Series co-creator Mark Frost pens book for 2015 release

Oct 17, 2014 17:31 GMT  ·  By
Laura Palmer and Special Agent Dale Cooper in the iconic Red Room in “Twin Peaks”
   Laura Palmer and Special Agent Dale Cooper in the iconic Red Room in “Twin Peaks”

It’s been 25 years since ABC pulled the plug on one of the most iconic television series of all times, “Twin Peaks” from Mark Frost and David Lynch, during which time we’ve got nothing but radio silence on the possibility of revisiting that universe, but after all, it’s been well worth the wait.

In 2016, Showtime will air a one-time revival of the series: a season comprising 9 episodes, with Lynch and Frost fully on board again and main members of the cast, which will hopefully deliver some form of closure.

For fans who feel like they can’t wait this long, there’s even more good news: a book is also coming.

“Twin Peaks,” a show like no other before

“Twin Peaks” was a show that revolutionized serialized television in both subject matter and manner of presentation. It is now considered a cult classic for daring to be different, for being so bold as to try to tell a mystery story with the pre-established goal of not solving the mystery in the end.

It tried but it ultimately failed, because ABC bowed down to pressure from the audience and went against the creators’ wish and solved the mystery. Of course, fans know that the mystery in question was “who killed Laura Palmer?,” a bright and very promising teen who had shown up on the river bank wrapped in plastic after having been raped and tortured for days on end.

The show was canceled after 2 seasons as ratings took a nosedive when frustrated viewers felt they were being “deceived” in not being offered this answer, oblivious to the fact that focusing on the murder, they were missing out on the experience Frost and Lynch had prepared for them.

And the experience of that eerie and very dangerous world was what they wanted to achieve with the show.

Catch up with your favorite characters in “The Secret Lives of Twin Peaks”

So, when ABC canceled it, fans were left frustrated: they had found out who had killed Laura, but they had no answer for all the other mysteries carefully planted in each episode. The feature film, “Fire Walk with Me,” did even less to address this, which, in turn, translated into even more frustration and sense of disappointment.

This explains the enthusiasm with which news of the revival was received. To make the experience even more immersive, Frost is writing a book that will pick up after the series ended and fill this 25-year gap until the revival, The Wrap confirms.

In other words, with “The Secret Lives of Twin Peaks,” which comes out in 2015 (just in time for you to read it before the 2016 revival) through Macmillan subsidiary Flatiron Books, fans will be able to catch up with “what has happened to the people of that iconic fictional town since we last saw them 25 years ago,” while also getting a “deeper glimpse into the central mystery that was only touched on by the original series.”

“This has long been a dream project of mine that will bring a whole other aspect of the world of Twin Peaks to life, for old fans and new. I couldn't be more thrilled,” Frost says.

Prophecy or just making wonderful use of a great opportunity?

In the final episode of “Twin Peaks,” the dead Laura Palmer tells Special FBI Agent Dale Cooper, who had traveled to Twin Peaks to solve the murder case, that she will see him again in 25 years. The air date for the revival coincides with this “deadline,” which has led to some talk that Lynch and Frost had planned this all along.

In other words, once they found out that the show was getting canned, they started planting the seeds for this revival, which they felt confident could happen 2 and a half decades later.

The book announcement could back this theory up, in that it too was part of this very bold and longterm plan. Because, otherwise, why would Frost be releasing a book?

There are also those who see a prophecy in Laura’s possibly-random comment, and those who think that they’re just making wonderful use of a great opportunity. Interest in “Twin Peaks” has never really died down with fans, but it increased considerably in the past several years. Someone was bound to pick up the project eventually, under the right circumstances.