If you could make a Third Season...

General discussion on Twin Peaks not related to the series, film, books, music, photos, or collectors merchandise.

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Brad D
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If you could make a Third Season...

Post by Brad D »

all the talk about changing the second season made me come up with this idea. what would you do with a third season, picking up where the show left off? if this has been done before, sorry.
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Post by Audrey Horne »

oh, you start! you start.

frost talks on the doc how he and Lynch would have come back in full force and went back to more of the original premise focusing on life in the small town.

right now, I'm too consumed with the second season vision. But I know you have great ideas -so let me jump on your ride.

Of course if you begin it with Audrey, Ben and Pete dead, I'm jumping off your train.
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Post by Spiralizer »

First of all, hello all! This is my first post on this lovely board. On to business.

If I were in charge of ideas for season 3, I'd begin with the whole Coop/Bob thing obviously. I would have the possesed Cooper go undiscovered throughout the entire season up until the last few episodes. I could see a race against time between CoopBob killing someone (Audrey or Annie?) and somebody trying to rid him of Bob by way of the Lodges. Perhaps somebody like Hawk or Major Briggs makes the discovery or is visited by a messenger from the White Lodge. That whole thing would be loads of fun.

Ben Horne's head injury would not have killed him. Instead, I think his head wound would return him to being 'the evil Ben'. And now with Donna knowing the truth about Ben (being her father), a whole thing could be opened up with that. A Donna/Ben/Audrey/Doc. Hayward plot.

Speaking of Audrey, she obviously survived the blast along with Pete. Audrey would kind of drop back into what she was at the begining of the series....until she finds out she's knocked up. Yup, and her (awful) lover is out of the picture.

The reunion between Andy and Lucy would play out pretty much as expected. We'd see Andy with the new baby at some point. That would provide all the comic relief we'd need for what would be a very dark season otherwise.

Im sure Im forgetting a lot but that's it for now! I'd love to hear what others think or would like to see.
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Post by crazyscottishguy »

I remember i read that Lynch and Frost wanted Sheryl lee to come back for the 3rd season as a red-head. I want to think that she would've have come back to the show as "Diane", but she would have had a geek-like look, wearing glasses, and in the end Cooper, being posessed by BOB, would kill her.
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Post by Audrey Horne »

I found this regarding the third season from a Lost blog site -

Recently, a bunch of information about season three was revealed by Matt Haley. Haley is an artist who was trying to create a third season graphic novel which would have been distributed with the Gold Box edition. He got a thumbs up from Mark Frost, and spoke with Robert Engels about the writers' basic plans for year three. Unfortunately, David Lynch nixed the project for various reasons that are probably obvious, a decision that even Haley admits was understandable. However, Haley did reveal some of the things Engels told him about the direction the series would have taken. Apparently, the possession storyline was meant to be wrapped up fairly early in the third season; no surprise there, seeing as how evil Cooper/BOB really couldn't have been the star of the show for 22 episodes. When taking Frost's statement into account, this implies that even after being released from the Black Lodge, Cooper would continue to struggle with his unleashed dark side, possibly for the remainder of the series. After the possession story was finished, the show would jump ahead several years into the future, mainly because many of the characters were high-schoolers and the writers wanted to see what happened when Donna, James, Audrey, Bobby, Mike and Shelly were further along in their lives. In the future, Cooper would quit the FBI and become the town pharmacist (which I can totally see), and Harry would no longer be the sheriff and instead would have become the town recluse.

At some point during the third season, Sheryl Lee was going to join the show again, this time as a redhead (though doubtfully as another one of Laura's cousins). This would attract BOB, who would eventually murder her. This is probably the event which would have set a new storyline in motion. In regards to the show's mythology, the writers were going to reveal that Mike and BOB originated in a world full of creamed corn, which explains all the references to creamed corn in the movie. Haley also described a surreal scene where Truman would drive Mike backwards into the Black Lodge (what the fuck?). Haley has taken some flack for that last part, as some fans got confused and thought this was his idea, dismissing it as nothing more than bad fan fiction. But he didn't come up with that scene; he's just describing what Engels told him. This highlights the fact that much of TWIN PEAKS sounds pretty ridiculous on paper.

