the full Salish treatment. We left our rental with the valet and didn’t get back in a car for 24 hours. We hiked around the area, had the message, lunch on the patio, and dinner overlooking the falls that evening. We never left the premises and there was no reason to. The time we picked to go was perfectly chosen as there was no Delta variant, and at the time, Seattle had a 70% vaccine rate. We felt safe and were safe. The point of the trip was to learn to get back into the world and take a moment to celebrate surviving 2020. Another point of the trip for me was to grab some photos for my upcoming book, and to write a chapter that was hanging over my head.

I needed to write Chapter 11 which is called “The One That Is Meant to Help.” I had been putting it off for a couple of reasons. The main reason was that I didn’t want to write it. The fake reason was that I had decided that the only place to write it was IN Twin Peaks at the scene of the crime, if you will.

The chapter art from my upcoming FWWM Book

I had a story to tell and I wanted it to be in my FWWM book. The thing that is crazy about Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared is that it will actually be the first Twin Peaks book that I have written. I have produced or edited quite a few, but I have never sat down and wrote about how I have carried FWWM and Twin Peaks with me for thirty years. I had things to say about the history of the show and film, but also my history with it. You don’t start a magazine and launch more books on the subject than Frost/Lynch have overseen unless the show has some personal weight for you. I stepped out onto my balcony in room 301 (Couldn’t get 315 because David Lynch was staying there while he was filming Season 4. Nice guy. Real quiet.) and I wrote Chapter 11 without thinking or stopping to edit what was pouring out of me. I let it flow faster than Bobby forgets that a girl puked all over the place in the middle of the street. I knew I could edit what I was writing once I got home and make it presentable. I had things to share. Twin Peaks had been such a part of who I had become.

I couldn’t stay in room 315, but I could grab a photo before David got back to his room. Photo by Erin O’Neil.

I’m excited for people to read the book to learn from the people who crafted the film about how they did what they did. But I am also excited (and nervous) to share how FWWM and Sheryl Lee’s performance helped me make it through my dark times. I am honored to also share my story of meeting Catherine Coulson in the very place that I wrote the chapter. I had a ton to be thankful that weekend. I had survived COVID, America, and I was just a traveller who was heading back to where it all began. Twin Peaks has been such a life long love and being there, looking at the falls and the Great Northern, I was “Falling” all over again.

Read Part 1 here. My next blog will cover my interview with Ron Garcia. Thanks for supporting all my projects and remember to order the Art issue of the Blue Rose which Blake Morrow (The Women of David Lynch cover) is curating.

 Thanks, Scott Ryan

Preorder The Art Issue of The Blue Rose which focuses on the Art of Twin Peaks. New interviews and art by Michael Horse (Hawk) and Charlotte Stewart (Mary X, Betty Briggs) and over 50 other artists.

Preorder Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared

Order Scott Ryan’s latest book Moonlighting: An Oral History or But, Couldn’t I Do That? which gives you a play by play on how to self publish.

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Fire Walk With Me Book Blog Part 1

In May 2022 my new book Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared will be released. Over the next few months, I will be giving readers a sneak peek at this 30th anniversary look at David Lynch’s film in the Twin Peaks franchise.

Over the July 4th weekend, I took a trip back to Twin Peaks. No, I didn’t pop in the DVDs or stream it for the last time on Netflix.  I boarded a plane and flew to Snoqualmie, Washington, the filming site of FWWM. In September 1991, director David Lynch and his cast and crew filmed around the sleepy Washington area. One of the places they filmed was at Olallie state park which became the setting for much of Deer Meadow, the first half hour of the film. I used my vaccination and Washington state’s 70% vaccine rate to justify my first trip back to this location in a few years. My first trip to the area was captured in my 2015 documentary A Voyage to Twin Peaks. [This 35 minute look at the final year of the Twin Peaks fan festival is available for rent on Amazon.] It is such a rare opportunity for a television fan to get to visit the filming locations and feel like you are actually in a fictional town that you watched on your home screen. Most TV shows film in a sound stage so there isn’t much opportunity to visit the actual locations.

The location of the autopsy of Teresa Banks, now with a sign saying Private Property.

At Olallie state park, you can see the exterior of the Deer Meadow Sheriff station, and if you are invited in, the interior as well. In 2015, I got to go inside and see Sheriff Cable’s office and the waiting room where the secretary didn’t have coffee, but had a phone with a little ring. The house used to be the Ranger’s station, and even had a WiFi router called Deer Meadow.  They were happy to allow entry to fans of FWWM. Things had changed since my last visit. The small house now seemed to be a residence and had signs posted in the front, back, and side explaining this was private property. So approaching the building where Chet and Sam conducted the Teresa Banks autopsy was not a good idea, unless you wanted to meet the actual local authorities. 

