12/3/2020 - David’s Weather Report :)

5 Alice In Wonderland References In Twin Peaks: The Return

I’m too excited by certain Twin Peaks: The Return and Alice In Wonderland connections that I need to share these half-baked thoughts. Much more to come eventually. Here we go!

1. Dougie's green-colored suit jacket (a very distinct lime green choice) can also be found on the Mad Hatter. Dougie is equally “mad,” exemplified by (among many things) his tie on his head. Additionally, the Mad Hatter’s pal, the March Hare, wears red (like Sonny Jim in the Dougie breakfast scene) while Janie-E (in blue jeans, like Alice’s blue) bops around the kitchen. The Dougie, Sonny Jim and Janie-E trifecta is comparable to the Mad Hatter, March Hare, Alice trifecta, at least visually and somewhat characteristically. Janie-E’s temper is very short with Dougie, like Alice gets with the Mad Hatter.

2. ALICE Tremond lives at the Palmer residence. ALICE! Guys… Alice. She also happens to be blonde. Of all the names to give a character who ends up in the final scene and has essentially replaced the Palmers, it’s Alice.

3. Shrunken Cooper gets sucked through an electrical socket / Shrunken Alice gets sucked through a keyhole.

4. Jack Rabbit’s Palace is a portal to the White Lodge. Alice falls down the White Rabbit’s hole and is transported to Wonderland.

5. Phillip Jeffries is a Teapot that spells things with smoke like the Caterpillar. And insomuch he, and his scenes, contain a hybrid of references from Alice In Wonderland. Mr. C demands of Jeffries, “WHO IS JUDY?” The Caterpillar demands of Alice, “WHO ARE YOU?”

There’s so much more (plus so many Wizard of Oz references as well, which is.. someone else’s destiny to blog about). I can’t wait to dig deeper.

Most days it’s my unbirthday, but Twin Peaks & Wonderland turned 2 today! I kind of can’t believe 2 years have gone by and I’m still not finished going through each episode. But it’s a lot of work! It’s worth it. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have!

Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP8): The Cheshire Cat Grin Takes Over, Leland’s Mad Golfing = Alice’s Mad Croquet

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, go to the archives.

Episode 8, Season 2 - “Drive with a Dead Girl”

It’s the episode after Leland/Bob kills Maddy. Leland, fully overtaken by Bob, is bursting at the seams with maniacal behavior. He’s in full-blown Cheshire Cat mode. He’s grinning wildly, dancing with unhinged mirth, singing little ditties to himself... and all the while we see these glimpses of Bob, fading in an out, much like the Cheshire Cat fades in and out when appearing to Alice. Bob is ever-present but we’re only able to see him “through the looking glass” (aka via a mirror), another “Alice” reference.

DANCING, GRINNING, SINGING MADLY LIKE THE CHESHIRE CAT

In this clip below from Disney’s Alice In Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat is telling Alice that “most everyone’s mad here,” and “you may have noticed I’m not all there myself,” before fading away, leaving his troubling grin hanging in the darkness, and humming a tune (a musical version of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” poem).

The Cheshire Cat’s flippant emotions, from excited to sinister to surprised to straight-up goofy and sing-songy -- these are ALL traits we see in Leland in this episode. Leland has gone as mad as the Cheshire Cat. From his sweaty, psychotic and fake sob / insane grin after encountering Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman at The Great Northern...

Followed by his wildly enthusiastic dance with himself...

To his sing-songy, upbeat demeanor that seems to only amuse himself...

We can conclude that he’s cracking up, he’s mad... in a way that is uncannily similar to the Cheshire Cat. Look at the shot choice below. When Leland/Bob is about to get back on the road after eluding Cooper and Truman yet again, we see Bob’s sinister grin, floating in the rearview mirror. Then it fades away into the waterfall shot.

Similarly, take a look at how the Cheshire Cat leaves his grin ominously floating mid-air for a few seconds, and watch as it fades away...

LELAND’S MAD INDOOR GOLFING = ALICE’s MAD CROQUET

This episode opens with Leland taking chip shots against the walls and furniture in his own living room. While on one hand this may be his cover for the state of the living room after murdering Maddy, it’s nevertheless utterly mad. Especially since he’s taking pure pleasure in the act, and also treating it as if it’s not crazy at all to be golfing in your own home.

In Alice In Wonderland, you may remember that Alice plays a mad game of croquet, in which she is forced to use a bird as her mallet.

Adding onto that idea... where is Maddy’s dead body? It’s in Leland’s golf bag. And we see her hand amidst Leland’s set of “new irons” that he wants to show Agent Cooper when pulled over. In a similar way that animals are to be used as mallets in Alice In Wonderland, humans are associated with golf clubs, as seen in this disturbing image...

TWEEDLEDEE AND TWEEDLEDUM

Twins! Sort of. Lucy and her sister Gwen come into the Sheriff Department looking nearly identical. Their hair is the same, their voices are squeaky, and Lucy is even mimicking the way Gwen is holding a baby. They also both talk a lot, like, A LOT. The duo is reminiscent of the Lewis Carroll/Disney characters Tweedledee and Tweedledum...