Hmmm, what else? Years ago in an interview with Fangoria, Ted Raimi (who played Rusty, the metalhead murdered by Windom Earle) revealed that he was going to return for the third season. Supposedly, Earle was eventually going to escape from the Lodge, possessing some of the dark powers of the beings which dwell there. He would wind up kidnapping a preppy college student (also played by Raimi), and transport the soul of Rusty into the college kid's body. This would have continued the concept of possession and twinning which PEAKS was playing with. I for one am happy to hear that Windom Earle would have lived.

Also in a Fangoria interview, Billy Zane mentioned that he would have likely returned for the third season as well. Apparently, Audrey was going to find out she was pregnant, which would have necessitated the return of John Justice Wheeler to Twin Peaks. This confirms that Audrey survived the bank explosion, which I don't think is a surprise to anybody. Lynch and Frost were actually considering a spin-off series where Audrey goes to Hollywood, which would have been called MULHOLLAND DRIVE. Obviously, this never happened, but Lynch did redevelop the project years later without the Audrey character.

And although this isn't really confirmed, I think it's a safe bet to assume Ben Horne would have returned to his evil ways following his head injury.

Another thing of note is the information contained in some of the spin-off books produced to tie-in with the series. While the books are not exactly canon, the writers did try to reference them when possible. (For instance, in THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FBI SPECIAL AGENT DALE COOPER, Agent Cooper travels to Deer Meadow to investigate the murder of Teresa Banks, and encounters resistance from Sheriff Cable. In FIRE WALK WITH ME, it's Agent Desmond who investigates the murder, as his character was created to replace most of a reluctant-to-return Kyle MacLachlan's scenes. However, the elements of Deer Meadow and Sheriff Cable remain in the film). Anyway, the TWIN PEAKS ACCESS GUIDE seems to offer some clues about a third season. For one thing, the fact that Andrew Packard is alive seems to be well-known in Twin Peaks, perhaps indicating that he went public after the bank explosion. Another interesting fact is the revelation that Major Briggs' work is based at Unguin Field Observatory (U.F.O.). Weird. Also, the book introduces the concept of the Circulars, a tribe that once lived in the area. Apparently, they believed in absolute karma, and would do things such as consume the flesh of good people to absorb their goodness. They would also smear themselves in elk feces so that no one else would try to do the same thing to them. Anyhow, the tribe now exists in Twin Peaks as the Circular Lodge, a secret society whose ways are largely unknown, and who have some mysterious connection to Owl Cave. While this may all be nonsense created just to fill the pages of the Access Guide, many of these facts were indeed written by series writers Harley Peyton, Robert Engels and Tricia Brock, which might indicate they were trying to plant seeds for the show's mythology.

The movie TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME also contains a handful of clues about what would have come next, as the film was made with the possibility of other sequels and prequels in mind. There's a scene in the shooting script (though it's unknown if it was actually filmed) set immediately after the conclusion of the series. Harry and Doc Hayward burst into Cooper's bathroom, where he's lying on the floor, bleeding and laughing hysterically. They pick him up and take him back to bed. Meanwhile, we see Annie at the hospital shortly after emerging from the Black Lodge. She has the Lodge ring on her finger, and a nurse lifts it off of her.

It's worth noting that all of the scenes featuring Dale and Laura together in the Lodge are, from Cooper's perspective, occurring after the end of the show. David Lynch confirmed that the message Annie gives to Laura about the good Dale being trapped in the Lodge was meant to be used either in the third season or in a future movie. Laura would have written this down, and eventually someone would've found the message, and it would then provide the clue about why Cooper is behaving so strangely, ultimately setting in motion the resolution of Cooper's possession storyline.

