FWWM The Missing Pieces

What are some of your favorite Missing Pieces?
The Doc Hayward scene is one for sure. "You don't even like Mike," The magic trick (hey, it worked at Sparkwood and 21), the beautifully sweet note for Laura involving the angels, the creepy, foreboding call from the Leland, the look of concern between Doc and Eileen. So many different tones in the scene wonderfully done.

Any scene with Grace Zabriskie. She's always perfect. What a treat to get so much more of her in the missing pieces.

The extended convenience store scene.
Hell, I could go on but let me just say the whole 90 minutes!

One moment that cracks me up is during Laura's phone call with Jacobi. "Save a kiss for me." Her brief, disgusted look makes me laugh every time.
 
I watched a fan edit that combined TMP with FWWM, and it did not work at all for me.

I would be curious to see maybe a combo edit that puts them together as 4 (roughly) one hour long eps. I mean sure, the stuff with the townspeople would still pull focus from Laura’s story, but served up as small episodes it might not be any more jarring than The Return’s wild narrative detours.

I can almost picture what the closing credits sequences would be for these eps. For ep 1, the credits could roll over the shot of “Let’s Rock” from inside Desmond’s car. Maybe another episode could feature credits moving over the pan across the cigarette butt littered floor of Power and The Glory, or over the long shot of Laura laughing at Bobby in the aftermath of the botched drug deal with the Deer Meadow cop.

I am happy that we finally got to see The Missing Pieces, I just don’t think most of that stuff works with the emotionally harrowing drama of Laura Palmer’s life.
 
Admittedly, I haven't actually watched any of the fan-edits out there that put TMP back in FWWM. But I've always thought the film, already a bit lengthy and draining, would probably be over-stuffed if all those scenes were put back in. (To say nothing of how/where they were edited in and the flow of it all). Basically, I feel like FWWM with TMP included might feel a bit like WAH - lots of digressions and changes in tone, lots of characters, almost too much. I tend to think most of the time Lynch's work is best when it's pared down to the bone, like BV which is perfect at 2hr and I wouldn't add a frame, or LH which had a lot of scenes of Fred's jailtime or Pete's home/social life that were (thankfully) cut out. (Obviously The Return is a different beast, where the digressive nature of it fits an 18-hour TV season).

But, if I were to add a MP scene, it'd definitely be that horrifying quick shot/scene of Leland at the window (or is he hiding in the bushes?) watching Laura ride off with James on her final night. Wise looks positively demonic in that shot. And my runner-up would be the extended scene w/ Doc Hayward which shows us he seemingly really did know how dire Laura's situation was before she died.

The rest of TMP is wonderful and full of superb scenes, but I don't think they're truly necessary. They function fine as their own little weird film, which bears just as much 2014 Lynch influence as 1992 Lynch, naturally. (Plus the way Lynch edited them in 2014 makes for a different aesthetic which would maybe feel odd put side-by-side with the 1992 stuff - lots of TMP play out in static, wide master shots and w/ lots more silence/room tone on the soundtrack). It's like BV's deleted scenes - great little short film on their own and fascinating to see after all these years but not necessary to the film itself.
 
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I am happy that we finally got to see The Missing Pieces, I just don’t think most of that stuff works with the emotionally harrowing drama of Laura Palmer’s life.
Admittedly, I haven't actually watched any of the fan-edits out there that put TMP back in FWWM. But I've always thought the film, already a bit lengthy and draining, would probably be over-stuffed if all those scenes were put back in. (To say nothing of how/where they were edited in and the flow of it all).
I agree. I personally find FWWM virtually perfect the way it is. The flow of it works. I love the missing pieces, but only as a complimentary stand-alone work. I always watch it by itself the night after viewing FWWM.
 
What’s fascinating is how much Lynch’s movies feel SO perfectly realized without those deleted scenes, almost like they were always meant to be exactly the way they are, that it’s difficult to imagine how Lynch could EVER have thought those scenes belonged in the films. Granted, it’s easy to feel this way when we have the benefit of retrospect. But did he ever consider (to use an extreme example) that the Josie/Pete scene would be in the film? Or did he just feel like having some fun with three actors he loves? It’s not like he was being irresponsible, since he has a reputation for being on time and on budget despite his habit of grossly overshooting. But in an era before DVD deleted scenes where he had every reason to believe the cut material would never see the light of day, you really have to wonder that this stuff didn’t get pared down earlier in the process. Anyway, who am I to question the man’s process when the proof is in the pudding. And thank God all that stuff did get shot. Another instance of Lynch being ahead of his time, perhaps.

While I agree with David Locke that BV is a perfect tight two-hour film, it is fascinating to imagine a version of the film where our introduction to Jeffrey is him watching a rape and doing nothing to stop it until he’s outed. That really casts the character in a different light, and is a great example of how lifting one scene can change the entire tone of a film.