CALLING OUT DREAMS

Yet again, we’re reminded of dreams. Much like Alice is in a dream in Wonderland, we’re constantly told in various ways that dreams pervade Twin Peaks and its inhabitants. In fact, Sheriff Truman has HAD IT with the dreams and all the other curious stuff that comes with them...

And finally Maddy is found, in the same way Laura was--washed up on the shore, wrapped in plastic and dead. Much like Laura, she looks peaceful, at rest and as if she is only in a dream, like Alice...

Happy Birthday, Lewis Carroll. I think David Lynch would agree with this sentiment.

Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP7): Humpty Dumpty's Great Fall & BOB Through the Looking Glass

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, go to the archives.

Episode 7, Season 2 - “Lonely Souls”

It’s worth noting that this is a David Lynch-directed/Mark Frost-written episode. It also happens to be one of my favorites.

“HUMPTY DUMPTY” HAROLD

Humpty Dumpty gets his own chapter in Through the Looking Glass. When Alice meets up with him, she asks, “Why do you sit out here all alone?” Humpty Dumpty is a lonely and fragile character, sitting as an egg on a wall all by himself. Alice comes along and talks to him, though he is a touchy fellow. And these characteristics translate over to Harold in Twin Peaks as well. Harold is agoraphobic, and much like Humpty Dumpty does not leave his wall, neither does Harold leave his house. Laura does visit Harold, and eventually Donna as well. But Donna’s break of trust ends up breaking Harold. And where Humpty Dumpty is actually a fragile egg that eventually falls and breaks, Harold is emotionally fragile and breaks as well, driving him to commit suicide. This comparison can even be visually interpreted in this episode of Twin Peaks, and I’d like to point out 2 distinct visual cues that associate Harold and Humpty. The first, in the image at the top of this post, you’ll notice Harold’s legs high up, dangling, just as Humpty Dumpty’s legs dangle over the edge of his wall. Both are amongst greenery. And Harold’s khaki colored pants resemble an egg color.

But the thing that really drives this home visually is the way the papers are scattered throughout the scene of Harold’s suicide. There are 3 distinct colors used: White, yellow and red. The white and yellow look like the broken shell and yolk of an egg, while the red represents (and in some instances is) blood. Seems like Harold emotionally cracked and had a great fall. And with the Twin Peaks Sheriff Department and Agent Cooper on the scene, it seems that all the kings horses and men are there, and they can’t put Humpty -- er, Harold -- back together again.

And to top it off, Harold leaves a note saying he is a “lonely soul.” I think the same goes for Humpty Dumpty sitting up on that wall all alone, which returns me to Alice’s observation, “Why do you sit out here all alone?” Well, he is a lonely soul.

A “WONDERFUL” WONDERLAND

After we’re introduced to the Harold suicide/broken Humpty Dumpty scene, the episode cuts to Maddie in the living room with Leland and Sarah Palmer, and we hear “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong play throughout the scene. The camera lands on the record spinning, which looks like a black hole, reminiscent of a rabbit hole. Notice also that Maddie is in a blue nightgown and robe, reminiscent of the blue dress that Alice wears in Disney’s Alice In Wonderland.

And Sarah even uses the word “wonderful” as well, saying to Maddie, “You have been such a wonderful help.” The use of "wonderful” (as in, Wonderland), the blue dress (like Alice’s), and the black circle of the record (rabbit hole) evoke a strong connection to Alice In Wonderland. And that’s not it! Because later in the episode we go...

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

The way Sarah Palmer falls slowly down the stairs upside down, combined with the focus on the spinning black record, feels as though she is falling down the rabbit hole and into a dreamland/nightmare-land (and obviously this is not the first time this has happened for her). Then we go...

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

We see Leland look into the mirror, and beyond the mirror, he sees another world... a world where he is BOB. Just as Alice travels through the mirror in Through the Looking Glass, we see into another world by way of the mirror as well.

And what is BOB/Leland doing in the mirror? Grinning and laughing manically like the Cheshire Cat.

Another mirrored instance is the shot of the puddle before The Bang Bang Bar scene, a sign that we are being transported through a looking glass here as well. And we do see an alternate dreamworld appear in the bar--the music changes, things get a dreamy, and Cooper sees the Giant from his previous dreams emerge saying, “It is happening again.” The happening being that BOB/Leland is murdering again.

SOME OTHER THINGS!

Speaking of dreams, which we know Alice is having in order to experience Wonderland, and which are brought up constantly in Twin Peaks, Nadine says that Ed is the “dreamiest.”

Cooper says -- alluding once again to things being “underground”, just like Wonderland is down a rabbit hole -- “Let me know what you dig up.”

Poetry kicks off this episode, as Mike repeats his riddle about The Great Northern from the last episode. This is relevant since Alice too is constantly reciting poems and solving riddles given to her by characters in her dreams as well. And the One Armed Man is being possessed by a character from another world, Mike.

And the way Ben Horne puffs on that cigar like a madman just slightly reminds me of the Caterpillar from the Alice stories.

Go further down the rabbit hole with my previous posts.

Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP6): The “Alice” Themes of Cards and Chess, Leo the Dormouse and Another Mad Tea Party

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, go to the archives.