Robert Engels has said that, had the story continued, we would have seen more of Agent Chet Desmond and Phillip Jeffries, especially if the producers had trouble securing Kyle MacLachlan for more movies (as they had enough trouble getting him for his small role in FIRE WALK WITH ME). In particular, Jeffries' odd plotline about Judy in Seattle and the ring would have revealed more about the mythology of the Black Lodge. Supposedly, Engels explained that Judy is actually Josie's sister (probably their way of bringing Joan Chen back to the show), which is why Josie was always going to Seattle whenever she got in trouble. So, this implies that Josie's sister is mixed up with the forces of the Black Lodge and with a time-hopping FBI Agent. Interesting.
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Evenreven
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Post by Evenreven »

That's a nice summation. I knew all that (except the part about Windom Earle and Rusty the metalhead; what the hell is that about??), but it's nice to have it in one place.
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Post by TheArm »

Woah - I didn't know that MULHOLLAND DRIVE started out as an idea for an Audrey spin-off series! That's so cool!!

If I were the producers, I probably would have made the third season premiere a two-hour episode (like the second season premiere), and I would have used those 2 hours to wrap up the Cooper/BOB possession cliffhanger and any other dangling plot threads from Season 2. Then, in the second episode, I would have done the "5 years later" jump and I would have had all new storylines starting from scratch, like pressing the "reset" button on the show. I'd want to make it easy as possible for first-timers or lapsed viewers to tune in. I'd maybe even try to make that 2-hour opener a stand-alone TV movie in the fall and then have the third season proper start mid-season in Jan. or Feb., taking the "5 years later" jump.

The backlash against the show just felt so big by the end of Season 2 that I'd want to make it like it was a fresh new start for "Twin Peaks," with advertising and lots of promotion recoginizing that and urging viewers to "re-discover" the show they loved. If I were the producers, I would put almost all of my focus into making the show accessible again, much like how they did with Season 4 of "Alias," and I'd make it as easy to follow for at least the first half of of the season before easing the audience back into the complex mythology.

Planet of creamed corn? Driving backwards through the Lodge? Fine, but save 'em for later. I'd keep a lot of the Black Lodge spirit world off-stage for the first part of the season, since I think they played a big role in alienating a lot of the core audience. I'd focus on Cooper, Audrey, lots of coffee and pie, and introduce another big central "whodunit" mystery that makes pharmicist Cooper put on his trenchcoat (maybe he can be a pharmacist by day/town private eye by night?) and would pull Harry out of seclusion and back into the Sheriff's chair where he belongs because his town needs him.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents! I'd probably get slammed by all of the show's fans for dumbing it down, but I would just want to do everything possible to get my audience back so the show could run for several more seasons, but it's all just wishful thinking. :)
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Post by amonitrate »

so how do you see the Cooper/BOB issue revealed and resolved?

I've got some ideas but they're not formed yet. I feel like Major Briggs would be a big part, and someone might need to face the Black Lodge to get the good Dale out? I figure Coop would have to pass some trial or face his fear to get out.

My roommate had a great notion about Harry going in and facing the spirit of Josie.

Meanwhile, what would happen with the possessed Cooper? Is he like Leland, only occasionally possessed? Or is he totally evil?
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Post by joey m »

As has been said, the backlash was SO big. I think the best thing to do would've been to let "Twin Peaks" end just as it did, then start a new spin-off show in a big city setting (Philadelphia, with maybe Albert in the lead. offbeat forensic types are all over TV now) Lynch has proven that he can make a city just as creepy as a small town, and the big mysteries left over from the original Peaks show and movie could gradually be woven in once the new show had established itself.
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Post by Brad D »

seeing truman and mike go into the black lodge would have been great. here's how i would have done it:

the giant appears to truman and gives him clues that eventually lead to him discovering dopple coop. mike and harry could incapacitate dopple coop and take him back to the black lodge and rescue the real coop. later on windom earle could leave the black lodge but be possessed by bob to wreak havoc, but leave that revelation until when windom looks in a mirror. i would have liked that.

the planet of creamed corn is really ludicrous, i dont know how they would have pulled that off
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Post by The Magician »

Wow! That was great, Audrey! A fantastic read!

So, since I finished Twin Peaks (only half a year ago), I have been constantly working out ideas in my mind about what could have transpired in the third season. And I can remember the anger I felt by watching the final episode for the first time (which I hated, but now it is my second favorite episode, after Maddy's death). But, the lack of a season 3 is almost a mixed blessing, given some of the information I've uncovered about what was to come. For me, the 3rd season is always just around the corner, and the anticipation of it to finally come out will be one I will feel from now until I am in my grave.