As for TMP, my faves are pretty predictable/popular choices, I think. Certainly the Laura smile. And the Ed/Norma scene which certainly would have no business being in FWWM, but is so beautiful on every level. God, I miss Peggy Lipton. And Angelo of course. Just pure romance. All these scenes become more and more magical as people pass away, knowing that we got these extra little treasures from them. I remember in 2014 how exciting it was to have any of this stuff, but in particular, a new Jack Nance performance.

I like what Jordan says about the “muffin” line. This is something you see in some other Lynch films as well, where something is explained more in the script or in a deleted scene, but then in the final film the context is taken away, making it even more enigmatic. And this is perhaps a great justification for Lynch overshooting: one scene might not fully work for the film, but can still hold something that impacts another scene.

I do think the dinner/ax scene could conceivably have a place in the film. There’s something to be said for showing the Palmers during a happy moment to drive home the impact of what is ultimately lost. I think the film is fine without it too, but I think that was probably one of the tougher cuts for Lynch. You can tell in the Between Two Worlds feature how much he loves that scene.

What we still haven’t gotten, and probably never will, is the initial more violent/nightmarish cut of the train car scene. I wonder if that footage exists anymore, and if so, why it wasn’t included in TMP. The final edit always feels kind of rushed to me and is maybe the least effective part of the movie for me…although in a way, the driving inevitability of it all is perhaps the point.
 
But, if I were to add a MP scene, it'd definitely be that horrifying quick shot/scene of Leland at the window (or is he hiding in the bushes?) watching Laura ride off with James on her final night. Wise looks positively demonic in that shot. And my runner-up would be the extended scene w/ Doc Hayward which shows us he seemingly really did know how dire Laura's situation was before she died.

The window scene is actually in the film. What TMP adds is the creepy shot of him walking up the path, seeming to robotically look straight at Laura, and then continue on into the house.
 
The Doc Hayward scene is one for sure. "You don't even like Mike," The magic trick (hey, it worked at Sparkwood and 21), the beautifully sweet note for Laura involving the angels, the creepy, foreboding call from the Leland, the look of concern between Doc and Eileen. So many different tones in the scene wonderfully done.

Any scene with Grace Zabriskie. She's always perfect. What a treat to get so much more of her in the missing pieces.

The extended convenience store scene.
Hell, I could go on but let me just say the whole 90 minutes!

One moment that cracks me up is during Laura's phone call with Jacobi. "Save a kiss for me." Her brief, disgusted look makes me laugh every time.
It's a short scene for certain. But I love the exchange between Stanley and Cooper.

That scene was short enough, too bad Lynch couldn't squeeze it into the film. Cooper's reaction to Stanley would have added some gravitas to the episode in season 1 when Cooper explains to not give the forensics to Stanley, but to Albert, since Albert has a bit more on the ball.
 
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What we still haven’t gotten, and probably never will, is the initial more violent/nightmarish cut of the train car scene. I wonder if that footage exists anymore, and if so, why it wasn’t included in TMP. The final edit always feels kind of rushed to me and is maybe the least effective part of the movie for me…although in a way, the driving inevitability of it all is perhaps the point.
I've got to disagree on its effectiveness. I recently saw it in theater (so far the best theater experience I've ever had, even including good audience engagement) and when it came to the murder scene I felt this overwhelming sense of somehow merciful catharsis, and I realized how tensely everything prior had inundated me and put me into this unending headspace ... it's for this reason that I agree above with FWWM being the perfect length; if it were longer I may have died.

I'd love to see the full alternate cut of course, but I can't imagine anything getting across violence as effectively as the cutaway to LMFAP. That alone fills the scene with all the context needed that something fundamentally awful (even beyond our grasp of the murder of a beloved person) is happening.
 
I've got to disagree on its effectiveness. I recently saw it in theater (so far the best theater experience I've ever had, even including good audience engagement) and when it came to the murder scene I felt this overwhelming sense of somehow merciful catharsis, and I realized how tensely everything prior had inundated me and put me into this unending headspace ... it's for this reason that I agree above with FWWM being the perfect length; if it were longer I may have died.

I'd love to see the full alternate cut of course, but I can't imagine anything getting across violence as effectively as the cutaway to LMFAP. That alone fills the scene with all the context needed that something fundamentally awful (even beyond our grasp of the murder of a beloved person) is happening.
Oh yeah, that cutaway is perfectly creepy. The quick shot of Mike laughing as he runs away, as well.
 
FWWM, if it includes The Missing Pieces, is definitely an overture to The Return, stylistically. The seemingly random ('seemingly' being the key word) digressions with other people in the town remind me of the odd cast of characters who turn up in the Road House in The Return. I could imagine a recut FWWM, more in tune with the screenplay lurking on the web for decades, that includes The Missing Pieces being a sort of four part miniseries running before The Return.

