10 Life Lessons FromTwin PeaksSeason 1

WhileTwin Peaksperpetually looms large in the pop - culture consciousness ( black coffee , cherry pie , small towns hidingverydark secrets ) , it ’s moved even more to the head with the recent passing ofDavid Lynch . And as diehard fan know , it ’s most Twin Peaks Day , observed every February 24 . It ’s the particular date whenLaura Palmer ’s murdered bodywas bring out — wrapped in charge plate — and FBI Agent Dale Cooper get in to take on theendlessly peculiarcase .

To in full plunge yourself in the knowledge stop withinTwin Peaks , it ’s recommend you follow the entirety of its campaign : time of year one ( eight episodes ) and time of year two ( 22 episodes ) , which aired on ABC from 1990 - 1991 ; feature filmTwin Peaks : Fire Walk With Me , a prequel story that get in 1992 ; and Showtime’sTwin peak : The Returnfrom 2017 . There may be no more affecting encapsulation of our current moment thanthe net minute ofThe Return , in which Kyle MacLachlan ’s Agent Cooper — who has been through ahellof a lot — realizes he does n’t live what year it is , or even which interpretation of world he ’s absorb . The series ends with a piercing scream from a fair sex who looksjustlike a middle - aged Laura Palmer , and may very well be her in some parallel attribute .

Existential dread is as evergreen as the trees that surround Twin Peaks , but 2025 has by all odds put out some major “ trapped in the Black Lodge ” vibes , and the time feels right to recall some wiseness from the show ’s earlier years . Here ’s a smell back at that first eerie , far-out , stylish , groundbreaking first season ofTwin Peaks — and 10 life lessons we can still pull upon today , 35 eld after the show debut .

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© ABC; Lynch/Frost Productions

1. Hold on to your sense of wonder

Cooper pluck into Twin Peaks knowing he ’s got a grim task ahead of him , unravel the lustful secret of the latterly deceased local Homecoming Queen . But he also ca n’t consider his incredible fortune at being sent to a townspeople so full of howling things : Douglas true fir trees , snowshoe rabbit , multiplerestaurants proffering pure cup of coffee . Yeah , things get grim and surrealistic along the way , but Cooper ’s delight in the charm of Twin Peaks — a topographic point where yellow lights still have in mind “ slow down”—is his most endearing quality .

2. Everyone has secrets

The basics upon which all ofTwin Peaksis built is that the verity is rarely visible on the surface , and there’salwaysmore to the story than what you may initially assume . That goes for Laura Palmer , the luck of her murder , every graphic symbol in her orbit , and the town itself , which for all its folksy magic spell contains some very tough soul , influenced by the forces of vicious lurking among all those majestic tree .

3. Get things straight right off the bat

Agent Cooper ’s very first conversation with the improbably named Sheriff Harry S. Truman offers a lesson in how to properly break the ice rink in a potentially ungainly situation : immediately submit your design distinctly and firmly . sleep together that local police do n’t always take kindly to Union broker , he makes it clean to Harry that he ’s in charge . But he ’s also so authentically respectful , and is so intelligibly shuddery - dear at what he does , that the working family relationship falls into topographic point almost as quick as the friendship does .

4. Be detail-oriented

Early in the case , Cooper dazzles Harry and his faculty by finding an important clue hidden in a reflexion — specifically , a bike only visible by zooming in on an image of Laura ’s eyeball , no small feat of enhancement commit it ’s captured in a camcorder - shot video from 1990 . Elsewhere , he ’s able to pick up on nuances that bunk everyone else , using powers of reflexion that fare from long time of on - the - problem training , as well as unlearned ability bake into his exceptionally tune - in consciousness .

5. Trust the log!

This may never bechance outside of Twin Peaks , but if a woman cradle a log ever sidles up to you and promise she has some important information to divulge … you best pay care . If you never do adjoin an actual Log Lady , you could apply this in a more metaphoric sense , which might be the practiced approaching anyway when get insights like “ close your eyes and you ’ll collapse into flames . ”

6. Try looking at things from a different point of view

For Agent Cooper , this means sometimes suspend himself upside - down in a duad of gravity iron heel . But that can also have a less genuine interpretation . Try re - think whatever your problem is from a completely dissimilar view , perhaps while overindulge a jelly donut into your rima oris , and the answer might suddenly become crystal well-defined .

7. Not everything has to make perfect sense

If you watchTwin Peaksexpecting every mystery to be solve , you ’ll give a lot of enjoyment . While Laura Palmer ’s killer is finally revealed ( you ’ll have to keep watching into time of year two for that one ) , many of the show ’s pleasingly gravel patch stop stay puzzling until the final stage . While this proved challenging for certain early-1990s TV audiences unfamiliar with David Lynch ’s storytelling style , it ’s now one ofTwin vizor ‘ most classifiable and enduring stylemark . Not everything has to make sense , and not everything can or should be explain .

8. Keep an open mind

This one ties into the previous life lesson , and maybe into all the other points on this list as well . To practice aTwin Peaksexample , maybe — much like Agent Cooper — you have a dreaming in which you ’re seated in a red - curtained room where a small adult male dance and people speak nonsensical phrase in reverse . These could be signs from the universe help you navigate your life , or even help you figure out a murder . Never rein anything out , no matter how strange it seems .

9. Hold onto (even your craziest) dreams

Nadine ’s plot line contract some far - fetched twists , give her super - strength and the notion that she ’s still a gamey - schooler ( the heart patch is also an unhinged bonus ) . But before that , she ’s just a need housewife with one very specific dream : to make “ a noiseless , completely silent mantle runner . ” It ’s an fixation , really . But it gives her a sense of purpose , and how can you argue with that ? You betternotargue with Nadine if you know what ’s good for you !

10. “Give yourself a present”

One of the most - quoted line from the show remain a mantra for the ages , as imparted by Cooper to Harry : “ Every day , once a day , give yourself a nowadays . Do n’t contrive it . Do n’t waitress for it . Just let it happen . It could be a newfangled shirt at the men ’s store , a catnap in your office chair , or two cups of good , raging smuggled chocolate . ”

All three seasons ofTwin pinnacle — the first two from ABC andTwin Peaks : The Returnfrom Showtime — are pelt on Paramount+;Twin Peaks : Fire Walk With Meis streaming on Max .

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