Twin Peaks återvänder: Elaka rykten och litterär teaser

Något sen till festen såg jag den teaser som Mark Frost släppte till sin kommande bok först idag. Den har funnits ute sedan 28/7, men nytt för mig är nytt för bloggen. Hur som helst kan vi med lite detektivarbete och pausfunktionen på YouTube utröna följande:

1. Teasern öppnar med en bild av en låda som skickats till Gordon Cole. Lådan är uppenbart full med bevis och saker som är relaterade till Twin Peaks, varifrån paketet också skickats. Lådan öppnas och vi får se det första dokumentet. Ett foto föreställande en indianhövding med texten: "[...] you this photograph of Jospeh in Seattle, in 1903." Två dagbokssidor följer:

"[...] we seen already, so whoever drawn it up - and we no (felstavning av "know", min anm.) it wasn't him; he said an Injun give it to him - no doubt they had been in these parts previous. Denver Bob thinks this means they wrote down where the cave was a bit off the north so no jasper who just stole a glance at it could find it.

This is Injun country, no doubt. No run-ins with 'em yet but we saw plenty a strange shit in these woods like scarecrows and scenes all set in a certain strange way and up in high places these four-legged platforms made of timber, lashed with leather. Denver Bob thinks they're graves or some religious shit. Might be. Two of them had bodies on top, shriveled like mummies, picked clean, eyeballs and all, by vultures, which we've also seen plenty.

- Six days north of Spokane. Picked a good camp site near a big fast stream. Panned it for places and found traces of gold. Set up the tent and built a lean-to out of pine, of which there is much about. DB is surveying the land here about and we'll fix claim with the land office soon. Don't know where DB picked it up but he knows the ropes.

- A week of searching for this mine and it sure ain't where it said so on the map we took off that fella in Yakrina. A cave with vanes (felstavning igen, min anm.) of gold thick as bridge cable he told us. No such luck yet. But there's landmarks on that map."

Från detta kan vi utläsa att staden inte var grundad 1903 och de första vita män som kom dit var guldgrävare. Gruvan de talar om borde vara Owl Cave - central för seriens mytos. Denver Bob kan mycket väl vara en referens till BOB.

2. En kopp svart kaffe och sen ett kvitto på en 1947 Buick Roadmaster inhandlad samma år av Douglas Milford, sedermera borgmästare i Twin Peaks.

3. Två utdrag från vad som troligen är Project Blue Book - det projekt som Major Briggs nämner att militären sysslade med i Twin Peaks. I vår egen verklighet var Project Blue Book en undersökning av UFO-fenomen. Utdraget nämner flertalet sightings.

4. En bit paj och sen en hemligstämplad polisrapport daterad 12/7 1947:

" On 12 July 1947, Mr. Kenneth Arnold, Box 387, Boise, Idaho, was interviewed in regard to the report by Mr. Arnold that he saw 9 strange objects flying over the Cascade Mountains Range of Washington State on June 25th. Mr. Arnold voluntarily agreed to give the interviewer a written report of exactly what he had seen on the above-mentioned date. The written report of Mr. Arnold is attached to this report as Exhibit A.

AGENT'S NOTES: Mr. Arnold is a man of 32 years of age, being married and the father of two children. He is well thought of in the community in which he lives, being very much the family man and from all appearances a very good provider for his family. Mr. Arnold has recently purchased a home on the outskirts of Boise, and recently purchased a $5,000 airplane in which to conduct his business, all of which is explained in the attatched exhibit.

It is the personal opinion of the interviewers that Mr. Arnold actually saw what he stated that he saw. It is difficult to believe that a man of Mr. Arnold's character and integrity would state he saw objects and write up a report to the extent that he did if he did not see them. To go further, if Mr. Arnold can write a report of the character that he did while not having seen the objects that he claimed he saw, it is the opinion of the interviewer that Mr. Arnold is in the wrong business, that he should be writing Buck Rogers fiction. Mr. Arnold is very outspoken...[...]"

Och där har vi det igen. Årtalet 1947 och referens till Project Blue Book.

5. En journalanteckning daterad 9/9 1947 för den då sjuåriga Margaret Coulson, mer känd som The Log Lady:

"Patient has no physical complaints , other than hunger and a seemingly unquenchable thirst. After a night in the woods, she appeared to have suffered no symptoms of exposure - a balmy Indian Summer night, where the temperature dropped no lower than 58 degrees, helped in that regard.

Patient appears to be moderately dehydrated. She drank at least a pint of water while in the exam room, which patient claimed did little to ease her thirst.

Physical examination: Temperature and lymph nodes normal. Reflexes normal. Pupils normal, not dilated.

No visible injuries or wounds, aside from minor abrasions on both knees and elbows and this: recently raised or abraded skin on the back of her right knee, centered in the middle. Reddened or irritated marks that present in straight thin symmetrical lines that also form an unusual but perhaps random pattern, seen below: [bild på det kända triangelmönstret associerat med Owl Cave]"

Margaret har alltså haft kontakt med The Black Lodge eller liknande krafter sedan barnsben. Inte direkt förvånande. Men igen, 1947.

6. En frivilligansökan till flygvapnet för Douglas Milford, daterad 8/12 1941, det vill säga dagen efter attacken mot Pearl Harbor.

7. Ett vykort med Hollywood-motiv skickat till Mr. & Mrs. Lindstrom i Twin Peaks den 17/4 1969. Avsändare: Norma och Hank Jennings:

"Hi Mom and Dad from beautiful downtown Burbank (ha-ha). Los Angeles is so much fun! We took a movie studio tour today - Hank wanted me to take a fake "screen test" but I was too shy! Then he somehow got us tickets to The Tonight Show! Johnny Carson is so funny and handsome! Sammy Davis Junior was on the show and he sang and danced and told funny stories about his friends and so was this really funny overweight actor named Victor Buono who read some of his hilarious poems! We're having so much fun! Lots of love, Norma (and Hank!)"

8. En vedkubbe och en sen ett PM skickat från Gordon Cole till en agent med namnet överstruket:

"Date: 8-4-2016

From: Gordon Cole, Deputy Director

To: [Namn överstruket] Special Agent.

Dear Agent [namn överstruket],

The accompanying material is confidential and approved for your eyes only.

The enclosed dossier was recovered on 7-17-2016 from a crime scene that is still under active investigation. All details of this situation are classified three levels above top secret.

It is being given to you for comprehensive analysis, cataloging and cross-referencing content against all known databases under Code Red measures. We need to learn and verify the person or persons responsible for compiling this dossier and we need to know it yesterday!

Background: The content of the dossier appears to have some relationship to an investigation conducted in the northwest Washington State many moons ago by Special Agent Dale Cooper, who worked under my command at that time.

The case involved a series of homicides in and around a small town called Twin Peaks, most notably the murder of a young woman named Laura Palmer. That case is considered closed but aspects of it may be relevant to your work, so we are also granting you access to all of Agent Cooper's files and tapes.

Also attached is a document highlighting previous processing of the dossier by Bureau personnel.

Roll up your sleeves and get to work on this thing - time is of the essence - and get back to me with your findings ASAP.

Sincerely Yours,

Deputy Director Gordon Cole

PS. When you get done with this come and see me immediately. By then I may have more for you to do."

Tillsammans berättar dokumenten i videon en tämligen sammanhängande historia. Vi kommer med största sannolikhet göra ett rejält nedslag år 1947 där Douglas Milford och Margaret Coulson kommer spela viktiga roller. Milford är lite av en oväntad karaktär att få så mycket utrymme då han främst är med som comic relief i serien. Vidare kommer vi få följa en ny agent (se det avslutande PM:et) och även kanske göra ett längre nedslag tillbaka till 1903 och grundandet av staden. Project Blue Book kommer spela en betydande roll, men som Major Briggs påpekar i serien så lyssnade inte militären så mycket på signaler från rymden i Twin Peaks utan signaler av mer jordisk karaktär. Det enda som inte riktigt hör hemma är vykortet från Norma och Hank. Nåja, releasen (i USA) är snart bara två månader borta (18/10) och jag väntar mig ett exemplar dagen den landar hos Amazon.

Mycket information där, men lite smått och gott orkar ni nog med också. Först en tråkig nyhet. Michael J. Anderson, bättre känd som The Little Man From Another Place, har helt tappat koncepten. I en post på Facebook anklagar han David Lynch för att ha våldtagit och mordhotat sin egen dotter och baserat serien på detta. Vidare skulle Lynch ha iscensatt Jack Nance död och bett Anderson ta livet av sig. Posten läser:

"He totally did NOT rape his own underage daughter and then write a television series about it. She totally has NOT lived under a DEATH THREAT from her own father, all her life if she ever told. He NEVER had his "best friend" murdered. And he DEFINITELY NEVER suggested to me that I should kill myself! There's a whole bunch of other stuff he never did either."

Lynch själv har inte kommenterat anklagelserna, men hans dotter, Jennifer Lynch, skrev följande svar på Twitter:

"I just heard about [these accusations]. I am sorry that Mike is doing this. None of what he says is true, and I hope he receives the help and peace he needs."

Jag vet ärligt talat inte vad man ska säga om Andersons påhopp. Nog för att han inte fick återvända i den nya säsongen, men jisses...

En lite roligare nyhet att avsluta med är då att Showtime har officiellt bekräftat att serien kommer visas under 2017 års första halva och kommer ha en "okonventionell" release. David Nevin, VD för Showtime, har gett Lynch helt fria tyglar och säger att inte ens han vet hur många avsnitt det kommer bli eller hur långa de kommer vara. Han gissar på runt timmen per avsnitt, men säger samtidigt att Showtimes upplägg gör att avsnitten kan vara desto längre. Och, tack och lov säger jag - avsnitten kommer inte att släppas alla på en gång. Det blir ett avsnitt var eller varannan vecka. Den här serien ska avnjutas långsamt, inte hastas igenom. Och jag kommer hinna äta så mycket paj...