As it stands, I love FWWM exactly as it is. I've said many times that I think - along with the director's edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture - that it's the best translation of any television series to the cinema. Most TV shows give you more of the same with a wider aspect ratio, underserve the a portion of the regulars and annoy regular TV viewers by reiterating points known in the TV series to bring newbie cinemagoers up to speed. David Lynch set out to make a film about Twin Peaks, not a two-part TV episode and ultimately it slimmed down into a film about Laura Palmer.

I've said before that I think many of TMP are superfluous in a film that turned into 'These are the last seven days of Laura Palmer!' The tagline for the original script ought to be 'This is the world of Twin Peaks in the last seven days of Laura Palmer!'

There are some interesting revelations in TMP, though. 'I'm the Muffin!' shows that the Haywoods knew - or at least had figured out - the earthly element of what was going on in the Palmer household and yet they never breathed a word of it to Harry and Coop. Had Doc Haywood confided in Harry about his suspicions where Leland and Laura were concerned, Maddy might have been saved and Leland apprehended way beforehand. In fact quite a few people appeared to have suspicions.

'The Power and the Glory' sees Laura's dark side as she sets out to shock Donna. I've been on both sides of that sort of night in my past. Drunk and rolling into some godawful late night bar and delighted to horrify my more conservative friends (I think it was because I resented being seen as the conservative one myself for so long!) and also in Donna's shoes thinking 'Why in God's name am I doing this? I could just walk away now, get a cab and go to my own bed!' There's a good reason I'm teetotal now!!

'Bernie, the Mule', 'Goodnight Lucy' and 'Bad Coop' are lovely reminders of the TV show. More than anything, they remind me of how sad I am that Michael Ontkean didn't come back for The Return. No shade on Robert Forster, who was great, but Ontkean's/Harry's absence had a negative impact on the whole of The Return, which was a weaker series for him not being in it. Part of me wishes they'd actually recast Forster as Harry, because the business about Forster playing Harry's brother and having silent one-sided phonecalls with Harry really didn't work for me.

I'd love the story about the nurse and the ring to be built on...

A bit of a ramble, sorry to say!! I like TMP as a nice little souvenir of all things Twin Peaks, but I don't need it to be in FWWM.
 
I believe that I may have said this on Dugpa before, and someone may have even hinted at it recently here (edit: Dom just did above), but I've watched the Q2 fanedit once, and the reason I would suggest doing so out of curiosity and in the name of fun is because to me it comes across as remarkably similar to The Return. It bears resemblance to The Return's many sprawling detours, humanist moments, and overall pacing. Which is really strange, since The Return felt positively alien to so many of us upon first seeing it.

Mr. Reindeer has frequently pointed out how Lynch is a ruthless editor in his films, but that in The Return he took the opposite approach. If we believe the logline, nearly everything that Lynch shot made it into The Return. This feels similar to the above discussion, of why Lynch would have even bothered shooting so much for FWWM when he must have known on some level that he wasn't going to include it. It is as though he really wanted to spend more time with the characters/actors. In a way, it's another way that The Return evolves the storyline, both within the series and behind the scenes.

As far as what scenes I would add back into FWWM, it would probably only be those that are still organic to its flow: Laura's smile, Leland walking up the path. But I think that the Doc Hayward scene is hugely important to the mythos, and the Ed and Norma scene is truly beautiful, and becomes even more so now that they've been granted a happy ending in The Return. The beautiful thing is that TMP are assuredly canonized, both in terms of their presentation and The Return's references to them.
 
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I believe that I may have said this on Dugpa before, and someone may have even hinted at it recently here (edit: Dom just did above), but I've watched the Q2 fanedit once, and the reason I would suggest doing so out of curiosity and in the name of fun is because to me it comes across as remarkably similar to The Return. It bears resemblance to The Return's many sprawling detours, humanist moments, and overall pacing. Which is really strange, since The Return felt positively alien to so many of us upon first seeing it.
Yes, it's astonishing to realise that the full FWWM screenplay was effectively a dry run for The Return.

As far as what scenes I would add back into FWWM, it would probably only be those that are still organic to its flow: Laura's smile, Leland walking up the path. But I think that the Doc Hayward scene is hugely important to the mythos, and the Ed and Norma scene is truly beautiful, and becomes even more so now that they've been granted a happy ending in The Return. The beautiful thing is that TMP are assuredly canonized, both in terms of their presentation and The Return's references to them.
Yes, I consider TMP to be much more than just extended, alternate and deleted scenes. They're an actual 'secret dossier'. In a sense they're the thing you often yearn to see in a TV show with lots of characters: you want to see them in downtime, outside of being part of a story plot, just knocking around the place. The Pete and Josie scene is a nice example of that.

That said, I appreciate FWWM for its laser focus. It a film full of mysteries that you drop into like a seductive dream where you're not sure if it's a nightmare.
 
The beautiful thing is that TMP are assuredly canonized, both in terms of their presentation and The Return's references to them.
Right down to The Return using the Missing Pieces take of the Jeffries scene, and changing the date of that scene from 1988 (as in FWWM) to 1989 (as in The Missing Pieces). The question is, when Jeffries refers to “the unofficial version” in The Return, which version is which? (It appears that Gordon is remembering TMP version.) Obviously really interesting thematically in terms of memory/perception, as well as just fun to think about on a genre/mythology level with the time travel and shifting realities, but also on a meta level!
 
'Bernie, the Mule', 'Goodnight Lucy' and 'Bad Coop' are lovely reminders of the TV show. More than anything, they remind me of how sad I am that Michael Ontkean didn't come back for The Return. No shade on Robert Forster, who was great, but Ontkean's/Harry's absence had a negative impact on the whole of The Return, which was a weaker series for him not being in it. Part of me wishes they'd actually recast Forster as Harry, because the business about Forster playing Harry's brother and having silent one-sided phonecalls with Harry really didn't work for me.
I think Robert Forster is probably a better actor than Michael Ontkean, but in The Return he underplays his scenes a little too much (imo).

The interactions with Candy Clark and Michael Cera could have really benefitted from having Michael Ontkean in them — he just would have played along with them a little more, put forth more empathy and impatience than Forster did.

And this is just a nitpick, but it’s sort of messed up that Hawk got passed over in favor of Frank Truman.
 
I think Robert Forster is probably a better actor than Michael Ontkean, but in The Return he underplays his scenes a little too much (imo).

The interactions with Candy Clark and Michael Cera could have really benefitted from having Michael Ontkean in them — he just would have played along with them a little more, put forth more empathy and impatience than Forster did.

And this is just a nitpick, but it’s sort of messed up that Hawk got passed over in favor of Frank Truman.
Well, The Final Dossier says that Frank just stepped in for two years to get things in order (since he had experience as sheriff in another county) while Hawk got up to speed on his new responsibilities. Hawk was due to take over as sheriff. I like to believe that happened.

I get what you’re saying about Forster’s delivery, and it’s a matter of personal taste, but I disagree. Forster could do deadpan reactions better than pretty much anyone in the business, and for me, his reactions are what makes those scenes funny. Particularly the Brando one. All his reactions, but especially the last shot of him walking away, just looking so exasperated and relieved to be released from that interaction.
 
And this is just a nitpick, but it’s sort of messed up that Hawk got passed over in favor of Frank Truman.
This has always bugged me. As mentioned, Frost's books kind of correct it. In-unviverse the department was a family matter with Harry & Frank's father being the prior Sheriff.

I always assumed Lynch & Frost had written the part so dead-set with Ontkean in mind that they didn't want to shift everything over to Hawk, even though in-universe Hawk would be a more natural candidate to take up the reigns.

I can't really think of anything that would cause a snag being shifted over to Hawk, though--except, I suppose, the Doris scenes. Hawk & Diane Shapiro, PHD are a power couple after all.
 
Yeah, it largely comes down to personal preference.

I do think Forster’s awkwardness does sort of work with The Return’s deconstruction of nostalgia — Coop rushes into town, eager to “get the band back together” and recapture past glory, only to find that his buddy has moved on and is replaced by a guy he has no rapport with.

Forster will always be awesome for his work in Jackie Brown, especially the closing moments of that film.
 
This has always bugged me. As mentioned, Frost's books kind of correct it. In-unviverse the department was a family matter with Harry & Frank's father being the prior Sheriff.

I always assumed Lynch & Frost had written the part so dead-set with Ontkean in mind that they didn't want to shift everything over to Hawk, even though in-universe Hawk would be a more natural candidate to take up the reigns.

I can't really think of anything that would cause a snag being shifted over to Hawk, though--except, I suppose, the Doris scenes. Hawk & Diane Shapiro, PHD are a power couple after all.
I get the sense that Ontkean dropped out very late when they were gearing up for shooting, and doing a massive structural rewrite would have been too big a burden. They could give Truman’s scenes to Hawk, sure, but then what to do with Hawk’s already substantial arc? To some extent I guess you could combine the two roles into one, but there are also scenes where the two have to interact to get out plot information, so those would have to be completely changed.
 
I do think Forster’s awkwardness does sort of work with The Return’s deconstruction of nostalgia — Coop rushes into town, eager to “get the band back together” and recapture past glory, only to find that his buddy has moved on and is replaced by a guy he has no rapport with.

Right, there’s even something off about the name. I know Mark named him after FDR to try to keep some symmetry, but Harry Truman is the actual name of a President and that makes it a wacky and weird choice. Frank Truman…just sounds like some guy’s name. The quirkiness is gone.
 
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