SPOILERS: Inconsistencies in the Secret History of Twin Peaks

[madeleineferguson]

This is a thread dedicated to cataloging the inconsistencies found in the Secret History of Twin Peaks. There appear to be many "mistakes" found in the Secret History of Twin Peaks that do not line up with known facts from the original series.

This is not a thread to admonish Mark Frost. He created a beautiful and brilliant book, truly a gift to the real fans of Twin Peaks. The book is so finely detailed, clearly a lot of care and thought went into its creation. One has to wonder if the inconsistencies/mistakes were included with purpose. Perhaps these inconsistencies are actually clues that will point us to the true origin and purpose of the dossier?

I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.

[madeleineferguson]

I'll start.

Page 191 - Ilsa Lindstrom

We know that Norma's mother was actually Vivian, and she did not pass away in 1984. Jane Greer appeared as Vivian in three episodes, and had a fairly major story arc. Vivian's new husband, Ernie Niles was played by James Booth and appeared in five episodes. These characters had a real impact on the town of Twin Peaks, and it is impossible that Mark Frost forgot or was unaware of their existence.

Why would someone alter the truth about Norma's mother in the dossier? Why would the archivist include a random postcard? How would he even get his hands on it? And what about the stamp/postmark on the postcard? Was this postcard fabricated?

[madeleineferguson]

Page 143 - Margaret Coulson's tattoo

We know this is not the tattoo found on the Log Lady's leg. In fact, the actual symbol found on Margaret's leg is on the cover of the book. Mark Frost knew about the existence of this symbol, it is unlikely he did not remember its origin.

Someone must have altered this hospital report.

[LonelySoul]

Don't forget - I have this spreadsheet going to compile it all: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

It's set up to easily see everything without wading through comments. If anyone else wants to help and is willing to follow the format, send a request via the document and I'll let you in.

[LonelySoul]

Page 143 - Margaret Coulson's tattoo

We know this is not the tattoo found on the Log Lady's leg. In fact, the actual symbol found on Margaret's leg is on the cover of the book. Mark Frost knew about the existence of this symbol, it is unlikely he did not remember its origin.

Someone must have altered this hospital report.

I suppose it's also possible the tattoo changed over time, but that seems unlikely. Maybe there are forces at work that shift the tattoo from the symbol we see on Briggs to the one on Margaret over time. I wonder, if we were to check out Carl's knee, what his symbol really looks like today.

[fearltd]

I know it's mentioned in Dr. Jacoby's letter that Leland Palmer came from a wealthy family in Seattle (pg 324), when in episode 12 it's mentioned his grandfather Joshua Palmer settled in Twin Peaks 70 years ago. Also on the previous page, as I'm sure was mentioned in the other thread, it talks about Windom Earle's breakdown as happening in the interim between Teresa Banks' and Laura Palmer's murders, and that he "shot" Cooper, when it was always established he was stabbed. I guess it could be written off as Briggs not having the correct facts.

Also, not necessarily sure if this counts as an inconsistency, but the book mentions Sam Stanley suffered from a breakdown soon after returning to Philadelphia (pg 322) and never returned to active duty. But in the pilot of course, Cooper tells Diane to give the fingernail sample to Albert instead of Sam. Assuming he's talking about a different Sam, or his breakdown happened after the pilot.

[Mr. Reindeer]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned yet -- the dates in the book for the Ed / Norma / Hank love triangle don't add up. The football fumble occurred in November '68 (so Hank & Ed were still in HS). They graduated (presumably in June '69) and Ed shipped out to Vietnam, Hank courted Norma and proposed to her around Christmas. They got married -- and Norma sent a honeymoon postcard to her parents in April 1969.....?!

(This goes hand in hand with the Moon Landing stamp -- would would make a hell of a lot more sense if the date stamp on Norma's postcard said 1970, as it SHOULD, given the timeline. The plot thickens? Has anyone done research into when exactly SDJ and Victor Buono both appeared on an LA taping of Carson, if ever?)

[OK,Bob]

Has anyone done research into when exactly SDJ and Victor Buono both appeared on an LA taping of Carson, if ever?)

According to IMDb, Buono first appeared on the Tonight Show in June 1971. I see no episode where he and SDJ both appeared, let alone both at an L.A. taping...

[Jerry Horne]

Page 203. Photo says "Big Ed and Norma at the RR"

In fact it's a shot from The Roadhouse.