Episode 6, Season 2 - “Demons”

REFERENCES TO FALLING DOWN A HOLE, LIKE ALICE

In the beginning of this episode, Audrey is passed out, dreaming, and is saying she’s sinking and “Can you catch me?” It evokes an image of Alice dreaming that she’s falling down the rabbit hole. And Audrey was just in a rabbit hole of her own... one where she was kidnapped and forced to become addicted to heroine against her will, leaving her in a constant dream-like state.

Later in the episode, there are more references to being underground, like Alice is when she’s caught in Wonderland. Benjamin Horne suggests he has enough information to put Josie away by saying, “I will bury you.” Then Josie retorts that she too has enough information to lock Mr. Horne up in jail, and she says, “They’ll bury us side by side.”

Again we get more subliminal images relating to Alice In Wonderland and to being below ground and falling down into darkness when Gordon Cole (played by David Lynch) says 2 things in succession. The first is, “You might be getting in a little over your head again.” This suggests an image of Cooper going too deeply past where he should be. Then Gordon says, “You went into the chute in Pittsburgh, Coop.” If you imagine how a laundry or a garbage chute operates, this evokes an image of Agent Cooper falling down a dark passageway without control. Cooper responds by saying, “Pittsburgh was a completely different story.” Ah, we’re in a different, though similar “story” to Alice In Wonderland. If we are to assume all of this dialogue is carefully chosen (which I do assume that, obviously), then relating “over your head,” “into the chute,” and “different story” together are possibly meant to signal a reference to Alice In Wonderland, more specifically Alice falling down the rabbit hole. And Cooper is indeed in quite the rabbit hole of a case.

To top that off, Gordon’s dialogue works another reference in when he says, “Restless nights and uneasy dreams go with the territory.” By saying “uneasy dreams go with the territory,” right after we are subliminally given the imagery of a story where Cooper is in over his head and falling down a chute, it hammers in this idea that Cooper is experiencing similar symptoms to Alice in Wonderland.

And here we go with another underground reference (the last of the episode that I can tell!). Leland Palmer says “we can drop escrow into a black hole”. I don’t think I need to elaborate on this. You get it. Another reference to Alice falling down a hole.

A MAJOR THEME LINKING BOTH STORIES: CHESS

The themes that permeate Alice In Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass are split into 2 major “game” themes. The first, featured in the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (and the Disney movies), is a “playing card” theme where playing cards are personified, and we are in a kingdom ruled by the demanding Queen of Hearts.

Similarly, throughout Twin Peaks Season 1, and for 5 episodes of Season 2 (we’re just about halfway through the entire 2 seasons at this point), a theme of “playing cards” emerges. One Eyed Jacks, the casino where the women who work there dress as personified playing cards, is central to the plot.

The second “game” theme occurs in Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. And the theme is “chess.” The book starts out with a printed picture of a chess board, and describes Alice as the “White Pawn.” The entire story takes place on top of a giant chess board, as Alice and the characters in the world around her move through the game as personified chess pieces.

Similarly again, as we move to the second half of Twin Peaks, we are also moving into a second “game” theme, which is -- you got it -- “chess.” There will be more on this as I continue working through this season, but for now let’s just say that a major evil dude in Season 2 is obsessed with chess, and goes on to personify many people in the town of Twin Peaks as pawns, and even Queens.

For now, let’s look at the theme of “chess” emerging in this episode...

Most importantly, we are introduced to Windom Earle, who sends an opening chess move to Cooper.

We also have this brief allusion to chess between Josie and Benjamin Horne.

A MAD TEA PARTY

Shelly and Bobby have a “Welcome Home” party for Leo, unbeknownst the to catatonic Leo. When I see this scene, Leo feels so much like the Dormouse in the Mad Tea Party scene from Alice In Wonderland. I totally encourage you to watch both of them on Youtube.

Quite a few things compare between the two: The colors, the nonsense nature of the party (it’s a taunting “Welcome Home” for Leo; and it’s a very merry “unbirthday” for the Hatter and the Hare), Leo and the Dormouse’s shirts are hues of red/pink, and the Dormouse’s face is covered in jam when he passes out just like Leo’s face is covered in cake when he passes out into it.

Plus, Bobby and Shelly are singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” cheerfully and drunk, and if you use “mad/nonsensical” as a substitute/synonym for the word “drunk”, the vibe is the same as the Hatter and the Hare’s boisterous tea party where they also cheerily sing songs for their own amusement.

And, for another “tea”- related reference, we see Leland Palmer in the lobby of the Great Northern singing the words “my cup of tea,” from the song “Getting to Know You” in The King and I.

THE CHESHIRE, BOB, AND MORE

The end of the episode incorporates a lot of things that can be tied to Alice In Wonderland -- items I’ve already covered in previous posts, and which you’ll see if you watch this episode again. Here’s an abbreviated list of the items I’ve covered that come up when Cooper interacts with the One Armed Man/Mike:

1. The “wanted” drawing of Bob shows his head floating like the Cheshire’s, drawn in a similar way to the stylings of John Tenniel, who did the original drawings in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, where the Cheshire Cat first appeared.

