Line #6 Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe


1	[[quoteright:214:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fwwmposter_3663.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:214:''"And the angels wouldn't help you, because they've all gone away."'']]
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4	''Fire Walk with Me'' is the 1992 film prequel ([[TimeyWimeyBall and sequel]]) to ''Series/TwinPeaks'', and follows the events leading up to the death of Laura Palmer in the pilot episode. It is directed by the co-creator of the series, Creator/DavidLynch. Production for the film started just after the series ended. The movie featured several cameos by characters from the series (including Creator/KyleMacLachlan as Agent Cooper) and chronicled the final week leading up to Laura's murder and discovery in the series proper.
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6	Released after the series' 1991 conclusion, the film follows two separate plot threads. The first, which takes place a year before the events of the pilot, follows a pair of FBI agents (Creator/ChrisIsaak and Creator/KieferSutherland) who are investigating the death of a waitress in the town of Deer Meadow. The second begins after one of the agents disappears while following up on a clue, the film cuts to a year later, where high school student Laura Palmer (Creator/SherylLee) is balancing her perception as Twin Peaks' resident "good girl", a pair of boyfriends, hidden secrets and the unsettling behavior of her father, Leland Palmer (Creator/RayWise)...
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8	The movie had a number of deleted scenes left on the cutting room floor, which were eventually stitched together years later as a standalone movie ''The Missing Pieces'', included as part of the Blu-ray collection of the original series and released on a standalone disc alongside ''Fire Walk With Me'' under Creator/TheCriterionCollection after the {{revival}}, ''The Return'', finished airing. Lynch has described both ''Fire Walk With Me'' and ''The Missing Pieces'' as being helpful to explain the story of ''The Return'', [[MindScrew at least insofar as one can actually explain the story of a David Lynch work]].
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10	----
11	!!''Fire Walk with Me'' provides examples of:
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13	* AbusiveParents: If you haven't watched the series, it should come as a shock when [[spoiler:Leland is possessed by BOB, who rapes Laura. Laura's mother is powerless to stop the abuse]].
14	* AcousticLicense: Averted in the scene in the Bang Bang Bar, where everyone has to shout to be only barely heard - and are consequently subtitled [[RuleOfSymbolism just like the inhabitants of the Black Lodge]].
15	* AwfulTruth:
16	** Laura finding out that [[spoiler:her father ripped pages from her diary]] causes her to have a HeroicBSOD.
17	** Laura's mother Sarah Palmer clearly knows something's going on (which makes her scream of "What's happening in this house?" at the start of the series), but refuses to let herself put it together.
18	* BerserkButton: At the bar, Laura snaps out of her general apathy and hedonism when she sees Donna in trouble, screaming and attacking the guy who's attempting to molest her.
19	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Laura is DoomedByCanon, but in the last scene of the movie, Laura appears reunited with Agent Cooper and her guardian angel in the Black Lodge.]]
20	* BizarroWorld: Deer Meadows is Bizarro Series/TwinPeaks. The coffee is terrible, the local diner is depressing and dingy, the waitresses are surly, the Sherriff's a walking balding dickbag and his secretary and deputy are a pair of lazy and snarky assholes. Nobody's interested in solving the Teresa Banks case, and there seems to be no industry to speak of. The only thing they seem to have in common is their [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest location]] and [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch refusal to release bodies to the FBI.]]
21	* BondageIsBad: It's certainly presented in as unsavory a way as possible.
22	* BrickJoke: Unlike [[RememberTheNewGuy Chet]] [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Desmond]], Agent Sam Stanley actually gets a brief mention in [[Series/TwinPeaks the show]], during the pilot. Agent Cooper's notes to [[TheGhost Diane]] that they shouldn't let Sam work the Palmer case, and that [[OnlySaneMan Albert Rosenfield]] has it "more on the ball."
23	* BringMyBrownPants: In ''The Missing Pieces'', the porter at the Palm Deluxe hotel soils himself in fear after witnessing Philip Jeffries first disappearing into thin air and then reappearing just as suddenly shortly thereafter right in front of him in what is implied to have been a flash of fire.