The river that Teresa Banks floats down while wrapped in plastic.

Instead, I walked down to the river and saw the location where Banks’s body floated down the river. I walked through the woods and saw Jack Rabbit’s palace from Twin Peaks: The Return, the tree that Alicia Witt’s character huddled behind, and the spot where Laura and Bobby buried Deputy Cliff’s body. (Or the half-hearted attempt to bury it. I mean seriously how did this body never show up? Must have been the three sticks Bobby put on his body.) In my upcoming book, I interview Ron Garcia who was the director of photography for the film. He tells a great story about filming in these woods and how he tussled with Lynch on this scene. Garcia says, “I think I was just ornery that night.”

Jack Rabbit’s Palace has seen better days. It has crumbled since the filming of The Return.

This was just one of the places I visited to get new photos for the book. I am planning on offering a full color version of the book which readers will only be able to get when they are ordered through the Blue Rose or FMP websites. The rest of the outlets will have a black and white, pod version so this might be a reason to not order from the American church of Amazon. If you already placed the order from me, you will get the color version, providing we can make it happen. It will depend on preorders and interest in the book. I am working on a few other surprises, but I can’t tell you about that. 

Part 2 covers my overnight stay at the Salish. Thanks for supporting all my projects and remember to order the Art issue of the Blue Rose which Blake Morrow, The Women of David Lynch cover, is curating. Maybe he will print one of my pictures from the bottom of the falls? Doubtful, I don’t have that kind of pull. 

 Thanks, Scott

Preorder The Art Issue of The Blue Rose which focuses on the Art of Twin Peaks. New interviews and art by Michael Horse (Hawk) and Charlotte Stewart (Mary X, Betty Briggs) and over 50 other artists.

Preorder Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared

Order Scott Ryan’s latest book Moonlighting: An Oral History or But, Couldn’t I Do That? which gives you a play by play on how to self publish.

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Tribute to FWWM25

I wrote this for the 20th anniversary of Fire Walk With Me. I was going to update it, but decided it is more fun to see how much Twin Peaks has changed in only 5 years.  I have added new commentary in parenthesis. One thing that has not changed in 25 years, FWWM is my all time favorite Lynch movie and one of my top 5 films of all time. It is beautiful, moving and has the single best acting performance ever captured on film. Let’s find out if I said the same thing 5 years ago…

For this essay, I thought I would focus on FWWM’s legacy in the world of David Lynch.  This movie has been reviewed many times and 20 years later we are still trying to figure it out.  How cool is that? All of his movies are a bit of a head scratcher, but this one should be a breeze.  It is set BEFORE the series ever begins, so we already know the plot as back story.  Also, it is based on a character that an entire book was written about, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer.  Still it was a shock and surprise to critics and Lynch fans back in 1992.  This year being the 20th year, there have been all kinds of revivals on the subject of Lynch films and characters.  I believe FWWM is the best David Lynch movie ever made.  It is his masterpiece.  It has everything a Lynch film needs.

1. Horror – BOB behind her dresser drawer is the scariest thing ever. (My sister called me after seeing this scene literally screaming and crying.)

2. Creepy characters – The old woman at Fat Trout Trailer Park makes her presence felt in less than 30 seconds of film.

3. Dreams – Laura’s dream where she ends up in the picture hanging on her wall haunts me to this day. (OK, how freaking cool is it that now we know she is actually inside the Convenience Store? I often thought it was the gateway to the Red Room, never considered she was above the Store. I don’t ever remember anyone else saying that either- SR 2017)

4. Split story structures – Lynch loves to drop us into a linear story and then rip us out with his bare hands.  The scene with David Bowie cuts together years of a story in a few moments.

5. Love – (Yes, all of his movies are about love.) When BOB leaves Leland for that brief moment before bed and he visits his daughter’s room to tell her that he loves her is a moment of the purist love of all.

If it is quintessential Lynch, then why is it not beloved like Blue Velvet or lauded with awards like Mulholland Drive?  Simple, movie watchers are dumb.  OK, maybe that is a little harsh. How about I say uneducated? (Again, look how things have changed. No critics or Twin Peaks fans say they don’t like FWWM. In just 5 years time that has totally been washed away. SR 2017)

The trick to FWWM is being very knowledgeable about Twin Peaks.  That is asking a lot of someone who just popped in a DVD to watch after the kids went to bed. (DVD? Streaming is the future, Scott – SR 2017) Critics who say Lynch just throws things up on the screen that make no sense have not paid close enough attention.  In a very early scene of the movie, FBI director Gordon Cole shows Agent Chet Desmond a dancing girl named Lil.