5 years later really does not interest me. Nor does another 22 episode season. Season 3 should have a 2 hour opening (Directed by Lynch), and only 7 additional episodes, the last of which directed by Lynch. An 8 episode finale would have been perfect, staying away from overkill, but giving the audience enough to be satisfied. So, here's some of the ideas I had: (Please note this does not take Fire Walk With Me continuity into account, as the season would have been made before that, possibly erasing it's existence)

Cooper and Audrey do not get together. Annie does not die. While I agree that Evil Dale killing Annie would be a traumatizing scene and quite emotional, we already went through that with Maddy, and the story seems to necessitate Cooper and Annie belonging together. Audrey was just a fantasy for Coop anyways, but Annie is his love. Evil Dale's attempt to kill Annie would have continued to be a driving threat, but never accomplished. Evil Dale should kill at least one major character, though, probably female.

The Giant continues to guide Coop in the Lodge, where Josie and Laura interact with and help him. I think Windom Earle should be "dead" for the first half of the season, triumphantly and unexpectedly returning about episode 5, being a focus for the remainder.

Earle's cabin is found by Hawk and Briggs with no Leo, only spiders and a broken box. Leo's escape is never revealed, but he shows up at a climactic scene, forfeiting his life to save Shelly's (maybe from Evil Dale), thus redeeming his character and giving him a fantastic ending. As much as Shelly ending up with Gordon Cole is enticing, she and Bobby need to be together.

Ed and Norma... no idea what to do there. Nadine needs to be dealt with carefully, while Hank should never show up again. He's gone for good, baby.

And, a huge event that is covered by the first half of the season is the bank explosion. Andrew Packard is dead, while Pete is in a deep coma. He rests in the hospital, however, it is through him that Josie communicates with Truman and others. Pete is like a conduit between the Black Lodge and Twin Peaks, with Josie as his guide. Pete would be alright by the end of the season, maybe ending up in a wheelchair. His relationship with Josie would be quite touching.

I can't believe no one has ever mentioned this, but little Audrey Horne. What of her? The only thing that can be: Evil Audrey!

That's right, Audrey is evil now, half of her face horribly scarred (like Two-Face), and she becomes the evil Horne in charge of the company. I don't know what to do with Ben yet, but making him evil again is just too predictable. He should either be dead, so good he becomes a priest, or an amnesiac. Or better yet, he could become like Johnny Horne (or Leo Johnson) and become braindead.

Nevertheless, Audrey spends her energy blaming Donna (her sister) for her father's condition, and doing everything she can to ruin the Hayward family and end Doc's medical career. Audrey's internal struggle rivals that of Coop's, in fact the battle between one's inner good and inner evil is the driving force of the season, specifically for the two most popular characters.

John Justice wheeler... I'm still thinking about him. He is either the perfect human being he appears to be, every mother's dream, OR he's one of the most evil characters on the show, and everything is a front. Watching his performance in season two, either possibility works quite well. Nevertheless, he either helps or hinders her condition when he returns. The mysterious Brazilian murder is definitely a plot point.

Wrapping up Audrey's evil streak? I'm not sure it should be. Maybe it should be wrapped up in the 25 years later film, with Cooper convincing her to search deep into her heart and make amends with her sister, the then Dr. Donna Hayward.

Some other thoughts? Major Briggs is a major player, as is the Black Lodge. Remember, the battle between the White and Black Lodges (using Briggs and Earle as tools) has to come to a powerful crescendo. James comes back to find the Hayward family in ruins, Albert has to return, and more military figures setting up equipment in the woods. Truman might even start getting help from the Giant, as he has to take Coop's place as the central character. And a happy ending for most, with much of the mystery still open. Ah... what a season it would be.

Oh... and there are no aliens in Twin Peaks. The creamed corn planet idea is stupid. It is an alternate reality, dimension, whatnot, but not alien.
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Evenreven
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Post by Evenreven »

Good post! I have to say, though, some of your ideas make me very happy that the third season never happened. :lol:

I'll have to expand on that. A lot of what you write seems highly likely: Earle returning in some way to fight an epic battle with Briggs; Bob Cooper killing someone (but not Annie); something bizarre might happen to Audrey; Josie will be in the Lodge; etc etc. And none of these things sum up the good parts of Peaks for me (except Josie in the Lodge).

Audrey Dent seems like a fun idea on paper, but Twin Peaks isn't Gotham city. Don't get me wrong, I love Batman. In fact, I'm deeper into Gotham than Twin Peaks at the moment since I just read Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns and several Two-Face stories. But it's not that kind of story. And I say leave Project Blue Book to The X-Files too. Like Truman says "Twin Peaks is different". That excludes a lot of these things. Gotham is wordly; The X-Files is extra-terrestrial. Twin Peaks is a small town.

I LOVE your idea for Leo, though! I don't think Bob Cooper would try to kill Shelly (she doesn't seem like Bob's type), but she could be in some other terrible danger. That's really the only place the Leo character could go. If his mental state improves he goes to jail, so giving his life to save Shelly's gives very nice closure to the whole character and it's one of the few interesting things that can happen to it.

Also, the season would have to be short. And the last. They had pushed things really far and little remained of the original concept. If they had plans for a season 4, season 3 would have had to be massively different than what Engels has suggested, and focus on the life of a small town. New characters would have to be introduced, but they would have to be like, say, an old friend of Pete's or a new girl at the diner. Mundane town folk, NOT air force generals.

Again, Magician, I love your passion for the second season and I wish I felt it myself. Disagreement can be a beautiful thing.
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Post by Audrey Horne »

I'm picturing the creators talking to Sherilyn Fenn about having half her face scared from here on out. What I like about her is she wasn't shy about vocalizing her opinions -Miss Twin Peaks, "Sheilyn wasn't going to do it, I was like, 'Come on!'". She could agree to do it if Audrey could have a giant black suped up truck called the Lame Plot Destroyer, and she has a giant megaphone.

Nadine and Ed. Nadine begins doing jumping jacks and then tells Ed she's running for President. There's a loud sound and Ed and Norma look around -SMASH! Audrey's truck smashes through the Hurley living room, and Audrey takes out her megaphone, "THIS PLOT SUCKS!" Nadine looks at Ed, "Oh no, Evil Audrey's at it again!"

Ben holds Donna and cries, confessing he'll make up all the harm he's ever done. He wants to enter the Twin Peaks bake a cake father/daughter event next week. Donna touches his hand and says, "I'd like that a lot... father." RUMBLE, RUMBLE. Donna and Ben look around, and SMASH!!! Audrey's truck tears through the entire wall of Ben's office. Audrey takes out her megaphone again, "This plot is a clliche! BAD PLOT ALLERT!! LAME!" She backs the truck out and meniacally laughs. Donna cries and Ben runs to the phone. "Harry, hurry! Evil Audrey's struck again!"

Cooper and Annie hold hands in a large field of daisies, talking about the magic of Walt Disney. Annie spies a beautiful red rose, and runs ahead and picks it. She hold it out to Cooper, "I've never seen such beauty in the world..." BAM!!! Audrey's truck peels up into Annie, sending her flying out of frame. Audrey takes the magephone -"I'll get you, MacLachlan!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!" She spits out the window and flies off. Cooper takes out his casette player, "Diane, evil Audrey has struck again. She is systematically ruining every attempted plot point in the show. Can she be stopped." Annie limps back, "Ow!"
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Post by Brad D »

dopple coop killing someone would be too much for me. i think coop's sacrifice in the lodge gives annie a certain protection where bob/windom cant hurt her. just a thought.
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Post by Evenreven »

Audrey Horne wrote:[...]Audrey takes the magephone -"I'll get you, MacLachlan!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!" She spits out the window and flies off. Cooper takes out his casette player, "Diane, evil Audrey has struck again. She is systematically ruining every attempted plot point in the show. Can she be stopped." Annie limps back, "Ow!"
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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