Episode 105: Fire Walk with Tamler Sommers

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8 • 688 Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2021

⏱️ 93 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Twin Peaks mythos has been with Weird Studies from the very beginning, and it is only fitting that it should have a return. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Tamler Sommers, co-host of the podcast Very Bad Wizards to discuss Fire Walk with Me, the prequel film to the original Twin Peaks series. Paradoxically, David Lynch’s work both necessitates and resists interpretation, and the pull of detailed interpretation is unusually strong in this episode. The three discuss how Fire Walk with Me, and the series as a whole, depicts two separate worlds that sometimes begin to intermingle, disrupting the perceived stability of time and space. Often this happens in moments of extreme fear or love. Through their love for Laura Palmer and for the film under consideration, JF, Phil, and Tamler enact their own interpretation, entering a rift where the world of Twin Peaks and the “real” world seem to merge, demonstrating how Twin Peaks just won’t leave this world alone, and can become a way for disenchanted moderns once again to live inside of myth. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack References David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness, Netflix documentary David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature Antonin Artaud, The Theater and Its Double Mark Frost, The Secret History of Twin Peaks Mark Frost, Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier Jason Louv, occultist Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home podcast Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier” Weird Studies, Episode 78 on “The Mothman Prophesies” Sound mass, musical technique Michael Hanake (dir.), Caché Courtenay Stallings, Laura’s Ghost Special Guest: Tamler Sommers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Spectrevision Radio
0:02.0	Welcome to Weird Studies, an arts and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.
0:20.0	For more episodes or to support the podcast,
0:23.3	go to weirdst. I'm J.F. Martell. For this 105th episode of the show, we were pleased and honored to be
0:57.6	joined by Tanler Summers, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Houston, and co-host of the
1:03.4	magnificent Very Bad Wizards podcast. Our topic was David Lynch's 1992 film Twin Peaks Fire Walk with me, although the conversation
1:12.9	touches on scenes and ideas from the original TV series, as well as the more recent showcase series
1:18.8	that Lynch completed in 2017. Now, most of the time on weird studies, we try to proceed
1:25.4	such that even listeners without prior knowledge of our
1:28.7	topic will be able to follow along. But Tamler, Phil, and I are hopeless Twin Peaks nerds. No sooner
1:35.9	had we begun to chat than we got into minutia that only listeners who are familiar with the
1:41.6	Twin Peaks universe will be able to understand.
1:49.1	So before you listen to this one, I strongly recommend that you watch Fire Walk with me.
1:57.0	I should probably warn you that the film is dark, like very dark, but it's also very good.
2:03.2	If you prefer to listen on without watching the movie or the show, here's a broad,
2:09.9	spoiler-ridden outline of the story. Twin Peaks is essentially a murder mystery set in a fictional Washington town called Twin Peaks. The murder victim is Laura Palmer, homecoming queen loved by
2:16.5	all in the community. The murderer, as revealed
2:19.6	in season two of the series, is her father, Leland Palmer. The original show focuses on the efforts
2:27.0	of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he tries to solve the case. The film Firewalk with me is a prequel recounting the events leading up to
2:36.7	Laura Palmer's tragic death. And in case that sounds too straightforward, Twin Peaks includes a heavy
2:43.7	dose of the surreal and the supernatural. There are entities at work in this small town that are not
2:50.4	quite of this world.
	...

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