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‘Twin Peaks’ Fans Debate Curious Pilot Detail 35 Years Later

35 years later, fans are still finding new mysteries to explore in Twin Peaks, Washington.

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It’s been 35 years since David Lynch’s ultra-classic and highly influential ABC series Twin Peaks aired, leaving fans with plenty of questions.

It’s a testament to the series’ legacy that people are still discussing the series and discovering new mysteries, even down to the smallest details.

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On Twitter/X, one user brought up an interesting question about the first episode.

“In a show full of mysteries, why is Shelly Johnson getting off work around 7am in the #TwinPeaks Pilot?,” they wrote.

Indeed, the introduction of Shelly Johnson (Madchen Amick) sees her working overtime at the Double R Diner for her coworker Heidi because Heidi is late to work. The most obvious explanation would be that the Double R is a 24-hour diner—except it’s not, as a later scene in the series sees Hank Jennings attacked while he closes up the diner.

It’s a funny question to even ask for a series that operates almost entirely on dream logic, with characters being sucked into alternate universes or gaining super-strength or even being turned into doorknobs every couple episodes with no rational explanation. Again, though, the series is so beloved that viewers still find new questions to ask.

Twin Peaks is often listed as one of, if not the, greatest television series of all time. The 1990 mystery-horror-sitcom is influential to just about every show we watch today, with everyone from the creators of The X-Files to The Sopranos citing it as prominent influences on their work.

It aired two seasons in 1990 and 1991, followed by a prequel/sequel movie in 1992, and then a continuation season titled Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017. The Return is frequently mentioned as the greatest season of television ever created, with film journal Cahiers du Cinéma going so far as to call it the best movie —not just TV season—of the 2010s.

All three seasons of Twin Peaks are streaming now on Paramount+.

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