What did we know before?

[Mr. Reindeer]

Right! That makes sense. Did they actually shoot in Las Vegas? As I recall, the shots of actual Las Vegas in the show are stock footage.

Sam Howzit (who has a terrific TP locations blog) and I were discussing this in the Part 11 thread. All the first unit stuff was California, and the nighttime Vegas drone shots are stock. But it does seem that Jason S. (who shot the behind the scenes documentaries) was dispatched to grab some establishing shots in Nevada, South Dakota, etc. Some of this footage can be seen in his documentaries, a few shots made it into the show (like the Buckhorn establishing shots, which are actually SD). It appears that Jason S. (presumably) shot the plates for Cooper’s car ride down the Vegas Strip, and also the establishing shot for the scene where the Hutchinses eat burgers in the car. But yeah, other than those couple of scraps, no shooting in Nevada.

[madeleineferguson]

It was a really exciting time, actually. There was a lot of information posted on here, but we couldn’t really make much out of it. My favorite memory from that time was the night they filmed the final scene at the Palmer House. It was an amazing night!

[Jasper]

It was a really exciting time, actually. There was a lot of information posted on here, but we couldn’t really make much out of it. My favorite memory from that time was the night they filmed the final scene at the Palmer House. It was an amazing night!

I had a bit of a different experience. My least favorite memory was when they filmed at the Palmer house. I don't like spoilers, but a lot of the initial stuff wasn't really spoiler material. I told myself that I'd be smart enough to avoid it if any real spoilers came along. When the Palmer house thing happened, I was upset that I'd spoiled something for myself. I still wish I'd never seen that. Not long after that I had to take a hiatus from the board, because there was the temptation to click on the spoiler thread, especially since I enjoyed seeing harmless (to me) things like the sign for Big Ed's Gas Farm.

The only other significant thing I recall seeing was Kyle on set from a distance in the green Dougie jacket, but it was so inexplicable that I didn't feel I'd been very spoiled.

[hopesfall]

I remember vividly somebody posting about seeing Jim Belushi being handed something and hollering, whilst Cooper stood still nearby. I recall feeling a sense of dread, as it sounded like Cooper was being bribed or fooled into something, but as it turns out that became one of my favourite scenes in The Return. Hilarious, heartwarming, and so surreal.

Also, I remember somebody leaked what was to be found in the boot of a car (dog's leg, etc.)

[sugarhigh]

Let's see....some info was from the few days of filming I saw, other bits from people in the know.
I knew a group of kids would find a bloody girl in the bushes because a member of production told me .
Knew there would be a bloody girl because I saw her after she shot the scene.
I had seen a picture of the convenience store and could only think it was the new Big Ed's Gas Farm....
I knew Janey E's name.
I saw images from some kind of production script that mentioned a floating major Briggs head, spheres/ globes/ bubbles with Laura's and an Asian women's face in them, red curtains parting to reveal a highway...
There was also something about a demon eating/ chewing on a baby's head.
Knew Rancho Rosa would be a location within the show.
Knew there would be a golden shovel.
Knew there would be a bar called Elk's 9 Point Bar.
Knew there would be a bunch of bands playing the Roadhouse, try outs to be the new house band or something like that.
Saw a bunch of set pics on an invite only site...that white tent with the red balloons on it (the Spike/ Dougie showdown outside of the insurance company) had me thinking that some crazy special effects were going to be used - I figured the red room curtains would be appearing in that scene but , no, just an unexplained white tent with balloons covering a piece of artwork I'm assuming they couldn't get clearance to show or was covered because Lynch just didn't like it...?
Saw a pic of the statue holding a gun .
Saw an exterior shot of Audrey's house.
Knew a car would blow up because one of the actors told me about it.

I'm sure there's some other stuff I'm forgetting. The years leading up to the premier were so fun.

[BGate]

I remember vividly somebody posting about seeing Jim Belushi being handed something and hollering, whilst Cooper stood still nearby. I recall feeling a sense of dread, as it sounded like Cooper was being bribed or fooled into something, but as it turns out that became one of my favourite scenes in The Return. Hilarious, heartwarming, and so surreal.

These were from professional paparazzi shots of the filming of that scene. They were just sitting on some website for months before someone on here found them randomly one day, I believe. I think the site/source of the photos may have been European which is why it went unnoticed for so long.