She dances in place with one hand in her pocket and shows her tailored dress off while wearing a blue rose. Chet looks at it and moves on. In the following scene his partner, Sam, asks him about the dancing girl. Chet goes on to explain each detail of the girl and how that pertains to the case. To me (and I admit, I didn’t get this the first time I watched the movie) this was Lynch telling us: Everything I show you matters and has a meaning. The dancing was referring to leg work.  The tailored dress referred to drugs.  The Blue Rose?  He can’t tell us about that.  (I can, in 2017 we know what the Blue Rose is. It is a magazine that…oh, it also is a Task force that Gordon was on the first case of. See, we know so much more in 5 years. SR 2017) Leaving the viewer intrigued.  The jaded viewer may say, that is dumb, why have that dancing girl? It is weird just to be weird, even if they explain it. Except, we know that Gordon Cole has a hearing problem and talks loud.  It makes sense for him to give his direction with code. Everything in a Lynch movie means something.

On a personal level, I have to admit an oddity.  I watched this movie every year on my birthday.  Creepy I know, but why?  The reason plain and simple is Sheryl Lee’s performance.

The story of Laura Palmer is really fascinating.  If Laura doesn’t die none of us meet her.  She had to die to bring Twin Peaks to life.  She had to die to escape a horrible existence.  The reason you watch most movies is to see the end, but this movie you know the end before you hit play.  She dies.  Come to think of it, why isn’t this movie the number one grossing movie of all time instead of Titanic?  Everyone knew the boat sank, everyone knew Laura Palmer dies.  It is inevitable.  It takes the idea of fatalism and the meaningless of life to levels that Kierkegaard never dreamed of.  I see all of that in Sheryl Lee’s performance.  I believe that her performance in this movie is the best female acting job ever put on film. (I had a feeling I thought this 5 years ago. SR 2017) Her huge cry when she goes to Donna’s house asking if Donna is her best friend.  Her amazing smile of innocence when she simmers an angry Bobby outside of the school.  Her abusive and scary behavior as she threatens Harold Smith.  Her losing all control as her father and the One Armed Man argue in the car.  Her seductive actions at the Roadhouse where she can even make the name BUCK seem sexy.  I can not think of another role for a woman that covered so many levels. And if you know Sheryl please tell her the Red Room is awaiting an interview about this acting job. (OK, this is just mean. 5 years later and still nothing. I feel like I am in a play called Waiting for Ga’Lee. SR 2017)

So why are we still obsessed with this movie 20 years later? (25 now) Simple.  It is art.  20 years means nothing to Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte.  20 years isn’t a drop in the bucket to Bach’s “Wachet Auf.”  I believe that FWWM is a moving painting.  It is a piece of art that needs to be looked at, studied, and is meant to horrify us.  It is a reflection of a society that hides its darkness under small town goodness.  I know that this movie still causes rifts in the Twin Peaks fan base; although over the last couple years it is not as controversial as before, but I will make a bold statement.  If you don’t love FWWM then you are not a Twin Peaks fan. (Wait till I find out that when Twin Peaks: The Return happens, it will actually all happen again. SR 2017) What you are is a television fan, and that is OK.  But when you truly have Twin Peaks in your blood, as in owls, scorched engine oil and Douglas Firs in your veins, then FWWM is just the cure you need to help wash away the dreck of movies that will be released this year. (And it gets so much worse once Hollywood only makes Comic book movies. SR 2017) Movies you will see, forget and never ask the question: why the hell did that monkey just say Judy?  I thought we weren’t gonna talk about Judy.

I have to admit, 5 years later, I stand behind that essay. There are only 3 hours left of TPR and I would still say FWWM is my favorite section of Twin Peaks. When TPR references FWWM I think the show comes alive. Probably by the time most of you read this, we knew who Judy was. I kind of like that 5 years ago, I didn’t even think there was a chance I would ever find out. Happy Birthday, FWWM. You don’t look a day over 20.

Scott Ryan is the managing Editor of the Twin Peaks Magazine, The Blue Rose. Order the Dougie Special to get all 4 issues. All Day August 28th The Blue Rose Facebook Page will post a picture an hour to celebrate #FWWM25