2. There are a few quotes that feel like Alice In Wonderland to me. “It’s too late,” relating to the White Rabbit. “Who are you?” relating to the Caterpillar. “You spoke to me in my dream,” relating to... dreams.

3. Mike chants the “Fire Walk With Me” poem. As mentioned before, throughout the Carroll classics, poems and riddles come up constantly, existing as important tentpoles in the stories, just as “Fire Walk With Me” does in Twin Peaks.

4. Mike also reminds us that it is indeed a smile on Bob’s face. And that Bob is “eager for fun,” much like the mischievous Cheshire Cat and his similar grin.

SIDE NOTES

In the above shot of Maddie by the water, the boat and the trees remind me of one of the establishing shots in Alice In Wonderland.

And, lest we forget, Mr. Tojamura finds “adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasonable.” A funny line in a world of fantasy.

Go further down the rabbit hole with my previous posts.

Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP5): The “Wondrous” Woods & Wonderland, Talking Flowers and Dreams

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, go to the archives.

Episode 5, Season 2 - “The Orchid’s Curse”

Right off the bat, Cooper is talking about a dream he had where he tried to eat a large gum drop. The camera movement is a dreamy spiral, and we’re reminded that dreams can be pretty weird, and that they can have a child-like charm, which is a stark contrast to the adult themes that the show gets into. I bring this up, as you know, since Alice’s dreamworld is very weird as well, and her dream is child-like at points but grows to be bizarre, sinister and even violent as the story evolves.

This episode goes on to mention dreams a few times, and alludes to some other Alice connections, which I’ll get into. Here are more “dream” mentions, including one that uses the phrase “Dreamland” (a la “Wonderland”) to refer to Audrey sleeping:

Eventually we get to a conversation between Harold and Donna, where Harold mentions that he “grew up in books” and that we “dream” things can be “found in other people”. To which Donna responds, “Maybe our dreams are real.”

In a world that blurs dreams and reality, what Donna is saying is actually true -- within the realm of the show, of course. And for Alice In Wonderland, within the realm of her story, Alice’s dream also blurs into her reality. It’s hard to see a clear line of separation within both stories. And I would also point out that Alice also “grew up in books,” in that she is a small child in the book Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, who grows to be a bit older in the sequel Through the Looking Glass, and she is also from a time period without TV, movies and other forms of modern entertainment.

THE WONDROUS, STRANGE WOODS

Since many strange things happen to Alice in the woods in Alice In Wonderland, and many strange things happen to Laura Palmer (and many other characters) in the woods in Twin Peaks, it’s an obvious comparison to make between the two stories. But what I like here, in particular, is Judge Sternwood’s use of the word “wondrous” when describing the woods. Since “wonder” is the root word of both “wondrous” and “Wonderland”, and the “wondrous” woods have a very similar strange feeling to them, just like “Wonderland,” it seems to me that this mention of “wondrous” is dropped as one of the many connections to the two stories. And also, this is not the first time the word “wonder” has been used in Twin Peaks (and it won’t be the last).

THE SECRET DIARY OF LAURA PALMER

This moment when Donna and Maddie want to steal from Harold in this episode inspired a whole different blog post, and I had to break out my observations related to Laura Palmer’s diary separately, which you can read via this link:

The Red Cover: The Original Editions of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer and Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland

FALLING, FALLING...

There are numerous mentions of “falling” in Twin Peaks. Especially “falling” in love. Falling, of course, brings to mind Alice falling down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland.

FACES IN THE FLOWERS

When Donna is trying to distract Harold so that she and Maddie can retrieve Laura’s diary, Harold shows Donna his flowers in his greenhouse. He points out that there are faces in the flowers. He says, “the bottom petal shaped like a lower lip.” This personifies the flowers, and gives them a face, much like in the Alice In Wonderland scene where Alice meets the talking flowers.

Go further down the rabbit hole with my previous posts.

The Red Cover: The Original Editions of “The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer” and “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland”

When you compare side-by-side the original 1865 published book of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and the original 1990 published book of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch, you can see similarities from the very first glance.

They are both red with gold accents, and both encircle their main character on the front cover with a gold ring. And if you take the titles and compare them, both titles suggest that, as readers, we are going to live vicariously through the evocative experiences of a female character. And it’s true – in both we discover the thoughts of these young ladies. In both, there are quite a few poems. In both, the girls talk to themselves, think, and dream. Both girls start out innocent – and then have some pretty insane interactions with otherworldly creatures.

We can look into the world of Twin Peaks for comparisons to Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland as well. In Season 2, Episode 5 of Twin Peaks, Donna and Maddie plan to steal Laura’s diary from Harold Smith, a friend of Laura’s who refuses to turn the diary over as evidence. Notice that Harold could hide the diary anywhere in the house, but he keeps it in his bookcase. This likens Laura’s diary to a book/a fiction/a story… much like Alice.

But the comparison that really jumps out, is when Donna points out to Maddie that “all the notebooks look the same, except for Laura’s.” She says, “Hers is smaller with a red cover.”

Jumping back to 1864, according to the earliest known letter that survived between author Lewis Carroll and his publisher Macmillan, Carroll insisted that his book Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland differ from the usual Macmillan green, and that his book be covered in “bright red”.

So (to really drive this point home) in the mid 1860s when Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland was printed, you could have said, “All children’s books look the same, except for Lewis Carroll’s… His has a red cover.”

Go further down the rabbit hole with my previous posts.

Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP4): Inside the Rabbit Hole, Dreams, and Queens

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, go to the archives.

Episode 4, Season 2 - “Laura’s Secret Diary”

This episode starts off inside a hole. The camera pulls slowly out of the hole, and it feels as though we’re falling. We find out it’s an extreme close up rendering of the inside of a perforated ceiling tile hole. But the important part to me is the shot similarities between this opening, and when Alice falls down the rabbit hole in Disney’s Alice In Wonderland. You can see in the shots compared above how they feel akin to one another. The Twin Peaks version even looks like it’s full of sticks, and that it belongs underground.

In my last post, I left off with Maddie talking about how she feels like she “fell into a dream” (like Alice does), and I brought up that while the opening theme song to Twin Peaks is called “Twin Peaks Theme,” there is a version of it with vocals called “Falling,” which you can listen to below.

All of these examples point to various homages of Alice falling into a dream.

I also noticed in this episode, the special on the board in the Double R is “Rabbit Chili” -- another reference to “going down the rabbit hole,” perhaps? 

Also, once again, as in many episodes of Twin Peaks, dreams are mentioned -- relevant since Alice is also stuck in a dream land of her own.

Lastly in this episode, we’re introduced to the pageant element, which will come up again -- this one is the Tri-County Lumber Queen. Queens play an important role in the stories of Alice In Wonderland and in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. In each, Alice interacts with various Queens, and in Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, she even gets “Queened” herself.

Go further down the rabbit hole with my previous posts.

Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP3): Falling Down a Rabbit Hole

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, see my links at the bottom!

Episode 3, Season 2 - “The Man Behind Glass”

Cooper says, “I’ve seen him in my dream,” in reference to Bob. Aside from the obvious connection to Alice seeing many strange characters in her dreams as well, I find a few things interesting about the setting of this scene that conjure up some very specific references to Alice In Wonderland.

The sketch of Bob is placed at the center of a circle. The letters above him are R, B and T. Immediately, I think of the word “rabbit” (though yes, I know it goes on to mean “Robert”). But I think it’s interesting that before we find out what it actually means, our brains are trying to figure out what the letters represent.

And our search for the meaning of the word is a plot point in the show as well, when Lucy is tasked with coming up with as many words as she can that contain the letters R, B and T. When we get to see a shot of the Scrabble board where she is assembling words with R, B and T, one of the few words you can make out is “rabbit.” I zoomed in on the shot and flipped it so you can see, below:

Before writing all of this off as crazy talk, I would ask you to consider subliminal messaging that film and TV directors often incorporate into their work for deeper meaning. Out of context, what do the combination of the following things mean to you: The word “dream”, a word with the letters “RBT”, and a circle with a character that’s being chased at the center of it. Easily, and obviously, you might think of Alice chasing a white rabbit down a hole into a dream.

This episode is called “The Man Behind Glass.” It’s not overtly clear who the man behind glass is in the episode, but in my opinion it is Bob, and this is another subliminal Alice reference. In Twin Peaks, we know there are 2 worlds: The reality that exists for the townspeople of Twin Peaks, and the “Lodge” or Dreamworld where Bob exists. In Through the Looking Glass, Alice’s regular world and dream world are connected by a Looking Glass, or mirror. She steps through the glass to get to the other world. If a glass is connecting 2 worlds, metaphorically, then “The Man Behind Glass” would be Bob, who is the main focus of the episode since law enforcement is trying to track him down. But he is not in the regular world. He is “behind glass,” or in other words, through a portal and in another world.

So, are these subliminal messages that point to Alice In Wonderland? They might be. Here are some other things that further cement this subliminal messaging…

Forensic analyst Albert Rosenfield reports to Cooper and Truman, “This cat is in nobody’s database.” He is referring to Bob as a cat, further linking the theory that Bob is the Twin Peaks representation of the Cheshire Cat.

Nadine’s regression to a teenager state of mind occurs after taking, and recovering from, too many sleeping pills. Her mind is trapped in a fantasy. She is no longer existing in reality, but in a dreamlike state. The sleeping pills linked with this dreamy disposition point to connections to Alice, asleep and trapped in her dream/nightmare of Wonderland.

Donna goes to Laura’s grave to talk to her, confess to her, and eventually yell at her. Laura is trapped in a hole underground, like Alice. Donna talks to Laura as if she’s talking to someone who is there, rather than someone who is dead. She is angry that Laura’s problems persist even in her absence. She yells, “It’s almost like they didn’t bury you deep enough.” I’ll leave you with this GIF… 

When we hear from Maddie at the end of the episode, she’s telling Leland Palmer that it’s like she “fell into a dream.” Who else falls into dreams, guys? I think you know.

On the theme of “falling,” let’s not forget that while the opening theme song to Twin Peaks is called “Twin Peaks Theme,” there is a version of it with vocals called “Falling.”

Go further down the rabbit hole with my previous posts.

Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP 2): The Caterpillar’s Question and Leo’s Nightmare Wonderland...

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, see my links at the bottom!

Episode 2, Season 2 - “Coma”

This is the second episode of Season 2, and the second episode directed by David Lynch this season. It would not surprise me that this line from Cooper is actually a self-referential acknowledgment that Lynch has made purposeful connections between Twin Peaks (the show) and other works (Alice In Wonderland). 

UNDERGROUND / DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Later on in this opening scene there is a reference to Jacques taking secrets “underground.” Obviously this is due to his death and being buried, but the choice of words has been used before in Season 1, when Leo’s disappearance is described as going “underground”. To me, this is meant to connect going “down the rabbit hole”, and Alice’s entire dreamworld existing “underground”. And of course, this connects to the larger theme that will be presented this season -- the entrance to the Black Lodge, which is essentially a “hole” in the ground.

WANDER / WONDER

A mind that wanders. How can I not think of Alice, whose mind wanders, and “wonders” for that matter...

“WHO... ARE... YOU?”

Sound familiar? “Who are you?” asks the strange Mrs. Tremond of Donna. Donna is currently lost in the mystery of Laura Palmer’s death. She takes Laura’s Meals on Wheels route to see if she can find any clues. This is how she ends up in Mrs. Tremond’s apartment, and subjected to the question of her identity. Alice is also lost on her own journey, and exasperated, when she discovers the Caterpillar, who similarly asks, “Who are you?”

NONSENSE

Something indescribable happens when Donna delivers Meals on Wheels to Mrs. Tremond and her grandson. The creamed corn disappears from the plate, cleanly, and appears in the grandson’s hands. This is explained by Mrs. Tremond telling Donna that the boy is “studying magic”. This is not a logical explanation for what just occurred. But Donna accepts this without question. This is not something that ever happens in life. This is beyond a normal magic trick. This is nonsense because it is not logical, just as indescribable things happen to Alice when she is in Wonderland. Magical things happen... she shrinks as tiny as a mouse and grows as tall as a tree. She talks to flowers and meets a disappearing cat. There are no rules in Wonderland. It’s a world with nonsensical rules, just as this moment in Twin Peaks defies all rules of the usual world. The Alice stories are well-known works of the Nonsense Literature genre, and when this scene defies the rules of logic, it is an homage to this genre.

SPEAK FRENCH

There have been a few mentions of France before in Twin Peaks. In Through the Looking Glass, Alice is told to speak French if she doesn’t remember the English word for something. The Red Queen says to Alice:

So, the combination of the grandson speaking French (ref: “Speak in French”)  and Mrs. Tremond asking “Who are you?” (ref: “remember who you are!’) seems like it could be a link to that line from Through the Looking Glass.

A YOUNG DAVID LYNCH

Pierre Tremond, the grandson, is played by David Lynch’s son Austin Jack Lynch, who was 8 years old at the time this episode aired. Alice, in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, is estimated by scholars to also be 8 years old. Aside from that, Lynch’s son looks so much like a young David Lynch, and I want to point out that Lynch would have been growing up with Disney’s Alice In Wonderland (1951). So essentially we could be seeing a young David Lynch referencing himself as Alice, in the nonsense world of Wonderland. I realize that’s a stretch. But the hairstyle and suit really make Austin look like a tiny young David Lynch.

TEA PARTY

I spot a tea pot! There is a tea party-esque theme going on in the Tremond’s window curtain.

LEO, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Leo is in a coma (if we think of a coma as basically a dreamlike state, this is another parallel to Alice’s dreaming). He’s paralyzed from a gun wound. The camera zooms in on his reflection in the mirror. This is not the first time mirrors have been a focus in the show. But what I want to point out is that this zoom in on the mirror is on purpose. Leo is essentially a totally new person now. His world is now turned upside down. It’s as if he stepped through a looking glass and everything was nightmare. Serves him right...

CHESHIRE BOB

The sketch of Bob reminds me of the drawing style of John Tenniel, the illustrator for Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Bob’s floating head in the sketch reminds me of the drawing in the books of the Cheshire Cat’s floating head, as seen in the image above.

At the end of the episode, Bob appears in Cooper’s dream, grinning madly, just like the Cheshire Cat appears in Alice’s dream grinning madly. See the image below.

Also, when Maddy sees a vision of Bob coming after her, I noticed there is a composition comparison to be made between the image of Bob crawling over the couch, and the John Tenniel drawing of the Cheshire Cat in the tree. Bob is grinning, baring his teeth, and clutching the couch like an animal. His leg hangs over the side of the couch on the righthand side of the frame, just like the the Cheshire’s tail hangs down from the tree on the righthand side of the frame. Take a look at the comparison below.

DREAMS

And finally, I will leave you with dream references made in this episode. Relevant in this case since the stories about Alice, obviously, take place in her dreams.

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<3 Celia Q.

Twin Peaks & Wonderland turned 1 today!

I can't believe this blog is 1 year old! I've poured a lot of hours into this baby. It's been both super enjoyable and a major distraction. Mostly, it has made me seem like an obsessed weirdo. I'm fine with that.

Happy Birthday, Twin Peaks & Wonderland!

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Found In Twin Peaks (S2, EP 1): BOB Is the Cheshire Cat

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, see my links at the bottom!

Episode 1, Season 2 - “May the Giant Be With You”

There are so many references to the Cheshire Cat as Bob in this episode that I don’t know where to begin. But let’s start with my favorite one.

LELAND GOES FULL CHESHIRE... I MEAN FULL BOB

When Leland’s hair turns white after he murders Jacques Renault, and he’s depicted singing in great spirits, it is a signifier that BOB is taking full control of Leland. With that in mind, we really meet the Leland-as-possessed-by-BOB fully for the first time. Watch the introduction of the Cheshire Cat in the Disney movie Alice In Wonderland, and the introduction to Leland in Twin Peaks Season 2, and you will significant comparisons of BOB to the Cheshire.

Twin Peaks, Season 2 Introduction of Leland Palmer:

Alice In Wonderland, Meeting the Cheshire Cat:

First off, both of the characters start singing nonsense songs out of frame. Leland is singing the 1943 novelty song “Mairzy Doats”, and the Cheshire Cat is singing the first stanza from the nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll (from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland). Both Leland and the Cheshire Cat then appear, jovially singing these nonsense songs despite their respective audiences confusion and dismay. Furthermore, look at Leland’s placement and blocking: When he kneels down, he looks like he’s in a tree. And his hand movements are very similar to the Cheshire Cat’s. And let’s not forget the unsettling grins on both their faces.

The lyrics that are written on the sheet music to “Mairzy Doats” seem meaningless at first:

But when you get to the bridge of the song, you are given the meaning:

Similarly disconcerting are the confusing lyrics to the “Jabberwocky” poem, which are not explained in the Disney movie, but do get somewhat explained in Through the Looking Glass when Alice runs into Humpty Dumpty.

After this introduction, Laura’s cousin Maddy, who has been staying with the Palmers, suddenly sees a stain slowly “walk” across the carpet, then disappear. She screams in horror.

Similarly, after the Cheshire Cat’s introduction, we see paw prints walk over to Alice, and to her horror they somehow split as the cat walks through her. 

THE SMILING BAG AND THE CHESHIRE CAT GRIN

A giant comes to Cooper in a dream-like vision and hints that Cooper should look out for a “smiling bag”. Then later, Cooper finds the smiling bag “hovering” and grinning right in his direction. It’s the bag that once held Jacques Renault, significant since Leland/BOB killed Jacques. In the image below, you’ll see the visual homage the smiling bag pays to the appearance of the Cheshire Cat’s grin. Aesthetically the details match up very well: The grin, the centered “hovering” quality of both, the inverted black and white colors, and also the tiles behind the body bag are similar in shape to the Cheshire’s grin.

At the end of the episode, there is a terrifying flash of Laura and BOB’s crazed faces from the night Laura Palmer was murdered. There are many intense horrible grins full of teeth, and so I cut together this GIF to show the menacing similarities between the Cheshire Cat and BOB.

BLACK ROSE AND THE LITTLE FLOWER ROOM

Alice wanders into a flower bed, where she is at first accepted, and then taunted for being different. The leader of the flowers, the Rose, ends up kicking Alice out.

In this episode of Twin Peaks, Audrey is working at a place she doesn’t belong, One Eyed Jacks, where Blackie AKA Black Rose, runs the place. Audrey is put in the “little flower room” and after hiding during her scheduled session with Ben Horne, is given a stern talking to by Blackie, who grabs her chin. You can see the homage Twin Peaks plays to the Rose/Alice characters with the Black Rose/Audrey characters below:

GOING MAD

When Alice is lost in the woods, the Cheshire Cat tells her that she she can go toward the Mad Hatter or the March Hare, but warns her that they’re both “mad”. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare remind me a lot of another duo: Ben and Jerry Horne. In this episode, when Leland/BOB shows up to The Great Northern, he’s still singing the “Mairzy Doats” song, and Ben and Jerry spring to life to dance on top of a desk and do the worm on the carpet. Pretty “mad” behavior, wouldn’t you say?

Then, in this episode, Jerry even says in a very dramatic way, “Now, that... Really makes me mad.” In my opinion, this line is accentuated for a reason, and that reason is to draw connections to the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.

DREAMS AND DREAMS AND DREAMS AND DREAMS

Here’s a screenshot of Alice In Wonderland when Alice is lost in the woods, and a screenshot of Twin Peaks when Ronette Pulaski is dreaming of her walk out of the woods the night Laura Palmer was murdered.

And finally here are references to dreaming from the episode...

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The Major Similarities Between the Twin Peaks and Alice In Wonderland Openings

The opening of Twin Peaks is unforgettable. It has the “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign, lumber saws sharpening in the mill, the bird on a branch, the waterfall, and finally the camera travels with a babbling stream. It lulls and lures you into an unusual dreamy world. It puts you in the Twin Peaks state of mind.

In the same sense, Alice’s first song in Disney’s Alice In Wonderland, “In a World of My Own,” puts us into Alice’s dreamy state of mind. It sets us up for the world we are about to enter. Alice starts off by saying, “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrariwise, what it is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would.” This quote is essential to the nonsense literature aspect of the Alice stories, and I also feel this establishment of rules applies to Twin Peaks as nonsense television. Alice then launches into her song about all the strange things that would occur in her world that differ from the real world. And as we know, Twin Peaks is a strange and otherworldly place as well.

