Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier
Author: Mark Frost
Published: 2017
Here’s a book that has to have one of the smallest possible audiences likely to find it entertaining. Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier is a collection of FBI files assembled by fictional character Tammy Preston on other characters from the Twin Peaks tv series. It is written by Mark Frost, who is one half of the creative team behind Twin Peaks, along with David Lynch. Instead of telling a complete story, it is a very quick read of fill in the blank details for one character’s theories of what exactly is going on in Twin Peaks (the town) and a few details on what the characters were doing when not on screen. So to rundown: if you haven’t seen all of Twin Peaks, this isn’t for you. If you prefer your Twin Peaks to be as mysterious as David Lynch left it, or if you are David Lynch, this isn’t for you. Also, if you are not a fan of spending a good deal of cash on a book you can read in about 90 minutes, this might not be for you.
I’m giving this five stars however, so obviously this book is for some people. A little about my thoughts on Twin Peaks. The first two seasons of Twin Peaks were some of the most original and engrossing television I’d ever watched. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was an initial disappointment that revealed itself as an amazing movie on rewatch. Finally, the new series Twin Peaks: The Return was the best television I’ve watched since Justified went off the air (and something I gladly would watch ahead of Game of Thrones this season) and then dig into articles and podcasts the next day to try and dissect what I had just watched.
The Return was the kind of series I needed to talk about with anybody I could find that watched it, which sadly was not enough people. The idea of getting more details on what’s been going on in the world of the show is very appealing, and my only complaints with this book are that I wish it was longer (and had more photos). Tammy Preston basically serves as a mechanism for Mark Frost to decode or theorize on all of the David Lynch oddities, from the Black Lodge to time travel and doppelgangers. The chapters on Major Briggs, Donna Hayward, Annie Blackburn and Audrey Horne all gave significant new information on the characters than what is revealed in The Return. Other characters like Wyndom Earle, Philip Jeffries and Laura Palmer provide less details but plenty of theorizing on what it all means.
Part of what makes Twin Peaks so fun is that the answers aren’t all provided on the show, so the viewer is constantly both challenged to come up with their own conclusions and also forced to experience the show without expectations as to what will happen next. Those same attributes make it a perfect candidate for analysis and expanded universe style writing. Although this is “Final” Dossier, I’d gladly come back for followups in this format in the future. Highly recommended for fans of the show.
- 5 Barrels
- General Fiction