24	* BrokenBird: Laura. So, so much.
25	* CallForward: The baby laxatives.
26	* CrazyJealousGuy: Played as dark as it can get.
27	* CryIntoChest: Laura does this with her confidant, Harold Smith.
28	* CrypticConversation: Almost inevitable whenever the Black Lodge is involved to some degree.
29	** Philip Jeffries has been in the Lodge, and he seems to be struggling to speak intelligibly.
30	** Philip Gerard's harangue at the street corner would sound like this even if Leland Palmer weren't gunning the motor. Sadly (or fortunately, depending on certain persons' point of view), the revving engine drowns out most of what he's trying to tell the Palmers, meaning Laura never gets to hear the one non-cryptic line in the whole tirade.
31	--->'''Gerard:''' ''(screaming to make himself heard, showing Laura his ring)'' [[spoiler: IT'S HIM! IT'S YOUR FATHER!]]
32	* DarkerAndEdgier: Although it occupies the same disturbing universe as the series, the film is noticeably more bleak and explicitly violent, and F-bombs are dropped freely and semi-frequently. The focus is firmly on Laura, not the kooky surrounding cast of the series, the trademark eccentric humour is largely absent, and a portion of the plot takes place in what is essentially Twin Peaks' EvilCounterpart.
33	** ''The Missing Pieces'' recopilatory movie of deleted and extended scenes show up more of the rest of the Twin Peaks residents and their little stories that was eventually explored fully in the original series, and its (more or less) LighterAndSofter than ''Fire Walk With Me'', including with Sheriff Truman and co. antics, the Briggs parents, the Haywards, the Big Ed, Nadine and Norma love triangle and more. For people who missed the usual quirky Twin Peaks humor, don't worry, its in here fully.
34	* DecoyProtagonist: Agents Desmond and Stanley lead a good part of the film at first... and then [[spoiler: Desmond disappears without a trace]] and Stanley takes Teresa Bank's body back to Ontario. For the rest of the film, we follow Laura Palmer, whose life has already practically fallen apart, and see how things manage to get even worse from there.
35	* DirtyCop: The entire Deer Meadows sheriff's office.
36	* TheDividual: Mike and The Man From The Other Place (who identifies himself as "The Arm") speak in unison when together in the Black Lodge.
37	* DoomedByCanon: [[PosthumousCharacter Laura Palmer]] is the main character of [[TheMovie the prequel film]]. The movie's ending is a bit of a ForegoneConclusion.
38	* DoubleMeaningTitle: TheMovie, ''Fire Walk With Me''. The title refers to Laura's own troubled journey, but also has another meaning. [[spoiler: Both Laura (revealed in ''The Return'' as the ChosenOne) and BOB the BigBad are associated with fire, alluding to how fire can both protect and destroy - the title refers to commanding its protective fire, made all the more symbolic by Laura's HeroicSacrifice at the end]].
39	* DontGoInTheWoods: For the love of God, ''don't go in the woods''.
40	* DyingTown: With the movie's bleaker tone, washed-out colours, and so many familiar actors and locations missing, Twin Peaks starts to feel deserted and lifeless.
41	* EarlyBirdCameo: Looking back, this movie introduces ''a lot'' of characters and concepts that will be used '''25 years later''' in ''Twin Peaks: The Return'' including:
42	** The fate of Special Agent Phillip Jeffries and whatever went down in Buenos Aires.
43	** Garmonbozia.
44	** Annie's message about [[spoiler: the Good Dale trapped in the Black Lodge.]]
45	** Carl Rodd and his possible connection to the Black Lodge.
46	** Teresa Banks' ring.
47	** Blue Rose cases.
48	** [[spoiler: The Woodsmen.]]
49	* EvilCounterpart: Deer Meadow is essentially the MirrorUniverse version of Twin Peaks. Where Twin Peaks is a QuirkyTown that represents everything charming, wholesome, and friendly about small [[CloseKnitCommunity Close-Knit Communities]] in America, Deer Meadow plays drastically plays up the LovecraftCountry elements and the darker sides of small-town America, being a dysfunctional TownWithADarkSecret mostly inhabited by small-minded and petty {{Jerkass}}es, who are overtly hostile towards outsiders.
