Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

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bosguy1981
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Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by bosguy1981 »

This is an exceptionally long post to get the ball rolling but... I hope we could use this thread to speculate a bit about the original draft of the Season 3 script that Mark Frost and David Lynch gave to Kyle MacLachlan and other key members of the crew to read in the earliest stages of the process. As we know, several significant sections had to be changed due to actor availability and other things. Sabrina Sutherland suggested some scripted scenes would be too expensive to produce and had to reconsidered or cut. I thought it would be cool to have a central thread to speculate on what might have been, based on what little we know about that early draft. And of course, we don’t know much.

But this is not intended to be a thread for “What might have been if Lynch and Frost wrote something entirely different instead because I really hate season 3” and other critiques. Just a place to focus on what they actually seemed to have planned in the early screenplay before life (and death) got in the way during production. And speculate from there.

I am going to throw out some thoughts I had about missing (or changed) characters that I have been thinking about for months and wanted to finally put down in one place and share. Here goes...

Sheriff Harry S. Truman:
While I imagine many of the scenes at the sheriff’s station in Season 3 simply substituted Frank Truman for Harry, it would be interesting to see what small additional scenes may have been intended for Ontkean. Did he have a troubled wife and deceased soldier son, or was that written specifically for Forster’s Frank Truman? Is it possible there may have been material where Mr. C, impersonating Cooper, makes contact to Sheriff Truman, ahead of his arrival in Twin Peaks? When Kyle MacLachlan recently revealed that the original draft had the familiar Cooper a little more present (or words to that effect), my mind drifted to that kind of scenario and it gave me a thrill. But even if little of the early material in this season was changed after Ontkean bowed out, the arrival of Mr. C at the Sheriff’s station in Part 17 had the potential to be a really amazing scene between Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Ontkean. I guess this is the only area where I really, really missed Harry this season. Oh what could have been to see Ontkean’s eyes studying Mr. C in his office, all the tension between them. His absence in that scene (and the fact that Frank Truman greeting Mr. C does not have any particular suspense, compared even to Hawk being in that office instead), it adds a kind of humor to the fact that Robert Forster is seated and barely moving throughout that entire final sequence. As if Frost and Lynch have no idea what to do with him in this moment.

Philip Jeffries:
It’s a real shame Bowie was unable to participate in this project. I suspect Frost and Lynch wrote something really cool for him, because, well, it’s David Bowie. IIt would be wonderful to know what they had in mind. I can’t help but think about the time Sabrina Sutherland mentioned that there were certain things Mark and David wrote that were going to be way too expensive to film, and Sabrina had to break that news to David early on in the process of coming up with a budget for the project. I sometimes wonder if one of these things that was too costly was an extended sequence of Cole and Jeffries - as young men - investigating early Blue Rose stuff (as was suggested in a Tammy and Albert scene), and if the plan was to film Lynch and Bowie and use a similar de-aging digital technology that was used on Sheryl Lee in Part 17. I even wonder about them doing what could amount to a good chunk of an entire hour (like Part Eight) focused almost entirely on back story stuff like this. If any such thing was planned, I could see it getting dropped entirely if it became clear Bowie wasn’t going to be in it. Flashbacks to the past aside, I somehow suspect that Jeffries would have been one of the characters in the Sheriff’s station during that big final scene had Bowie been involved. Or maybe he would be traveling around in Part 18, lost again, as in the Missing Pieces.

Log Lady:
I am so grateful Catherine Coulson was able to participate in this season. Obviously she would have played a larger role, and certainly beyond phone conversations with Hawk, were she not in such dire health. I’m sure they wrote something special for Margaret in the original draft too, and that she would have been an important presence in the final scenes. What if, can you imagine, it was she (and not Freddie) who would be instrumental in ending BOB? For whatever reason, I also wonder if the final confrontation scene in the sheriff’s station may have been scripted elsewhere. I think about the Log Lady’s warning to Hawk, something about to “watch for the one under the moon on Blue Pine Mountain” or something to that effect. I wonder if that was even referring to a location that was scripted to be used that was ultimately changed, but Coulson had already died, and there was something perfectly beautiful and poetic about it anyway so the lines stayed in the finished cut. I’m probably wrong about that but it just seems to refer to something that I can’t help but imagine we were supposed to see on screen, but never did.

Audrey Horne:
I will always be fascinated to know how Audrey’s original intended storyline would have played, and how it would have impacted Richard Horne’s story. Richard was such a big part of the new season. And it seems his material was all filmed before Lynch really knew what the heck he was going to write to get Sherilyn Fenn back on board. Based on what Mark Frost has said in his Q&A (and not what I would glean from The Final Dossier, written much later), all we really seem to know about Audrey in the original script is she owned a hair salon in Twin Peaks and her son Richard attacks her in a scene that was very likely re-purposed for Sylvia Horne in the final product. I’d love to know which actors Audrey would have appeared with. Did she reach out to her father after the attack by Richard? I sometimes imagine her doing Shelly’s hair at this salon, shortly after Becky has flung Shelly off a windshield and Richard has tossed around Audrey, both talking about the sad state of their children’s lives. I usually imagine Gerstner Hayward, as another hairdresser, eavesdropping, secretly connected to it all because of Steven. Ok now I’m really just daydreaming. But what else of Audrey? Has Sherilyn Fenn said a peep else about what might have been? Biggest questions: Did the original story have her acknowledge the paternity of Richard? Was it even discussed? Was there a powerful scene for Audrey that would sort of matched the one given to Diane in the Buckhorn hotel room, revealing what happened to her? And was there any husband (Charlie or otherwise) in Audrey’s life?

Man From Another Place and Philip Gerard:
It’s too bad about Michael J. Anderson. What a treat it would be to see the Episode 2 Red Room sequence come together again in Part 2 of the new season again. The finished version, with Gerard in his place, and only Laura recreating the lines from the original series, was haunting in its own way. Especially without the music. Would Lynch have re-used Dance of the Dream Man in its entirety had the Man From Another Place been there to dance again? Seeing the scene now, it’s hard to imagine that music in the new scene. Unless it was distorted or the Solo Sax version or something. Would love to understand how it all would have come together, and what that would mean for Philip Gerard. On the one hand, there’s something really wonderful about the idea that he wouldn’t show up until Part 17. Introduced exactly as Gerard is in the finished version, stepping out of the darkness, reciting the poem, and then leading Cooper to an important discovery.

In conclusion I will say, I have always wanted to read the original draft of Fire Walk With Me. I was fascinated by how the early scenes in Deer Meadow would have differed with Cooper in place of Chet Desmond and the many other things that may have been in that screenplay. The way Fire Walk With Me changed from conception to shooting script to final film is one of my favorite behind-the-scenes parts of Lynch’s career, partly because it’s exciting to imagine just how different the finished product might have been if fates had been different and he was allowed to cast and shoot and edit it as he may have wished had certain compromises not been required. The changes from Mulholland Drive as a television pilot into the beautiful feature film it became is another example of this in Lynch’s career. Well, I must say, I wonder if this newest season of Twin Peaks may have turned out to even be the most extreme example of the finished product changing significantly due to behind the scenes circumstances. Might make the changes to early drafts of FWWM and Mulholland Drive look like nothing in comparison. I am among the people who accepts the new season for what it is, and I don’t really have any complaints or expectations that were foiled. I adore it. But I also love to imagine how (in an alternate timeline if you will) their initial plans might have worked out and I get thrilled about those ideas too.

Okay this post is plenty long enough now. Would love to hear some of your thoughts, ideas, suspicions, and other things you glean from the little we know about this.
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Henrys Hair
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by Henrys Hair »

I have a feeling the only Audrey scene in the original script is the confrontation with Richard.

I also suspect the scenes with Gerstin Hayward were originally written to feature Donna instead.

I love the idea of Philip Gerard's first appearance being his emergence from darkness in episode 17.
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by mtwentz »

I didn't really miss MJA from the show itself, I thought Gerard combined with Evolution of the Arm worked just as good or better, but I think his presence in the promos would have helped promote the show.
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krishnanspace
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by krishnanspace »

Also the early draft had Naido play a completely different role and there was hardly any Twin Peaks
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by eyeboogers »

krishnanspace wrote:Also the early draft had Naido play a completely different role and there was hardly any Twin Peaks
Source? especially for the Naido part?
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by Pinky »

Henrys Hair wrote:I have a feeling the only Audrey scene in the original script is the confrontation with Richard.

I also suspect the scenes with Gerstin Hayward were originally written to feature Donna instead.

I love the idea of Philip Gerard's first appearance being his emergence from darkness in episode 17.
I loved this too, hearing him speak normally. I was starting to think that Gerard must have died, so it was great to see him show up.
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N. Needleman
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by N. Needleman »

I don't think any of it was ever written for Donna.
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by N. Needleman »

krishnanspace wrote:Also the early draft had Naido play a completely different role and there was hardly any Twin Peaks
This is all false.
AnotherBlueRoseCase wrote:The Return is clearly guaranteed a future audience among stoners and other drug users.
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by eyeboogers »

N. Needleman wrote:I don't think any of it was ever written for Donna.
Don't think so either. Season 2 left us with Donna departing the town. It would take more than a little re-writing swapping Gersten's plot for Donna. Besides I think Lynch is a fan of Witt's acting. She is really great in "Hotel Room":
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by mtwentz »

eyeboogers wrote:
N. Needleman wrote:I don't think any of it was ever written for Donna.
Don't think so either. Season 2 left us with Donna departing the town. It would take more than a little re-writing swapping Gersten's plot for Donna. Besides I think Lynch is a fan of Witt's acting. She is really great in "Hotel Room":
I thought I read somewhere on the old spoilers thread that Lara Flynn Boyle turned down returning as Donna because she was unhappy the direction the character had taken in the new script, "i'm not going to let them do that to Donna!' Maybe it was just rumor, but I remember something along those lines being posted on dugpa a long time ago.

Edit: Maybe it wasn't the Spoilers thread but while the series was airing.
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N. Needleman
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by N. Needleman »

Pretty sure that was tabloid bullshit.

There was also a pretty thin critic's take on the Just You episode (was it Part 12?) which speculated that Renee crying in the booth over the song was originally meant for Donna - a few overzealous fans took that as gospel scoop. It wasn't, it was just that critic's vibe.
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krishnanspace
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by krishnanspace »

N. Needleman wrote:
krishnanspace wrote:Also the early draft had Naido play a completely different role and there was hardly any Twin Peaks
This is all false.
Sabrina said that during some convention.
Got the link https://www.reddit.com/r/twinpeaks/comm ... it-android
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N. Needleman
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by N. Needleman »

Well, if we're going that far back to before the 18-order it could be anything. In the 18, no, that wasn't the case. But I guess I'll have to pore over that 40 minute long interview to see exactly what she says. Unless you feel like timestamping it.
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krishnanspace
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by krishnanspace »

N. Needleman wrote:Well, if we're going that far back to before the 18-order it could be anything. In the 18, no, that wasn't the case. But I guess I'll have to pore over that 40 minute long interview to see exactly what she says. Unless you feel like timestamping it.
I saw that video long time back,so don't remember the exact time where she talks about it
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krishnanspace
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Re: Season 3, The First Draft - Speculation etc.

Post by krishnanspace »

She also mentions that due to budget constraints there were lot of scenes David wanted to shoot but wasn't possible.
Maybe more scenes at the Fireman's palace?
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