[Noidea]

I can forgive all of these errors except for two that really stand out to me because they were a significant part of season 2's narrative. Pete playing checkers and Norma's mother. I haven't finished reading the book yet but do these changes really serve the narrative?

[Audrey Horne]

Pete playing checkers and not chess is used as a metaphor for how he lives his life. Catherine does not actually play a game of hardball. It was used simply to describe the motivations of how The Archivist sees these two. Meaning Pete lives simply, and not calculating.

[gonetocroatan]

Pete playing checkers and not chess is used as a metaphor for how he lives his life. Catherine does not actually play a game of hardball. It was used simply to describe the motivations of how The Archivist sees these two. Meaning Pete lives simply, and not calculating.

I agree that The Archivist is using the idiom only to describe Pete's character, but I can't believe its unintentional--especially since MF confirmed that he revisited S1-2 especially for this book. 'Playing hardball' is a way more common phrase; bringing up chess and Pete together makes me think at minimum he's trolling us a bit. If there's more to it, it's hard to say how it could serve the narrative. Maybe another clue that things didn't happen exactly as we remember them, like that "Lana-won-Miss-Twin-Peaks" thing. I have no idea how they're going to pull this off!

[LonelySoul]

Page 203. Photo says "Big Ed and Norma at the RR"

In fact it's a shot from The Roadhouse.

I'd also like to point out that on page 234 we get a photo of Hank Jennings that is captioned "Hank Jennings's last day at the RR." It's of him in a booth, so he is indeed at the diner. However, this shot occurred when it was revealed that Hank, who had just gotten out of jail recently, was eavesdropping on (I think) James, Maddie and Donna. Well before his death. But I guess it's just a photo, right?

I can forgive all of these errors except for two that really stand out to me because they were a significant part of season 2's narrative. Pete playing checkers and Norma's mother. I haven't finished reading the book yet but do these changes really serve the narrative?

I just want to reiterate that this thread isn't about forgiving or not forgiving these alleged errors. It's about compiling them to see where they may lead.

Bo and I have updated the spreadsheet a lot: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[Audrey Horne]

Gone, Frost didn't actually say Lana won Miss TP... He said "you might remember her as 1989's Miss Twin Peaks." I took it as him using a broad stroke to describe a forgotten footnote character to the average viewer.

[OK,Bob]

Great idea to compile all of these - thanks! I'll have notes upon rereading the book. Some quick -off the top of my head - initial thoughts after glancing over the current spreadsheet, itemized by page number:

1 Ronette "stepped out over the state line” from northern Washington - so that must’ve been into Idaho. But perhaps there are events in Seattle – we know Judy had a place there! – that are also involved in the Laura Palmer case?

143 In the book, the tattoo is also suggested to be just the outline of the triangles, not solid shapes as seen in the series (on Margaret and Briggs). Indeed, given that the actual shape appears on the cover of the book – and hidden on the spine and the spine of the recovered dossier – it seems unlikely this gaffe was unintentional.

175 Though Harry does say Andrew died “last year” in the Pilot, he later (Ep 1, I believe) says he died, “a year and a half ago,” when admitting his involvement with her to Cooper. September 1987 actually fits pretty well – it might seem like “last year”, but is closer to a “year and a half ago.”

191 Perhaps a revised back-story to eliminate Annie Blackburn’s existence?

219 BOB showed up the night Eckhardt and Josie died. If Cooper/BOB forged information in the dossier, I might suggest BOB had knowledge of events involving characters riddled with fear and jealousy… (Maybe grasping at straws!)

324 I can easily see Laura and/or Jacoby lying about her age. Neither wanted her parents involved, and Jacoby was rather unprofessional (see The Missing Pieces and Cooper’s reading on him) in regards to Laura…

Let’s not forget the placement of Fat Trout trailer park on the outskirts of Twin Peaks (which may indeed be reinforced in season 3, as suggested by leaked photos). Deer Meadow was established in the pilot and in the Missing Pieces to be in “the southwest corner of [Washington], 105 miles from the FBI office in Portland, Oregon. There is an actual Wind River (Theresa Banks was found floating in Wind River) in southwest Washington, northeast of Portland, albeit not quite far enough to match the established geography. Yet The Secret History introduces another Wind River that feeds or flows from the Pearl Lakes…