50	* EvilMeScaresMe: Played with, on a number of different levels.
51	* ForegoneConclusion: As a prequel, Laura's death is naturally inevitable. Strangely, she seems more aware of this than anyone else.
52	* FutureShadowing: [[spoiler: Who do you think that is there?]]
53	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The first half is a WhoDunnit with SurrealHumor added in. The second half is a PsychologicalThriller with SurrealHorror added in.
54	* HeroicBSOD: Poor Laura.
55	* HotterAndSexier: The movie features much more nudity than the series, with a lot of topless ladies, Laura and Donna among them.
56	* InelegantBlubbering: Sheryl Lee is excellent at crying. There's no single glittering tear, she properly sobs.
57	* JurisdictionFriction: Between FBI agent Chet Desmond and the Deer Meadows sheriff's office. Much more pronounced than that between Cooper and the Twin Peaks office.
58	* LateArrivalSpoiler: By virtue of the fact that the film spoils that Laura is going to die on boxart in the plot summary.
59	* LooksLikeCesare: Laura, in a JumpScare at Harold Smith's house. In the DeletedScenes, Leland as he enters the Black Lodge. It seems to indicate possession by BOB.
60	* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Visually alluded to in the scene in the railroad car, when the camera cuts from the scantily clad and sexualized bodies of Laura and Ronette to an angel, modestly clad in white. Made more confusing by the fact the angel looks a lot like Laura...
61	* MagicRealism: In much the same vein as the series.
62	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Leland, all the time.
63	** It's suggested that Leland [[spoiler: is somehow aware but in denial of what he's doing to Laura. It's clear that ''Leland,'' not BOB, is the one sleeping with Teresa Banks, probably because she reminds him of Laura. When Leland sees Teresa with Laura, he panics - because he might be found out or because he realizes what he's done? ]]
64	* NeverHeardThatOneBefore:
65	-->Now... Irene is her ''name'', and it is ''night''. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight,_Irene Don't go any further with it]].
66	* NoodleIncident: When we first meet him, Chet Desmond is arresting a bus driver and a pair of hookers next to an elementary school bus full of crying children parked on the side of a highway in Fargo, North Dakota. Why all this is happening is never made clear, [[RuleOfFunny and it probably never should be...]] though it does effectively foreshadow the shady underbelly of Twin Peaks's youth.
67	* OurAngelsAreDifferent: At the end of the film, [[spoiler: Laura is reunited with her guardian angel in the Black Lodge]]. It's actually not that 'different' and is instantly recognizable as a straightforward angel.
68	* PeekABooCorpse: During Laura's nightmare, the bloodied body of [[spoiler:Annie Blackburn]] shows up in her bed. And then starts talking.
69	* RapeLeadsToInsanity:
70	** There are suggestions that the specific vision of [=BOB=] that we see may come from [[spoiler:a man who molested Leland himself when he was a kid]], although it's only one interpretation.
71	** Much more prominently in Laura's arc. Her sanity is suffering after [[spoiler:having been sexually abused by BOB/Leland for years.]] But also enforced in the interpretation where the Black Lodge is trying to make Laura lose her mind and give in to them (as [[spoiler:Leland]] may have done previously), in which case it may have decided sexual assault was the best way to do so.
72	* RedemptionEqualsDeath
73	* RightThroughHisPants: BOB in the rape scene. [[spoiler: Justified since it's actually Leland]].
74	* SecretDiary: Played with. [[spoiler: Laura find that pages have been torn from her diary, but does not know who did it. When she finds out it was Leland, her father, the awful truth starts slowly to sink in]].
75	* SelfDeprecation: The scene with Lil the dancer and her bizarrely convoluted coded messages has been read as Creator/DavidLynch gently mocking his own incomprehensibility.