Between the photo of Coop holding the gigantic box with a goofy look on his face and the one of him walking around with the ill-fitting lime green suit jacket on, it didn't even matter that these were "spoilers" because there was no way in the world to deduce what in the hell was going on with his character(s).

[Metamorphia]

It was a really exciting time, actually. There was a lot of information posted on here, but we couldn’t really make much out of it. My favorite memory from that time was the night they filmed the final scene at the Palmer House. It was an amazing night!

I had a bit of a different experience. My least favorite memory was when they filmed at the Palmer house. I don't like spoilers, but a lot of the initial stuff wasn't really spoiler material. I told myself that I'd be smart enough to avoid it if any real spoilers came along. When the Palmer house thing happened, I was upset that I'd spoiled something for myself. I still wish I'd never seen that. Not long after that I had to take a hiatus from the board, because there was the temptation to click on the spoiler thread, especially since I enjoyed seeing harmless (to me) things like the sign for Big Ed's Gas Farm.

The only other significant thing I recall seeing was Kyle on set from a distance in the green Dougie jacket, but it was so inexplicable that I didn't feel I'd been very spoiled.

I feel the same about the Palmer house location photos in 2015. At the time I obviously didn't fathom that would be the final scene and probably imagined it would be happening fairly early on in the season! So it was more of a retrospective sadness on my part that I'd unknowingly spoiled something huge.

[mtwentz]

It was a really exciting time, actually. There was a lot of information posted on here, but we couldn’t really make much out of it. My favorite memory from that time was the night they filmed the final scene at the Palmer House. It was an amazing night!

I had a bit of a different experience. My least favorite memory was when they filmed at the Palmer house. I don't like spoilers, but a lot of the initial stuff wasn't really spoiler material. I told myself that I'd be smart enough to avoid it if any real spoilers came along. When the Palmer house thing happened, I was upset that I'd spoiled something for myself. I still wish I'd never seen that. Not long after that I had to take a hiatus from the board, because there was the temptation to click on the spoiler thread, especially since I enjoyed seeing harmless (to me) things like the sign for Big Ed's Gas Farm.

The only other significant thing I recall seeing was Kyle on set from a distance in the green Dougie jacket, but it was so inexplicable that I didn't feel I'd been very spoiled.

I feel the same about the Palmer house location photos in 2015. At the time I obviously didn't fathom that would be the final scene and probably imagined it would be happening fairly early on in the season! So it was more of a retrospective sadness on my part that I'd unknowingly spoiled something huge.

The only thing spoilery about that scene was that I knew Sarah would not be the one answering the door. That took some tension out of the scene.

But other than that, I don't think much was spoiled. The context/importance of the scene only became known once the episode aired.

[Mr. Reindeer]

I agree that my only regret was spoiling the Palmer house scene. Even though we didn’t know much about what was happening in the scene, as we got closer and closer to the ending (especially watching that last hour), I think most of us increasingly realized that we knew the “where and who” of the final scene of the show, and that sort of sucked, in terms of the journey of experiencing Part 18 for the first time. I’m still baffled that Lynch was so uncharacteristically lax with security that night.

[LateReg]

The only thing spoilery about that scene was that I knew Sarah would not be the one answering the door. That took some tension out of the scene.

But other than that, I don't think much was spoiled. The context/importance of the scene only became known once the episode aired.

I see where you're coming from, but my view is opposite. I successfully avoided all leaks and spoilers other than the sign for Nadine's store. Context or not, I would consider knowing that Laura is possibly alive and walking up to her house to be the biggest spoiler imaginable. Sure, one might have thought it was a dream sequence or something...but it wasn't. And knowing it's coming at some point - in a production that purposefully kept all spoilers under wraps - causes you to wait and wait for it, which at least affects the viewing experience. And the one thing that is for certain is that that leak contributed to theories of what might happen in the series. So even though I avoided spoilers, I participated in discussions of expectations/predictions for the series that in retrospect were clearly influenced by the knowledge of that scene.

PS - I remember when that spoiler leaked and there was genuine excitement in the air. It took all my strength not to go into the spoiler thread, but seeing everyone else so excited was actually excitement enough! My mind ran wild without knowing a single thing. I had assumed the leak was of a scene where Cooper kills somebody in the woods or something.

ETA - Reindeer, haha, always writing the same thing as me at the same damn time. There is of course our theory that Lynch was lax that night as part of the subversion, so as to throw people off the scent as they'd never expect it was the final scene.

[baxter]

Cor, this takes me back. I remember being desperate to know anything about the new series, but really obsessive about trying to avoid spoilers. I read a few tiny bits (nothing major), and was in a funk for days.

When the show eventually came on, I realised that I couldn't predict a single minute of it, and was happy. I even remember leaks during the airing itself, e.g. the synposes of the last few episodes,and leaks as to when Dougie would finally become Cooper.

[AXX°N N.]

I can relate to the regret re the Palmer house ending scene, but then again, it certainly was a unique way to experience it. The realization of how little time was left and yet we still hadn't seen a short-hair common-clothes Laura was palpable, adding to the sense of time running out. Then when we finally saw her, but not at all like we expected (Texas!?), that long, dark night drive was interminably long, the exchange with Alice, all of it, so interminably long because you knew it would end in a scream. And then when that scream rings out and the lights cut off, you're hit with the somewhat regrettable, somewhat horrifying realization you knew how it would end all along, giving an in-the-moment, unwanted, helpless finality to the last image. Then there's the tease of the credits--oh, there's actually more! Only for the staff listing superimposition to pull the rug back up from under you. And god, the sense of bleak loss and regret of that Angelo track!

In a way, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

[LateReg]

I can relate to the regret re the Palmer house ending scene, but then again, it certainly was a unique way to experience it. The realization of how little time was left and yet we still hadn't seen a short-hair common-clothes Laura was palpable, adding to the sense of time running out. Then when we finally saw her, but not at all like we expected (Texas!?), that long, dark night drive was interminably long, the exchange with Alice, all of it, so interminably long because you knew it would end in a scream. And then when that scream rings out and the lights cut off, you're hit with the somewhat regrettable, somewhat horrifying realization you knew how it would end all along, giving an in-the-moment, unwanted, helpless finality to the last image. Then there's the tease of the credits--oh, there's actually more! Only for the staff listing superimposition to pull the rug back up from under you. And god, the sense of bleak loss and regret of that Angelo track!

In a way, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

That makes sense, but I gotta say...that was the same experience even those who didn't know about the scream had! I didn't know about Laura or the scream, yet you pretty much described my experience exactly, lol. Interminable and inevitable and unknowable and understood, it's just masterful at making you feel soul-crushing dread. Great description of what the end credits do, too.

[Soolsma]

I knew:

An image of Major Briggs would appear.

About an Asian woman. (Naido)

Opening scene in the Red Room.

About Carrie Page being from Texas and played by Lee.

Becky Briggs.

That's all I knew of that wasn't posted in the Spoiler thread. IIRC.

[YANA]

I can relate to the regret re the Palmer house ending scene, but then again, it certainly was a unique way to experience it. The realization of how little time was left and yet we still hadn't seen a short-hair common-clothes Laura was palpable, adding to the sense of time running out. Then when we finally saw her, but not at all like we expected (Texas!?), that long, dark night drive was interminably long, the exchange with Alice, all of it, so interminably long because you knew it would end in a scream. And then when that scream rings out and the lights cut off, you're hit with the somewhat regrettable, somewhat horrifying realization you knew how it would end all along, giving an in-the-moment, unwanted, helpless finality to the last image. Then there's the tease of the credits--oh, there's actually more! Only for the staff listing superimposition to pull the rug back up from under you. And god, the sense of bleak loss and regret of that Angelo track!

In a way, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

That makes sense, but I gotta say...that was the same experience even those who didn't know about the scream had! I didn't know about Laura or the scream, yet you pretty much described my experience exactly, lol. Interminable and inevitable and unknowable and understood, it's just masterful at making you feel soul-crushing dread. Great description of what the end credits do, too.

All of this. As well as that, for me part of the weird disorientating nature of the scene was the fact I'd seen it on those blurry YouTube videos of filming a year beforehand - for a brief moment I thought Coop had crossed over to the real world, and part of me still feels that might be a bit of the intention, or at least to capture the tone of reality.