Alice dreams of animals talking like humans, among other strange things. She sings to a bird on a branch, and sits next to a waterfall. In the animated movie, the “camera” pans down across a stream of water as Alice sings over it, which directly relates to the Twin Peaks opening, as it also follows its own stream of water as the theme song plays over it.

We then land on Alice, who by this time has entered her dream world, which we see reflected in the water.

And by this time in the Twin Peaks opening, we too (the viewers) have entered the dreamy world of Twin Peaks.

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Found In Twin Peaks (S1, EP 7): Jabberwocky’s Mimsy, “Eat Me” Pills, Audrey: The Queen of Diamonds

If this is your first time here, this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and discoveries of how David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks relates to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as the Disney movie. To start at the beginning, see my links at the bottom!

This season 1 finale episode is a culmination of all things I have been pointing out: Personification of animals, dreaming mentions, “eat me” references. All of these things point to the world of Alice. There are some really cool new connections below. This season has been fun. Season 2 coming in 2016!

Episode 7, Season 1 - “Last Evening”

ALL MIMSY WERE THE BOROGOVES

When James and Donna sneak into Dr. Jacoby’s apartment, they find a box with tiki drink umbrellas tagged with descriptions that indicate their significance. The first one read indicates the umbrella Jacoby had in his drink for the Moon landing in ‘69. The second one that Donna reads mentions the name Mimsy. Significant because it references the nonsense word “mimsy” from the poem “Jabberwocky,” which Alice reads in Through the Looking Glass.

Also... “Jacoby” sounds eerily similar to the word “Jabberwocky” -- containing all of the sounds in the word except “erw”. Interesting!

NONSENSE LITERATURE and NONSENSE TELEVISION

Another interesting comparison worth noting is Alice’s expression after reading the “Jabberwocky” poem. The poem is classified as a nonsense poem, and the Alice books are classified as literary nonsense. And so, Carroll acknowledges this:

Doesn’t this also sound like something a viewer might say about Twin Peaks? Down to the very line, “somebody killed something: that's clear, at any rate...” It certainly is clear in Twin Peaks, as we are reminded of Laura’s death at the close of every episode when the credits role over her photo.

In a TV show meant to throw you for a loop at every turn, I would classify Twin Peaks as nonsense television, just as the Alice books are written to be nonsense literature.

Nonsense literature is described on Wikipedia as:

Replace “language conventions” with “TV/filmmaking conventions”, and I presume this was along the lines of Lynch’s and Frost’s intentions when creating Twin Peaks. One of my favorite nonsensical things from this episode is the humpbacked seamstress “Queen-ing” Audrey. She quickly hobbles away into a tiny hidden door in the wall. Very much like a fairy-tale character. So bizarre... I reiterate: “Excess of meaning.”

THE KINGDOM OF CARDS AND QUEEN AUDREY

Speaking of Audrey getting turned into a Queen... I’ve gone into some detail about One Eyed Jacks’ costumes personifying the women as playing cards, as seen in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In this episode, we see Audrey pick the Queen of Diamonds which she then is turned into a human representation of when the seamstress sews a large Queen of Diamonds to her lingerie.

In addition, in Through the Looking Glass, Alice gets “Queened” when she makes her way across the life-sized chess board, which is an element we will see come into play in Season 2!

MORE ANIMALS TREATED AS PEOPLE, PEOPLE TREATED AS ANIMALS

I like to point out all the instances where animals are treated like people that can be in love, contain evidence, or can be “not what they seem” (owls). Conversely, people are referenced as animals quite a lot as well. It’s a great fairy-tale type element that relates well to the Alice stories, since she doesn’t talk to many humans on her adventures. Here are more of the references in this episode:

Agent Cooper tells Sheriff Truman that Leo’s “gone underground” and that “he’s holed up somewhere near his home”... Aside from that making Leo sound like an animal, it’s also relevant since Alice falls down a hole of her own underground while dreaming near her home.

LEO’S DEATH THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Once again the TV is used as a mirror (or AKA a “looking glass”) to real life. In this instance, Leo gets shot through the window moments before a character on TV is shot. He suffers watching this moment instant replay to him.

EAT ME, DRINK ME

Nadine prepares a concoction of pills to swallow. There are many elements here that reference Disney’s Alice In Wonderland. First, the pills might as well scream “EAT ME” since they are so prettily presented, just as the little box of “EAT ME” candies are in the Disney image above. They also are distinctly an orange-yellow and a light pink, which also match up with 2 of the candies in the box from the Disney version. Next, check out the Disney-style princess dress that Nadine is wearing. It’s the peak of her reverting to a childlike state. The touch of her dress also adds to how similar the compositions of these shots are, plus the addition of water is significant (”DRINK ME”).

DREAMING

And we’ll end with a reference to dreaming, since that’s what Alice does all dang day...

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<3 Celia Q.

Did You Know She Was Using Cocaine?

COCAINE, AND CHASING THE WHITE RABBIT