76	* SexForSolace: Laura's crying on Harold's shoulder looks like it was going to turn into this, seeing as she suddenly started kissing him passionately, but then she stopped herself. Possibly due to the SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny messages in the rest of the film, and Laura's own difficult relationship with her sexuality.
77	* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: A running theme throughout.
78	* ShockingVoiceIdentityReveal: The Black Lodge denizens are revealed this way, in extreme, distorted closeup as the Man From Another Place introduces the group in their iconic backwards speech.
79	* SplitPersonality: Played with. [[spoiler: There's Laura the homecoming queen who helped organize meals on wheels, and then there's the Laura who prostitutes herself and is a coke addict. On the same note, the whole BOB/Leland split personality/evil spirit issue]]
80	* SpookyPainting: The one Laura receives as a gift from Mrs Chalfont and the boy in the mask.
81	* SpotTheImposter: Although it's implied that the [[spoiler: Dale]] we see is the good one, Agent Jeffries isn't sure. "Who do you think that is, there?"
82	* SpySpeak[=/=]TalkingThroughTechnique: Gordon Cole uses this to dispatch his agents. He brings out a woman in a tailored red suit with a [[ColorMotif Blue Rose]] pinned to it to dance awkwardly in front of Agents Desmond and Stanley while he introduces her as his mother's sister's girl. This means they're going into hostile territory, will get JurisdictionFriction, that drugs are involved, they'll be doing a lot of legwork, and that the sherrif's uncle is in federal prison. As for the Blue Rose? [[OccultDetective Those cases are special.]]
83	* StepfordSmiler: Laura. But seeing as this is David Lynch, practically everyone.
84	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Chet Desmond was originally supposed to just be Dale Cooper. The end result, despite being a comparably brilliant FBI agent, is actually a very different character, though. For one thing, he's much less patient.
85	* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Played with. [[spoiler: Laura would rather die than let herself be a conduit for BOB]].
86	* TrashyTrailerHome: Teresa Banks may have disappeared in a dilapidated trailer park that's home to both lowlife criminals as well as [[BrownNoteBeing terrifying eldritch beings.]]
87	* TheWatson: Agent Sam Stanley is this to Chet Desmond.
88	* WhamLine:
89	** The film transitions hard from a comedic WhoDunnit to a surreal pychological thriller when these words are spoken ([[ShockingVoiceIdentityReveal backwards]]):
90	--->'''The Man From Another Place:''' [[TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf The chrome reflects our image]].
91	** For Laura's part of the story, there's:
92	--->'''Leland:''' I thought you always knew it was me.
93	* WhamShot:
94	** Special Agent Cooper declares that, though all the leads in the murder of Teresa Banks and the disappearance of Chester Desmond have cold and all the clues have hit dead ends, he's absolutely certain that the killer will strike again, though who knows where or when...
95	--->'''ONE YEAR LATER'''\
96	"Welcome to Twin Peaks"
97	** Later, when Laura runs out of her house to escape BOB, she hides and waits for him to leave the house, only to scream in horror when [[InternalReveal her father walks out.]]
98	* WhateverHappenedToTheMouse: Agent Chet Desmond vanishes from the film the moment he touches the ring. His disappearance is mentioned later, but remains unsolved. Given it's a {{Prequel}} to the [[Series/TwinPeaks first two seasons of the show]], it's no surprise he's not yet been found.
99	** Also, Phillip Jeffries. [[RuleOfThree He, Chet, and Dale all get caught in the Black Lodge while investigating the BOB murders.]]
100	* WhatYearIsThis: Agent Philip Jeffries (Music/DavidBowie) demands to know this. It's implied that he's somehow UnstuckInTime.
101	* WorkingTheSameCase: The entire mood and tone of the film drastically changes when the action moves from Deer Meadow to Twin Peaks, but both stories are set in motion by the same killer. Judging by the [[AllThereInTheManual deleted scenes and screenplay]], Phillip Jeffries, Chet Desmond, and Dale Cooper all worked the same case.
102	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: [[spoiler:When the angel appears to Laura when she is despondent in the Black Lodge, it is letting her know that she is worth saving and it never abandoned her]].

Context Film / TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe